This page is LOADED with tips, secrets, and advice for ANYONE and EVERYONE that is currently trying to live an active and healthy lifestyle, broken-down based on age, gender, and physical abilities. There is no reason or good excuse for not living a healthy lifestyle. You don't have to eat perfect and workout every single day, and you don't have to be the most fit person in the world. You should just strive to be the most physically fit & healthy person that YOU can be. Don't blame genetics, unfortunate circumstances, and other problems as the reason that you don't workout & you eat like crap. You can be fit & live healthy at any age, no matter what!! There are some 50-60 year old people that can run circles around most people half their age!! Age is a state of mind, & you should never limit yourself due to your age. Be the best YOU can be & live YOUR life to the fullest!!

There are many great health, fitness, & nutrition tips throughout my entire Fitness & Nutrition Advice section which can apply generally to almost any person wanting to improve his or her fitness & nutrition program, regardless of age and gender. There are definitely some things though that apply more to a certain group of people than everyone else. Usually, a woman's workout will not be the same as a man's workout, and a child's workout is not going to be the same as an adult's workout. Older individuals should not be doing the same things as people 1/3 their age. Certain age groups tend to have different fitness goals too. A 20 year old boy may want to lift a lot, while a 60 year old man just wants to feel good & stay lean. A 13 year old boy should not be lifting & keeping up with his 18 year old brother. A workout plan must be tailored to a person's goals and capabilities. Every person is unique & their workouts should be too.

Here is a pretty good list of health tips based on your age, gender, and/or physical capabilities. Obviously I don't have experience with all of these groups, so I have included different things that I have discoved through research and by studying other people throughout the years. Hopefully you find these tips helpful!! Let's get started...

Boys Between 9 & 12

► Your bodies are still developing, and you need to stay away from lifting weights, especially anything heavy. You have the rest of your life to workout, and it would be beneficial for you to avoid lifting. If you really want to do something, do body-weight exercises like pullups, pushups, sit-ups, and dips. Doing those would be a lot more beneficial than lifting weights. Whatever you do, do at least 15-20 repetitions, and never less. Focus on endurance and not on strength.

► GET PROPER SLEEP!! - Your body is still developing, and most of that developing is done while you are sleeping. Get at least 8 hours of sleep per night. Put down the video games and turn off the TV. Get off Facebook and turn off your unnecessary cell phone. Get a lot of sleep now so that you can get bigger, faster, and stronger later!!

► Stay Active And Outside!! - When I was younger, before high school, I played sports all year round. I played soccer, baseball, basketball, and men's volleyball. I also was in a bowling league and did a few other activities along with being a Boy Scout. I was always doing different activities and staying active. I also rode my bike a lot when i was home all around the neighborhood. Stay active and don't let yourself get used to watching TV or staying inside. Bad habits are hard to break!! Michael Jordan did not get good at basketball by watching it on TV. He practiced every single day & worked hard!!

► Practice Great Form!! - If you do start to do body-weight exercises or any other type of exercises, learn great technique from somebody that knows about working out & exercising. Ask either your dad or your friend's dad, or ask your coach. I would not ask your friend because there is a high chance that he or she may explain it wrong. If you don't use good form, you can hurt yourself and do more damage than good. It does not matter how many you can do. It matters how many that you can do with proper techique and form.

► Follow a proper diet!! - As a kid, your metabolism should be pretty good, but you still need to eat a pretty good diet. Hopefully, your mom & dad have taught you what you should be eating & what is unhealthy. Twinkies are not meant to be a meal replacement, and chocolate cake is not a healthy breakfast!! Give your body the nutrients that it needs to grow & develop. Soon you will be ready to start lifting & working out harder. You are not ready for supplements though!! Most of those are not recommended until you hit 17 or 18. If you are really wanting to try a protein supplement, you can try a simple product when you start lifting. Eat real food instead for now.

