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Can’t afford the fitness center? With so many various options of home exercise, it is not hard to get all the diverse weightlifting choices found in most gyms inside the comfort of the very own home. Add a few other pieces of equipment and you’ve your very own home health club!

Who has room for an entire set of dumbbells in their residence? Beyond that, who can manage to pay for dozens of weights? There are types of Dumbbells and items like them, where you are able to have an entire set of weights that only requires the space of two shoe boxes within your residence. The weight of each dumbbell may be tailored to weigh anywhere from five pounds to 52.5 pounds, and switching the weight around between exercises is really a breeze. You are able to effortlessly do lateral raises one minute, bicep curls the following, and lying chest presses the next! When you are done exercising, the weights may be kept inside the corner of a room, under the bed, or even in the wardrobe. What would take up an entire wall in a health club can be effortlessly stored within your wardrobe.

The weights are very helpful by themselves, but a few other pieces of tools will actually have you ready to get in shape at residence. An adjustable bench will enable you to perform different chest and back workout routines. It can even be used to aid in biceps, triceps, and shoulder workouts. This versatile piece of equipment will broaden the possible exercises you are able to do with your dumbbells, and could also be effortlessly stored in a closet or the corner of the room. An additional useful piece of equipment is a multi-grip pull up bar.

A pull up bar could be installed in any doorway of your home. You can also easily place a chair underneath the doorway to provide you with some assistance before you’re ready to do pull ups and chin ups without any resistance. Most pull up bars could also be taken down, placed on the floor upside down, and used to aid with pushups too. This small piece of gear will help you use your own body fat for numerous workouts, with will assist build up the smaller stabilizer muscles that pounds training alone sometimes misses.

As you can see, achieving fantastic fitness results at residence is just a few pieces of gear away!

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When people think of the best surf spots, an image of Hawaii or California may come to mind. Somewhere warm and tropical with huge rolling waves and pristine beaches with palm trees. However, here in the UK, we have quite a few locations that are known to be great for surfers of all ages and abilities. Apparently, autumn is the best time to surf in these UK spots. So leave your mens board shorts at home!

The top 10 UK surf spots include places in Cornwall, Devon, Scotland, and Wales. Make sure you wear the full body wetsuit and bring a nice warm towel to dry off with after your surf session.

The best spots in the world are agreed to be the Gold Coast of Australia, the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia, Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, Fuerteventura in Spain, El Salvador, Costa Rica, California in North America, Bali in Indonesia, Santa Catarina in Brazil, and Samoa. Other places include the North Shore of Hawaii, parts of Florida in North America, Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand, the Philippines, Hossegor in France, Puerto Escondido in Mexico, Pampa in Ireland, Tonga, Santa Catalina in Panama, Pasta Point in the Maldives, and La Santa in the Canary Islands.

2005 Overview:

The Milwaukee Brewers put together an impressive 2005 season posting a .500 record (81-81). Led by outfielders Carlos Lee (.265 32 114) and Geoff Jenkins (.292 25 86) the Brewers 2005 offense also received help from 1st baseman Lyle Overbay (.276 19 72) and Brady Clark (.306 13 53). Rickie Weeks (.239 13 42) and Bill Hall (.291 17 62) split time at second base while pitcher Chris Capuano (18 12 3.99) surprised many by posting 18 wins and pitching over 200 innings (219) for the first time in his young major leaguer career. Helping Capuano in the rotation were Ben Sheets (10 9 3.33) and Tomo Ohka (7 6 4.35) who was acquired midseason from the Washington Nationals. Newcomer closer Derrick Turnbow (7 1 1.74 39 saves) did very well posting a microscopic 0.90 ERA after the all star break.

Off Season Moves:

GM Doug Melvin continued to carefully build his team of youngsters for 2006. First on his list was trading first baseman Lyle Overbay in order to make room for newcomer Prince Fielder (.288 2 10). The organization is high on Fielder’s potential. The team also picked up starter Dave Bush (5-11 4.49), outfielder Gabe Gross (.250 1 7) and pitcher Zach Jackson, who was a former first round pick from the Blue Jays.

The Brewers also traded to get third baseman Corey Koskie (.249 11 36) in exchange for right hander Brian Wolfe. Melvin also sent pitcher Wes Obermueller to Atlanta to get back the Brewers’ former closer, Dan Kolb (3-8 5.93).

