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This is an online exclusive story from ESPN The Magazines Body Issue 2016. Subscribe today!?And for more from the 2016 Body Issue, check out espn.com/bodyissue,?and pick up a copy on newsstands starting July 8.Pressure? Please. April Ross took home silver at the 2012 Olympics in London, and now she and Kerri Walsh Jennings have partnered to create a dream team heading into Rio. In an interview with the Body Issues Morty Ain, Ross dishes on working with Walsh Jennings, why beach volleyball doesnt necessarily mean bikini body and the many months she spent thinking shed given up the sport for good.Sometimes the idea of a beach volleyball body gets mixed up with the casual beachgoer, lay-out-in-a-bikini type. For me, I value the power of my body, and I think Im a little more muscular than you might expect. I dont consider myself thin, and Im not trying to look great in a bikini -- Im trying to be as strong as possible and as powerful as possible for my sport.I dont look at my partnership with Kerri as replacing her previous partner [Misty May-Treanor]. I dont think Ive ever really looked at it like that. In beach volleyball, you change partners, its inevitable. Very few teams have ever stuck together for the entirety of their careers. This was just a partner change for me. Im not trying to replace anybody. We created a new team; its not Misty and Kerris team that Im subbing into. Kerri and I are a new team and were going to have different ups and different downs than they did.I do a lot of cardio on the sand or beach volleyball movements with a weighted vest, so I get plenty of funny looks. If I go out on the weekends, I can tell Im getting looks like, What is this chick doing? But Ive accepted this is what I need to do, and Im not going to be embarrassed by it.Even if you are just on the beach all day doing nothing, you feel exhausted by the end of the day. It sucks energy out of you, for sure. Its tough to deal with sometimes. At a tournament, Im in the sun for probably five to seven, maybe even eight hours a day. During the week, Im in the sun for two and a half to three hours for practice. My first two seasons, I didnt wear a visor or a hat and I got sunburned quite a bit, even though I used sunscreen. Its damaged my skin, for sure.I played every single sport I could growing up. I think my very first sport was gymnastics, and I loved it. I played soccer, basketball, baseball, softball. In high school, I lettered in basketball, track and field and volleyball. When I started volleyball, I wasnt very good at it. I just loved the sport and I worked really hard. But I do think my body is suited for volleyball, and beach volleyball specifically. Maybe it was fate!It might sound corny, but I love the way my body feels. One of the reasons I work so hard in the gym is because I believe, knock on wood, that its kept me healthy up until this point in my career. Ive played volleyball since I was 13 -- more than 20 years. And I feel better right now than I have ever felt.My favorite body part is my quads. Before I even really lifted [heavy weights], everyone was always like, Oh my gosh! Your quad muscles are so big! As a female, you can go either way with that -- Oh, youre calling my legs big? But I always took it as a huge compliment, like, Im strong, I can jump -- thank you!I dont feel like you should ever sacrifice strong for skinny. Strong is just as beautiful, and especially in sports, its essential. I just never want to see any athlete sacrifice sustenance and fuel and taking care of their body in order to try and achieve this kind of skinny body type.In college, I had the highest body fat percentage of anyone on the team. It wasnt the best news Ive ever gotten [laughs]. But it taught me that it doesnt necessarily matter. Everyones body type is different, and even if you carry around a little extra body fat, you can still perform at a super high level. Its just something to not get too hung up on.I straight up felt fat a lot of the time. Especially in high school and in college. The feeling dissipated little by little, but I was still definitely self-conscious about my body for the first couple of seasons out on the beach. I always focused on positive self-talk for myself -- I would combat the negative self-talk with, But look at what your body is doing for you! I swear it seems futile most of the time -- youre like, This isnt doing anything -- but if you stick with it, it really does sink in and infiltrates your subconscious and stays there.But with that self-talk, you have to do the hard work along with it. If I was content having the positive self-talk but just eating pizza and drinking soda all day, thats obviously not going to be as effective as me sacrificing eating that crap and trying to eat healthier year after year. Feeling the difference and even seeing the difference, thats going to work a lot more.The worst thing I ever did to my body was playing indoor in Puerto Rico. They have a professional league down there, so after college I went and played for three seasons. I had always been in a college program and a high school program where a weightlifting routine was made for me, I warmed up with the team, I had physical therapy with the trainers afterward. So in Puerto Rico I was kind of on my own, and I just wasnt taking care of my body the right way. By the end of the third season, I couldnt raise my arm above my shoulder and my knee was in so much pain that I came home. I actually