14 Strappy Workout Tanks That Show Off Your Back

Business in the front, party in the back—no, we’re not talking about a long-dead hairstyle. It’s actually the latest trend in workout tops, which are all about showing off your sexy back and shoulders with criss-crossing straps and big cutouts. Best part: They look incredible while you work out, and transition seamlessly from sweat to street. Pair them with mesh leggings for a super on-trend look.

Here’s a bunch of our favorites:

Athleta Full Force Tank ($64; athleta.com)

Perforated mesh fabric keeps you cool and dry through hot yoga class. A conservative scoop neck contrasts the deep, sexy plunge the top takes in the back.

Photo: Athleta.com

Athleta Shadow Stripe Energize Top ($59; athleta.com)

This strappy tank offers style and substance, with a built-in bra and breathable fabric that is as at home at brunch as it is at Barre class.

Photo: Athleta.com

Nike Elastika Elevate Tank Top ($40; zappos.com)

Nike Dri-FIT technology wicks perspiration, cooling you during even the hottest summer runs. Flatlock seams prevent chafing.

Photo: Zappos.com

Koral Vortex Sleeveless Top ($92; bandier.com)

A cotton-like high-performance fabric wicks sweat and oozes style. The cutouts above the waist show off your killer physique, while the racerback flaunts those sculpted shoulders you’ve been working on.

Photo: Bandier.com

Dylan Racerneck Top ($48; zobha.com)

This fierce top sports a zipper running down the mesh panel on the back.

Photo: Zobha.com

Mukha Yoga Cami ($105; sweatybetty.com)

Don’t let this top fool you–it means serious business. The totally seamless design features a built-in bra with removable pads, ultra-stretchy material that moves with you every which way, and delicate, yet strong straps in the back.

Photo: Sweatybetty.com

Splits 59 London Strap Back Tank ($82; nordstrom.com)

This super-sexy top would work out at the club, but is actually made of a high-performance Supplex-Lycra blend meant for wicking sweat during intense workouts. Flatlock seams prevent rubbing and chafing and adjustable straps allow for a custom fit.

Photo: nordstrom.com

UA Cool Switch Tank ($35; underarmour.com)

With more than seven color combinations, this top is a must for any gymgoer. Besides looking good, it has Cool Switch technology to pull heat away from you, keeping you fresh and comfortable all session long.

Photo: Underarmour.com

Zella Her Layered Racerback Tank ($38; nordstrom.com)

Pair this top with a bold, bright sports bra: Deep armholes and a racer back will show it off.

Photo: Nordstrom.com

ALO Vapor Tank ($50; zappos.com)

A chic cutout and feminine draped back makes this top a true standout.

Photo: Zappos.com

Danskin Two-fer Tank ($38; danskin.com)

If you ever took dance lessons as a kid, then you probably remember Danskin. What you may not realize is that the dancewear company also makes gorgeous workout clothes for adults, like this tank. The flowy top has deep armholes and a racer back that reveal a built-in bra.

Photo: Danskin.com

Velvet Rose Women’s Double Layer Tank ($30; target.com)

Gotta love Target: For $30, you get an on-trend tank with a built-in bra and super-lightweight fabric.

Photo: Target.com

Old Navy Burnout T-Strap Tank ($15; oldnavy.com)

This relaxed-fit tank can be paired with jean shorts for a casual Saturday, or leggings for a light yoga workout. Just keep in mind that it’s 35% cotton, which means it may not keep you as cool and dry as some of the other options on this list.

Photo: Oldnavy.com

Soybu Brooklyn Tank Top ($39; zappos.com)

Wear this top in HIIT class or as a beach coverup—either way, you’ll be sweating in style.

Photo: Zappos.com

 

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6 Times Celebrities Got Angry in Public (and How They Handled It)

Photo: Getty Images

Here’s how A-listers manage anger—from supercool to totally over the top.

RELATED: 20 Celebrities Who Battled Depression

Alyssa Milano fires back at Wendy Williams for dissing breast-feeding

Milano stood up to Williams in January after the talk show host said she didn’t want to see women breast-feed in public. Milano’s defense: Breasts are sexual only because we’ve made them that way.

U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team demands equal field

After protesting poor conditions on women’s fields to FIFA for months, the U.S. women’s national soccer team canceled a December match rather than risk injury. Point: U.S.A.!

Zendaya calls out Giuliana Rancic for hair insults

Following the Fashion Police co-host’s hurtful joke about Zendaya’s dreadlocks last year, Zendaya fired off an Instagram response calling out Rancic for being offensive. Rancic womaned up and apologized.