Boys Between 13 & 15

► At these ages, you are ending grade school and entering into high school. Your body is also now much more developed, so you are ready to begin lifting with weights. You should definitely still focus more on endurance than strength when first beginning though. Start light and make sure that you are using good form!! As you get used to the lifts, you can start adding more weight. Especially when you are 13-14, focus on doing 15-20 repetitions. Once high school begins, you can start adding weight & dropping the number of repetitions. Don't expect your numbers to climb too fast though!! Every school has that one guy who is naturally stronger than everybody else on the team. Don't try to keep up with him!! He was born with great genetics, and is physically gifted. Worry about yourself and focus on doing the best you can with good technique. Get big, fast, & strong!!

► The big thing is to begin slow and build your way up. If you try to go too fast, you will just get yourself hurt. The other thing to remember is to workout your entire body!! You will see some idiots go into the gym just to bench, and then they will stand around talking to friends. Stay away from these guys!! They will be walking hunched over with narrow shoulders very soon, suffering from major muscle imbalances. If you want to be good at sports, remember, "Arms for show, legs to go!!" While your friends are taking up the bench, go squat & deadlift, which are your most important lifts. Then go do some power cleans to build explosiveness. By then, the bench will be free and you spent most of your energy on the most important lifts. When do you ever use a bench press motion in sports? Have you ever really bicep curled anything? In football, you might need to bench a guy off of you because he just ran you over using his powerful legs ;)

► When I was young, I was lucky to have a father that knew most of the different lifts. I also had a football coach that taught me the rest of what I needed to know at the time. I know not everybody is as lucky as I was. Form & technique is a HUGE part of lifting and getting stronger, so it is definitely necessary to learn what you are doing from somebody that knows. You may want to get a personal trainer for just a few sessions to show you how to do everything. Once you are comfortable with the lifts and workouts, you can move on to doing more stuff by yourself. In the long run, it's a smart investment.

► If you want to be successful, stay away from girls!! - If you want to be good at sports, then you need to focus on sports, school, practicing, & working out. If you want to live a "normal" life like everybody else, start dating when you are 14 and spend all your time texting and many other things you will regret when you are older. Haha I did not go on my first real date until I was 20 years old, and I don't regret it one bit. I won The Spartacus Challenge while I was single, & I firmly believe that was one of the main reasons why. You are only young once and there is no rewind button. Yes young relationships inspire great country songs, but not much else. When you choose going over to a girl's house instead of practicing, you are on a downhill spiral. I am not saying girls are evil and to avoid them, lol but one should not be at the top of your priorities if you want to be successful. Don't worry, I say the same thing to girls about boys ;)

► Now that you are working out, you are probably also reading a few fitness magazines. You probably also have a few friends taking some type of product. If you want, feel free to take a protein supplement drink after your workouts, or a mass gainer supplement if you are wanting to gain weight. Stay away from all the specialized expensive crap though. Most of it does not do as much as you think, and they are not recommended for people under 18. Other than protein, you may have a friend or two taking a creatine supplement. I have actually never taken that, and I don't know how I feel about it. For a great article about creatine, click here. I always laugh when I hear about a mother that is worried because her son wants to take creatine. My mom was the same way whenever I wanted to take something new. I believe it can have some positive effects as long as you follow directions and only take it for a few weeks at a time. I would stick with protein drinks, or possibly purchase a protein supplement that contains a little creatine. Don't waste your money on the other stuff though. Eat right and workout for maximum gains.

Boys Between 16 & 18

► As long as you started when you were younger, you should now be up to full speed. You have no physical restrictions. Enjoy your years in high school, and hopefully your sports & activities are going well. The big thing to stress is that you focus on your entire body, especially your legs. Also, focus on great form and warmup before lifting. I hate to see guys immediately throw a bunch of weights on the bar and start lifting. You may get by with this for a few years while young, but you will tear a muscle when you get older. If you are wanting to grow, your legs and your back are your largest sets of muscles. Working those muscles hard will produce more muscle-building testosterone. You can't have a real strong chest if you don't have a strong back, and you can't be at your best athletically if you have weak legs. The other major area to focus on is your core abdominal muscles. Have you tried Ab Ripper X yet?? (Part 1) (Part 2)

