The exercise ball may occupy a lot of room in your home gym, but it's one versatile piece of equipment. Find out how to get the most out of your exercise ball below. A healthier seat: Ditch your normal seat on the couch and sit on an exercise ball instead. Using a ball to sit helps correct your posture, tones your abs, and encourages you to stretch, all of which sounds a lot better than the Read more

Sometimes, you just can't beat that afternoon slump. Sitting at a desk all day can leave you feeling the opposite of energetic, especially around those postlunch hours when our bodies expend more energy digesting or we crash from the effects of our morning cup of coffee — and when that happens, don't think you can always rely on energy drinks. Besides their long list of unpronounceable Read more

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to celebrity trainer Jay Cardiello for some help! The weather is getting nice and you may have been bitten by the "run bug." To make the transition from indoor runs to the great outdoors seamless and safe, I compiled a list of my top five tricks to get the most out of your outdoor run. Whether you Read more

No doubt you've seen the VersaClimber at your gym — that tall piece of equipment, lurking in the corner behind the more popular cardio machines. But the VersaClimber's unpopularity is also its saving grace: there is never anyone using it, so you hop on it without a wait. Since the machine is often empty, you can also use it to add short bursts of cardio to your circuit training sets, just like Read more

Though we may be loathe to admit it, one of the most exciting — and frenzied — moments of wedding planning is setting up a registry. While deep down I knew that marrying the man of my dreams was the best present of all, other visions, like that of a perfectly appointed home, turned me into Dirty Harry with the scanner gun. A fondue set? I'll take two. The enormous countertop convection oven? Read more

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to celebrity trainer Jay Cardiello for some help! Ah, that infamous area along the back of your arms, the nemesis of so many women. How do you tackle the jiggle? First, I want to tell you what not to do, as people are often tempted to take the wrong course of action. And that is the concept of spot Read more

After your run, your legs are probably in need of a good stretch. But it's not all quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Don't forget these areas when stretching after your jog. Hip flexors: Combat all that forward propelling (and desk sitting) with stretches that open up and loosen those all-important hip flexors. Tight hip flexors can lead to back pain and a limited range of motion, so make sure you Read more

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar! If you're struggling to see your six-pack, you could be making one of these mistakes. By Jenna Bergen, Prevention As the weather warms and Spring break approaches, we're all forced to do that same rather scary thing: unearth the bathing suit and take a good, hard look in the mirror. I did it just last week and was Read more

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Ben Sommer, conceived through alternative insemination, is a young man now and tells the story of deciding to meet his donor. I grew up in a middle-class home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with two loving parents, both of whom are women. My conception was perhaps the most organized and scientific miracle of Read more