RELATED: 7 Times Celebs Embraced Their Natural Beauty

Lena Dunham slams Jezebel for sneaky body shaming

In 2014, the Girls star blasted the website Jezebel for posting unretouched pics from her Vogue shoot: “I don’t understand why, Photoshop or no, having a woman who is different than the typical Vogue cover girl could be a bad thing.” So true.

RELATED: The Top 10 Body Positive Moments of 2015

Jennifer Lawrence roasts reporter’s tech etiquette at Golden Globes

During a press conference after the 2016 Golden Globes, Jennifer Lawrence scolded a reporter for interviewing her with his face buried in a phone, telling him he needs to “live in the now.”

Naomi Campbell throws phone at housekeeper

In 2006, model Naomi Campbell allegedly threw a phone at her housekeeper—causing a cut that required four stitches—after accusing her of taking a pair of jeans. Yeow!

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Many Kidney Transplant Patients Land in ER Within 2 Years: Study

THURSDAY, March 24, 2016 (HealthDay News) — More than half of kidney transplant recipients wind up in an emergency department within two years of their operation, a new study finds.

The researchers looked at more than 10,500 kidney transplant patients in California, Florida and New York. The investigators found that ER visits were made by 12 percent of patients within one month, 40 percent of patients within one year and 57 percent of patients within two years.

Forty-eight percent of those ER visits led to hospital admission, according to the study published online March 24 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Risk factors for ER visits included: younger age; being female; being black or Hispanic; having public insurance; having depression, diabetes or peripheral vascular disease; and use of ERs before the transplant.

The findings shed light on the need to coordinate care for kidney transplant patients, said researcher Jesse Schold, who’s with the Cleveland Clinic.

“These data provide fundamental baseline information concerning the scope and factors of emergency department visits, and potential interventions and target populations for future study,” Schold said in a journal news release.

He stressed that “it is crucially important” that emergency department doctors are aware of the specific issues related to transplant recipients. “Moving forward, tailored interventions, particularly to patients and institutions with high rates of emergency department visits following discharge, may be important,” Schold added.

Nearly 17,000 people receive kidney transplants each year in the United States, the researchers said.

In an editorial accompanying the study, Dr. Lorien Dalrymple and Dr. Patrick Romano, both from the University of California, Davis, wrote that the study suggests the need for research into the reasons for kidney transplant patients’ hospital admissions, possible disparities in access to care and rates of repeat ER visits.

More information

The National Kidney Foundation has more on kidney transplant.

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7 Celebrities on What It’s Really Like to Have Endometriosis

Photo: Getty Images

When a woman develops endometriosis, the tissue that normally lines her uterus shows up in places it’s not supposed to be: the cervix, ovaries, the fallopian tubes, and elsewhere in the pelvis. The effects can be excruciating, with heavy bleeding and severe cramps during menstruation. Yet the disorder—which is thought to affect 11% of women in the U.S.—is often misdiagnosed or worse, dismissed as PMS. Fortunately these celebrities are speaking out about their personal experiences, which will hopefully raise awareness and ultimately encourage more research on this debilitating disease.

On the pain

“The stomachaches began quickly and were more severe than the mild-irritant cramps seemed to be for the blonde women in pink-hued Midol commercials. Those might as well have been ads for yogurt or the ocean, that’s how little they conveyed my experience of menstruating.”

—Lena Dunham, Lenny Letter, November 2015

On how it can affect a relationship

“I think, yes, endometriosis was definitely a major reason that my marriage failed. I don’t think either of us understood it at the time–for as smart and intelligent as Salman is. I think that’s also because I hid it to a certain degree. Not intentionally, but it’s weird to talk about your period all the time. It’s the least sexy thing in the world to do.”

—Padma Lakshmi, Entertainment Weekly, March 2016

RELATED: 10 Ways to Deal With Painful Sex

On finally getting a diagnosis

“I was recently diagnosed after years of suffering and finding myself doubled over backstage in the middle of my sets, or fighting back tears on an airplane, or even being in so much pain I would vomit or faint. With doctors essentially telling me I was being a big baby about my period, or misdiagnosing PCOS, etc etc. Finding out that I had [endometriosis] was the most bittersweet moment because it meant I wasn’t crazy! I wasn’t a “baby”! I had every right to be feeling like the world was caving in. But it was terrifying to find out.”