► I said this up above too, but if you want to be good at sports & other athletic events, that has to be in your top priorities. Be careful dating and doing all the other "extracurricular" activities that happen in high school. One of my favorite shows to watch on TV if I ever do is "Teen Mom" on MTV. It's so funny to see what life is like for all the people that had babies while way too young. These days are not like the days when our parents were growing up & people had families by the time they were 18. One poor decision can affect the rest of your life, and some are more expensive than others. It's also funny when great athletes get caught with drugs or make other stupid mistakes. Focus on your training and school, and this won't happen to you. Accomplish everything you can while you are young & single with no responsibilities. Life is easy!! Once you start a family and everything, life becomes a lot harder & you can no longer be selfish. Enjoy being young. You will regret it later if you don't & you DO NOT want that ;)

► One big thing that I recommend is to make sure that you are building "functional muscle" which means that you are building muscles that you can actually use in your everyday sports & athletic events. You need to be able to move your own body around with strength & quickness to be athletic. Make sure that you incorporate body-weight exercises into your everyday fitness routine. It's better to do pullups than lat pulldowns. Incorporate both the bench-press and pushups into your routine. Inverted pullups are more productive than doing rows for your back. Dips do a lot more for your triceps than tricep extensions do. Sometimes the best weight you can use is your own body-weight. Be the kind of guy that would dominate on American Ninja Warrior!! They definitely have "functional muscles" ;)

Advice For Older Men

I labeled this "Older Men" because I did not want to put a restriction on age. Age is mostly a "state of mind" and some older men feel a lot "younger" than they are. There are a few 50 year old men that are in better shape than most people my age!! I don't have any special advice for the "young men" that are able to workout and exercise as they please. Please read all of my other pages in my Fitness & Nutrition Advice section. For this particular page, "older men" refers to guys that mentally think they cannot do all the things that they used to be able to do when they were younger. My dad asks me health questions sometimes, and then I sometimes tell him to do something that he thinks will be too difficult. His response is always, "You add 30 years to your life son, and we'll see how your body feels!!" If this sounds like what you'd say, here are a few health tips:

► Time For a Check Up!! - Especially if you are about to start a new fitness program, you may want to go get some advice from your doctor. Have you had a check up lately? Make sure that everything is working right & healthy before you start your program up. Also ask your doctor if he has any advice. If you experience some pain or discomfort, your doctor may provide some exercises or stretches that you can do to relieve that pain and strengthen the muscles in that area. You also need to make sure that your heart & lungs are healthy enough to support cardiovascular exercise. Getting a check up will help prevent you from hurting yourself or getting injured.

► Don't try to do too much!! - If launching a fitness routine, older adults should not try to pick up where they left off years ago. Start gradually and figure out your current fitness level and abilities. Just like when you first started years ago, don't try to do too much too soon. You are not as limber & flexible as you used to be. You will hurt yourself and will have to spend a long time recovering. You don't heal like you used to either. Increase slowly to avoid injuries!!

► Make sure you are warmed up!! - Before you do strenuous activities, make sure that you are wamed up. You can't just start running or lifting like you used to. If you do, you can get hurt!! You need to be even more careful if you workout right when you wake up. The injury rate for seniors is higher in the morning because you have been sleeping all night and your body has not had much time to loosen & warm up. Make sure to do a thorough dynamic warmup before you really get started. This will help you feel better later too.

► Don't use 'no pain, no gain'!! - If you feel pain when doing an exercise or activity, you should stop. If you are in pain the next morning, you exercised too hard the day before. You need to stick to low intensity exercises that keep your body feeling happy & healthy.

► Don't limit yourself & activities!! - Just because you are older than you used to be, that does not mean you can't do many of the same things that you used to do. Don't limit yourself to walking, swimming, and light weightlifting. You may not be able to go as long and as fast, but go on hikes and get on your bike. Your body will tell you what you can't do. Don't ever let your mind tell you that you can't do something. As you gradually increase your fitness level, you will find that you can do more & more things, and you may even feel healthier & stronger than you did years ago. The sky is the limit!!

