Equipment > Sports Shoes

You can find a copy of the Food Guide Pyramid on most boxes of cereal. (When following the Food Guide Pyramid, remember that some teen athletes may need more than the suggested daily servings of certain foods.) Eating regular meals and healthy snacks will keep you in top form.

Or the would be Charles Oakley in your pickup basketball game denting your dome with a flying elbow. However, the majority of tears, pulls, sprains and inflamed body parts can be averted by applying good technique, smart training, proper gear and common sense. Oh, yeah, and maybe a little humility. "A lot of guys fail to realize that they don't have the same bodies they did back in high school," says physical therapist Benjamin Gelfand, co-author of The Return to Glory Days, a comprehensive guide to treating and preventing sports injuries.

See your doctor for advice before trying a carbloading diet. Talk to your doctor about how much exercise is right for you. A good goal for many people is to work up to exercising 4 to 6 times a week for 30 to 60 minutes at a time.

Early attempts to prevent steroid abuse concentrated on drug testing and on educating students about the drugs' adverse effects. A few school districts test for abuse of illicit drugs, including steroids, and studies are currently under way to determine whether such testing reduces drug abuse. Quality of life is what we all want.