These Birth Photos Capture a Mom’s Inspiring Reaction to Finding Out Her Daughter Has Down Syndrome

When Amber Rojas gave birth to her fifth child, a girl she named Amadeus, she knew something was unusual. The 35-year-old from Texas had what she called a “hard and fast” water birth, then was ready to meet her new little one.

“Next thing I know, my sweet baby is in my arms and [I have] so many emotions,” she tells Health. “As soon as I looked down, I saw it. I saw it in my baby’s face. I thought to myself…my baby has Down syndrome.”

These beautiful first moments were captured by Amanda Gipson of Birth Unscripted.

Rojas says that in those first hours, holding Ami felt “different” than when she first held her other children, and that Ami felt “really limp” and had smaller eyes. Her midwife thought that Ami showed signs of Down syndrome. It was surprising; although Rojas was 35 and thus at a higher risk of having a baby with Down, a sonogram done during her pregnancy showed “zero” signs of concern, she says.

RELATED: The 20 Most Breathtaking Birth Photos

The family took the newborn to the hospital, where doctors confirmed Rojas’ suspicion. At that, her maternity leave plan completely changed, and she stayed at the hospital with Ami while her husband took care of the couple’s other children. There, Rojas began planning to “build a positive experience” for her family.

“I immediately became a worker bee,” she says. “I wanted to know everything they knew about babies with Down syndrome so I could best care for my daughter. We didn’t care that she had Down syndrome because we were all obsessed with her!”

Rojas says her daughter had a low resting heart rate when she was born, a sign of a heart defect, which is typical among babies with Down syndrome. At the time Health spoke to her, Rojas was back at the hospital, where now 5-month-old Ami just underwent open heart surgery.

After Ami was diagnosed, her four older children expressed concern that their baby sister would be made fun of or treated differently, but Rojas reassured them. “It’s our job to help educate others and to lead by example for Ami, so that she [can have] the life we all do,” she says. “They love her, they love sharing her story with their friends. And they are so excited to be apart of the Down syndrome community.”

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With support from family, friends, and their community, the Rojas family continues to adapt to the potential challenges Ami might face.

“Mom guilt is strong and real,” she says. “While I feel we all try to share and educate, some don’t accept it the way we do. Many have called my daughter sick, or have asked what’s wrong with her. I’ve come to the understanding that some just don’t and won’t receive her diagnosis the way we do. And that’s hard.”

Rojas says she and her family have received support from families all over the world, which has helped remind her of the love and strength that surrounds her.

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“Our family was going a million different ways, and Amadeus has brought us together,” she says. “We are learning together about a whole community that we never knew anything about! But at the end of the day she is our baby and we are her family. To us she is perfect. We don’t see her diagnosis or her label…We see Amadeus Reign Rojas.”

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Gun Violence Statistics in America

Students across the country will walk out of their classrooms today around 10 a.m. local time, in an effort to demand action from Congress on gun control. Women’s March Youth Empower, the advocacy group behind the event, is fighting for regulations including universal background checks for all gun sales, gun-violence restraining-order laws, and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. 

The walkout is being held on the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and will last for 17 minutes—one minute for every person killed in the tragedy. No matter how you feel about Second Amendment rights and gun control, it’s hard to argue that that number—17 lives taken, with many more injured—is anything but a stark reminder that gun violence is a serious public health concern.

That’s not the only sobering statistic to come out of the gun-control debate. Federal research on gun violence has been hindered by decades-old restrictions and lapsed funding, but state governments, universities, and private organizations have picked up some of the slack, compiling numbers and conducting their own studies in recent years. Here are just a few of their frightening findings.

RELATED: I Lived Through 9/11—This Is What I Want People to Know About the Las Vegas Shooting

Of the 30 leading causes of death in the United States, gun violence is the least researched

A 2017 research letter published in JAMA examined federal funding and publication frequency for research into the 30 leading causes of death in the U.S. from 2004 to 2015. In relation to the number of people killed, gun violence was the least researched cause of death and second-to-last (after falls) in the amount of allocated funding. In fact, gun violence received only 1.6% of the funding it should have, compared to other causes of death with similar mortality rates.

That came as no surprise to advocates for more gun research. Two years earlier, House Democrats released a statement decrying the fact that “we dedicate $240 million a year on traffic safety research, more than $233 million a year on food safety, and $331 million a year on the effects of tobacco, but almost nothing on firearms that kill 33,000 Americans annually.”

99.85% of Americans will know a victim of gun violence

Nearly all of us will know someone in our social network who is injured by a gun in our lifetimes, according to a 2016 study in Preventive Medicine, and 84.3% will know someone who dies.

Black people in the U.S. have the highest likelihood of knowing someone who dies from gun violence, at 95.5%. White people have an 85.3% chance, followed by Hispanic people (62.4%) and other racial groups (46.7%).

54% of U.S. gun owners admit that they do not store their guns safely

“Safely,” in this case, is defined as “in a locked gun safe, cabinet, or case, locked into a gun rack, or stored with a trigger lock or other lock.” Those are the findings of a February study in the American Journal of Public Health based on survey responses from 1,444 U.S. gun owners—believed to be the first nationally representative sample of its kind in 15 years.

Gun owners with children under 18 living at home tended to be more careful with their guns, but 45% still reported not using safe storage techniques. “Household gun ownership can increase the risk of homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings in the home,” said lead study author Cassandra Crifasi, PhD, an assistant professor with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, in a press release, “but practicing safe storage for all guns reduces these risks.”

