One moment of overextending yourself can lead to years of physical therapy and doctors visits to help keep your sports-related back pain at bay. Trainers and physical therapists constantly remind us to keep the abs engaged when completing any exercise, but to really strengthen your entire trunk, you must work it beyond the gym. Since most of us sit at a desk most hours of our waking day, our abs have become very lazy. We evolved to be on the move with an engaged core supporting every step. Keeping your abdominals pulled in and up makes a kind of natural corset instantly lifting you up, creating traction (or space) between the vertebrae of the low spine. By consciously pulling your muscles toward your spine, your trunk has the mobility, strength, and support needed to safely and (hopefully) painlessly accomplish any physical task, whether it’s lifting a leg, reaching for the floor, or rising from a chair. Many people think engaging your abs means clamping down tight in the torso, but that might aggravate the pain more. Click here to learn how to safely engage all your ab muscles.

CVS and FTC Settle: CVS Caremark will pay $5 million to settle FTC charges that the company’s Rx America unit posted prices for certain Medicare Part D prescription drugs that were far lower than the actual prices, Dow Jones Newswires reports . The mistaken rates were posted in 2007 and 2008 at CVS and Walgreen pharmacies and prompted Medicare consumers to choose Rx America without realizing how high their drug costs would be, DJN says. CVS says the incorrect prices were posted inadvertently and that the problem took place before it acquired Rx America. Parsing Health-Care Spending: A report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality finds that 1% of the non-institutionalized U.S. population accounted for almost 22% of health-care spending in 2009, while the bottom half of the population accounted for just 2.9%, NPR’s Shots blog reports . Beyond the sick population, people who spent the most tended to be elderly, female, white and on public insurance; the low-spenders were healthy, young, and more likely to be Hispanic or African-American, Shots reports. Brazilian Orange Juice: Coca-Cola says only a “relatively small number” of consumers have contacted the company with questions about the fungicide carbendazim, which is not approved in the U.S. but has turned up in some orange juice from Coke and its competitors imported from Brazil, the WSJ reports . The FDA has said it will pull from store shelves OJ with anything more than trace elements of the fungicide. PepsiCo., which also uses some juice imported from Brazil, said it’s testing its own products but wouldn’t say whether the fungicide has been detected. Two Hearts Jump-Started: A case study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine describes how a man with two hearts — one his own, one from a donor — had both organs defibrillated after they developed irregular rhythms in the hospital, the Los Angeles Times’ Booster Shots blog reports . The man, who also had a pacemaker, had the second heart implanted in a relatively uncommon procedure that is done “when the original heart is too weak to work by itself or the donor heart is a different size than the patient’s original heart,” the LAT says. Image: iStockphoto

It might still be the weekend, but it’s time to jump-start your fitness life after days off cooking, cleaning, and feasting. Rev up your metabolism with this 45-minute elliptical workout. Use the versatility of the machine to tone your legs, backside, arms (love the moving handles), and back while getting your heart rate up to burn some calories. We’ve even thrown a few intervals in to make the body work just a little bit harder. Take a look at the workout when you read more.

When you need a sweetener, what do you turn to? Honey, agave nectar, or maybe just plane ole sugar? I’m far from being this “freaky” eater , but my sweetener of choice is organic, Grade A maple syrup. Aside from smothering pancakes and waffles in this delicious brown syrup, maple syrup is a very versatile sweetener. I like adding it to yogurt, oatmeal, or apple sauce, but you can also use it in dressings for salads, in fish or chicken dishes, or in a granola parfait, or roast some almonds in maple syrup and spicy cinnamon for a light, healthy snack. These maple syrup recipe ideas are sure to inspire you. Pure maple syrup tastes great, and it offers a myriad of health benefits. Here are just a few: It’s an antioxidant powerhouse. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island found that maple syrup is filled with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds that may help prevent several chronic and inflammatory diseases like diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s. It also comes packed with phenolics – the beneficial antioxidant compounds in maple syrup – that may help diabetics keep their blood sugar levels balanced since phenolics inhibit the enzymes that are involved in the conversion of carbohydrates to sugar . Here are more reasons why it’s good for us.

Buyers seem more likely to purchase foods they perceive as unhealthful indulgences if they’re promoted with a discount rather than a bonus quantity.

Every change of the calendar delivers a fitting opportunity to start fresh, reevaluate our goals, and make some new ones. On the first of the year, we holiday revelers hoping to lose our December pounds, as well as those with weight loss resolutions, start searching for some outside help. Need a place to start? Consider these staple weight loss tips and put them in to practice. View Slideshow ›

Sometimes the holiday season can feel like gluttony on a stick. If you’re worried about bottomless cocktails, cookie platters, and never ending buffets, celebrity trainer Patrick Murphy shared a few tips with us that will keep your waistline in check all through the holidays. And, I think that his clients Eva Longoria and Olivia Wilde will definitely agree that Patrick knows what he’s talking about! Buffet style? Hit the line last! Patrick says that people who hit the buffet first, overload their plates with food to avoid getting back in line. The “fresh out of the oven” presentation also influences them to take larger helpings. Since picked over food psychologically makes you choose smaller amounts, being one of the last in line is a good way to practice portion control. Eat proteins first . When approaching a holiday table filled with glorious carbs, Patrick suggests putting more protein on your plate and eating that first. Proteins slow the absorption of carbs, which can help prevent a spike in blood sugar. See more tips when you read more. Use a salad plate for dinner . It’s a pretty simple trick, but it works. As Patrick says, “Even if you go for seconds, those seconds will still be smaller.” Savor dessert, slowly . Take the time to really enjoy your first few bites of a dessert. “From then on,” Patrick says, “it’s the law of diminishing returns.” Enjoy those fist bites slowly and obnoxiously and then be done with dessert. Put the focus onto family and friends . While food is a big part of the holiday season,  enjoying the company of your family and friends is more important. Patrick says instead of being an eating machine, kill calories with conversation, games, and other activities. “Make food your back-up entertainment.”

Radiation-therapy dose errors are the top tech health hazard, according to ECRI Institute.

Ask most women and they will tell you men can act like serious wusses when sick or injured. I don’t know if it is an old wives’ tale or a stereotype – but I remember my mother only being sick once when I was child (which was awesome because we had Dairy Queen for dinner that night). A recent study now kind of backs up my very unscientific conclusions about the genders and sickness. The study, based on data from 48,394 people, found that women were 14 percent more likely to survive a traumatic injury than men. Involved in the study Dr. Adil H. Haider, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, explained the findings like this: “I know some people may think women are the fairer sex, but as far as trauma goes, and their ability and tenacity to survive, women may even have a better evolution than men. Women have to take care of kids, survive childbirth, do things that men aren’t expected or built to do. In some events, female sex hormones kind of enhance the immune system.” Researchers feel that the female hormones’ effect on the immune system could also be why women are more likely to suffer from autoimmune diseases like lupus than men. I am wondering what you think of all this? Has this been your experience? Share your opinion in the comment section below.

It might seem counterintuitive, but to prevent acne it’s best to wash your face before your sweat session. Wiping the perspiration off your face when working out means you’re pushing the day’s grime back into your pores. And we all know clogged pores can turn into big red spots. Sweat itself doesn’t clog the pores , but makeup sure can. Wipe your face with a cleansing pad, or wash with a mild cleanser before getting your sweat on. Tack your bangs back and off your forehead too to protect the top of your t-zone. Since the salt in sweat can aggravate acne-prone skin, it’s a good idea to wash your face, chest, and back post-workout, too.