Few dessert flavors evoke summer freshness like lemon. To be fair, a lemon dessert is also a great break from winter spices and chocolate. Lucky for us, lemons are available year-round, so lets embrace the lemon once again with a tangy dessert thats full of surprises. Whether its summer, winter or any time in between, try this lemon pudding cake meringue pie.What exactly is lemon pudding cake?If I were to call this dessert one thing, then its a pie. There is a crust and a filling, so it is a pie. It just so happens that the filling is my recipe for the Insta-worthy and TikTok-friendly lemon pudding cake. If you havent had lemon pudding cake yet, you are in for a treat. Its what I believe the British call a self-saucing puddingmeaning, a cake that provides its own decadent sauce of sorts, in this case a lemon pudding. To clarify, specifically with this recipe, its one thin batter thats leavened with egg whites and it bakes into two layers. The egg white layer rises and bakes into a cake that floats on top of a pudding-like layer. In this case its more like a lemon curd. Its divine, and you can make it pie.How to flip it into a meringue pieYou could make lemon pudding cake as a large casserole, but here you get the addition of a lovely crust and fluffy toasted meringue topping. Besides, sometimes the occasion simply calls for pie. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann The procedure for making the lemon pudding-cake filling is the same as in the original recipe linked above; the only changes are blind-baking the crust and making a simple meringue topping. (If you need a refresher on blind-baking, check here.) Note that after blind-baking the crust gets sealed with a light brush of egg white. Thats because the pudding layer is liquid before it cooks. Swiping on a layer of egg white while the crust is hot out of the oven will create a transparent wall of cooked egg white. This will help prevent a soggy crust. I tried a graham cracker crust, which, as you might know, is risky. The results were mixed: some spots were dry and others were gooey, as you can see in the picture. That didnt stop me from thoroughly enjoying the pie, however if youre going for clean lines, Id recommend an old-fashioned pie crust from the freezer aisle.The resulting pie is best served chilled so the pudding can set, but with a freshly toasted meringue topping. Personally, I prefer this version of lemon pie to the classic Jersey-diner-style lemon meringue pie any day. Instead of assaulting you with a mouthful of gluey pudding and quickly deflating meringue, this pie has that middle layer of cake to help firm up the textures. You can save any leftovers in the fridge, but know that the meringue wont be quite the samewhich means you have license to finish it on your own. You know, for the sake of the pies reputation.Lemon Pudding Cake Meringue Pie RecipeIngredients:For the pie:1 store-bought pie crust3 eggs, separated1 teaspoon lemon zest cup fresh lemon juice1 tablespoon butter, melted cup flour cup sugar teaspoon salt1 cup milk, room temperatureFor the meringue topping:2 egg whites cup sugar teaspoon vanilla extract teaspoon cream of tartar1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Blind bake the crust as needed depending on the crust you chose.2. Meanwhile, separate your eggs for the filling, so you have three yolks in a large mixing bowl and three whites in another large bowl. Whisk the whites slightly just to break them up and put a teaspoon of the whites into a small bowl. Have a pastry brush ready to seal the crust.3. When the hot crust comes out of the oven, immediately use the pastry brush to apply the teaspoon of egg white all around the bottom and walls of the pie crust. Pay attention to where the bottom meets the walls. Set the crust aside to cool.4. Add the lemon zest, juice, and butter to the egg yolks and whisk them together thoroughly. In a smaller bowl, mix the sugar, flour, and salt together. Slowly pour in half of the dry mixture while whisking vigorously to break up any lumps. Alternate with half of the milk, and then finish by whisking in the rest of the dry mixture and the remaining milk. It will be very liquidy.5. Set up your pie crust in a large baking dish or, like I did, in a larger pie plate. Put a kettle of water on to boil so you can make a water bath when youre ready to bake.6. Whisk the three egg whites in the bowl until you have soft peaks and gently fold the whites into the batter. Put the pie shell inside of the larger baking dish, and into the oven. Carefully pour the just-boiled water into the outer dish until it comes halfway up the side of the inner pie dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is evenly tinged with brown and it jiggles slightly in the center when you move it, but is not watery. Remove the pie from the dish and let it cool. Cool it overnight in the fridge if youre not in a rush.7. Make the meringue just before youre ready to serve it. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until frothy. Then add the cream of tartar. Begin whisking again and slowly add the sugar and the vanilla. Beat the mixture until stiff peaks form but the meringue is still glossy. Slather it along the entire surface of the pie and toast it with a torch, or pop it into a 350F for 10 to 15 minutes to toast the top. Serve immediately.