Universal background checks and mandatory waiting periods are linked to a decrease in suicides

States that have laws requiring universal background checks and mandatory waiting periods for buying a gun saw a decrease of 0.76 suicides per 100,000 people from 2013 to 2014, according to a 2017 study in the American Journal of Public Health. That may not sound like a lot, but nationwide, the suicide rate has increased every year since 2005. And in the same study, states that have neither law on the books saw an increase of 1.04 suicides per 100,000.

Those results remained unchanged even after controlling for rates of gun ownership, depression, poverty, and other factors. The researchers found no difference in suicide rates in states with and without laws regarding handgun storage or carrying practices, suggesting that “legislation is likely most useful when its focus is on preventing gun ownership rather than regulating use and storage of guns already acquired,” they wrote.

RELATED: How to Manage Your Anxiety Over the Never-Ending Stream of Bad News

Nearly 1,300 children in the United States die from gun-related injuries every year

That makes guns the third leading cause of death for U.S. children, according to a 2017 study in Pediatrics, surpassing the number of childhood deaths from congenital abnormalities, heart disease, flu or pneumonia, respiratory disease, and cerebrovascular causes.

“The shooter playing with a gun was the most common circumstance surrounding unintentional firearm deaths of both younger and older children,” the authors wrote in their study. In addition to the number of children killed, nearly 6,000 are treated for gunshot injuries each year.

About 50 women a month are shot to death by intimate partners in the U.S.

Everytown for Gun Safety reports this horrific stat, compiled from FBI reports from 2009 to 2013. According to a 2017 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, more than half—54%—of women killed by their partners in the United States are killed with guns.

More restrictive gun laws might help reduce these numbers, suggests a 2017 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology: In an analysis of 45 states and 34 years of data, states with gun restrictions covering emergency restraining orders in domestic violence cases had 12% fewer intimate partner murders. Also, laws that require gun permits to be issued by a law-enforcement agency, and laws that prohibit people with domestic-violence restraining orders to own guns, were linked to 11% and 22% reductions in gun-related intimate partner murders, respectively.

Gun homicides kill about 13,000 people every year in the United States

That makes America’s gun homicide rate 25 times higher than the average of other global economic leaders, according to a 2016 study in the American Journal of Medicine that compared 2010 data from 23 populous, high-income countries. For 15- to 24-year-olds, the U.S. gun homicide rate was 49 times higher than in other countries.

Another finding from that study puts things into even greater perspective: While the U.S. accounts for 46% of the population of these countries, it has 82% of the gun deaths overall—and more than 90% of women, children, and young adult gun deaths. Before this research, the authors note in their paper, the most recent study on this topic was more than a decade old.

Gun deaths and injuries jump 70% in the weeks following (some) nearby gun shows.

More than 4,000 gun shows are held annually in the United States, and gun shows account for 4% to 9% of annual firearm sales. But a 2017 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that when gun shows are held in Nevada, gun-related deaths and injuries increase by 70% in nearby California communities for at least the next two weeks.

No increase was seen following gun shows in California, which may be because, unlike Nevada, California places strict restrictions on gun shows. For example, California required background checks on all gun sales and transfers during the study period—including private ones—while Nevada did not. The study authors say that more research is needed to understand the true public health effects of gun shows, as well as their state-by-state policies.

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Australia enacted gun reform in 1996, and there have been zero mass shootings since

After a 1996 mass shooting in Tasmania that killed 35 people, Australia adopted comprehensive gun laws that included gun registration, mandatory locked storage, a ban on mail-order sales, and the banning of semi-automatic rifles and “pump action” shotguns from civilian ownership. Since then, there have been no shooting events in which five or more people have died.

Critics of gun-control regulations say there’s no way to know that these laws are actually responsible for the eradication of mass shootings, and that other factors—or a statistical anomaly—could have played a role. But a study published this week in the Annals of Medicine came to a different conclusion: The odds of this result being due to chance are 1 in 200,000, researchers say.

“This was no accident,” co-author Philip Alpers, associate professor at the University of Sydney, said in a press release. “Australia followed standard public health procedures to reduce the risk of multiple shooting events, and we can see the evidence. It worked.”

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This Ad Made a Mom Cry at Target—Here’s Why It’s a Major Step for Kids With Disabilities

A typical Target shopping trip ended with one mom in tears—for the best possible reason.

That’s what mother of three Jamie Sumner wrote in an essay on Wednesday for the website Her View From Home. In her post, Sumner said she was browsing the aisles with her six-year-old son Charlie, who has cerebral palsy. The mother-son duo noticed a Cat & Jack advertisement of a young boy with a walker.

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“I watched Charlie watch the sign,” Sumner wrote. “I watched the recognition of kin for kin, like for like. And it was beautiful. Yes, I started crying in the aisle.”

For Sumner, this was so much more than an ad for a trendy pair of little kid camo pants. This inclusive ad was uplifting and validating for both her and her little one.

“We took our time in the toy aisle that day and we made three trips past the sign so Charlie could wave at it,” she wrote. “It sounds like such a small thing, but for us it is a nod from the world that we are being acknowledge and supported.”

Sumner, who recently published a book called Unbound: Finding Freedom from Unrealistic Expectations of Motherhood, tells Health why she decided to tell her story.

RELATED: These Birth Photos Capture a Mom’s Inspiring Reaction to Finding Out Her Daughter Has Down Syndrome

“The reason I first posted that picture on Instagram was purely for me and Charlie,” she says. “It was a celebration of this sweet moment when he felt included.”

Her post was shared widely, and soon, so many people had heard about her experience that “it just exploded,” she says. “People were so very excited for us and for all the other kids finally finding their own abilities and special needs reflected in places like Target.”

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The Kindness of Strangers: Man Cradles Mom’s Sleeping Baby So She Can Fill Out Medical Forms

One man’s willingness to help out a total stranger has tugged on the heartstrings of internet users everywhere.