►Do strength training!! - Resistance and strength training is crucial for protecting your bones & joints. You can use free weights, machines, or elastic bands. Make sure to keep your upper back & neck strong!! As you get older and your back gets weaker, the back begins to round and a slouch develops, which can lead to a variety of physical problems. I am sure that you have seen an older gentlemen walking with his head facing down, walking hunched over. This happened because he has a very weak set of back & neck muscles. Make sure to do lat pulldowns and rows to strengthen your back & prevent that from happening to you. Strength train 3 times / week.

► Exercise with a group!! - If you don't want to workout just by yourself, find a group to workout with. If you enjoy riding your bike, find a local group to join. If you have a gym membership, try taking a fitness class with other people your age. Health clubs typically have tons of class options to chose from. Try a water aerobics class? Working out in water is the best option for your joints!! Working out with a group will help your motivation, and you will be able to meet other people into the same things as you. One of the people in your class may even become your new workout partner. Get fit together!!

► Stay Active!! - Increasing age is not an excuse for increasing the amount of TV that you watch. Stay active & stay healthy. Get out and do some activities with your grandchildren. I'm sure your kids will be happy to let you take them!! Take your wife out and go dancing. Get up and move around. Walk to the store if it's close instead of driving. The more you are moving around, the healthier you will feel. Living a sedentary lifestyle only makes you feel even more sluggish. Your body may be "older" but don't treat it like it is!!

► Don't eat like crap!! - You still need to follow a healthy diet!! I know a few older gentlemen that have a terrible diet!! They don't eat as much as they used to, but they eat worse than they used to. This is not a healthy compromise. As an older person, this is an even better reason to eat healthy. Make sure you get a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Limit your desserts and stay away from fried foods, especially if you have high cholesterol. Also make sure you are drinking enough water and then you are not consuming too much salt. Typically in the United States, people take more pills as they get older. If you keep a healthy diet & exercise plan, you should not need to take many pills!! Ask your doctor if you should take any particular vitamins or mineral supplements with your diet though.

► Get enough rest & sleep!! - I am sure that I don't even need to mention this, but make sure that you get enough sleep & rest. At the same time though, don't sleep & rest too much. There is definitely a fine line!! It's okay to take naps during the day if you need to. Get enough sleep & rest to let your body recover & rejuvenate properly.

My Conclusion

Hopefully I covered just about everybody with the tips up above. 95% of my tips can be found throughout the rest of my Fitness & Nutrition Advice section, especially in the Dieting Fitness Tips page and my Dieting Nutrition Tips page. Also check out my Fitness Training section along with my Nutrition & Diet section. Fitness is for life, no matter what age you are!! Age is a "state of mind" and the only thing keeping you from being as fit as YOU can be is yourself!! Your mind is the strongest muscle in your entire body. Use it to change your lifestyle so that you become more fit & healthy. You will live a longer, happier life and you will be able to experience A LOT more things. You will have more fun watching all of your children & grandchildren grow up, & you won't have to watch from your chair!!

One thing that I did not mention up above is that parents are the biggest influence on the fitness & nutrition habits of their children. As a parent, especially these days, you have to take an active role in teaching your kids how to eat healthy and be active. You also have to lead by example!! Why would your kid sit there eating vegetables while you are eating fried chicken and french fries? Why would your child want to go ride bikes or play outside if you are always inside watching TV? These days, it's so easy to just go get fast food and there are so many "convenient" pre-packaged meals at the grocery store that are absolutely terrible for you and your children. Doing this can be okay a few times per month, but you have to take the extra time to prepare & show your kids how to eat healthy. If you start when they are young, there is A LOT less chance that they will end up obese, and there is a great chance that they will live active, healthy lifestyles. For an article about encouraging kids to eat healthy food, click here. For another article, click here. For another GREAT article, click here. For 15 ways to get your kids to eat better, click here. Your kids will definitely thank you later on in their lives!!

Now I think that I have covered everybody!! Proper diet & fitness habits need to start while people are very young, and then living a healthy lifestyle will just get easier for them as they continue through the ups and downs of life. If you have any suggestions regarding any of the information that I have included above, please let me know. If you know of an article or a tip that I should include, please let me know that too!! I would love to make this page better for everybody. So if you have any questions or comments, please contact me. Thank you for reading, and good luck living a long, active & healthy life. I definitely hope that my website has helped!!