Deadlifts are a great exercise for your back, butt, and legs, and they're a key movement if you hope to get anywhere in powerlifting, strongmanor the king of all sports, helping a friend move furniture. But when you head to the gym to start doing them, you'll realize deadlifts can be tricky to set up: the bar is on the ground, not on a rack, and you'll be working with fairly heavy weights right away.By the way, I have a whole article on loading, unloading, and handling weights at the gym. If you're not sure how to carry plates around, or how to load them on squat or bench racks, read upI've got you covered.Anyway, let's talk about deadlifts. In theory, loading is simple: just slide each plate onto the barbell. But theres friction between the plate and the floor as youre trying to slide it on (or off), so this is easier said than done. Heres how to get the plates on and off like a pro. Grab the plate and pullThe first thing you need to know is the basics of getting a single plate on or off the bar. For the first plate you load, you can actually stand it up on end and slide the bar into the plate. (Then attach the collar or clip so it won't work its way loose as you do the rest.)After that first plate, though, you'll need to load the plates by pulling them on. The trick is to not hold the plate by its top, which you probably instinctively do. Instead, do it like so:Bring the plate to the end of the barbell, and line up the barbell with the hole in the center of the plate.Straddle the barbell, facing the plate.Grab the plate with two hands, right at 3 and 9 oclock, and pull toward you. Credit: Beth Skwarecki I was first taught this trick by a bro in the gym who saw me struggling, and Im going to tell you how he offered his advice because he did it in a polite and respectful way. (When he first walked up, I thought he was going to just lift it up and shove the plates on for me, which is not helpful if a person has not asked you to do so.)First, he hung back to see if I was going to figure it out myself. Then, when I didnt, he asked if I would like a tip for loading the plates. I said yes, and then he showed me how, and after that I was able to do the other side on my own. This 3-and-9-o'clock-pull is the way you get plates on the bar, and also the way you get them off. Simple enough, right? But there's another problem: when you have multiple plates on the bar, it's hard to slide just one of them off. That's where we need either a deadlift jack, or a tiny plate. I'll start with the tiny plate, because there's always one at hand. Use the tiny plate trick Credit: Beth Skwarecki This trick is easiest to understand when youre unloading the bar: Place a small plate (like a 5-pounder) on the floor, and roll the barbell up onto it. Try to get it so that only the innermost plate is resting on the tiny plate. Now the rest of the plates are hovering a half inch off the floor, and you can slide them off easily. You can use the same trick for loading: once youve got the first big plate on, roll it up onto your tiny plate and load the rest. Once you have everything loaded, roll the weights back onto the floor, kick the tiny plate aside, and do one more pull as above, giving the plates a good tug to make sure they are all snugged up against each other and the bar. Use a deadlift jack or wedgeWhile the tiny plate trick is, in theory, all you need, the "proper" way to load a deadlift bar is to use a deadlift jack. Powerlifting gyms will pretty much always have at least one of these; in other types of gyms, they're less common. A deadlift jack is a long metal tool that has a part to hold the barbell, a part that rests on the floor, and a handle so you can lever the bar off the floor once those other two parts are in place. When you see one in action, it's very obvious how it works. With a jack, even a tiny person can prop up a heavy deadlift bar to change the plates. Some jacks work on just one side of the bar at a time; the nicer ones can actually pick up the whole bar so a team of loaderssay, in a competitioncan load both sides at once. Here's a basic one-side deadlift jack, if you'd like to get one for your home gym. Here's the two-sided kind. And if you'd like something you can slip into your gym bag, try a deadlift wedge, which works on the same principle as the tiny plate trick, but is a little more specialized to the task. (I will also add, for the sake of completeness, that there are products out there that serve the purpose of a combination water bottle/deadlift jack. I cannot vouch for whether they work, or how well, but I have to say I am intrigued.) Titan Fitness Full Deadlift Barbell Jack Stand $129.99 at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal $129.99 at Amazon For RDLs: look for a place to prop up the barIf you prefer to do Romanian deadlifts (RDLs), you'll want to start from the top of the movement. Every now and then, youll find the holy grail of RDL preparation: a ledge, possibly attached to a power cage, where you can set the bar at about knee height and easily load and unload plates.