A recent photo of a white man holding a black woman’s baby while she filled out forms in a doctor’s office quickly went viral last week. The interaction was captured by another patient in the waiting room, Natasha Crittenden Wilson of Florence, Alabama, who shared the image on Facebook.

RELATED: Serena Williams Just Shared the Most Relatable Motherhood Moment on Instagram: ‘Kids Humble Us’

“I was in the waiting room at the doc office today and this lady walked in with her sleeping baby!” Wilson wrote in the caption. “They handed her paperwork to do & as she was sitting there trying to figure out how to hold her sleeping baby while filling out the paperwork, this man, from across the room, asks her if she would like for him to hold her baby while she did her paperwork!! She smiled and said that would be wonderful!! This man went over there and rocked and loved on that baby like he was his!!”

Wilson continued, “My heart Melted!!! Racism is still VERY real in our society today BUT THIS MAN GAVE ME HOPE & a sweet memory I’ll never forget!! If you know this man tell him what an amazing person he is!!”

RELATED: A Bystander Had the Perfect Response to This Preschooler’s ADHD Tantrum

Wilson, a mother of seven herself, told Good Morning America that the man, “sat and hummed to him and rocked him until he was called back to his room. This was something I had never witnessed in my life … People just don’t normally offer help anymore to someone they don’t know.”

The woman in the photo has since been identified as Jade West, and the man as Joe Hale. West’s son’s name is Jayce Billings.

“I felt relieved and appreciated at the fact that he wanted to help. He seemed really genuine,” West recalled to the morning show. “He talked about how he never stops being a ‘paw paw’ and how he loved kids and just about my baby in general. He was literally just loving on him and talking to him as if he was his own grandchild and had known him his whole life. He was just the sweetest.”

Said Wilson to GMA, “For a stranger, a white man at that, asking a young black mother if he could hold her baby to help her out, then the way he loved on that baby like it was his own, it almost puts me to tears every time I think about the love you could see radiate from him for that baby.”

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4 Exercises to Steal From Misty Copeland for a Strong Ballerina Body

When you think of a ballerina body, you may picture a petite, slender physique. But many dancers have rejected that rigid idea of what a ballerina is supposed to look like—and instead, they’ve led a shift towards embracing a diverse range of athletic ballerina bodies. One woman who’s played a major role in that movement is none other than Misty Copeland, the iconic principle dancer at the American Ballet Theater.

“We are real women and ballerinas, muscular, feminine but also strong, lithe but also curvaceous,” Copeland writes in her new book, Ballerina Body: Dancing and Eating Your Way to a Leaner, Stronger, and More Graceful You ($30, amazon.com). But Copeland doesn’t pretend she always felt so confident in her skin. “None of it was easy. Not my climb in the ballet world, not my arrival at a place of personal contentment and peace, not my journey to the body I stand in.”

Her book is her way of helping other women reach the same state of body confidence that she now exudes to the world. “I dream of sharing what I’ve learned—of showing women everywhere how to reach their body goals and achieve what they see as their best selves,” she says.

For Copeland, that has meant prioritizing exercise, as an integral and positive element of her day. “Working out, so essential to our mental and physical well-being, can and should be woven through every part of our lives,” Copeland says.

Below are four exercises that she incorporates in her cross-training routine, to help maintain her ideal ballerina body—“one that is lean but sinewy, with muscles that are long, sculpted, and toned.” But you certainly don’t have to be a dancer to reap the benefits of these challenging moves. Try them out to get toned from head to (pointed) toe.

Relevé

“Relevé” means “raised,” or lifted, and describes the position when you rise onto the balls of your feet (demi-pointe) or onto the toes (pointe) of one or both feet.

a. Begin in first position. Demi-plié, then stretch your knees and rise onto demi-pointe (relevé). Repeat this three times and old on the count of four. When done to music, the counts are to the timing of the music.

b. Repeat once. When you get stronger, you may do four repetitions.

Remember to hold your posture. The flexing and pointing also prepare and strengthen your ankles to allow you to stand on demi-pointe (or en pointe, if you are an advanced dancer).

Balancing Adagio

“Adagio” refers to the slow movement in the ballet technique. As much as the adagio is about flexibility, strength, and fluidity in the movement, learning this exercise on the floor will give you an advantage before approaching it standing. On the floor you acquire a sense of balance and where your weight should be in order to leverage it to make you legs appear higher and more extended in opposition to our upper body.

This exercise should be done slowly to improve balance, alignment, abdominal strength, and stamina.

a. Start by sitting with your legs together on the floor in front of you.

b. Lift your legs into the air by bending your knees, holding the backs of your things with your hands with your legs still bent and parallel to each other.

c. Leaning back, with your back straight and the backs of your thighs (hamstrings) leaning into your hands, slowly lengthen both legs into the air until they are fully straight, making you into a V shape. Bend your knees so the tips of your toes touch the floor. Now do the same with each leg, alone, keeping the tips of the toes of your other leg posed on the floor.

d. Repeat the sequence, beginning with the other leg, when doing the single-leg section.

Seaweed

This exercise is great for freeing and lengthening the spine and for centering and strengthening the core.

a. Begin lying on your back, your legs together and parallel and your feet pointed.

b. Bend your legs slowly, bringing them off the floor, still bent, and lifting your feet off the floor as well, while your back hugs the ground.

c. Keeping your lower back on the floor and your shoulder blades drawn down toward your waist, curl your upper back off the floor, around your lower abs. Your arms should act like seaweed being moved by the motion of the tides, around and behind your lifted legs.

d. Float your upper back and arms down to the floor, legs still bent, body still energized.

e. Repeat four times, bringing your legs gently toward your head as your core and upper body lift, igniting the lower abdominal muscles.

f. After the last time, hold one hand or wrist (depending on the length of your arms) with the other, behind your thighs.

g. Lengthen your legs straight into the air, pressing the backs of your legs into your arms. 

h. Propel your legs to the floor, arms still around them, until you get close to the floor. Then open your arms to the sides and move them forward toward your feet, over your head.

i. Your upper back should bend forward over your legs as you transition from lying to sitting, with the backs of your hands on the floor to help stabilize and keep the backs of your legs on the floor. 

j. Roll down through your spine until your back is on the floor and you are in the starting position, with your shoulders relaxed. Repeat two to four times. 

