To get in shape to play Battleship ‘s hard-hitting Petty Officer Cora Raikes, Rihanna geared up to work alongside the real-life Navy. From weapons training to boot camp, find out how the pop songstress got in shape for her big-screen debut. Drop and give me 20 : Forget what you think you know about bootcamp workouts. Rihanna’s training was the real deal . She worked alongside Navy soldiers, performing drills that challenged her entire body. She describes the experience as “really intense with lots of yelling,” and, of course, lots of push-ups. The goal was to get her in action-hero shape while also breaking her out of the “celebrity mindset.” In order for Rihanna to really connect with her role, she needed to understand the mentality of a soldier. You can train just like Rihanna – minus all that yelling – by doing our 11 total-body bootcamp workouts . A weighty affair : Wielding a big gun is no easy feat. Aside from a ton of weapons training, Rihanna needed serious upper-body strength to maneuver around with such a heavy arsenal. Her trainer’s answer? Weighted sandbags. Working out while carrying added weight helped Rihanna prepare for running, jumping, and kicking her way across the screen with heavy artillery strapped to her chest. Feel like challenging yourself with military-style tactics? Get going on these CrossFit workouts that anyone can do , or wear a weighted vest the next time you hit the treadmill.

There are few places that illustrate the fragility of life better than a neonatal intensive care unit .  Premature babies, hooked up to tubes and monitors, their tiny legs sticking out of the smallest of diapers: it's a sight can bring tears to your eyes and a prayer to your lips. One in 10 children are born prematurely every year around the world.  That comes to about 15 million babies. You may think developing countries like Belarus and  Libya  have more preemies than the United States. Think again. A new study – the first of its kind – ranks   preterm birth rates around the globe. The United States comes in at 131 on the list of 184 countries. According to the new report, Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth , twelve in every 100 babies born in the U.S. are premature. Belarus has the lowest preterm birth rate in the world (4.1 in 100) while Malawi has the highest (18 in 100).  More than a million premature babies die each year. It's the No. 1 cause of death among newborns. And it's a major health concern because babies born prematurely can have breathing problems, cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities. "This report should be a call to action," says Chris Howson, vice president for global programs at the March of Dimes , one of the groups behind the report. "We are one of the countries with one of the highest survival rates, but we are not leading in preventing preemies." So why is the premature birth rate higher in the U.S. than in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan ?  Howson says it's largely because women are having babies later in life, the increased use of  fertility drugs and more C-sections and inductions. Another thing at play, says Howson, is the lack of care some women – in particular minorities – get during pregnancy. For example, if diabetes is diagnosed early, it can be treated more successfully.  That, according to Howson, doesn't happen enough. "It is absolutely critical that we provide the services that make it accessible to all women in this country, especially in the early stages of pregnancy," he says. The study also looks at American premature births state-by-state .  Funding the report were the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health , Save the Children and The World Health Organization . Filed under: Children’s Health , Parenting , Women’s Health Tagged: Jennifer Bixler – CNN Medical Executive Producer

Does the nearing bikini season have you thinking of your workout routine? Whether you’re a first-time gymgoer or a dedicated gym rat, chances are there are a few ways you can make your gym time even more effective and efficient. Ready to take your workouts to the next level? Here are 10 tips to help you make the most of your time at the gym. View Slideshow ›