Cleaning can be therapeutic and fun for some, but totally overwhelming for others. There are a number of methods you can use to manage your time tidying, but one in particular has gotten a lot of attention lately, in part because it leaves room for some imperfection and allows you to go at your own pace.The 5 Things method comes from KC Davis, the author of How to Keep House While Drowning who is also a popular CleanTok influencer. The licensed professional therapist has 1.5 million followers on TikTok, where she expands on her concept of Struggle Care, advising people on how to clean without becoming overwhelmed while also discussing mental health issues and sharing household hacks.What is the 5 Things method?Davis suggests that, if keeping your home tidy feels unmanageable, you should really only focus on five things while cleaning:TrashLaundryDishesThings that have a placeThings that dont have a placeAny mess can be broken down by those categories, she says, and once you start sorting everything according to those classifications, youll feel less overpowered, no matter how much you have to tackle.To keep from getting overwhelmed, you have to do one at a time over the whole space, she explains in her original video introduction to the method.How does 5 Things work?You should tackle the five things in the order they're presented here. First, go around collecting trash, then dispose of it. Simply take a garbage bag around the room, grabbing receipts, wrapper, or whatever garbage you see. Next, move around the space again, this time collecting only clothes and shoes and placing them in a basket while actively ignoring everything else. Don't stop to grab anything that isn't laundry; you'll get to that eventually, but it'll be easier if all the clothes are out of the way first, just like grabbing the clothes is already easier without trash in the way. Then, put all your dishes in the sinkbut dont worry about doing them yet. Reassess the remaining items in the area. Everything with a space should be put away now. If you're in a big room or the items with a place come from a variety of locations around the house, consider first sorting them into boxes based on where they belong. Have a box for the living room, one for the kitchen, one for the bathroom, etc. When they're full and everything is in its correct box, bring each box to the room it represents and put it all away. That will stop you from running back and forth a bunch of times, which can be overwhelming. Finally, pile up anything that does not have a designated place. Once the space is clear, you can decide where the stuff in the final pile should go. Use your preferred decluttering method to decide what stays and what gets tossed. Oh, you don't have a preferred decluttering method? Here's a list of my favorites.Per Davis, you can break this process down over the course of days, too, if you feel like its too much to handle at once. Watch the method in action here: Davis reminds her followers that being untidy isnt a moral failing and there are a number of reasonsfrom ADHD to having kidsthat you may not have your home as clean as you think you should. Breaking the tasks down into just five categories and sticking to each until its done is a simple, effective way to make your space more livable. Once its livable, she says, you can go back through and give it a more thorough cleaning.

