Mr Price Sport BlogO14

They say "consistency is the key to success", well that's not always the case as I found out the hard way. Last week saw me and 23 other sport and lifestyle bloggers compete as teams, region specific, for the crown as Mr Price Sport Blog Olympics champions for 2014. Being one of the surviving 3 members of  #TeamDBN from last year, I knew how competitive things were going to be. I was confident in our team's abilities, even though we came 3rd in the first challenge, that did not deter us as we kept our focus to win the second challenge of the day by a matter of seconds. 

@NJDbnRocks killing the hullahoop

If no one realised it by then, the fun and games from the opening party at Tsogo Sun's Suncoast Hotel the night before was quickly forgotten as we all were focused on one thing and that was bringing glory to our cities name. Next challenge was the super frisbee, it was a tricky one as we had to throw them into Durban's iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium with the swirling wind. Many got caught out by this and saw their efforts fly backwards into the stands. I seemed to have timed it well with myself and Jonas, also from TeamDBN looking to have thrown it the furthest. The jury is still out as to who did actually get the furthest but I'll be happy to collect the points for my team. 

Super frisbee time

It was a pretty warm day in Durbs and I along with everyone else was quite thankful for the cool refreshments provided by the sponsors, one of them being Sir Juice, nothing beats fresh fruit juice. The next few events which included the waboba ball and electric scooter race saw Team Cape Town claw back into the lead on the points table. I'm not the fittest guy around so most of these activities were quite energy sapping so the SportsMax recovery zone was quite welcomed. Not only were energy drinks given to the competitors but massages as well! 

@gordsried, @gijane_zn, @mynamesjonas, @AMG133, @sillysilson, @AndyCarrie, @NJDbnRocks, @SandyNeneSA #TeamDBN

After a short break which saw us go for lunch, we got straight back into the thick of it with Zooper Zarts, similar to darts but with no sharp pointy edge to poke someones eye out. It's probably more difficult as one has get the trajectory right to get it to stick to the board. Being Indian, one would think darts is second nature to me but it wasn't really. Although I was pleased that my catching skills were up to scratch from my cricketing days, pity it wasn't a ball but a water balloon that I was catching for the next challenge. Needless to say the cool water wasn't that bad seeing that I was in the sun the whole day. 

@gjane_zn chilling out

7 events down and with no clear cut leader it was time for the final challenge, the obstacle course. I consider myself an obstacle as it is so you can only imagine what went through my mind when I heard everyone had to take part in it. Last year I sat out but this year I had to suck it up, tumble around in that zorb ball, get lost in the maze and climb up a giant inflatable slide. Far from the pace of Usian Bolt I managed to some how complete it without dying and tagged my next team member in. Team Jozi eventually won the last challenge but everyone was rewarded with ice cream, not just any ice cream, protein packed ice cream! Some were rewarded in another way though, like jumping off the arch, yeah I'm glad my name didn't go in that hat but the people who did seemed to have enjoyed it. 

The competitors

The day ended off with a prize giving back at Suncoast Towers Hotel where the inevitable happened.., I was handed a lemon for getting lost in the maze. Eventually it was time to see who the winners were, as I said at the start consistency isn't always great as TeamDBN retained the bronze. I was proud of my team though, we did much better than the year before and showed great fighting spirit which I'm sure made the scoring extremely tight. TeamCPT remained consistent as well as they retained the title as winning city. We Durbanite's have a knack of showing our guests a good time when they in our city but I think next year we going to have to change things around. 

Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable event once again, even bigger and better than last year. It's the one event that allows the participants to get to know one another and are forced to interact with each other which is great for networking. The sponsors that came on board just took things to another level, a massive shout out to them, especially MR Price Sport & the folk at Paton Tupper for putting this all together, Tsogo Sun & Suncoast Towers for the great hospitality (look out for the review coming soon), Mercedes Benz Umhlanga for letting us experience their line up of luxury saloons that got us to and from the stadium (and for awarding me the AMG Advanced Driving Experience! Cannot wait!!!) and to Moses Mabhida Stadium, the best stadium in the world for the venue!

3rd place yet again

#MissionSamsung Blogger Challenge: Mission 2

It's the second week of the #MissionSamsung Blogger challenge and after the first mission of the viewing party went well, the competition just got a whole lot hotter! ...well sweatier. In this weeks challenge contestants were asked to download one of the many fitness apps on the Samsung Smart hub and choose from a variety of exercise programmes to partake in. Seemed simple enough right? Well, it was, to a certain extent, here's why. 