2006 Analysis:

The Brewers GM Doug Melvin continues to impress as he has assembled a team of young, aggressive players. Prince Fielder is expected to join Lee and Jenkins to form one of the more formidable lineups in the NL. The Brewers think so highly of Fielder they moved Overbay to make room for his immediate ascension.

The team hopes Bush will be a good pickup. The pitcher turned around a poor 0-5 start with the Blue Jays and did struggle in September as well, but the Brewers are hopeful a change in scenery will help him. The team’s starters ranked sixth in the NL with a 4.02 ERA last year and the staff should be improved. Expect Koskie to do well in his new uniform. His RBI totals in particular should increase with more consistent playing time.

The pitcher to watch will be Capuano. His 18 wins and 35 game starts really anchored the rotation in 2005. The Brewers are hoping he will become a legitimate ace to build their rotation around. The bullpen other then Turnbow is somewhat questionable. Kolb is familiar face and will help setup the closer but other then that there isn’t much here to depend on. Turnbow posted a 3-0 record after the all star break and emerged as one of the more reliable closers in baseball. The Brewers are counting on him picking up where he left off in 2005. Brewer fans remain hopeful in 2006 as management continues to build a quality team.

Jack Scrafford recommends PlatinumTickets to buy Milwaukee Brewers tickets. See www.platinumtickets.com/mlb/milwaukee_brewers_tickets.html for more information.

Many athletes suffer from pain in their elbow that is generally attributed to repetitive stress. Golfers and tennis players are susceptible to conditions that are very similar to each other; they are called golf elbow and tennis elbow. Sometimes it may be a little hard to tell the difference between the two conditions. But there are signs that can distinguish between the two.

Due to the amount of time spent using their arms, many golf and tennis players, especially the pros, can suffer from one of these conditions, but the fact is anyone can get either of these conditions. Tennis elbow is caused by the overuse of the muscles that pulls your hand in a backward motion. When you overwork these muscles they begin to swell and become sore from being inflamed. Golf elbow is basically the same but affects the inside of your arm instead of the outside.

Tennis Elbow

If you notice that trying to pick something up or simply just moving your elbow is painful, then you may be suffering from tennis elbow. This condition affects the back side of your arm between your elbow and hand. This is why trying to pick something up is painful. If the outside of your elbow feels tender to the touch and you feel discomfort when picking up items with this hand, chances are good you have tennis elbow.

Golf Elbow

If moving your elbow or trying to lift something upwards causes pain that runs from the inside of your elbow to the inside of your wrist then, this is a good sign you have golf elbow. This condition is seen more frequently because it affects the muscles on the inside of your arm which pulls the wrist in. Golfers elbow can also be associated with neck pain so you if you have not done anything to overwork your arm, the problem may be caused by a neck condition. An injury or a medical condition such as arthritis can also cause you to have this condition.

Knowing the signs will help you be able to distinguish between the two conditions. For both golf and tennis elbow, the treatment is generally R-I-C-E; rest, ice, compress and elevate along with taking some anti inflammatory medications. However, a proper diagnosis is always recommended from a medical professional.

Susan Hill is a nationally recognized fitness trainer, CHEK golf biomechanic and sports nutrition specialist. For more information on golf specific nutrition, exercises or stretches, visit www.fitnessforgolf.com.

Ironman Langkawi-Malaysia is soon to take place in the idealic setting of Kuah town. The race is to go ahead as scheduled on February 26, 2006 and there are still openings for those of you looking for a race in the very near future.

The langkawi-Malaysia Ironman first took place in the year 2000 and has since become the favorite of many athletes from around the world.

The swim is a 3.8 km swim in the tranquil waters of the Kuah town Jetty.

The bike is a 2 and one half loop course that takes place on the coastal roads of Langkawi island. The course itself is hilly and undulating

The marathon consists of two 21.1 km. loops on a course that is generally flat but with gradual climbs at the 4-10 and 24-30 km. marks.

From all reports Ironman Langkawi-Malaysia is well organized and supported with great enthusiasm by the local population.

One thing to be aware of and possibly train for is the heat which can be anywhere from 28-35 degrees C. Also, it is a very humid heat and reminds me quite a lot of what one might experience in the Hawaii Ironman in Kona.