—Halsey, Twitter, January 2016

On trying to get pregnant

“Despite my diagnosis I still wanted to try and have a baby, but not being able to have kids was an immediate fear. It made me feel out of control. I knew that I desperately wanted to have children and after speaking with a nutritionist that came recommended by my doctor, I was reassured that with the right eating habits and lifestyle changes (no sugar, no carbs!), I would have a better possibility of getting pregnant.  I started to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I became extremely health conscious, changed my diet, and I think those changes helped with ultimately getting pregnant.”

—Tia Mowery, Parents, September 2013

On the support a woman needs

“Suffering should not define you as a woman, and just because you’re a man it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t affect you! Help her to remove the taboos and the loneliness surrounding this disease; be understanding, show empathy, and don’t accuse her of being sensitive, delicate, or overly dramatic.”

—Susan Sarandon, at the 2011 Endometriosis Foundation of America Blossom Ball.

RELATED: 15 Diseases Doctors Often Get Wrong

On feeling ashamed

“I thought if I talked about my personal limitations, people would say, ‘How healthy could she be?’ This was my weakness and my bad.”

—Jillian Michaels, Redbook, June 2010

On the importance of speaking out

“If you don’t discuss it, many more women are going to find themselves unable to have children, or find themselves close to dying because it’s led to something else.”

—Whoopi Goldberg, at the 2009 Endometriosis Foundation of America Blossom Ball.

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Mammograms May Also Help Spot Heart Disease, Study Suggests

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 24, 2016 (HealthDay News) — The standard breast cancer screening test, mammography, may offer a surprising extra benefit — the ability to check heart health, new research suggests.

When radiologists look at mammograms for signs of breast cancer, they can also see calcium deposits that have built up in the arteries that supply blood to the breasts, said researcher Dr. Laurie Margolies. She’s director of breast imaging at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Women with large calcium deposits in their breast arteries have likely developed similar deposits in the arteries leading to the heart. These deposits are considered a very early sign of heart disease, the study authors said.

And, calcium deposits in the breast arteries appear to be as strong a risk factor for heart disease as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, the researchers said.

If follow-up studies confirm these findings, a woman’s mammogram could become a “two-fer” screening that covers both breast cancer and heart disease, Margolies suggested.

“By adding no cost, no radiation and very little time, we can find calcification in the vessels,” Margolies said. “This is potentially practice-changing in how radiologists read and report mammography. It’s a revolutionary way to assess risk.”

Results from the study are scheduled to be presented April 3 at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting, in Chicago. Findings presented at meetings are generally viewed as preliminary until they’ve been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The study included nearly 300 women who had digital mammography. The women also all had a separate, unrelated CT scan within a year of their breast cancer screening, Margolies said.

The researchers reviewed the digital mammograms for signs of calcium deposits in the breast arteries. These deposits show up bright white in x-ray scans, Margolies said. About 42 percent of women in the study had these deposits.

“We see those arteries very well on mammography, and if some arteries are calcified we see their calcifications very well,” Margolies explained.

The research team compared those results to the CT scans. The CT scans showed whether the heart’s arteries were also calcified.

The investigators found about seven out of 10 of the women who had evidence of breast artery calcification on their mammogram were also found to have calcium deposits in their heart arteries.

Young and middle-aged women in danger of heart disease could particularly benefit from this “add-on” to their routine mammogram, said cardiologist Dr. Stacey Rosen. She’s a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association and vice president of women’s health for the Katz Institute for Women’s Health at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

In the study, about half of the women younger than 60 with heart artery calcification also had calcium deposits in their breast arteries, the findings showed. If a younger woman had breast artery calcification, there was an 83 percent chance she also had calcium deposits in her heart arteries, the study revealed.

“We know younger women don’t appreciate their risk for heart disease as much as they should, and the preventive opportunities start young,” Rosen said.

Margolies said radiologists should consider adding an assessment of breast artery calcification in their breast cancer screening reports. She compared it to recent law changes that require radiologists to report breast density findings to mammography patients.

“That was something that was seen by radiologists all the time but not reported, and women were clamoring to have that information,” Margolies said. “I could envision this as the very same type of practice-changing revolutionary way of reporting and assessing risk.”

Radiologists also can reach out to cardiologists and specialists in women’s health, forming preventive health partnerships. Radiologists could share data from mammograms to help protect patient’s health, Rosen said.

“Mammography reports are very structured in certain states, so the ability to potentially push the information into a patient report may at this time be limited,” Rosen said. “But letting breast imagers know about these important findings may raise more opportunities for prevention.”