Dégagé

“Dégagé” means “disengaged.” When preparing for dégagés in particular, but whenever you’re lying on the floor, you should feel like you are standing or jumping—not lying on the sand at the beach!

This exercise is good for length, strength, and alignment. Be sure to press the parts of your back and body that are touching the surface of the floor to the floor, allowing your working leg to float up, initiating the movement with your inner thighs and the backs of the legs rather than the top of your thighs (quadriceps).

a. Begin lying on your back with your feet in first position (heels together and toes apart, feet pointed). 

b. Place your arms at your sides with your palms facing down; you can vary the positioning of your arms depending on what makes you comfortable, as long as your arms don’t go above your shoulders. 

c. Keep your legs elongated, straight on the floor. 

d. Use your palms and arms by pressing them to the floor. This will help to strengthen 
your core and align the spine. 

e. Lift one leg two or three inches from the floor, with your toes still pointed out, by pressing the standing leg (again, whether you’re standing or lying on the floor, the standing leg is the one that is not moving; it helps to maintain balance), your arms, and your head into the floor. This will help you to lift the working leg while maintaining stability throughout your body. Do four dégagés with one leg front, then switch legs and do four with the other leg front. 

f. Now do four dégagés to each side. For these, your working leg stays on the floor, brushing along the floor as it extends to the side. Do not disturb the balance of the pelvis or the back as you move the working leg.

Excerpted from the book BALLERINA BODY by Misty Copeland. Copyright 2017 by Misty Copeland. Reprinted with permission of Grand Central Life & Style. All rights reserved.

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What a Rattlesnake Bite Really Feels Like

Janette Sherman, 38, a recent transplant to Colorado, recalls how a casual walk with her dog last month turned into a frantic trip to the ER—and the mistakes she made along the way.

On one of the first warm days of April here in Denver, I set off on my lunch break for a hike in nearby Bear Creek Lake Park. I work for a cycling company where most people ride for an hour in the afternoons, but I had my dog with me that day and he needed a good walk.

I moved to Colorado last year from California, and my boss had warned me about rattlesnakes on the trail—especially in the spring, when the ground starts to warm up and the cold-blooded critters look for places to soak up some sun. Still, I’ve encountered snakes before and wasn’t overly concerned: I was wearing shorts (instead of pants and snake gaiters, like some experts recommend), and certainly wasn’t watching the ground every step of the way.

Almost a mile into my hike, I felt a sharp, sudden pain on my ankle, like I’d been stung by a wasp. I looked up, expecting to see a bug flying away. Then I looked down and saw the obvious puncture wounds.

I glanced behind me and saw the snake, coiled up, ready to strike again. It wasn’t particularly large—its coil was maybe 6 inches across—and it hadn’t rattled, the warning sign that often alerts people to back away. I wasn’t sure what kind of a snake it was, but I knew I should call 911 just to be safe.

The dispatcher asked me if my bite looked like a horseshoe; I learned later that horseshoe-shaped wounds come from nonvenomous snakes with tiny teeth all the way around their mouths. When I told her no, there were three distinct holes (which indicates the fangs of a venomous snake), she calmly told me I should get to a hospital.

But at that point I still felt OK, and was embarrassed to make a big deal about things. Even though the dispatcher wanted to send an ambulance, I told her I’d walk back to my car—the long way, since I refused to backtrack past where the snake had been—and drive myself to a fire station down the road.

RELATED: 50 Day Hikes You Must Add to Your Bucket List

As I walked, my foot began to swell and hurt badly. A driver on the road saw me limping and gave me a ride to my car, and I managed to get myself to the fire station. I was sweating a lot more than normal, and my lips and face had started to go numb. Now I know that overexertion can speed up a person’s reaction to snake venom and make symptoms worse. Looking back, I should have waited for help to arrive.

At the fire station, the EMTs took my shoe off and used a Sharpie to mark how far the swelling had spread—up my leg and across my foot—in the 30 minutes since my bite. This would help the doctors determine how serious my case was, they explained. (They also told me that commercial “snake bite” kits are worthless, but that hiking with a permanent marker is a good idea for this very reason.)

I asked if I could go to an urgent care center, but the EMTs told me that only major hospitals would have antivenin, the technical name for what’s also known as anti-venom. About two out of five rattlesnake bites are what’s known as a “dry bite”—not venomous—but with my swelling and facial numbness, that didn’t seem to be the case.

An ambulance took me to Saint Anthony’s Hospital in Denver, where the paramedics’ suspicions were confirmed. But the antivenin had to be mixed in the pharmacy—it’s not always stored in a ready-to-use formula—which would take a while. I was seriously starting to regret not agreeing to an ambulance right away.

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In the meantime, the doctors performed an EKG to check my heart rhythm, and gave me anti-nausea medication to keep me from throwing up (a common symptom of snake bites). Then, about two hours from when I was bitten, I started seeing double and my vision began fading to black. In the nick of time, the antivenin was ready, and the doctors administered six vials.

Over the next few hours, I received six more vials as the hospital staff monitored my vital signs, making sure I didn’t have a bad reaction to the drug. Snake venom can interfere with blood cells’ ability to clot, so my doctors also had to take frequent blood draws and pay close attention to that, as well.

