Piaad 3 Basketball

I used to own one of those big pulley system weight machines. It cost me a couple of thousand dollars and was really good quality. I sold it on Ebay for $150 last year.

Now I use low cost equipment and get heaps better results. I can go outside and train, or I can train in front of the television. I can train in the living room and watch the kids at the same time. Or I can pack it all up and take it to the park and train with friends and clients in a different setting. No longer am I stuck in the study. And as I said, the results have been amazing. So what do I use?

First off I would recommend a good set of adjustable dumbbells. You know the ones where you can add or remove weight plates as required. I actually have a couple of sets. One I keep quite heavy for use with leg exercises and one set that I change around a lot more depending on what exercises I am doing. These will probably be your most expensive purchase, but you will use them over and over. There are so many different ways to use them and you can easily work your whole body in any number of ways. Almost any exercise can be done with a set of dumbbells.

Another piece of fitness equipment I use a lot are my medicine balls. There are so many different ways to use medicine balls too. You can get them quite cheap at large sporting goods stores or from the internet. I use a 4kg one and a 6 kg one. I use these in every session with my Personal Training clients and Bootcamps too. They are great to use on your own or for partner work.

One of my most used pieces of equipment is a step. I had a friend build me one from some timber he had laying around. It is about 12 inches high and wide and about 4 foot long. Clients can get on either end of it and step up and down together. It is amazing how much harder they can go with someone else to keep up with. The step combines well with the dumbbells or the medicine ball for step ups, step downs, sideways step ups, lungeing off the box or onto the box or even dips off the side. You can also jump on and off the box or even use it to do push ups with. Put your hands on it to make them easier, or your feet to make it harder. Clients that find it hard to get up and down from the floor, can even do ab exercises on it and it doubles as a bench as well. To improve fitness, a step is invaluable.

Another cheap piece of fitness equipment is the humble skipping rope. Uses are obvious and you will be surprised how hard it is if you haven’t tried it lately. If you persist though, you will improve your fitness really quickly with regular jump rope sessions and they are great for weight loss too.

There are many other inexpensive items to include in your home gym set up. These can include resistance bands which are great to take on holidays and yoga type mats which come in real handy when training outside on hard surfaces. Kettlebells are a great item to have, but they can be quite expensive so search around for them. There are many suppliers on the net. I use them a lot in my training sessions and my clients love them too. There are many kettlebell exercises for either strength development, endurance improvement or fat burning, and they work really, really well.

These are just some of the inexpensive ways to equip your home gym. Don’t be fooled into thinking you need an expensive pinloaded weight machine. All of my clients, not to mention myself, have fantastic results without them.

After several seasons of trying to win a title behind the threesome of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, the Washington Wizards decided to move on.  After losing Arenas to a season-long suspension early in the year, the team shipped both Jamison and Butler out of town at the trade deadline, signaling the end of an era in Washington.  The trio led the Wizards to the playoffs with regularity when they were all in good health, but the franchise clearly saw this season as an opportunity to begin to rebuild the roster.

Those who have purchased Washington Wizards tickets since the trade deadline have probably been surprised at how competitive the team has been.  The younger guys have definitely stepped up in the absence of the team’s former big three, and the future looks brighter than anticipated for Wizards fans. The team will have a lot of money coming off the books this upcoming summer, as they’ve only got five players currently under contract beyond the 2009-10 season.  Let’s take a look at those players.

Perhaps the biggest surprise following the trades has been power forward Andray Blatche.  Blatche has received major minutes in every contest since Jamison was shipped, and he has been one of the best forwards in the league in that span.  Since taking over the starting spot, Blatche has averaged 28 points, 12 rebounds and three assists per game in seven contests.  Those are huge numbers – MVP-caliber numbers.  Blatche is showing no signs of slowing down as of March 1st and we could be seeing the birth of a star player.  He’s a versatile and athletic four who moves like a small forward but possesses the size of a center.

Another player the organization surely has very high hopes for is center JaVale McGee.  McGee has been injected into the starting lineup in the wake of the Butler trade, as the deal also sent Brendan Haywood to Dallas.  McGee is slight of frame, but his length makes him a quality defensive presence in the middle.  He’s still learning the pro game, but has shown significant promise at just 22 years of age.