I am a proponent of vertical organization and believe deeply in the benefits of turning unused wall space into a storage solution and investing in shelving, shelving, and more shelving. But why stop there? If you live in a tight space or just need more storage room, why not think outside the boxor rather, at the top of it? Let's talk about how we can turn a ceiling into a storage solution. A ceiling is a practical storage helperWhen I moved into my first apartment, I was big on screw-in hooks. I stuck them in the ceiling and under every ledge and cabinet so I could hang my kitchen tools, mugs, and even storage baskets. Eventually, I got more specialized items to go in those spaces and hold those things, but I never forgot how truly helpful it was to start imagining how much I could store and display if I stopped relying only on the flat surfaces. By suspending some of my possessions above my shelves or other parts of my home, I saved a lot of space and had easy access to what I needed. This thinking culminated in an interior design feat I'm still most proud of to this day: I suspended my television from the ceiling, like you see in a doctor's office waiting room, and finessed a little basket up there, too, to hold my Playstation. I loved it (and still do) but my friends and family kept banging their heads on the TV, so I eventually acquiesced and took it down, taking a valuable lesson with me: If you're going to use your ceiling for storage, make sure you are smart about placement. After I suspended a wire shelving unit from the ceiling a few years back, I also learned to only suspend sturdy things. I consulted a handyman before mounting my TV to the ceiling, and he taught me about toggle bolts, which are a stronger version of the screw-in hooks I was using for everything before that. I had to bore a hole in the ceiling, close the hinged part of the toggle bolt, and jam it in so I could screw my hooks into it, but without it, my TV would have eventually crashed down, defeating the purpose of hoisting it vertically entirely. Still, there are safe and easy ways to use your ceiling for storage if you get creative.Ceiling storage ideasThere are a lot of things you can suspend. A few months back, I wrote about storing bags and purses by attaching them to a chain and hanging it up. You could hang it in a closet or along a wall, from the ceiling. But you can use this idea in other ways: With a few S-hooks, you could use a chain to store belts, shoes, cooking utensils, or winter gear like hats and scarves. That's a customizable, DIY option, but there are also some pre-made products out there that make this easy. For the most part, with pre-made solutions, you have two options: Industrial but less attractive, or aesthetically pleasing but less sturdy. In a garage, shed, or storage room, you can opt for the heavy-duty option with no problem. Fleximounts sells a variety of overhead storage racks, like this one that can hold up to 600 pounds, so your bikes, camping gear, or seasonal supplies don't all need to take up space on the garage floor or shelves when not in use. FLEXIMOUNTS 4x8 Overhead Garage Storage Rack $137.98 $229.99 Save $92.01 Get Deal Get Deal $137.98 $229.99 Save $92.01 On the other hand, you can try a ceiling-mounted net, which can be used in a closet or elsewhere in the home for lighter items, especially seasonal ones you don't use a lot or things you have a bunch of, like stuffed animals or shoes. Lilly's Love Large Stuffed Animal Net Hammock for Plushie Toys $9.99 $16.45 Save $6.46 Get Deal Get Deal $9.99 $16.45 Save $6.46 You can also consider ceiling-mounted shelving units ($95) or clothing racks ($109.80). Get creative with what can go up high so you can then get creative with what you'll do with all your new floor and shelf space down below, too.

There are many ways to set a schedule, from using a pen and paper planner to getting out some dry erase markers and scribbling on your clock. One method aims to work by giving you more insight into how you spend your timeand helping you manage your day down to the minute. Its called time blocking.What is time blocking?Time blocking is the act of arranging your schedule so every activity you need to do in a day is accounted for. Ideally, youll do this using a digital calendar tool like Google Calendar. Even if youre writing it all down by hand on a piece of paper, consider the way a Google Calendar looks. Each day is represented by a column split up into 15-minute increments, from midnight until 11:59 p.m. When you add a meeting or appointment into the calendar, a box appears and fills up the space representing how much time the event will take out of your day.With time blocking, your goal is to fill the entire column with boxes, leaving no blank space. Even your rest periods should be marked as such. No activityfrom having breakfast to running errands to calling your momis too small to add to the list. Then, you get to classify everything with a pretty color (when it comes to time management, you have to find your own fun).How to create a time blocking scheduleStart by making a list of everything youre going to do tomorrow. For instance, you might wake up, check the news, shower, make coffee, commute to work, grab breakfast, answer emails, attend a meeting, get lunch with an old friend, work on a project, commute home, take the kids to a baseball game, pick up dinner, eat that dinner, watch your favorite show, get ready for bed, lie awake thinking about climate change, and actually sleep.Once youve written out the exhaustive list of your days tasks, mark down how long each might (or should) take. Then, grab the paper (or open the software) youre using to time block and enter every single event and responsibility in, according to the time youve allotted for it. If you want to see how you are splitting up your day, choose different colors to classify tasks, like blue for grooming/bathing, yellow for work, and green for meals.Per workforce management company Spica, the trick after that is to treat each box the same way youd treat a meeting: Dont reschedule it. Dont mess with it too much. Honor the time commitment it represents, commit to doing the task at the specified time, and do your best to get it done in the time you set aside to do it. This is called time boxing, a similar but slightly different concept that involves giving yourself a set amount of time to do something, only focusing on that task during that time, and stopping your work when the time is up. I've written more extensively on the similarities and differences between time boxing and time