The pain from the swelling in my leg was excruciating, and I had to be monitored closely to make sure I didn’t develop compartment syndrome, when pressure builds up and causes tissue and blood vessel damage. But I got really lucky: Because I’d been treated quickly enough, I didn’t have any permanent injury.

RELATED: How to Treat 8 Common Injuries at Home

I spent about three days in the hospital, and was discharged with crutches and some strong pain meds. I was cleared for exercise, and went back to the office, a week after the bite happened. I’d tried to answer work emails while recovering at home, but I felt really out of it those first few days—like my brain wasn’t working at full speed.

Then came several follow-up appointments, with an orthopedist and my primary care doctor, to make sure there were no lasting complications. My liver enzymes tested a little high, so I was told not to drink alcohol or take acetaminophen for a month.

It’s now been about three weeks since I was bitten, and I still have tenderness and swelling in my leg—especially if I spend a lot of time on my feet. But the bruising has faded and you can barely see the puncture marks. Also thankfully, I have health insurance: I haven’t gotten a bill yet, but I’ve read that antivenin can cost $2,500 a vial, and that it’s not unusual for snake-bite treatment to total $100,000 or more.

The most lasting effect of all this, honestly, is that it’s made me a little freaked out to go back out on the trail. I finally went for a bike ride at Bear Creek Lake this past weekend, and I screamed a few times when things brushed my leg. Luckily, I was able to calm myself down with some deep breaths and logical thinking.

RELATED: How to Stock a Smart First Aid Kit

I did learn a lot from my experience— that rattlesnakes don’t always rattle, how to recognize a venomous bite, how important it is to get to a hospital ASAP, and what not to do: Experts agree that you shouldn’t apply ice, cut into the wound, raise the affected limb above your heart, or apply a tourniquet.

I do plan to buy some snake gaiters, especially for when I’m exploring on foot, and I’m sure I will be more cautious from now on when I do get back out there. I know I’ll get my confidence back soon, though, because hiking and biking is what keeps me happy and healthy—rattlesnakes and all.

As told to Amanda MacMillan

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I Tried a HIIT Workout With Nina Dobrev’s Trainer and Totally Killed It, But I’m Still Sore

When it comes to working out, I’ll admit that I’m a total running junkie. Give me a treadmill or a sidewalk and a playlist full of Rihanna jams, and I’ll go for miles. While I’ve dabbled with yoga, Zumba, and other group exercise classes, I’ve never found an activity that makes me break a sweat like a good old-fashioned jog.

This all changed when I was invited by Reebok to be a part of actress Nina Dobrev’s “squad” for the ultimate staycation, which included two insanely intense workout sessions, brunch, and an overnight stay at the William Vale Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Reebok also gifted me with new workout gear from the Reebok x Les Mills collection.

RELATED: Yoga for a Beautiful Body

The day started on the hotel roof (in 90-degree heat!) with Bodyflow, a Les Mills class that incorporates yoga, Pilates, and tai chi. Our group of reporters, fitness influencers, and all-around badass women bent our bodies into downward dog, pigeon pose, and more as the instructors encouraged us to feel calm and centered. Not only was the view of the Manhattan skyline spectacular, but I left the session feeling super relaxed.

The real fun, though, kicked off after brunch. Since Dobrev is a strong believer in switching up her workout routines, she made sure our afternoon would be exciting. “I’m one of those people who gets bored so easily,” she said to our group. “I like yoga, I like to do high-intensity workouts, I like to do all kinds of crazy things, and that’s exactly what Les Mills is.”

Dobrev promised that the next workout would kick our butts, and she kept her word. We took a boat across the East River and boarded a moving barge in the Hudson to do a Les Mills Grit session with Lissa Bankston, her trainer. Bankston explained that Grit is a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout designed to define and build lean muscle. The moves are perfectly timed to whatever upbeat song is playing, and even the recovery periods are all about action.

Although the workout only lasts 30 minutes, Bankston says you have to be at your max capacity (read: give it your all) 85 percent of the time. You’ll really get your heart rate up, and you’ll sweat, a lot.

As we lifted our barbells, lunged, and jumped, Bankston rallied us to keep pushing for one more rep. “That’s the most important aspect of Grit,” she told me after the workout. “When you’re tired and feel like stopping, you have to find the will inside yourself to do just one more rep.”

The half-hour flew by, and even though every muscle in my body burned, I kept going while Bankston encouraged us to focus on self-love. I was surprised that my body could keep up with such a fast-paced workout, and I had never felt more powerful. Sure, my quads were on fire the next day, but Bankston reminded me to appreciate my body for all that it can do.

RELATED: Best Foods for Healthy Muscles

After the workout, Bankston admitted that the HIIT class was a challenge for her at first too, but since then, it’s gave her more definition and tone than ever before. “We switch up the moves in the classes every three months,” she said. “This way, your body never gets used to the moves and is constantly challenged.”

Les Mills offers Grit online, so you can test the classes from the comfort of your home. For now, I’ll stick to my treadmill workouts, but if the opportunity arises, or I need a reminder of how strong my body is if I push my boundaries, I’ll be back at another HIIT session.

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Bodybuilder Rich Piana Confessed to Taking Steroids. Were These Muscle-Building Drugs Responsible for His Death?

The recent death of bodybuilder Rich Piana—who collapsed in his home on August 10 and was placed in a medically induced coma shortly after—is raising questions about whether it’s possible to use anabolic steroids in a “healthy” way, as the 46-year-old had previously claimed.

The former Mr. California had spoken openly about his 27-year history of steroid use, stating in a 2016 YouTube video, “If you want to be a professional bodybuilder, guess what—you’re probably going to have to f– –’ do ’em,” People reported Friday.