Pros will be competing for prize money and age groupers will have the opportunity to qualify for the world championships in Hawaii as there will be spots available for age group qualifiers.

Accomodation prices look very reasonable. Several of the major hotels in Langkawi are just minutes from the race start. However, expect to pay quite a lot for the return flight from North America with gateways from Los Angeles and New York. There is no ferry necessary from the mainland to Langkawi island as they now have their own international airport.

This seems to be a terrific holiday destination for those looking for a more “exotic” Ironman venue and comes highly recommended by those who have competed there in the past. Athletes from 17 countries are expected for the 2006 edition of this Ironnam.

For those looking for a last minute race, it appears that entries will be available until mid-February. If not this year, then possibly it might be an ideal race to consider for 2007. Take the whole family and make a holiday of this beautiful Ironman destination. What an opportunity to visit the “other” side of the world.

Any information you might need can be found on their website@LangkawiIronman.com

My name is Ray and I’m a veteran of 25 years of endurance events including 14 Ironman Triathlons

I have built a website full of training and racing tips that may be helpful in attaining your Ironman goal.

The name of my site is “Ironstruck”

The address is http://triathlon-ironman-myfirstironman-ironstruck.com

You can also feel free to contact me with questions and comments at……….

http://triathlon-ironman-myfirstironman-ironstruck.com/contact-me.html

Huddersfield Town stayed firmly in the hunt of a League One automatic-promotion place with a winner against local-rivals Barnsley. Gary Taylor-Fletcher scored the decisive goal 10 minutes into the second-half to keep the 10/11 Terriers on course.

Top-of-the-table Southend United were held to a 1-1 draw at struggling Bournemouth who moved four points clear of relegation. Fredy Eastwood, League One’s player of the month for March, scored his 21st goal of the season after 20 minutes but James Hayter salvaged a 23/10 draw with eight minutes remaining.

Brentford remained in second-place after a 1-1 draw at play-off hopefuls Colchester United. Jay Tabb opened the scoring for Brentford after six minutes but top scorer Chris Iwulemo equalised on 31 to earn a 9/4 draw.

A controversial penalty from Luke Beckett’s earned play-off contenders Oldham Athletic a valuable point at relegation-threatened Hartlepool United. The Monkey Hangers took the lead through Lee Bullock after nine minutes but Oldham were handed a lifeline when Bullock was judged to have handled in the box and Beckett scored from the spot on the stroke of half-time. Yet another draw, this time at odds of 11/5.

In-form Nottingham Forest made up ground on the play-off pack with a convincing 3-1 victory at Chesterfield. Ian Breckin gave 6/4 Forest the lead after 19 minutes and Nathan Tyson doubled the advantage on 29. Phil Picken pulled one back for the Spireites on 33 but John Thompson inflicted a fifth straight defeat on the home side three minutes from time.

Rotherham United also remain in the bottom four after crashing 3-1 at Doncaster Rovers. Neil Roberts and Sean Thornton put Rovers 2-0 ahead inside 10 minutes before Jonathan Forte pulled one back on 15. Lewis Guy kept 4/5 Doncaster’s slim play-off hopes alive with a third goal after 21 minutes.

Bottom club MK Dons gave opponents Gillingham a scare when Gary Smith converted a penalty five minutes before the break. However, two goals in as many minutes from Darren Byfield on 59 and Tommy Black on 61 ensured a 9/5 away victory.

Elsewhere, Dean Windass celebrated his 37th birthday and his first game back after a five-match ban with a hat-trick against mid-table Scunthorpe United. Windass opened the scoring after seven minutes for the 6/5 Bantams but fellow old-stager Peter Beagrie levelled from the penalty spot six minutes later. Richard Hinds put the Iron in front on 29 before Windass scored either side of a Mark Bridge-Wilkinson goal in the second half.

David Walker runs free bets and UK poker websites. A free email course: “Seven Days to Better Betting” is available at both of these websites.

There are many different ways to achieve golf lessons, and many ways to effectively acquire valuable lessons out there. Among the many ways to learn lessons of golf, online golf lessons are one of the fast effective ways to gain knowledge of strategies and techniques. Improving your golf game while realizing your best potential is one great reason to utilize online golf lessons.