blocking, but all you really need to know is that during the time you set aside to do something on your calendar, you should engage completely in deep work, avoid distractions, and turn all your energy toward the responsibility at hand. As with any pre-planned meeting or event, things will come up that disrupt the schedule, but in the absence of a major upheaval (the kind of thing youd move a work meeting for), vow to stick with your time blocks.It's smart here to also implement some kind of time tracking, whether that involves writing down how long your tasks actually take you or using a software to monitor your work, so you can make adjustments to your time blocks as you go along. During the first week or two, you'll likely be guessing at how long each task will take you when you're building the schedule, but after a while, you should be able to identify if something takes a longer or shorter amount of time than you've been allotting, then adjust the schedule to match those needs going forward.The reason time blocking worksTime blocking is beloved by its adherents. As the Harvard Business Review points out, a regular to-do list gives you way too many choices and not enough structure. Adding in the time element helps you stay on task.It also helps you meet deadlines and stay within your guidelines. If you know a certain project or task will take a combined 50 hours, time blocking helps you space those out and make room for them in your schedule, enabling you to get things done on a set timetable without having to guess whether you really have time for it. If you finish something ahead of schedule, great! Go ahead and add in a little block of time off.A final note on time blockingTime blocking is often conflated with time boxing and a lot of productivity blogs and hacks will say "time boxing" when they mean time blocking. That Harvard Business Review article above does it, for instance. It's an easy mistake to make and, in fact, in a previous version of this post, I called time blocking time boxing. As long as you're sticking to the plan and making a detailed calendar, it doesn't matter what you're calling it, but this could cause some confusion while you read up on other guides, so just be warned. A complete rundown of the differences between the two can be found here.

Last year, Meta announced a series of AI updates coming to Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. These new options included things like AI stickers, AI image editing, AI celebrity chatbots, and Meta AI assistant, which you can't turn off. During this time, the company also announced AI Studio, a platform for developers to build custom AI bots for Meta products. Now, Meta is expanding that access to you, inviting all users to create any AI bot they want.Custom AI bots are not a unique concept: OpenAI offers GPTs, for example, which lets you build custom versions of ChatGPT. Meta is doing something similar with AI Studio: You tell the platform exactly what you're looking for in a chatbot, and it builds it for you, without any coding experience necessary. If you want a bot that offers advice on cooking specifically with an air fryer, you can make it. If you want a bot that specializes in gardening advice, you can ask AI Studio to generate it. Meta is also pitching this as a tool for creators to make custom AI versions of themselves. For the company, their platform will allow creators to put enough of their knowledge and personality into a bot, so that it can answer questions from users in a realistic and accurate way. We'll have to see about that.Meta says AI studio is built using Llama 3.1, the company's latest class of AI models, so it will be interesting to see how it performs compared to other custom AI products.I'm still relatively unconvinced by most AI applications I've seen so far, and I'm not sure Meta's AI Studio is going to make me a believer. After all, AI is still rife with issues, including its tendency to just make things up. But if you're curious, you can either build a bot yourself, or try one of the ones made by other Meta users. How to build a bot with Meta's AI Studio To start, head to Meta's AI Studio website, and log into your Instagram account. Alternatively, you can go to Instagram directly, open DMs, start a new message, and choose AI chats to get started.Whichever way you access AI Studio, you'll find a series of different bots you can chat with. These are made by other Meta users who decided to make their bots public. If you have a specific type of bot in mind, you can search for it, but otherwise, you can scroll through "popular" choices. Right now, I'm being offered "Skibuddy," a bot meant to help "flush away mental flogginess" (and a play on the Skibidy Toilet meme); "InfoBot," a source of "accurate and reliable information;" and "SportsFan Sam," a chatbot all about sports.You can choose any of these and start chatting, or you can choose to create your own. On desktop, hit Create an AI, while on mobile, choose Create.From here, you can choose from one of Meta's preset personalities ("Loyal bestie," "Attentive listener," "Private tutor," etc.) or you can create your own from Custom AI character. Give your character a description in 1,000 characters or less. Meta will generate a profile picture, name, and tagline for your bot based on this description, but you can edit these yourself. (For the picture, you can simply adjust the prompt to generate a new image.) When you're satisfied with your selection, you can choose who can see this bot: You can make it only for you, only for your close friends on Instagram, or available for the whole platform. If you choose the latter, your bot will show up in search, and may appear on the front page of AI Studio, with your account name attached. Be warned.Once you hit Create, Instagram will process your bot, and it will appear as a new DM. You can start chatting now, but I'd recommend hitting the Settings gear in the top right. You'll see the same options as you did when creating your bot, plus some new options. Knowledge lets you give the bot specific instructions for how to respond to queries. You can give you bot a backstory and background information so it knows how to act in specific situations. Conversation lets you create a welcome message for new chats, and offer three icebreakers that will be presented to the user to prompt the bot with. I'm not sure why Meta doesn't give you these options when creating the bot, but they're useful tools for shaping how the bot performs.Meta actually has an 18-page manual for using AI Studio, if you want a true deep dive on the platform.