More information

For more about heart disease in women, visit the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

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Heart Attacks Striking Younger, Fatter Americans: Study

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 24, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Heart attack victims in the United States are becoming younger and fatter, a new study reveals.

The average age of people suffering the deadliest heart attacks fell from 64 years old to 60 years old over the past two decades, Cleveland Clinic researchers report. And obesity is now implicated in 40 percent of severe heart attacks.

Heart attack sufferers are also more likely to smoke and have high blood pressure, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than patients of 20 years ago, the researchers found.

This new profile is raising alarms.

“Lifestyle changes to reduce weight, eat right, exercise and quit smoking are critical for prevention of heart attack,” said senior researcher Dr. Samir Kapadia, a professor of medicine and section head of interventional cardiology.

Working toward these heart-healthy improvements is a job for doctors at routine checkups as well as patients, he said.

For the study, researchers analyzed heart disease risk factors among more than 3,900 patients treated for ST-elevation heart attacks (STEMI). This type of heart attack — which happens when a main heart artery is completely blocked by plaque — carries a high risk of disability and death, the researchers said.

Kapadia and his colleagues found that from 1995 to 2014, the average age of STEMI patients dropped from 64 to 60, and the prevalence of obesity increased from 31 percent to 40 percent.

Also, the proportion of heart attack patients with diabetes rose from 24 percent to 31 percent. High blood pressure was reported in nearly four out of five cases, up from 55 percent. And COPD, usually the result of smoking, increased from 5 percent to 12 percent.

The new findings are consistent with other recent data on heart attack patients, said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“Substantially increased efforts are needed to improve heart health to further reduce the rates of cardiovascular events and premature cardiovascular deaths,” he said.

The study authors were surprised to find smoking had increased from 28 percent to 46 percent of heart attack patients — even though smoking rates in the United States as a whole have declined over the past 20 years, the researchers said.

And, the proportion of patients with three or more risk factors increased from 65 percent to 85 percent, they found.

“Primary care physicians and cardiologists have to work harder to provide education and specific programs to help reduce risk factors in the community to reduce the burden of heart attack,” Kapadia said.

Doctors can coach patients and provide practical plans for a heart-healthy lifestyle, he said. And patients need to stick to their efforts, he added.

“Patients should take responsibility and place health as the highest priority to change their lifestyle in order to prevent heart attacks,” Kapadia said.

The study results are scheduled for presentation April 4 at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting, in Chicago.

Research presented at meetings is usually considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

More information

The American Heart Association has more about a heart-healthy lifestyle.

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Brain Scans Give Clues to Stress-Heart Attack Link

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 24, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A new brain study might help explain why a high level of stress is linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Increased activity in the amygdala — the fear center of the brain — appears to create an immune system reaction that increases inflammation in the arteries, researchers plan to report at the upcoming American College of Cardiology meeting in Chicago.

Such arterial inflammation is a precursor to heart disease, heart attack and stroke, said senior researcher Dr. Ahmed Tawakol, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Tawakol and his colleagues followed nearly 300 people and found their amygdala activity — as seen on brain scans — indicated whether they would suffer a major cardiac event in the near future.

“By the end of the study, roughly 5 percent with low activity had events, compared to roughly 40 percent of the individuals with high amygdala activity,” Tawakol said.

Doctors need to be aware of the heart-health consequences of current events such as the Syrian crisis and this week’s terror attacks in Brussels, said Dr. Richard Becker, director of cardiovascular health and disease at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He is also director of the university’s Heart, Lung & Vascular Institute.

“After there’s an earthquake or a tsunami, the incidence of heart attacks over the next six to eight weeks increases substantially,” said Becker, an American Heart Association spokesman, citing prior research. “The same thing happens with human disasters, with terrorism, particularly if it’s on a large scale.”

Evidence of the strong link between stress and heart disease has been mounting. The heart-health risk posed by stress is now believed to be on par with factors like smoking, cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, Tawakol said.

But little is known about how stress from anger, hostility, hopelessness or uncertainty might directly affect the heart, Tawakol said.

Animal studies have suggested that stress can cause bone marrow to release inflammatory cells, which then increase inflammation in the arteries, he said.

To see whether that happens in humans, researchers examined PET/CT scans for 293 patients, average age 55, who originally received the test between 2005 and 2008 for cancer screening but were found to be cancer-free.

The scans allowed researchers to measure activity in regions of the brain, the bone marrow and arteries. Patients were excluded if they had evidence of cancer, established heart disease or were younger than 30 years old.

During the five-year study, 22 patients experienced a heart attack or stroke.