Al Thornton came over from the Los Angeles Clippers in a deadline deal and has been surprisingly efficient since arriving in Washington.  He earned the reputation as a bit of a chucker in L.A., but has not played out of control with the Wizards.  He’s deferring to Blatche, which is a good sign for both players, and has posted solid scoring and rebounding numbers without taking many ill-advised shots in the process.  He should be a piece of the puzzle going forward.

One player who figured to benefit from Butler’s departure was shooting guard Nick Young, but Young hasn’t stepped up his game the way most people expected following the deadline.  He’s shown the ability to score in the past, and the Wizards are definitely hoping that he can get his act together before the season is out.  He’s got a ton of potential and has the tools to be a solid two-guard in the pros.

Arenas is on the books for four more years after this season, but the Wizards are likely going to try to part ways with the former superstar.  Arenas’ play and behavior have not been what is expected of a player who makes big money in the league.  Whether the team succeeds in voiding his contract, trades him or buys him out, I expect them to find a way to make a clean break from the guard.

Going forward, the Wizards will have a lot of salary cap space and have some nice, young players to build around.  Blatche looks like a potential superstar, and we could see him attract free agents in coming summers.  It looks like the Wizards are headed in the right direction in their rebuilding effort.

The Chicago Bulls are making the most of a favorable stretch of games following the All-Star break. A visit to Washington could help extend their recent run of success.

The Bulls look to match a season high with their fifth straight victory while trying for a third consecutive win over the new-look Wizards on Monday night.

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Despite trading veteran John Salmons and former first-round pick Tyrus Thomas to free up salary cap space in the hopes of pursuing some of the game’s top free agents next season, Chicago (29-26) appears focused on succeeding in the present.

Rookie Taj Gibson tied a career high with 20 points and had 13 rebounds, while Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich each scored 17 as the Bulls won 122-90 at home over Philadelphia on Saturday to remain undefeated since the All-Star break.

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for Monday’s game against the Wizards. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 58% of more the 234 bets for this game have been placed on the Bulls -2.



Hakim Warrick, acquired from Milwaukee in the Salmons’ trade, added 15 with nine boards for Chicago, which has won six of seven and is sixth in the Eastern Conference.

“We are confident and playing really good basketball,” Rose told the Bulls’ official Web site. “I’m really excited about the guys we have here right now.”

The Bulls’ schedule out of the break has helped contribute to their success. In the midst of playing seven of eight against teams with losing records, the Bulls are averaging 113.8 points and shooting 49.3 percent in two victories over New York, and wins against Minnesota and Philadelphia in their last four games.

Chicago held the 76ers to 38.4 percent shooting, while totaling a season high for points and committing a season-low four turnovers.

“If we play like that, we are a tough team to beat,” said Hinrich, who made three 3-pointers Saturday to give him a team-record 773 for his career.

Chicago figures to be a formidable opponent for Washington (19-34), which is without suspended star Gilbert Arenas and recently traded top players Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler.

Though the Wizards have won two in a row at home since the break, the Bulls have won three of their last four trips to Washington. Chicago also won 121-119 in double overtime at home in the teams’ last meeting Jan. 15.

Rose scored a career-high 37 points and had nine rebounds with six assists in that contest. Coming off his first All-Star game appearance and still nursing a sore hip, Rose is averaging 23.0 points on 55.7 percent shooting during the team’s four-game winning streak.

The Bulls last won five in a row Jan. 22-29.

Washington fell short in a bid for its first three-game winning streak of the season, losing 109-104 at Toronto on Saturday. Though the Wizards can no longer rely on the star trio of Arenas, Jamison and Butler, they appear to feel more comfortable on the floor as a group.

“We’re getting better,” said fifth-year forward Andray Blatche, who’s averaging 9.8 points on the season but 25.0 in his last three games since becoming a starter. “I like our attitude, I like our hustle. We’re going to be a great team.”

Blatche scored 24 points and former All-Star Josh Howard had 17 with seven rebounds Saturday in his third game since Dallas traded him for Butler and Brendan Haywood. Howard, who scored 20 points in the Wizards’ 107-97 win over Denver on Friday, is averaging 19.3 points and 7.2 boards in his last four games against the Bulls.

Randy Foye, who had 14 points Saturday for the Wizards, had 22 and seven assists at Chicago last month.

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