Every feature of a house has a monetary valuehow much it cost to install, and how much return on that investment the homeowner hopes to get from it when selling. Only you can know when something is worth paying more for you (if the house with a fully-stocked bomb shelter seems like its worth it, go for it). But certain home features are rarely worth paying extra for, if only because theyll cost you in the long run, whether in maintenance and upkeep or your own time and effort. Here are seven house features its okay to like, but not worth paying a premium for.Home theater systemsThere was a time when a professionally-installed home theater system was the epitome of home luxury. A big screen? A sound system in the walls and ceiling? A projector and some comfortable couches? That was how the fancy folks lived. Theres certainly a lingering glamour to a home theater, and theres nothing wrong with getting excited about movie nights if you spot one at the open house. But theyre never worth paying extra for because they date so quicklyand so poorly. Even a home theater system installed very recently is probably already a bit out of date. Meanwhile, TV screens are getting steadily larger and cheaper, streaming dongles give you access to more platforms, and soundbars are ubiquitous and easy to add to any room.At best, youll have to spend time and money updating your home theater. At worst, youll spend a lot more removing it.Lavish landscapingSometimes an enormous outdoor space can be an impressive visual. You walk outside of the house and suddenly youre in what feels like a high-end resort, or a lush garden, with a meticulously landscaped experience all around you. Its easy to imagine all the parties youll host and all the quiet cocktails youll enjoy in this incredible space.And you probably will! But lavish landscaping (and oversize outdoor spaces in general) have a huge downside that makes them more of a liability than a feature worth paying for: Maintenance. Most landscaping maintenance services are priced by the hour or by the square foot. The larger the space and the more stuff that needs trimming, tilling, repairing, watering, and feeding, the higher your monthly bill (or your personal time spent sweating in the sun) to keep everything looking good.And the problem with luxe landscaping is that without that maintenance, it will quickly turn into a yellowing, overgrown mess that you wont want anyone to see.Steam showersSteam showers cream luxuryyou can just imagine stepping in one after a long day and relaxing as a sauna blooms all around you. And steam showers are expensive (as much as $14,500!), so finding one in your dream home might make you willing to pay a bit more, since it would cost as much to install one anyway.But taking possession of a steam shower means signing up for maintenance. A lot of maintenance. Steam showers, unsurprisingly, are very prone to mold, so keeping them clean is pretty much a daily chore. The steam generator mechanism has to be checked and cleaned regularly. And even with proper maintenance, those generators can develop leaks which can lead to expensive water damage. In other words, if youre buying a steam shower dont pay extra for it because you will be paying extra for it for years to come.Backyard poolsIf you had a pool in your backyard growing up, you probably have fond memories youd love to replicate in your new home. And if you didnt have a pool in your backyard growing up you probably have bitter memories of your neighbors enjoying their pool, and so a pool in your new house is pretty exciting.And yes, pools are fun. But you shouldnt pay extra for a pool. The value-add of a pool is a complicated question for real estate professionals, but the key thing to keep in mind regarding a pool (or any water feature, for that matter) is the maintenance: Youre buying a lot of work, or a lot of invoices (close to $1,500 a years worth, on average). And if the pools not heated, youre going to have to close it up for much of the year anywayand possibly invest in a fence.Nothing wrong with enjoying a pool, or even wanting a pool. Just dont pay extra for a pool.Built-in appliancesA kitchen with built-in, integrated appliances can offer a space-age, elegant look. And for a brief period of time it can be a cutting-edge, high-end sort of kitchen. But those appliances will probably be outdated in terms of style and problematic in terms of function within a few yearsif they arent already.And built-in appliances are difficult to replace and difficult to repair, leading to extra costs when you have to replace trim work or remove cabinetry just to access them. Considering that the accepted wisdom is that you should remodel your kitchen every 10-15 years, paying extra for this stuff is probably a waste, since youll likely replace it all