ended up not being able to finish the season. It was a really tough time for my body.I quit volleyball after that. In season, we played matchups basically every other day. We had three-hour intense practices in between matches every other day. I wasnt strong, I wasnt lifting, so the repetitive motion with my shoulder and then the landing on the hard surface indoor over and over for four months just crushed me. My body felt terrible, and I wasnt willing to spend that much time away from my friends and family anymore. I was pretty miserable.I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was contemplating going back to school. I called up my stepsister, who was working as a manager at the House of Blues in Anaheim, and she gave me a job hostessing. Then came beach season the following April, and my college teammate called me up and asked me to play with her on the beach for a couple of tournaments. I was just doing it for fun. In the end, it was about a nine-month break from beach volleyball.I can do the worm. My legs have always been strong, my core has always been pretty strong, but especially compared to other athletes my arm strength is just ... a little bit less than average. So to be able to do the worm, Im pretty proud of myself for that.I dont view myself as competitive outside of volleyball, but my family and friends tell me all the time that Im the most competitive person they know. They always think that I have to win at everything we do. I dont feel that way, but I guess thats how I come off to people. I think I just enjoy playing games so much that Im vocal about it. I show my emotions; I think people see that as I really want to win, and that might come off as competitive. Yeah, I might give you a hard time if you win, but Im just having fun with it.I do a lot of visualization, and Im also practicing detachment. Ive learned to take a step back, to put things in perspective, and its totally counterintuitive, but to maybe care a little bit less. I just have to take a breath and think about the things that truly matter; I go back to who I am as a person at my core. Running Shoes Cheap Australia . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Wholesale Running Shoes Australia . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. http://www.australiarunningshoescheap.com/ . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. Running Shoes Sale Clearance Australia . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Best Cheap Running Shoes Australia . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. (STATS) -- Though idle last weekend, Grambling State managed to find its way into the STATS FCS Top 25 for the first time this season Monday.However, its possible the Tigers wont be ranked the next time they take the field. And it wouldnt be any fault of their own.In the midst of a second consecutive bye week within the Southwestern Athletic Conference, No. 25 Grambling (4-1, 3-0) is once again practicing to fine-tune its own game while not preparing for any opponent.Something I have never been a part of, Tigers coach Broderick Fobbs said. Its something you have to play the hand that youve been dealt.Hopefully this never happens again.It actually did happen to the Tigers in November 2013, the year before Fobbs took the job.Grambling, which last played Oct. 1 against Prairie View A&M and wont play again until visiting Mississippi Valley State on Oct. 22, isnt the only SWAC school affected by this unique scheduling quirk. Rival Southern faces Jackson State on Saturday after being idle since its 59-31 win at Alabama A&M on Sept. 24.Though Fobbs seems none too pleased with Gramblings situation, hes proud of the way his squad has handled things during this unique and somewhat frustrating lull in the schedule.Our kids are excited, but they are mature about the situation, he said. They are handling it the right way. They understand the focus of practicing a certain way.Last week gave the Tigers a chance to rest and get some banged-up players back to health. Which was more than enough time, according to Fobbs.I dont thhink you need three, four weeks to rest, he said.dddddddddddd. These kids are young, their bodies heal fast. I dont think three weeks is the way to go. One week is plenty enough to get quality rest.This week, the Tigers focus is on playing smart football, cleaning up any issues and concentrating on bettering the program as a whole.Being sharp, transition the right way, Fobbs said. Playing without making mistakes.Grambling has looked sharp when actually on the field in 2016. The Tigers rank among the national leaders in all of college football averaging 41.4 points and have won three in a row since falling 31-21 at Arizona on Sept. 10 in a game they led 21-3 at halftime.Ole Miss transfer DeVante Kincade has thrown for 1,1434 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions and run for a team-leading 303 with five TDs.Aside from the loss at Arizona, the Tigers defense has not yielded more than 18 points in any other contest.That all adds up to a team worthy of its first STATS FCS Top 25 ranking since tabbed 24th in last seasons final poll.Like most coaches, at least publicly, Fobbs wont read too much into the rankings but remains a steadfast champion for the collective talent found in the SWAC.I really put no stock into polls, he said. But I will say this ... as a group, this conference as a whole, it doesnt matter who is ranked. I think this conference doesnt get the respect it deserves. ' ' '