Researchers found that increased amygdala activity meant greater activity in the bone marrow and increased inflammation in arteries.

Further, amygdala activity was linked to an increased risk of heart attack or stroke. Patients experienced a 14-fold greater risk of heart attack or stroke for every unit increase in measured brain stress activity, researchers said.

The amygdala also affected the timing of a heart attack or stroke. “Individuals with an event within a year after imaging had the highest amygdala activity values,” Tawakol said. People with the lowest amygdala activity went the longest before suffering a heart attack or stroke, the study found.

Becker praised the study.

“They [the study authors] were able to connect the dots from the brain to inflammation in the blood vessels to cardiovascular events,” Becker said. “This is a very important contribution to helping us understand what stressors really mean to human health.”

These findings show the importance of stress relief in a person’s life, be it through meditation, exercise, friendships or humor, Becker and Tawakol said.

“For primary care physicians and cardiologists, we need to be more cognizant of how to gauge a patient’s stress,” Becker said. “We’re very good at picking up when blood pressure is high and whether someone has diabetes, but we need increasing rigor in detecting a person’s stress.”

But the study also hints at new strategies to head off stress-related heart attacks, the researchers said. For example, animal studies have shown that some beta blockers can reduce the amount of inflammatory cells produced by the bone marrow in response to stress, Tawakol said. However, knowing whether those results would be replicated in humans is a long way off.

Data and conclusions presented at meetings are usually considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

More information

For more on stress management, visit the American Heart Association.

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Scientists Create Bacteria in Lab With ‘Minimal’ Genes Needed for Life

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 24, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Scientists are closer than ever to cracking the hidden code of life itself, having engineered a synthetic bacteria with a “minimum” number of genes needed to support its existence.

The lab-created bacteria — called Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn3.0 — contains only 473 genes. That’s fewer than any other healthy, replicating cell currently found in nature.

By stripping an artificial cell down to the bare necessities, researchers hope to learn more about how life began on Earth and evolved over time, the study authors said.

“We view life as DNA software-driven and we’re showing that by trying to understand that software, we’re going to get a better understanding of life,” said senior author J. Craig Venter. He’s a renowned genetics researcher and founder, chairman and CEO of the J. Craig Venter Institute, a non-profit genomics research group.

However, the most important lesson from this “minimal cell” experiment involves how much scientists don’t know about the role that genes play in sustaining life, Venter and his colleagues said.

The study was released online March 24 in the journal Science.

Most of the genes in this synthetic bacteria have a specific job to do. Some play a role in reproduction, others sustain cellular structure and some are needed to maintain the cell’s metabolism, the researchers said.

But the scientists couldn’t determine a specific biological function for one-third of the genes they needed to keep in the bacteria for it to thrive. These 149 genes needed to be there. But no one knows why.

“The precise biological functions of roughly 31 percent of the genes remain undiscovered, which is, to me at least, a surprisingly high number,” said Valda Vinson. She’s the deputy editor of research for Science.

The mystery of these necessary but little-understood genes should provide some comfort to people worried about the implications of genetic engineering in humans, Venter said.

“When you can see that we only understand two-thirds of the most fundamental cell that we can compile right now, we’re probably at about the 1 percent level in understanding of the human genome,” he said.

There are about 21,000 genes contained in the human genome, the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute says.

In 2010, researchers at the Venter Institute created the world’s first self-replicating synthetic bacterial cell. It was a lab-produced copy of Mycoplasma mycoides. Normally, these bacteria cause a contagious lung disease of cattle, according to the World Organization for Animal Health. The lab-produced copy contained 901 genes, the study authors said.

That initial experiment showed that they could design a genetic structure in a computer, chemically produce it in a lab, and then create a synthetic cell by transplanting the lab-created genes into a “blank” cell.

For their next step, the researchers began to whittle away genes from the synthetic bacteria. They wanted to learn how many genes are absolutely needed for a cell to survive and replicate.

Earlier studies had predicted a set of between 256 and 375 essential genes, but genetic designs based on those numbers failed, Venter said.

So the researchers reverted to a trial-and-error approach. They removed different sets of genes to see how each contributed to the life of the synthetic bacteria.

Venter compared paring down non-essential genes to reverse-engineering a 777 aircraft.

“If you’re just trying to find out functions of parts by removing them and you remove the engine from the right wing, the airplane can still fly and land, so you might say that’s a non-essential component,” he said. “You don’t really discover the essentiality until you remove the second (engine).”

