Despite all the health benefits that yoga offers to a wide range of people, the modern stereotype often centers around sexy young women with toned bodies in tight pants. But what about everyone else who would be interested in practicing yoga? Or more bluntly, what about Fat Yoga?

That, in fact, is the name of a studio in Portland that just opened this year.

"I say I'm fat 'cause, guess what, I know I'm fat," Anna Ipox, the owner of Fat Yoga, told KPTV. "Our American script says, 'No, you’re not fat, just some other euphemism, thick, fluffy, big-boned, portly, whatever.'"

Ipox, who has practiced yoga since 2001, decided to open her own studio because of her frustration with instructors that didn't understand how to work with heavier students.

"Child's pose is impossible if you have belly fat or thick thighs," she told KPTV. "They just have no idea what it is to have a big body. I remember teachers pushing on my hips to make it happen. It's not a flexibility thing and I couldn't articulate any of that."

Ipox also says she is fighting "fat hate."

"Fat girls shouldn’t wear stretch pants, they shouldn’t wear white, they shouldn't wear yoga pants and you're not allowed to let your fat jiggle," she told KPTV of what she sees online. "I just realized I'm gonna make the place I want to go."

One of the class participants at Ipox's studio endorsed the concept and Ipox's branding.

"We come here to have that space and hold that space and be healthy and get our sweat on and laugh and have a good time," Melissa Brown told KPTV. "I really think she nailed it right on the head. Yoga for fat people. Fat Yoga."

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You don't need a gym membership to sculpt your best body. In fact, you don't even need weights. Gaining strength and blasting fat is about challenging your muscles and revving your metabolism, and that's exactly what Todd Durkin, C.S.C.S., author of The IMPACT! Body Plan, does with this four-move equipment-free weekend challenge. "You'll be amazed how hard you can work without a gym," says Durkin. Plus, there's no excuse for skipping this challenge, since you can do it anywhere.

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Here’s how it works: Grab a stopwatch and perform these four exercises as a circuit, doing one after another with no rest.

Walking Lunge
Stand tall and brace your core. Step forward with your left leg and slowly lower your body until your front knee is bent at least 90 degrees. Your rear knee should nearly touch the floor. Pause, then raise up and bring your back foot forward so that you move forward a step with every rep. Alternate the leg you step forward with each time. Do 40 repetitions.

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Listen up, chump: Talking trash on the court, in your office, or over your video game headset can boost your self-confidence and ability, shows new research from Florida State University.

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Researchers somehow tracked down 40 college-age guys willing to play Madden NFL for course credit. When allowed to trash talk, the players' confidence in their own ability increased by 46 percent, the study found. Their video game scores also tended to improve, according to the research.

Self-assurance and positive emotion are essential to performance, and talking trash appears to provide a big shot of both, explains study coauthor Gershon Tenenbaum, Ph.D., of Florida State. While the effect on self-confidence and good vibes was clear, exactly how much your performance may improve is a tough thing to quantify, Tenenbaum adds. His experiment involved 1-on-1 play between players of varying skill levels, and so there was no way to accurately gauge ability improvements, the researchers say.

The study looked only at video games, but Tenenbaum says his research can be applied to other competitive situations. Whether you're playing pickup basketball with your buddies or trying to edge out your coworker for account executive of the month, a few well-timed "yo mama" jokes should juice your confidence and chances for success, Tenenbaum suggests.

What constitutes trash talk? Any verbal barb that builds up personal motivation or enjoyment while distracting or intimidating your opponent, according to the study. And no, you don't have to get nasty or offensive. Just shouting out the score or gently poking fun at your pal’s weaknesses is enough to pump yourself up, the study shows.

(Keep your mind in tip-top shape with these 27 Ways to Power Up Your Brain.)

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There's something funny about your first skydive. After signing away your legal rights and watching a long-bearded fellow on a scratchy VHS tape explain the extreme sport's extreme dangers, you will almost certainly be told that if you remember only one thing from your training, it should be the lesson on contorting your body when "exiting" the aircraft. Arch your back and bend your knees behind you at a 45-degree angle, they will say, so that your head and heels point heavenward. Beyond elementary physics, taking this form -- as opposed to the fetal position -- forces you to look up, not down, as you free fall into nothing. And with your eyes on the horizon avoiding the ground two or three miles below, it's easier to believe, of course, that you'll be free fallin' into something. A smooth landing for instance.

More from Men's Journal: Falling at the Speed of Sound

Let's face it: The perception of skydiving generally isn't a positive one, and how could it be? When we say "exiting," we really mean "jumping ... out of an airborne plane." The data, however, says you're slightly more likely to expire while at a dance party. More specifically: The United States Parachuting Association recorded just 19 fatalities among 3.1 million domestic jumps last year. There were about 50 worldwide. And tandem skydiving, in which the novice with five or fewer jumps under his parachute-suit belt has a USPA-certified diver strapped to his back, is even safer than going solo. That's the experience we had anyway on a recent Saturday at SkyDance SkyDiving in northern California outpost Davis and its appropriately named Yolo County Airport. The side affect of sound technique not only made overcoming this inherent if irrational fear far easier, it also allowed us to enjoy our descent to earth.

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At SkyDance, as at most of the country's other 200-something drop zones, first-timers can choose a climb to 9,000, 13,000, or 18,000 feet. At or above middle height, the novice has the option of opening his own canopy when the time is right, typically between 3,000 and 5,000 feet and after reaching terminal speed, as high as 120 mph. It's easier to appreciate the views, such as nearby San Pablo Bay, from these heights while slowly parachuting for five to seven minutes, not during your free fall (which lasts between 30 and 90 seconds and feels not unlike sticking your head out of an open car window on the freeway). Giving you some semblance of control, you'll always know how far off the ground you are, thanks to a standard wristwatch altimeter.

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If your next dive is your first dive, however, the 15-minute ride in something like SkyDance's shaky but sturdy Blackhawk XP42A Cessna Grand Caravan will only increase your anxiousness. By this time, you're already strapped to the person you trust most in this world, sitting on his lap until it's time to "exit." Then comes the other funny part of proper body positioning: If, while standing on the edge of the plane, your head is cocked up and your weight rests on your toes, your tandem partner will literally have to push you out the window.

More Information: Find a skydiving school anywhere in the world at dropzone.com. If you're in the Davis area, try SkyDance SkyDiving, which starts basic tandem jumps at $150 (9,000 feet with 30 seconds of free fall) and tops off at $379 (18,000 feet with 90 seconds of free fall).

More From Men's Journal:
-- An America's Cup for Amateurs
-- Six Disaster Essentials

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