RELATED: Best Foods for Healthy Muscles

Piana’s cause of death has not been publicly released. A police report obtained by TMZ Sports said that 20 bottles of testosterone were found at his home at the time of his collapse. According to TMZ, Piana’s girlfriend also told police that he had previously been diagnosed with an enlarged heart, and that he had “battled opiate addiction in the past but she believed he was clean.”

In a YouTube video from 2014, Piana said that he used—but did not abuse—steroids. He pointed to the fact that he had “a full head of hair,” “no acne scars,” and “a flat waist” as evidence that he was using the drugs properly, and was not damaging his body.

“We want to be doing this in our 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s,” he said. “I’ll be doing this for the rest of my life. … It’s important for me to live a long life.” He added that he would “never in a million years risk ruining my health or ruining my future due to bodybuilding.”

Piana was right that hair loss, adult acne, and unwanted weight gain can be signs of steroid abuse. But even without those visible symptoms, experts say long-term steroid use can still wreak havoc on a many aspects of a person’s health—and can put him or her in serious danger.

RELATED: 11 Exercises That Build Muscle Without Bulk

“With any kind of drug that utilizes something synthetic, there is definitely cumulative effects on the body—some of which are easier to detect than others,” says Tom Hildebrandt, PsyD, associate professor of psychiatry at Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

“In the case of steroids and synthetic androgen, the main risks are to the heart and the brain, and it may take 20-plus years before those manifest and become real.” (Hildebrandt never treated Piana, but he has published several papers on the physical and psychiatric consequences of anabolic-steroid and other performance enhancing–drug use.) 

“The heart is a muscle, and one of the most important parts of the health of that muscle is flexibility and its ability to pump enough blood to deliver oxygen to the entire body,” explains Hildebrandt. “But like other muscles, the heart also has androgen receptors—so over time with steroid use, it’s getting bigger and thicker, and it becomes less flexible and less efficient at pushing blood throughout the body. That puts you at greater risk for a whole host of heart-related defects, including heart failure.” 

A recent study in the journal Circulation adds to the evidence that anabolic steroid use makes it harder for the heart to function properly. About 70% of steroid users in the study had low heart-pumping capacities; they were also more likely to have elevated blood pressure, clogged arteries, and high cholesterol.

As for brain-related dangers, some of the more well-known side effects of taking steroids include depression, mood swings, and so-called ’roid rage. But Hildebrandt says long-term use also appears to speed up age-related cognitive decline. “At least in some percentage of chronic users, it leads to a greater deterioration in brain function for otherwise-healthy, aging men,” he says.

RELATED: Bodybuilding Mom of 2 Reportedly Dies of Protein Overdose

Steroid use has been linked to other health risks as well. Research presented last year at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Munich found that steroid abuse among weightlifters is associated with insulin resistance, a condition that can lead to type 2 diabetes.

In men, long-term steroid use has also been linked to shrinking testicles, an increased risk of prostate cancer, decreased sperm count, and the development of breasts. In women, it can cause the growth of facial hair, a deepened voice, and menstrual-cycle changes.

In October 2016, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that testosterone supplements and related anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) can cause heart attacks, personality changes, and infertility. “Abuse of testosterone, usually at doses higher than those typically prescribed and usually in conjunction with other AAS, is associated with serious safety risks affecting the heart, brain, liver, mental health, and endocrine system,” the agency said in a statement.

Despite warnings about the side effects and health risks of steroid pills and injections, an estimated 2.9 million to 4 million Americans still use them. About 1 million are dependent on them.

RELATED: Weight Loss Success Story: From Couch Potato to Pro Bodybuilder

Hildebrandt points out that the vast majority of people who use anabolic steroids won’t experience health problems right away—or will decide that the benefits (like more lean muscle mass, an improved physique, and increased strength) outweigh any short-term side effects that do occur. For many people, he says, the cognitive and cardiovascular risks may not be evident for years or even decades.

“Anyone who’s thinking about using these drugs or has been using them for any significant period of time needs to question whether this really has to be a lifestyle for them,” says Hildebrandt. “Because the longer they continue, the more likely they are to experience side effects and risks later in life.”

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I Lost a Leg After My Helicopter Crashed in Afghanistan. Sports Helped Me Get My Life Back

At age 21, Kirstie Ennis was living the life of her dreams. The daughter of two Marines, she had enlisted at 17 and was flying combat and rescue missions in Afghanistan as an aerial observer and gunner. “I was the eyes and ears for the pilot, letting him know what’s going on behind and around him,” she says. “I’m small—5’4” and 115 pounds—and as a woman I had to fight tooth and nail to prove that I could do the job. But it was worth it. I loved everything about it.”

June 23, 2012, started like any other day. She and her team had already completed one mission and were en route to pick up Marines who were pinned down in an active combat zone in Helmand Province, when their helicopter suddenly went nose down, then rolled to the left and crashed. “I just watched the ground come towards me and hoped I would open my eyes afterward,” she recalls.

Rebuilding a life

Kirstie suffered a traumatic brain injury as well as severe damage to her face, spine, shoulders and left leg. “When you’re recovering from a traumatic injury, you don’t just lose yourself physically but mentally and emotionally,” she says now. “You wonder if you’ll ever be the same person again. For me that was a pretty huge internal battle.”

One year after the accident, on her “Alive Day,” as critically injured vets call their traumatic anniversaries, she tried to take her own life. “It was a very dark time, and I thought I didn’t want to be here anymore,” she says. “After my suicide attempt, my dad was the one who talked some sense into me. He said, ‘The enemy didn’t kill you. Why would you try to do it yourself? You’re tougher than that.’ It was just what I needed to hear.”

