Workouts

In the first two games, Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro has found a way to play all five of his big men. It was easy for Del Negro to work in starters Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan along with reserves Lamar Odom, Ryan Hollins and Ronny Turiaf in those first two games because of foul trouble and because of the imposing front lines the Clippers faced. The challenge for Del Negro will be trying to play them all, especially on Saturday night when the Clippers faced a smaller Golden State team at Staples Center.

The invention of the wheel sometime around 4,000 BC suddenly made all kinds of things easier, from carrying to killing to athletics. Fitness is great on wheels; putting a circular ring with an axel on any athletic contrivance instantly gives it an exhilarating sense of speed that can turn any workout into fun. Here are some of the newest wheeled workout wonders sure to inspire feats of fitness at any age. A pole vault Sk8pole: ...

As he ran up and down the court, fighting for post position as he arrived at each end, it appeared Dwight Howard mimicked the Big Bad Wolf in the "Three Little Pigs" during a recent workout. The Lakers center huffed as he performed numerous side-to-side sprints after post-up drills. Howard puffed after each exercise as he fought fatigue. He blew the house down as he made an array of hook shots and dunks against second-round draft pick Robert Sacre and former UC Santa Barbara product Greg Simogyi.

Jump, push, pull, lift, move. The boom in functional fitness, led by hot, high-intensity programs such as CrossFit and P90X that use traditional exercise movements and gear, has caused people to look at old-school strength in new ways. The result: house-friendly innovations that update classic exercises to deliver surprisingly thorough all-body workouts. Variations on push-ups Power Press: A 3-foot-by-16 - inch plastic board embedded with color-coded holes that allow you to plug a pair of handles into 15 push-up positions.

Before the start of Friday's Trinity League opener against Anaheim Servite High at Saddleback College, Santa Margarita quarterback Johnny Stanton joined his fellow captains on the 50-yard line for the customary pregame coin toss. As always, he was wearing his No. 4 jersey, but instead of his helmet he donned a baseball cap. And instead of his confident stride, he hobbled on crutches back to the sideline. He did not play, but that doesn't mean he played no role in the Eagles' 21-0 victory.

Lakers fans can officially exhale. Not that they had any reason to worry, but Kobe Bryant practiced Saturday without any limitations after missing two workouts on Friday because of a sore right foot. Bryant will play in the Lakers' preseason opener Sunday when the Lakers travel to Fresno to play the Golden State Warriors. "He looked good," Lakers Coach Mike Brown said. "His foot was hurt, but he's fine. " Bryant, who didn't speak to reporters after practice, was stretching with the Lakers' training staff when the facility was open to the media.

Over and over again, Lakers forward Metta World Peace kept bullying his way into the post. He moved quickly. He positioned himself using his solid frame. He caught the entry passes and threw a medicine ball in the basket with purpose. Throughout the whole routine, Lakers assistant coach Darvin Ham instructed World Peace on how to better angle himself in the post. World Peace's workout last week at the Lakers' practice facility in El Segundo appeared nothing more than what you'd normally see just before training camp starts.

The gold medal-winning U.S. women's soccer team will hold a public workout Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson ahead of Sunday afternoon's "Paying Tribute Tour" friendly with Australia. The entire team -- including keeper Hope Solo and forwards Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach -- is expected to take part in the 11 a.m. workout. Coach Pia Sundhage, who announced earlier this month that she is leaving the U.S. team later this fall to return home to Sweden and manage the women's program there, is also expected to be at Saturday's workout.

If I were assigned to interview Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan in a "one question, and one question only" scenario, I'd ask him: "Do you do P90X Yoga?" Perhaps this explains why I've never been assigned to cover the race for the White House. But I already know where Ryan stands on issues such as Medicare -- that's been covered ad nauseam. I'd actually like more coverage, please, on how Ryan manages to stick to his diet-and-fitness regimen while campaigning for the White House.

With temperatures heating up, it's a good time to take your workout to the water. After years of getting a bad rap as "senior-cize," water workouts are finally moving into the younger mainstream, as they did years ago in Europe, Japan and South America, says Lori Templeman, a Sacramento trainer with the Aquatic Exercise Assn. "You can work hard in the water and maintain your intensity without banging up your body," Templeman says. Water's buoyancy protects your joints, while its resistance loads your muscles in a way that makes recovery easier.