The researchers found that they needed to include many cells with no clear purpose to produce a bacterium that could both survive and replicate itself.

The ultimate goal of this research is to be able to build synthetic organisms on demand, said study co-author Daniel Gibson, an associate professor in the Venter Institute’s Synthetic Biology group.

These cells could be used to produce antibiotics and other medications, biofuels, industrial materials and agricultural products, Gibson said. Other research efforts hope to use synthetic genes to create genetically engineered pigs that would have organs that could be transplanted into human beings.

“There’s about a million people that die in the U.S. each year due to the lack of availability of organs for transplantation,” Venter said. “There’s lots of groups trying to isolate antibiotics from marine organisms. But, because we sequence literally tens of thousands of these, there’s a lot of pathways that could be readily placed into synthetic cells for trying to produce new novel compounds.”

The Venter researchers said they plan to make this synthetic cell available to other scientists relatively soon. They’re considering a contest to see each year who can add the most important step in evolution to the cell.

“So we’re hoping it becomes a widely used research and teaching tool,” Venter said.

More information

For more on genetic engineering, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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Your High Standards Could Be Bad For Your Marriage

Photo: Getty Images

If you’ve ever been single, you’ve no doubt heard that perhaps your standards are just too high. But even in marriage, it’s possible to expect too much from a partner—and that can result in real unhappiness, according to a new study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

“There are limits to what we can get out of life and marriage,” says James McNulty, psychology professor at Florida State University, in an e-mail. His study found that having high standards only makes people more satisfied if they’re in strong marriages—and having lower standards is better for marriages that aren’t as secure. “We never want to settle for less than we are capable of achieving, but sometimes we are forced to do just that, and we are better off to the extent that we do,” he says.

Past research in this area has been mixed. Expecting more from a partnership inspires people to work at it, some studies find, but other research suggests that since lower standards are easier to meet, people might be more satisfied by them.

RELATED: The 4 Most Common Relationship Problems—And How To Fix Them

To find out, McNulty gathered data from 135 newlywed couples in Tennessee. Each person in the study privately filled out surveys that assessed how high their standards were, along with how satisfied they were in their marriage and their degree of marital problems. The researchers also videotaped discussions between partners to measure their levels of indirect hostility: present when someone in the couple doesn’t outright address their concerns or indirectly blames their partner.

Twice a year for four years, the couples reported their marital satisfaction.

Across the board, newlyweds were pretty satisfied with their marriages and had high standards. But higher standards were a bad thing for spouses who didn’t work as well together or were more indirectly hostile. Conversely, when couples like these had lower standards, they tended to be happier in their marriages. “People who have weaker abilities, either because they have poor communication skills, external obstacles and financial pressures that stress the marriage, or personal vulnerabilities, do best if they demand less—otherwise they risk becoming disillusioned,” McNulty says.

RELATED: 5 Shortcuts To Bonding Deeply With A Romantic Partner

It’s tricky to know which camp one’s marriage falls into. “There’s no ‘test,’ so to speak,” McNulty says. “This is what makes things challenging: somehow we have to know what we are capable of achieving before we achieve it.” But marriages take work—and partners who don’t have the time or will to work at theirs might be better off expecting less from their unions.

However, the results should be encouraging for couples faced with problems they feel they can solve. For them, holding their marriage to the highest standard might motivate them to reach it. “If you can improve something about your relationships, do so,” McNulty says.

And if you know that you can’t? “Accept that,” he says.

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

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This 60-Year-Old Woman Modeling Swimwear Is the Most Beautiful Thing Ever

When it comes to casting models for swimwear campaigns, most fashion brands are fairly predictable in their choices. Young girls in playful poses are everywhere—on billboards and in magazines. Not this time though.

Enter Yazemeenah Rossi! The 60-year-old is absolutely stunning in new campaign images for “The Dreslyn x The Land of Women” collaboration. In the photos (that have not been retouched), Rossi is posing in bathing suits and cover-ups looking fresh-faced with her long wavy hair left down.

RELATED: You Won’t Believe How Often Women Criticize Themselves in a Single Day

“This is a woman who radiates health and vitality. She’s confident, she’s a visual artist, she takes care of herself,” Dreslyn founder Brooke Taylor Corcia told The Huffington Post. Check out the photos below and prepare to beseriously impressed.

RELATED: Aerie Adds Another Body-Positive Model to Their Campaign Roster

Rossi’s images are so inspiring that we wish more brands would cast women of all ages for their campaigns. Beautiful doesn’t mean young, after all.

This article originally appeared on MIMIchatter.com.

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