Since I have trouble yanking myself out of bed for an early morning workout, and after work I’m on mom duty, the lunchtime workout has become my fitness savior. Nothing beats the midday pick-me-up from a nooner sweat session, but timing is everything. After months of careful consideration and testing, I have found the best outfits, for both the office and gym, to cut down on locker room time to ensure I am pedaling when the first tune blares in, cardio cycling, and back at my desk minutes after the class is over. Here’s my tried-and-tested strategy: What to wear to work : For starters, keep your office outfit simple: a one-piece dress is quickly off and easily hung on a locker hook. Skip the tights if weather permits, but do wear boots that slip on and off easily, so you can wear your athletic socks to work, eliminating one more element from your wardrobe change. If you have long hair, wear it up to work alleviating the need to mess with it before your workout. Start taking off your jewelry as you walk out the office door and do fish for your ID card as you commute, so it’s on hand when you walk through the gym door. Learn what to wear to the gym [beak]after the break.[/break] What to wear to work out : For low-impact workouts, wear a tank with a built-in bra to decrease the number of tight garments you need to put on. Slip on pants, leggings, or cycling shorts, and tie your shoes with the double looping method so they stay put, yet are easily untied ( here’s a video demo of the ultimate shoe-tying technique – a great time-saver). No matter your hair length, wear a wicking headband to keep your hair out of your face and your sweat out of your hair. Depending on how much you sweat, this could prevent the need for washing your hair (and drying it) after your workout. Two more times-savers: Fill your water bottle up sometime during the morning when you are already headed to the watercooler. Take your flip flops with you to class, if you can, eliminating the time spent stopping by your locker and possibly losing the pole position in the shower line – jockeying for shower at lunchtime can be just as competitive as a triathlon.

Another Cancer Surgery For Chávez : Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will have a lesion surgically removed from his pelvis within the next few days, the WSJ reports . Chávez, who has already undergone two other surgeries for cancer, claimed the disease hadn’t spread and there was no reason for alarm, but doctors not involved with his case speculated his situation is more serious than he acknowledges. The type of cancer that Chávez has isn’t publicly known. Heart Attack Differences: A study of about 1.1 million patients published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that younger women are less likely to report chest pain or discomfort after a heart attack, Reuters reports . A study author says the results are preliminary but raise the question of whether public-health messages about symptoms need to be tailored by age and gender. The study also found younger women without chest pain were more likely to die in the hospital after a heart attack than younger men. No Day in Court for J&J: The U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear a patent-infringement suit brought by a unit of Johnson & Johnson against Abbott over a rheumatoid-arthritis therapy, the WSJ reports . The court let stand a lower court’s ruling overturning an earlier jury award of $1.67 billion in damages to J&J. Raw (Milk) Data: A study from the Centers for Disease Control finds that unpasteurized, or raw, milk is far more likely to cause outbreaks of food-borne illness than pasteurized milk, USA Today reports . States where raw milk sales are legal also experience more outbreaks than states where sales are banned, the paper says. Advocates of raw milk consumption say the study didn’t distinguish outbreaks stemming from raw milk from those caused by possibly illegally-made soft cheeses. Image: iStockphoto

It’s the holiday season, and we’re getting in the spirit with our third annual 15 Days of Holiday Giveaways ! Every day for the next 15 days, one of the PopSugar Network sites – plus our sister sites PopSugar Shop, Fashionologie, and ShopStyle – will feature a new fabulous giveaway. We’re kicking things off with a $2,500 shopping spree to one of our favorite stores, Bloomingdale’s ! Hurry, the $2,500 Bloomingdale’s shopping spree giveaway is only open for a week, so enter now. We will be revealing more amazing giveaways every day, so come back daily and enter them all. Good luck and happy holidays! Enter PopSugar’s Giveaway Below 1. Like us on Facebook PopSugar Bloomingdale’s 2. Enter your email address Please enter a valid email address. By submitting your email address you agree to receive Sponsor and Bloomingdale’s emails. See Official Rules You can only enter this contest once per email address. Thanks for entering our giveaway …and don’t forget to share with your friends!

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar! You put in the time – and the sweat! So don’t let these common misconceptions get you off track. By The Editors of Prevention Can you really blast more fat by working out on an empty stomach? Do you burn the same number of calories walking a mile rather than running? We asked fitness pros to weigh in on 5 of the most common exercise myths and tell us the real deal — so you can get the best results out of each and every workout. Myth: You burn more fat if you exercise on an empty stomach Reality: Don’t expect any fat-melting miracles. When you exercise, your body burns both fat and carbohydrate calories. Recent studies show that working out on an empty stomach might burn a few more fat calories than when you work out an hour or two after eating — but total calorie burn is about the same. And, based on research so far, that’s what really counts when it comes to fitting into a smaller size. What scientists don’t yet know is whether an increase in fat burn alone could help you lose weight faster or shed more pounds over time. So the choice about when to eat is yours. More Misconceptions About Your Workout There are two more myths, so keep on reading.