RELATED: How to Spot the Warning Signs of Suicide

Afterward, Kirstie stopped dwelling on what she couldn’t do and began thinking about what she could do. Several months before, a group called Disabled Sports USA had taught her to snowboard, and she loved it. “During the following season, I trained hard, and that became my lifeline,” she says. “Snowboarding restored my confidence and gave me joy. It literally got me up on my own two feet again.”

Seeking new summits

In the years after the crash, Kristie endured dozens of surgeries to reconstruct her face and attempt to save her left leg. Then in 2015, doctors had to amputate the leg—first below the knee, then, after an infection set in, above the knee. “With an above-the-knee amputation you’re basically starting from scratch in learning how to use your leg again,” she says.

Instead of losing hope, she got hungry. She threw herself into mountain climbing, and set herself the goal of summiting the Seven Summits—the highest peaks on all seven continents, including Everest.

In March this year she summited Kilimanjaro, then in July topped Indonesia’s technical and treacherous Carstensz Pyramid—the first combat-wounded female amputee to achieve both peaks. “Carstensz was brutal,” she says. “We were climbing in blizzards, but I proved to myself I could do it.” Now she has her sights set on snowboarding in the 2018 Paralympics in South Korea.

“After my accident, I did lots of psychotherapy, but talking to someone who had no idea what I’d been through didn’t help,” she says. “Being physical did. It gave me a sense of purpose, made me believe in myself and showed me how resilient my body is. It gave me goals, led me to a career and gave me the courage and strength I needed to move past my injury and into the future.”

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The Right Way to Shovel Snow

Clearing the driveway after a snowstorm isn’t only a pain in the butt, it can actually be dangerous if you don’t do it carefully. Moving a heavy shovel full of snow repeatedly without proper form can put you at risk of injury.

“Most people don’t use long levers, like shovels, to lift and throw weight,” says Michelle Lovitt, an exercise physiologist in Los Angeles (who grew up shoveling snow in the Midwest). “Shoveling snow increases a person’s risk for low-back and shoulder injuries because of the weight and imbalance of snow and generally poor posture when shoveling.”

RELATED: Stop a Cold in Its Tracks

The physical exertion required to haul weighty, wet snow also isn’t for the faint of art: Research has found that risk of heart attack is higher in the few days after heavy snowfalls.

Why is the winter chore so tough on the body? “The intense aerobic work is a tremendous stress on the heart, and the cold is an additional stressor,” says Christine Lawless, MD, a sports cardiologist in Chicago. “Your blood vessels constrict because your body is trying to conserve heat, and now the heart has to work even harder to try and pump blood through those constricted blood vessels.”

Another big mistake people make: throwing a jacket over thin pajamas and heading outdoors immediately. “It’s absolutely a horrible idea to jump out of bed and start shoveling snow,” Lovitt warns. “Your body needs time to increase blood flow before beginning activity,” she explains. “This will allow you to move and bend more easily, reducing risk of injury.”

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Adds Dr. Lawless: “You also get some people who are not necessarily in shape or used to doing aerobic exercise, and suddenly they go out in the snow and they perform at their maximum level, which is incredibly dangerous.”

With these scary snow situations in mind, apply the following advice next time you head out to shovel.

Do a proper warm-up

If you just woke up, wait 45 minutes to an hour before shoveling. But before you shovel at any point in the day, move through a quick dynamic warm-up to “wake up” all the right muscles, says Lovitt. “A great warm-up people can do is knee grabs—standing and pulling each knee to your chest alternating—for 12 to 15 reps on each side and large arm circles forward and back for a few reps,” she says.

Dr. Lawless also suggests getting your heart pumping by walking at 2.5 miles per hour on the treadmill for one mile before you head outside.

RELATED: 9 Things Every Woman Should Know About Her Heart

Fire up the right muscles

“When you think about the biomechanics of shoveling snow, the biggest challenge of the movement is taken on by the muscles and joints of the back of the body,” explains Cris Dobrosielski, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise. The neck, shoulders, and low back in particular get pulled forward as you drive the shovel into the snow, and they have to work together to stabilize your body. “It’s really a form of resistance training,” Dobrosielski says.

Just before you lift a shovel full of snow, think about two main things: keeping your knees slightly bent at all times, which  takes some of the tension off of the low back, and hinging at the hips. “Draw in the navel slightly, keep your back straight and abdominals engaged, and shift your hips back slightly, which will help turn on the glutes and hamstrings, where most of the power should come from,” Dobrosielski explains. “Then brace your body from this position while you drive the shovel into the snow and lift and throw.”

While you’re in this position, you want to remind yourself to constantly keep your core engaged, Lovitt adds. “Brace your midsection as if you were going to take a punch to the stomach.”

RELATED: 4 Reasons It’s Harder to Lose Weight in Winter—and What You Need to Do Differently

Hold the shovel correctly

Keep a wide grip on the shovel handle—with one hand near the top of the handle and the other close to the actual shovel full of snow—so that you have better control of the heavy load. Also, keep the shovel as close to your body as possible as you carry it.

“You have a mechanical advantage when you keep the lever arm of the shovel and the weight of the load close to your body,” Dobrosielski says. “The closer the load is to your center of gravity, the less strain and discomfort you are putting on every muscle and joint involved in that movement.”

Don’t twist and throw

What does bad form look like? To start, you shouldn’t be rounding your shoulders and dropping your back to lift the snow without engaging your legs and glutes—or using your lower back to lift the snow in the shovel (but you know that now). But another huge mistake is twisting or hyperextending your back to propel and throw the snow off the shovel.

