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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. Oklahoma City Thunder Pro Shop .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Shawn Kemp Jersey . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. https://www.cheapthunder.com/1011h-russell-westbrook-jersey-thunder.html . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Sam Perkins Jersey . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Walt Hazzard Jersey . 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. The Illawarra Hawks survived a stirring Brisbane Bullets fightback to secure a 91-85 overtime win in the NBL on Monday night.Brisbane rallied from 17 points down midway through the third quarter to tie the game at 77-77 with 11 seconds remaining in regulation time.The Hawks opened up an early four-point buffer during overtime and held their nerve in the dying minutes to win by six points and cement third place on the ladder.The Bullets were dealt an injury blow during overtime with Cameron Bairstow crashing to the Brisbane Convention Centre floor as his left knee buckled underneath him during a routine layup.The initial diagnosis doesnt look good for the former NBA forward who will have scans on Tuesday morning.Brisbanes Torrey Craig led all scorers with 21 points, while Nicholas Kay (14 points, six rebounds) top-scored for the Hawks who had seven players score 10 points or more.Hawks coach Rob Beveridge was relieved that his side held on to win after dominating for large periods of what was a scrappy contest.I felt we ccontrolled the game and if we lost that wed be devastated, Beveridge said.ddddddddddddThe way we fought together in overtime was pretty special and I think these guys can start to believe they are a pretty good team.The Hawks edged a tight first quarter 18-17 and flew out to an early lead in the second as 13 first-half turnovers hampered Brisbane on the offensive end.Illawarra held an eight-point lead at the main break and soon extended their advantage to double digits as the Bullets also struggled with poor shooting from the field.Down by 17 midway through the third term, Brisbane rallied to cut the deficit to 10 at three-quarter time and then to five points inside the final two minutes.Brisbanes tenacity paid dividends as they forced the match into overtime with only seconds to spare, but the Hawks were the hungrier side during the extra minutes as they notched their ninth win of the season. 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