I've spent many, many hours coaching youth sports -- girls' volleyball and basketball, mainly -- so I'm pretty sure I'll forever keep my ears perked up for ideas on how to help kids learn about sports. A recent article in The Newark Advocate had just that -- teach kids to love sports by letting them tell you how to play.

Think about it -- kids love to play because it allows them to be creative. If you're trying to teach your daughter to play basketball, by all means teach her the basics of shooting, passing, and dribbling, but let her use her imagination to create new ways to play the game.

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We all know 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week does the body good. Add these steps to your 30-minute routine, and Michael F. Roizen, MD, says you'll keep your brain young.

• Eat Indian. Each week, eat six curry dishes or six teaspoons of dark mustard, or a combination of the two, and you may lower your Alzheimer's risk.

• Teach. You're more likely to retain information if you explain it to someone else.

• Go Tomatoes. Take in 10 tablespoons of tomato sauce (with olive oil and no added sugar). Do this every week and your brain will thank you.

• Laugh. Laughter really is good medicine. It's good enough to improve memory, in fact.

• Drink Coffee. More help on the Alzheimer's front. No cream or sugar allowed.

• Go Fish. Make it fish with low toxins, three to four times per week, or take molecularly distilled fish oil each day.

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I was having a conversation online with a friend of mine this past weekend and we were discussing the lack of solid nutrition education in school these days. Why isn't nutritional education taught in schools?

It's not that teachers have enough to do -- they are strapped as it is being child psychologists, babysitters and information sharers plus more. But are some subjects taught too much while others are taught too little?

Two areas that I believe have a huge lacking are money management and personal nutrition. Those two are more empowering than many academic areas, but since they don't prepare the average student to be a conformist worker, I guess that kind of education must be self-taught. What a pity.

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If you're a real yoga fanatic, then why not consider sharing your enthusiasm and help others by starting yoga teacher training? And even if teaching isn't your thing, going through an instructor course can take your personal workout to a whole new level by improving your knowledge of anatomy, philosophy, sequencing and alignment.

If you're interested in something like this the best place to start is your nearest yoga studio. Most offer yoga teacher-training programs, and if they don't they should certainly be able to point you to someone who does. It's important to filter out phonies by making sure the training program is Yoga Alliance certified. And if you're having trouble finding something in your area, you can always check out the Yoga Alliance website.

Yoga training can be expensive, and you may not make much money as an instructor once you've completed it, but the rewards can still be worthwhile. Even if just for you!

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More and more retired athletes are getting jobs as teachers and trainers for fitness classes across the country. This is one of those topics that has pretty decent arguments for both sides, in my opinion anyway. Retired athletes have what many fitness instructors don't have -- real and actual experience in a specific field. They've developed tricks and tips from their own ups and downs, and really know inside and out what does and doesn't work for them. But on the other side, most (if not all) retired athletes have no official certification in the health and fitness field, and what they share may or may not be safe and effective. Maybe they've figured out what worked for them, but how are they are helping you figure out what will work for you? Or at helping you avoid injury?

Bottom line is that I think it's great if retired athletes want to share their knowledge and experience with others. As long as they're upfront and honest about qualifications and certifications, etc, people can make their own decisions. After all, this is America, and if some fitness icon wants to say "Hey, here's how I got where I am today" then good for them. Just make sure you do your homework, know what you're getting into, and take care of yourself.

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