Finding the best website for online golf lessons is relatively simple. Perhaps you have already established a comfortable, user-friendly golf website and that site lends you access to online golf lessons. If not, there are many reputable websites from which to choose. Also there are varied means in which to utilize the lessons offered.

Online golf lessons can include tips on how to improve specific aspects of your golf game. Normally on most websites, an overall generalization is provided so that you can see the broad scope of golf. This occurs at first and as you gain more direct knowledge toward where your particular golf game suffers you can find information that will seem personalized.

There will also be valuable information about stance, follow through of an effective swing and the finer points of swing analysis. Online golf lessons can even include time and effort geared toward the mental aspect of the game. As we know golf is a competitive sport in which you are competing against other golfer, the course and most importantly yourself.

In most case online golf lessons are offered on a non-paying basis and are simply included in your favorite golf website. In some cases you may find golf lessons that are presented in acrobat reader formatting and are downloaded into your personal computer at a minimal cost to you. Payment is made in a secure fashion with a credit card. Shopping around to search for the most effective lessons for your level of interest in the sport of golf is of utmost importance. Searching for the perfect lessons for you will serve to keep costs down and also to provide optimal help in areas where you most need it.

Most scenarios where golf lessons are available for free or for a cost in a downloadable format you will be given ample information. This information will be provided to determine if your personal computer has the capacity to down load these various programs. And to assure you that your computer also possess the capabilities to present the lessons in the way they are meant to be viewed.

One benefit from utilizing online golf lessons to improve your golf skills is that you can experience the lessons at your leisure. You can study and practice at your leisure and then too have the lessons handy for reviewing when you forget exactly what was being taught. Once you have improved your golf game and see the results you were hoping to see it is possible you will search for a more specific online lesson for your needs. Knowing where to look and what to expect with effective results will make that search much more pleasant.

About the Author:
This article was published by Hans Hasselfors from www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com. Visit our article directory for more articles about golf.

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THE ISSUE

You see it at the start of every race. As soon as the starting gun goes off, the runners lined up at the front sprint away at blistering speeds; everyone trying to avoid getting boxed up in the middle of the pack. And in the core of the pack, runners are pushing, shoving and maneuvering in a desperate effort to find some space and make their way forward.

Ironically, the majority of those runners lining up in front, just behind the professional invitation athletes, should never be there in the first place. Most of them are already huffing and puffing away after only 5km, all red faced and barely able to have a chat with their friends. Which leaves them with a long and manfully half marathon experience ahead.

What I would like to point out with this article is that if you have done sufficient distance training before your half marathon, you can improve your times, with less pain and quicker recovery, by having the right racing strategy. The principles I will be touching on can be applied to most distances, but I am basing my advice on personal experience, and the half marathon is my favourite distance.

THE FACTS

Starting your half marathon too fast can kill your chances of running a personal best even before you reached the 5km marker. As a beginner, I did that to myself many times. When I learned to pace myself better at the start of the race (thanks to the guidance of my running mentor), my times started to improve significantly. I also became aware of how many runners actually start their races too fast. This was clear from the huge number of runners I would run past on my way, from as early as the 5km marker, all the way through to the end.

The truth is, you can always make up time after a slow start, as long as you do it gradually. But start out too fast, and it’s damage control all the way to the finish line. The lactic acid build-up is practically unavoidable. And it is only logic that you can’t reverse the impact of the hard work on your muscles, which you will have to deal with for the rest of the race.

THE CAUSE

The biggest reason for starting out too fast, is the pre-race buildup and excitement. You’re all excited, fired up and ready to go. The anticipation of waiting for the starting gun is no help at all. We are using the same starting technique for a 800m track race and a 21.1km road race, so it’s understandable that we get a little over excited. However, the excitement is the reason that you start out running much faster than you feel you are running at that moment. My rule of thumb is that if I should feel like I’m running too slowly, I can always check my pace at the first distance marker, and rely on fact rather than emotion.

Bad pace judgment is another reason, and is often linked to the excitement problem. You might be trying to pace yourself, but your brain is sending the wrong messages to your legs, like “this pace feels way too slow, surely we should be running faster”. Sometimes there is even a complete lack of pace judgment. If you are going to try for a personal best (PB), you should know what your target pace per km is for the race.

