51 Health and Fitness Rules I wish I had known when I was younger.Â
If you get into fitness at an early age it is easy to be swayed in multiple directions; most of which are vanity, rather than health, focused. It can be confusing for young ones out there to say, even though you “workout” you may not be healthy or you may be doing it the wrong way. That’s how I started…with an overreliance on supplements, and unecassry focus on mass building and very little cardiovascualr work.
I think health and fitness are important, and I want to make sure my son makes it part of his everyday life. I never want to be the dad that forces his son to workout twice a day or the one who gets mad for a mistake at a football game…I grew up in Texas, so yes, I’ve seen those dads. But I do want to be the dad who walks the walk and talks the talk when it comes to health and fitness and show my son on a daily basis how important it is to me, in hopes that it will become important to him.
This health and fitness thing, for me, has been a lifestyle and journey for a majority of my life now and I have learned a few things along the way. Hopefully a few lessons I have learned will save my son some time in the long run.
A little background: Currently my son is just over a year and a half old and nowhere close to starting a fitness routine. So here is to my son! 51 Health and Fitness Rules:
1.) The girls worth being with don’t really care about the size of your biceps.
2.) 99% of the supplements out there aren’t worth it.
3.) Don’t worry too much about “getting bigâ€.
4.) Fitness should be fun, make it that way and keep it that way.
5.) Strength is the key to being good at everything, from running to rugby.
6.)Â Learn to juggle, it helps more with athleticism than you think.
7.) Don’t specialize in anything…UNLESS specialization is fun, or will lead to scholarships :).
8.) Running isn’t fun, but neither is taking out the trash, homework or taxes…and they are all still 100% necessary.
9.) Get to know yourself by pushing yourself. Most never learn who they really are.
10.) Don’t quit. Ever.
11.) Keep an eye on the Paleo diet, it’s not perfect but it has most of this nutrition thing figured out.
12.) Never become so sure of something that you quit accepting new ideas, it makes you old.
13.) Get out in the sun daily.
14.) If jumping high and running fast happen to come naturally for you…don’t take it for granted.
15.) Never get into a position where you HAVE to diet. You are no longer in control if this happens.
16.) You were doing the perfect squat at 8 months old, never lose it.
17.) Don’t make excuses as you get older, just work harder.
18.) At 19 months old you love to run, jump, throw, push, pull and play outside; never change.
19.) Never do anything that would compromise health for the sake of increased performance.
20.) Play new sports regularly.
21.) Play racquetball from time to time. It will help with speed and footwork for ANY sport out there.
22.) Lift something heavy at least 3x a week.
23.) Squat racks: Don’t curl in them and when squatting, do a FULL squat…
24.) The full squat is king (you can see this one is important).
25.) Any bodily size changes are diet related…fitness will help too.
26.) Don’t kip pull-ups, dips or push-ups until you can do a lot of strict ones.
27.) Being bigger or stronger than your mother means nothing. She is tougher than you or I will ever be.
28.) Don’t assume fitness-advice from a Navy SEAL or member of the military is anywhere close to correct.
29.) If you get serious about fitness, make sure you write stuff down.
30.) In sports, listen to your coach, never make it about yourself and understand the importance of the team.
31.) Don’t drink skim milk.
32.) At 6 months old you were crushing heads of broccoli. Keep up that habit when you are older.
33.) Drink more water than anything else everyday.
34.) Skinny does not equal healthy.
35.) Skinny does not equal fit.
36.) 4+ hour marathons are not a true test of fitness; rather an experiment in boredom and pain.
37.) If you run a marathon in under 3 hours…you are running too much.
38.) Try barefoot running at least once.
39.) If you are injured…TAKE TIME OFF.
40.) If vanity is your only reason for working out, it won’t last.
41.) Never miss a practice, and I’ll never miss a game.
42.) Beer is not a post-workout beverage.
43.) Never feel inadequate or intimidated in the gym.
44.) If you ever hit yourself with the barbell (and you are still standing) just keep moving.
45.) Strength training is very different from bodybuilding.
46.) Learn to walk on your hands, it’s just fun.
47.) If you end up fitter than those around you, help them out.
48.) Fewer ingredients…normally better.
49.) One from Babe Ruth, “Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.â€; the only fitness that actually matters is what you currently possess.
50.) Lift an odd object every once in awhile.
51.) Â Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general.
###
Got a rule? Would love to hear it! Add it to the comments.