Ripped in 30- Week 4

We are stronger in the places we are already broken.
Jillian Michaels quotes Ernest Hemingway and proceeds to make me unbreakable all over my body because she how broken I am.
Looking back I have never seen a Week 4 workout in all the stuff that I have done from her line. 30 day shred and 6 week 6 pack both have only 3 levels so I knew Week 4 is going to be a killer.
Am I the only one that is gleeful the harder the exercises are? Nope, the thousands of focused, determined individuals that work out to her tough tune are sure to love it. You know by now that I had my Throwball tournament (Did I speak of anything else?) over the weekend. The longest rallies, the toughest point by point fight and thanks to Jillian I did not zone out until the very end where my exhaustion went beyond social niceties and I would have slept in the wide open field given a chance. :)
This Mother of all workouts is everything she promises it to be. I have slowly and surely seen a tightening of my bicep/tricep muscles, my thigh and shin muscles. My tummy still needs work. I have another post on that lined up when I can get to it.
Sweet Spots- I can't even talk about the warm up being easy. The slow leg swings were definitely not easy.
Tough nuts- The video if full of them. Squat press and rows, Burpees (my eternal bane in life- if it were a person I would be trolling them on Twitter), Chaturanga pushups (side note- a couple of yoga based exercise routines in this week) and last but not least plie hops with scissor kicks (don't ask me! I did the easy version and knocked my heels together)
In the end more than the exercises, I believe that I have grown more motivated and determined, It's not easy doing these exercises alone, let alone daily. I am supremely proud to have walked out on the patio, huffed and puffed myself red and proven to myself that all I need to be the best version of myself is work on it and be me!

PS- Started No more Trouble Zones ( my muscles are still twitching from the 50 minute exercise video. Post about it soon)

Where every game shows your character

I have never been a huge sports follower, but I have admired sportsmen and women for the spirit and dedication that they show. Olympic medal ceremonies easily put me to tears thinking about the stuff winners/participants went through, stuff that they faced during training and what it means to represent their country in front of the world. I also truly believe that if you have trained hard and have a deep passion for your game, it does truly not matter if you win or lose, because the sport is richer for it. Just like different religions believe their gods get powerful with the faith of devotees, I believe sportsmanship survives time.
A lesson learnt, the best teams do not resort to cheap tactics of distraction, aggravation or intimidation. I know you are thinking.. how does a team game like Throwball in the Bay Area become subject to such negative qualities? Throwball is still a relatively unknown game here but gaining more prominence. I LOVE IT, I LOVE MY TEAM. Yesterday we attended a tournament. In the round robin, teams are divided into pools, made to play against all in the pool, the points put together and teams ranked in three levels- beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. We had decided before hand that we would play our best and get into Advanced level, because all of us felt we were slightly more mature in the game to get into Beginner or Intermediate. We did. We played our best and moved into Advanced level. In the semi finals though we went head on with the current champions in that level and..lost! We were proud. Disappointed yes, but lessons and strategy for the next tournament were already being discussed as the final for that level was going on.
Now I come to the title. We faced a couple of teams that were moderately good, but by benefit of negative attitude were trying to intimidate us. It did work for a couple of points. Then we came back stronger. We realized if we played a clean consistent game, we would not be called out for any fouls that we may or may not have done, mostly may not in our case :P. They had no answer. That is where I think we truly stood out. We could have taken the easier route and resorted to name calling and distraction and unsportsmanlike like refereeing. Instead we stood for what we believe in. And each point gained was the sweeter for it. That is how every game shows your character.
PS- We actually had two teams from our throwball group. Where we moved into Advanced, our sister team aimed at Beginner, got into Intermediate and won it like a boss!! Champions Titans :)
PPS- The longest rallies I have ever played for every single point were against the reigning  champions. Jillian Michaels IS awesome. She promised endurance and I got endurance.