Most of us go to gym regularly, or at least try to go to gym, as with many of us leading busy lifestyles we find it hard to get in that balance of work and exercise. When we do manage to get into the gym, it is often very busy and one finds them self spending more time queueing to use a machine than actually getting a work out done. Then there is the personal trainers, we see them at the gym, we know they would be helpful in our quest to lose those extra kilo's but it is always daunting to go for a session with them in fear of us dying on the gym floor. What if I told you, that you could have your own personal trainer at home?

Day 1

Well with the fitness app on Samsung's LED Smart TV, that is exactly what you are getting! Once downloaded, all you have to do is input your details and your measurements, including weight. The app then calculates your BMI. From there you can set yourself goals, my goal was to loose a kg of weight in 8 days. It calculated an 8 step program which required me to burn just over 1100 calories with various exercise routines. One step 1 per day, equalled to three 20 minute videos which helped me burn approximately 65 calories per video. The videos were great, each of them starts off with a mild warm up and works their way into a rigorous workout, by the end of it you will be enjoying it so much that you actually forget about the intense workout you're getting!

Day 2

After the success of day 1, I was keen to get onto day 2! Well first I had to get out of bed! You see, my gym routines has remained the same over the past 3 years so I was only focusing on a few areas of my body, with this 8 step program, it focuses on every aspect of your body so the next day, muscles that I never knew existed were telling me hello! Never the less, I soldiered on through the day and was ready for the next step. The cool thing about the app, is that it updates the number of calories you've burned while doing the various videos. So you can track the progress you're making. 

Day 3

Getting used to the sore muscles and convincing myself that it is a good thing, getting up on the 3rd day was much more rewarding but after a stressful day at the office, I was not in the mood to continue with the program that was chosen for me but the great thing with the fitness app is that you can break away from the routine and opt to do something else. So I tried out some Yoga, the thing is, if I had gone to the gym, I would NEVER chosen to do Yoga, firstly the classes are at times I am simply not available and by doing it at home in the comfort and privacy of my own home, I didn't have to worry about making an ass of myself trying to pull off some moves. I was quite blow away by the many videos available, from beginner level all the way up to master level. It really was a great experience and will definitely try it again. 

The thing that stood out for me was the workout you get from these programmes, I for one never did buy into the whole exercise TV thing and always felt the need to go out to the gym to get the workout you needed. After these past 3 days I can safely say it was more intense than any work I've had before, even though I might burn more calories at gym on a daily basis, I could feel the muscles in my body getting the work, getting tighter and of course, feeling the pain the next day but as I got to realise it was a good pain. The challenge might be over but I am definitely going to continue with the exercise routine for as long as I got the TV.

PS: I opted for the video the trainer which does use up a lot of bandwidth, there are other training programs that do not require video downloads that one can train along with. 

#MissionSamsung Blogger Challenge: Mission 1

So recently Samsung sent me one of their brand spanking new 40" Samsung LED Smart TV along with a Galaxy S4 Active smart phone. The reason for this was, I along with 19 other bloggers from around the country were selected to take part in their 2nd #MissionSamsung Blogger challenge. I along with the others will get to keep these devices for 3 weeks and during that time, get missions to complete with them. At the end, a winner will be selected and they get to keep the products... FOREVER! 

The product

The 40" Smart LED TV is one of Samsung's Series 6 panels which offers the user a smart interface which takes watching TV to the next level. Besides full HD capabilities, the set also has full internet connectivity via means of a LAN port or built in WiFi. Once set up, you can browse the various internet applications that are pre-loaded. Some of them being Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Vimeo.

The Challenge

Now, being a tech nut I am over the moon with this challenge and will give it my up most to win! The first challenge came through on Monday this week, the mission? Host a viewing party with some mates to showcase the brilliant picture quality and definition of the LED Smart TV set and at the same time have some quality fun with your mates. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

The invite

The invite

The way I saw it, the viewing party was an event, MY event and although they were close mates, the invite had to look the part. So I took a picture of the TV with the Smart Hub menu active and edited the blocks to suite the details of the evening and this was the end result. 

The viewing party 

The party started off with some pre-movie dinner of pizza and beers, all of which was captured on the Galaxy S4 Active. There after we made our way to the viewing room, where a giant bowl of popcorn awaited us along with more refreshments. The movie I chose was the Lego Movie, seeing that it was animated, watching it in high colour, full definition would be great. The sound quality on the set is incredible, so much so, that I didn't have to make use of my surround sound system. The guests were blown away by the features of the Smart TV, sound and crisp picture quality, to quote a line from the movie, "Everything is awesome!". The already amazing night was completed with the final part of the challenge, a "welfie", which is a selfie but with many people. 

Looking forward to mission 2! AMG133, over and out!