anyway.Whole house vacuumsCentral vacuum systems are making a bit of a comeback, sold on the convenience factorinstead of lugging a heavy vacuum around to every room, you can just plug in a lightweight hose and get to work. Theres no denying that a central vac can make cleaning the house a bit easierbut unless youre absolutely dedicated to having one, they should be regarded as a nice little extra that youre absolutely not paying a premium for.For one thing, theyre not that expensive to install, with costs ranging from $800 to $3,500, so even a brand-new system doesnt add much value to the house. For another, while they offer convenience theyre much less trouble than a regular vacuumyoure still going to have to plug in that hose in each room to do the work. Plus, repairing a central vac system can run as much as $500, as opposed to simply buying a new standalone vacuum. Wall-to-wall carpetWall-to-wall carpet is sometimes touted as a luxurious amenity, and if you love the feel of thick carpet under your bare feet, it might be. But its almost never worth paying extra for. Unless you know that the carpet was very recently installed, installed well, and is the pile and material you want, what youre buying is somebody elses carpet that may or may not be as clean as you want it to be.Carpet in general translates to a lower resale value on a home (as opposed to hardwood floors, which increase home values), which is all you need to know about its value proposition.

Hanging from a pull-up bar, without doing a pull-up, may look like a non-exercise. But dead hangs, as theyre called, are a useful tool for building grip strength, stretching your shoulders, and working toward doing pull-ups. That said, dead hangs have become trendy, and I think theyre kind of overrated. Lets break down what dead hangs can and cant do, and how you can improve on them.What are dead hangs, exactly?To do a dead hang, first you need to find a pull-up bar. You can get a doorway pull-up bar or a pull-up tower to train hangs at home, or you can find a pull-up bar at your local gym. If you havent seen one, theyre sneaky. Look for pull-up bars or handles:On squat racksOn cable machines (especially in the middle of crossover or dual-cable machines)On assisted pull-up machines (you can often fold down the knee pad and use these without assistance)To do a dead hang:Ideally, use a box or bench so you dont need to jump. But its okay if you jump up to reach the bar or handles.Grab the bar with your palms facing away from you. (Other hand positions are possible, but this is the most common way to do dead hangs.)Find a comfortable grip width, with your hands a bit wider than your shoulders. If you have an option of different handles (wider, narrower, etc), find the most comfortable.Adjust your grip, if needed. You can grab the bar either with your thumbs on top of the bar or wrapped underneath.Relax your body. Your shoulders will be right up next to your ears.These are called dead hangs because your body is like a dead weight. The opposite would be an active hang, where youre pressing your shoulders down and activating the muscles in your shoulders, back, and chest. Active hangs can be useful, but dead hangs are what were talking about today.How to use dead hangs for grip strengthThe first thing you may notice when you grab that pull-up bar is that this is not necessarily easy for your hands! Your grip muscles, mostly located in your forearms(!), need to work pretty hard to hold your body up.If youre a gymnast or a rock climber, this is no problem. But if youre new to the gym, you may find that your hands cant hold your body weight very long. Thats finedead hangs build grip strength, and youll start making progress pretty quickly.If this is too hard, prop your feet up on a box or bench (or use a lower bar, like the bar in a Smith machine, and rest your feet on the floor). This takes some of the weight off your hands.How to progress: Watch the clock (or set a timer on your watch or phone) and see how long you can hang. Start with three sets of whatever you can handle, and work up to at least three sets of 30 seconds or more, resting a few minutes in between sets.Once you can easily hang for more than 30 seconds, make it harder. My favorite progression is to hang with one full hand, and the other hand using just two fingers. On the next set, switch which hand is which. (Do four sets, so each hand gets equal work.) You can also add weight, for example with a dip belt. Another option is to do standing holds with a loaded barbell. Load the barbell heavier as your grip gets stronger.Why theyre overrated: Dead hangs are great as a beginner grip exercise, but if youre serious about training your grip, you shouldnt rely on only dead hangs. Wrist and forearm curls, thick bar work, and pinching movements