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Examples of moderate activity include brisk walking, swimming, raking leaves and even housework — as long as it’s somewhat intense, like scrubbing floors. You can break up the activity into three, 10-minute sessions if you like.

Thirty minutes a day of moderate activity has a very significant health benefit

But that’s not to say that longer or more intense activity isn’t beneficial.

we should all engage in 60 minutes of daily vigorous physical activity

To maintain optimal cardiovascular health, a good body weight, and a favorable body composition, we really ought to be exercising at least an hour a day.

What did you just say? Eat 6 times per day? Yes, that's right! Don't think that you are going to gain quality size eating 3 square meals per day. The only type of mass you will put on eating this way will be the fat type, and this is not our objective. There is no way that you can reach your caloric or your macronutrient needs eating 3 meals per day. If by some magical reason you can eat them in 3 meals, than you will be so full and bloated, you won't be able tie up your own shoes let alone pound out some heavy deadlifts.

Water is very important for many reasons. Water is good for you believe it or not. It has many health and performance benefits. It keeps your organs functioning properly, clears toxins, reduces excess sodium from your body, and it hydrates your muscle cells. It even liberates fat stores on your body so they are burned off as an energy source. Dehydration will cause a major decrement in performance. Even a 2% state of dehydration will cause your performance to go out the window

Sleep

How Many Reps/Sets To Do You've figured out the exercises you should be doing, but what about the number of sets and repetitions? Your decision should be based on your goals. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 8-12 reps for muscular strength and 10-15 reps for muscular endurance. They also recommend at least 1 set of each exercise to fatigue although you'll find that most people perform about 2-3 sets of each exercise. In general:

For fat loss: 1-3 sets of 10-12 reps using enough weight that you can ONLY complete the desired reps.

To gain muscle: 3+ sets of 6-8 reps to fatigue. For beginners, give yourself several weeks of conditioning before going to this level. You may need a spotter for many exercises.

The theory behind low-carb diets is that when your body is deprived of carbs, your fat stores are burned to provide energy. This causes you to lose fat and stay slim and trim. Another benefit of a low-carb diet is that you tend to eat more protein, which helps build muscle. Make the change to a low-carb diet with an eye on how you feel and how much energy you have during your workouts and other daily activities.

The best way to reduce carbs in your diet is to restrict those foods that are comprised of simple carbs, such as snacks and foods made of refined sugar, white flour, white rice, snack foods, cakes, cookies and soda. Low-carb snacks or meals to eat before exercise include eggs, cheese, some fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

People with lower amounts of stored fat may find they do not have enough energy to get through the day. Low-carb diets also can cause “brain fog.”

A carbohydrate-loading diet, also called a carb-loading diet, is a strategy to increase the amount of fuel stored in your muscles to improve athletic performance. Carbohydrate loading generally involves greatly increasing the amount of carbohydrates you eat several days before a high-intensity endurance athletic event.

Your muscles normally store only small amounts of glycogen — enough to support you during recreational exercise activities. If you exercise intensely for more than 90 minutes, your muscles may run out of glycogen. At that point, you may start to become fatigued, and your performance may suffer.

But with carbohydrate loading, you may be able to store up enough energy in your muscles to give you the stamina to make it through longer endurance events without overwhelming fatigue

Your primary goal will give you a general starting point for figuring out exactly how to balance your training, as well as what type of cardio and weight training you should be doing. In addition to your primary goal, you will also need to take into account two other major factors: Your Body Type - Are you naturally slim? Do you gain muscle easily? Do you tend to hold onto fat readily? The Type Of Cardio Training You're Doing - Is it high- intensity or low-intensity? Does it fatigue you for weights? Does your weight training fatigue you for your cardio?

If you're training to gain muscle, you will need to do less cardio training. Too much cardio can actually hamper your muscle gain by slowing recovery and burning up calories that your body needs for the process of building muscle. As a general guideline, one or two cardio sessions per week should be enough to maintain your cardiovascular conditioning and keep your bodyfat gains in check while not slowing muscle growth. You should train with weights at least three times per week, up to even six times if you can recover from it and still make progress.

The ectomorph is the naturally-slim person. They have a smaller bone-structure and can seem to "eat whatever they want and not gain an ounce."

The most effective way for fat loss is increasing your metabolism.

Weight training and aerobic activities and taken in enough nutritious calories each day for energy all while having enough protein to maintain muscle mass, which in turn will lead to fat loss

It is important to focus on fat loss and not just weight loss.

Glucose, which is transported by your bloodstream to organs and tissues after eating carbohydrates, provides an essential source of energy for both your muscles and brain when working out. As energy and glucose needs to increase with exercise, it's important to eat enough carbohydrates in order to fuel your workouts. Having low blood glucose levels during exercise harms performance and can lead to physical and mental fatigue, sometimes resulting in weakness, dizziness and hypoglycemia. Glucose also prevents the body from using protein for energy.

When glucose isn't needed for immediate energy, the body stores it as glycogen in the liver and skeletal muscle. Glycogen stores are especially important when working out, as the body's energy demands may exceed the amount supplied by glucose in the bloodstream after prolonged exercise or when exercising with insufficient carbohydrate intake. According to Iowa State University, during low-intensity workouts, glycogen stores can be used to increase glucose levels in the bloodstream for as long as 90 minutes -- whereas during high-intensity exercise, glycogen stores provide energy for only about 20 minutes. Active people therefore need to replenish glucose regularly by eating plenty of carbohydrates. However, in less-active people with adequate glycogen stores, additional glucose is stored as fat.

Split your workouts into smaller workouts throughout the day.

Take a few minutes here and there for some stair-climbing or speed walking.

Do all those things you know you should be doing: take the stairs, walk more, stop driving around looking for that front row parking space, etc.

Q: Is Creatine a Steroid?

A:  I would like to dispel this myth by giving you the definition of what an anabolic steroid is.  These  are synthetic versions of the male hormone testosterone.  Creatine, as you will see below is not.  Basically anyone who says this should immediately be labeled a gymbecile. 

Q: What is Creatine?

Moderation. When serving your own meal, it's best to have just enough food on your plate to avoid over-eating.

Avoid the munchies. Eating junk food between meals is not good for you.

But if the sound of your early morning alarm leaves you more likely to slap the snooze button than slip on some sneakers, are you missing out on the best time of day to get active?

Given that most of us aren't active enough anyway, getting moving is more important than when we do it,

While there's a popular belief that exercising in the morning may be more effective for weight loss, Guelfi says we still don't have the scientific evidence to back that up.

Choose an alarm clock with a pleasant wake-up call.

Lay out your workout clothes,

before you go to bed each night.

Setting aside enough time to sleep — let alone exercise — can be tough

Wake up early. Get up 30 minutes earlier than you normally do and use the extra time to walk on your treadmill or take a brisk walk

Make chores count.

Your body needs energy and nutrients from food to grow and to work properly. If you don’t eat a healthy, balanced diet, you could be putting your health and growth at risk.

eating well doesn't have to mean giving up all your favourite foods.

means eating a wide range of foods so that you get all the nutrients you need, and eating the right number of calories for how active you are.

Teenagers and diet

should sustain growth and promote good health.

number of physiological changes occur that affect nutritional needs

The foundation for a lifetime of strong bones is built during the teen and young adult years until about age 30

research indicates that teenagers are not getting nearly enough calcium to build strong bones and that can lead to osteoporosis later in life.

Maintaining normal weight is critically important since obesity often leads to diabetes-type 2, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, conditions once seen most commonly in adults.