RELATED: Best and Worst Exercises to Do When You Have a Cold

“You may need to twist your torso a little bit to maneuver the snow, but you should really be thinking about turning your entire body with the shovel in the direction that you want to drop the snow and gently tip the shovel for the snow to drop off,” Dobrosielski explains. “You shouldn’t have to twist a lot, and you should never be throwing snow from the shovel up by your shoulders. The shovel can stay at or below your waist.”

And when you can, don’t even lift the snow; just plow it to the side.

Take breaks

“When fatigue sets in, this is when injuries tend to happen,” Lovitt cautions. So keep your snow-shoveling intervals short and sweet, taking breaks whenever you need to.

“I wouldn’t suggest going outside for more than 40 minutes at a time,” Dobrosielski says. “And I would break that up until two 20-minute periods for fit people, and even four 10-minute intervals for more sedentary people.”

Another tip: Keep the scoops small. “You may think it makes more sense to scoop these huge heavy piles to move more snow more quickly, but this will tire most people out faster than just doing more reps with little piles,” he adds.

RELATED: How to Keep Seasonal Affective Disorder From Harming Your Relationship

Strength train regularly

If you want to shovel more efficiently and protect yourself each time you do it, it makes sense to build up your total body strength in general. “If you break the snow-shoveling movement into different parts, you’ll actually probably recognize a lot of traditional functional movement exercises,” Dobrosielski points out.

The foundation of the shoveling movement is a squat, he notes. “So adding squats and lunges to your workout routine is excellent for building up your lower body strength for shoveling, and for any lifestyle activity that involves heavy lifting,” he continues (such as lifting a suitcase into the overhead on a plane, or carrying a heavy laundry basket up the stairs).

While you shovel, you also experience slight torso rotation as you move around carrying the shovel. “So doing a standing torso rotation with a dumbbell or using a cable machine is another exercise that can help you build strength and stability for shoveling,” Dobrosielski says.

Other strength moves to add to your routine that will help make you the best snow shoveler in your neighborhood: deadlifts, standing bent-over rows, lateral dumbbell raises, and standing hay-balers with a medicine ball.

Do three to five sets of eight to 12 reps of each move when you add them to your routine, Dobrosielski recommends. “But even doing a single set of 15 reps of any of these moves once per week would have value,” he says.

RELATED: 7 Reasons You’re Not Building Muscle Even Though You’re Lifting Weights

Make shoveling snow a workout 

If you’re shoveling snow properly, you’ll work your glutes, hamstrings, quads, abs, low back, upper back, and shoulders. “It’s the absolute best workout,” Lovitt says. Once you get into the swing of things and nail your form, you can really start to make it a double-duty chore and up the fitness factor.

“Do lunges or squats into each shovel of snow,” Lovitt says. You can also carry the piles of snow farther down the driveway to get extra steps in if you’re feeling ambitious.

One caveat: If you’re recovering from a heart attack or have known risk factors for cardiovascular disease, do not shovel snow without clearance from your doctor.

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Calming Yoga for Holiday Stress

From increased social commitments to the start of gift shopping, this time of year can really cause anxiety levels to skyrocket. But it doesn’t have to! By consciously scheduling in moments to rest, recharge, and rejuvenate, you can keep your chill and genuinely appreciate all the joy this season has to offer. One way to do just that? With our easy to-follow yoga routine. “This is the perfect flow to open your heart and find your center,” says Chelsea Jackson Roberts, PhD, a certified yoga instructor and founder of the Yoga, Literature, and Art Camp for Teen Girls at Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, who created the following series exclusively for Health. Now go ahead and get your namaste on.

RELATED: 9 Easy Yoga Poses to Help You Survive Work, Stress and Travel

Mountain Pose

Stand tall with shoulders down and back, and palms together at heart’s center. Ground down into all four corners of feet and, with eyes closed, inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.

RELATED: Hilaria Baldwin Breaks Down 3 Yoga Moves You Might Be Getting Wrong

Upward Salute

Inhale and bring arms up while reaching through fingertips (A). Exhale and extend arms around back of body while outwardly rotating shoulders to stretch and open your heart. Interlock fingers behind lower back; inhale while lifting heart’s center and pressing knuckles toward the ground (B).

RELATED: 3 Yoga Lengthening Poses You Might Be Doing Wrong and How to Fix Them

Forward Fold with Clasped Hands

Keeping hands behind you and fingers interlaced, exhale as you bow forward. Bending knees slightly, allow belly to be supported by quads while actively pressing all four corners of feet into the ground.

RELATED: Take 10 Minutes to Try This Beginner Yoga Routine

Chair Pose

On your next inhale, release your hands, sweeping them up as you lower hips back and down. Allow arms to lift; power up the quads and press through all four corners of feet. Draw shoulder blades into your upper back as you reach elbows toward ears. Draw tailbone down to the floor, keeping your lower back nice and long.

RELATED: 3 Common Yoga Poses You’re Probably Doing Wrong—And How to Fix Them

Forward Fold

Exhale, bowing forward with hands down. Release quads, allowing a gentle stretch in your hamstrings.

RELATED: I Tried a Naked Yoga Class—and Actually Loved How It Made Me Feel

Root to Rise

On your next inhale, ground down into feet. Make your way back into Upward Salute with arms extended up as you reach through fingertips. Standing tall, draw hands back to heart’s center, and bring your shoulders down and back.

RELATED: 5 Ways to Become More Flexible

Try this post-flow:

Sitali Breath

This breathing pattern is known to ease anxiety. Close your eyes and begin to bring awareness to how you are breathing. Relax your jaw and curl your tongue like a taco (no worries if your tongue won’t cooperate—just leave it!). Inhale one long breath like your are inhaling through a straw. On the exhale, allow the breath to travel out through the nose with ease. Continue this pattern for at least 10 rounds.

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