should also be in the mix. And remember that if you do want to center your grip training around dead hangs, make them harder as described abovedont just hang for longer.How to use dead hangs to work toward your first pull-upInstead of dangling there, do you want to do an actual pull-up? Dead hangs are a great first step, because they help to build your grip and get you comfortable using pull-up bars. Use them the same way as you would for grip: Build up to 3 x 30 seconds, and then add active hangs and other moves to your routine.If this is too hard, prop your feet up on a box or bench, as with the grip training.How to progress: Your next step is an active hang. To do an active hang, start with a dead hang, and then pretend you are trying to pull the bar down toward the ground with straight arms. As you do this, your head and chest will rise, your shoulders will be pushed toward the ground, and your back muscles will tighten.If you do several reps, those are sometimes called scap pull-ups (because its like a pull-up, but youre moving your shoulder bladesyour scapulaerather than your arms). Heres a video example. Other key exercises in your pull-up journey may include flexed-arm hangs (where you start from the top position of a pull-up, and stay there) and negative pull-ups (where you start from the top position of a pull-up, and slowly lower yourself down). For both of these, youll use that box or bench to step into the starting position.Why theyre overrated: Dead hangs are fine as your first step into the pull-up world. But once you can do active hangs (or reps of scap pull-ups), the dead hangs arent really necessary.How to use dead hangs as a shoulder stretchIf you see me doing dead hangs, theyll be for this reason: warming up my shoulders and stretching my upper body before I do lifts where I hold a barbell overhead.I find these work best if I use a low pull-up bar, or even a bar in a squat rack or Smith machine, so that I can put my feet on the ground.The point here is not to challenge your grip, so you dont need your full weight pulling down on your hands. By putting your feet on the floor, you can easily change positions, for example leaning forward to feel the stretch more in your chest. Another good stretch is to switch your hands so your palms are facing toward you, and round your back a bit to feel the stretch in your lats (down the sides of your back).Spend as long as needed stretching your shoulders this way (3 x 30 seconds is a good guideline here as well, but you can go longer if it feels like it helps). I like to alternate these stretches with activation (strength) exercises like band pull-aparts or push-ups.How to progress: If you can comfortably hit all the positions I just described, youve pretty much achieved all the shoulder flexibility that this exercise can bring you. As with any stretch, if you want more flexibility than this can offer, choose a new set of stretches that match your goals.Why they're overrated: A dead hang is just one type of stretch. (The version that I describe here, where you get into several different positions to stretch different muscles, is a little more useful.) But shoulder health is about more than just one or a few specific stretches. You'll also want to strengthen your shoulders with a variety of exercises, and stretch your shoulders in more positions than just overhead. Dead hangs are often billed as a single magical exercise that will solve all your problems, but they really just give you the tiniest sampling of what you could get from a well-rounded program of strength training and mobility work.How to use dead hangs for spinal decompressionIve left this one for last because its the least important, at least in terms of physical benefits.People who love dead hangs often enjoy the feeling of relaxation that they feel when hanging from a bar. As the muscles in your back and core relax, you may feel your back lengthen, and this can feel nice.Why its overrated: Theres no solid evidence that this really does anything for your health or fitness.Spinal decompression (often using devices that hold a person in a specific position) has been used to treat back pain or to encourage healing of some types of back injuries. Sometimes it seems to help, but theres no clear evidence showing that the decompression is doing anythingmost injuries resolve themselves eventually, whether youre doing spinal decompression or not. A 2007 review examined several studies that are cited by marketing material for spinal decompression devices, and concluded that the quality of these studies is questionable.Ultimately, if dead hangs make you feel better, go right ahead and do them. They may even improve your grip strength and shoulder mobility as a side effect. But dont expect any serious health benefits from doing them.