Many people choose a vegan lifestyle for ethical, health, or environmental reasons. But if you’re solely going meat-, dairy-, and egg-free because you think it will help you drop pounds, you may end up gaining rather than losing weight. Remember that just because a food is vegan doesn’t mean it’s healthier or lower in calories. Keep these points in mind to avoid plumping up on your vegan diet. Chowing on vegan junk: French fries, tortilla chips, and Swedish Fish are all free of animal products, but they’re also high in fat, sugar, and calories. Just because some junk food is vegan doesn’t mean it’s healthier. Loading up on bread and pasta: Many people don’t know how to cook vegan meals, so when you head to a dinner party or out to a restaurant, get ready to eat some dinner rolls and spaghetti! There’s nothing wrong with eating bread or pasta, it’s just that they’re high in calories. A dinner roll will run you over 200 calories , and although one cup of cooked pasta is a little over 200 calories , plates tend to be two or three times larger than an appropriate serving size. If bread and pasta are staples in your vegan diet, it’s no wonder your pants are fitting a little snug. Keep reading to find out the other ways a vegan diet is contributing to weight gain.

We read about the new computerized brain atlas unveiled yesterday and had one burning question: what about the ladies? As the WSJ reports , the $55 million project — funded by the Allen Institute for Brain Science — provides “the first interactive research guide to the anatomy and genes that animate the mind.” But the new information is based on the analysis of two brains, both male. We wondered why, given that women make up more than half the population. Allan Jones, chief executive of the Allen Institute, tells the Health Blog that in general, it was difficult to find brains that met their strict criteria — that is, that are unaffected by disease and are “normal” in every way except they’re no longer functioning. Eligible donors usually die from accidental causes or cardiac arrest, both of which disproportionately affect men. Moreover, there’s a sociological element at work, says Jones.  The brains of deceased people who have indicated they’re willing to be organ donors are screened for their suitability by the medical examiner’s office, but the next of kin have to agree before they can be donated to a brain bank. If a woman dies, her husband is less likely to agree to the brain donation than in the opposite case, Jones says. ‘It’s just one of those things.” After working with two brain banks for the “last couple of years,” only about six or seven brains were fully eligible for the project, Jones says. And all were male. Good news, though. The project is currently processing a female brain, using a different technique, in the second phase of the atlas. Jones says that of course there are differences between the male and female brain. But “it’s going to be a little challenging” to identify them in this project, unless they’re very distinct. Since the atlas is using such a small number of brains, it’s focusing on the similarities rather than the differences between the brains. According to the brains analyzed, two people are 94% alike in how strongly or weakly different genes expressed themselves. Image: Allen Institute for Brain Science

Sure I can take the stairs when the elevator is broken, but when it comes to stair-climbing to burn extra calories, I’m a bit of a wimp. You see, stairs sort of scare me. Once you start going up a big flight, you know you have to keep going, and the intensity can be overwhelming. Stair climbing is intense because you’re carrying your body weight against gravity . And if you take the stairs two at a time - which is basically like combining the StairMaster and lunges - you’ll really feel the burn in your hamstrings, glutes, quads, and booty. And those calories? A 130-pound person can burn around 400 calories by running up stairs for just 30 minutes . Do you ever explore public steps in your city or neighborhood? Here in San Francisco, there are so many amazing outdoor steps to climb that I know I need to just lace up, stop whining, and start putting them to the cardio test. Not only is climbing stairs good for you, but going down stairs is beneficial as well because it reduces blood-sugar levels more than walking uphill. The only downside of going down is that it can be hard on your knees because your leg muscles are in an eccentric or lengthened position, which can strain the knee joint. Here’s an easy way to start outdoor stair climbing and a short inspirational video.