Positioning yourself too far up front in the starting line-up is another big mistake to make. If you are in a group of people that will run faster than what you are capable of, you will get swept along and start too fast. As mentioned earlier, most runners at the front of the pack start out at a pace that they will never be able too maintain, and unless you have a very good self discipline and pace judgment, you will do exactly the same if you find yourself among them.

THE SOLUTION

Experiment with moving yourself further down the pack in the starting line-up than you normally would. This is a good way to force yourself to a slower start if your self discipline is not good enough.

Compare the alternatives. Let’s use an example and say you are trying to break 90 minutes for the half marathon. That gives you a target pace of 4:15 per km. Scenario #1 is that you are 45 seconds off pace after the first kilometer, too fast. In other words, you ran it in 3:30. Scenario #2 is that you ran it 45 seconds too slow, at 5:00. In this scenario you have 20km left to catch to the target pace, at 2.25 seconds per kilometer. This is easily achievable, if done gradually. Consider this in comparison to scenario #1. There is not much you can do to compensate for the quick start. Of course you can slow down, but that does not undo the damage of fatigue caused by running faster than you should have. If you had the choice, wouldn’t you rather be in scenario #2? If you think these scenario’s are too extreme, think again. I have done both of them myself when I just started running half marathons.

Find a partner to team up with for the first few kilometers. You can help each other to maintain the right pace for the start. My running coach and mentor usually had a group of up to 8 runners from our training group with him at the start. We would stick together and help each other keep a decent pace. After about 7km’s the group would break up as runners perused their individual goals.

Practice makes perfect. If you are already hooked on the mentality that a fast start is a good start, its going to be tough to break the habit. A helpful tool is a stopwatch with enough memory to store lap times of each kilometer in your race. You can then analyze different races by comparing how you maintained your pace in slow start races, versus fast start races. Seeing it on paper can be very convincing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Having a good starting strategy has helped me improve my times over the half marathon, and I really believe that lots of runners reap the same benefits, regardless of what level runner you are.

Remember: You don’t make your race in the first 5 km’s, but you can break it.

To your running success,

Waldo

Waldo Pienaar is a former competitive runner, who competed in middle distance track racing at high school, and converted to road racing and cross-country while studying at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. A combination of injuries and his career as an accountant has since limited his running to a social level, but he still enjoys researching information on health and training.

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I recently heard a golf announcer mention the fact that most great wedge players have strong grips. It follows that a more neutral grip is is better for longer clubs.

Phil Mickelson won the 2006 Masters using two drivers. My personal opinion is that it was almost genius for him. For you and me, it would be a boneheaded thing to do.

But what we can do is use two different grips. A neutral grip for longer clubs and a stronger grip for the short irons and wedges.

It’s a fair bet that you remember a lot of days when your driving was fantastic and you couldn’t hit a green. Or when you were hitting your irons good but couldn’t catch a drive.

Next time you are having one of those days, make an adjustment to your grip accordingly. Here’s how.

If you are driving well but missing your short irons, strengthen your grip a bit with the short irons.

If you are hitting your short irons well but can’t hit a driver, weaken your grip a bit on the longer shots.

Consider longer clubs the six iron up through the driver. Short clubs are 8 through the wedges.

While a grip adjustment during the round may help you save a shot or two, you should also consider making the the two grip approach a part of your game.

You may find improved consistency with both your short and long clubs by using different grips for each.

Break your swing up into several parts. At the address position, your arms and chest form a triangle.

Practice the take away by moving this triangle in one piece without changing any of the angles, which means no wrist movement.

Take your club to waist height and stop there.
Practice this over and over again, during the day when you have an odd moment.
You do not have to have a club in your hand.
Simply adopt the grip position of the hands by holding your left thumb with your right hand.
It is essential that you do not use your wrists in the take away.

Next take your swing to the top and look at your hand and arm position.
Assume this position by performing your backswing at odd moments.

Next start the down swing by turning your left hip, and then continue the next part of the down swing until you are just behind the ball.

This time with a club, note the squareness or otherwise of the club face.

Next, with a club, start with club head just behind the ball and continue your swing making sure you have firm wrists and that you are hitting with you arms.
Continue through to the finish of the follow through, making sure that your right forearm crosses over your left on the way.

Practising during the day as often as you can will result in a grooved swing for you that will happen each time you hit the ball with very little conscious thought or mental input from you.