Get up. Get down. Keep on moving.

Amidst the blur of WNBA competition, there is an unrelenting, lithe 154-pound, 5-foot-11 guard. She jumps, sprints, dives and sacrifices.

Her body is merely a vehicle to carry out her passion and desire.

With a Sacramento Monarchs jersey uniting her with her teammates, everyone in the arena knows Chelsea Newton has one goal, to win. With injuries, scratches and bruises, history shows she's willing to sacrifice anything to do so.

Call her a warrior and a competitor, but she does feel the pain.

Hard to believe?

As she sits at her locker room chair after a given game, it'd seem impossible the Monarchs guard felt pain. Why else would she be willing to make ice bags, bandages and stitches part of her postgame routine?

She knows it fires up her teammates, the crowd and puts doubt in the opposition. Not only that, she has the off-season to heal.

Scratch that.

This year, she finally had an off-season to heal.

"I�ve relaxed," Newton said from her cell phone minutes after leaving a workout at Rutgers. "For me to heal, that�s been the most important thing.

"It�s all coming along great. I�ve just been focusing on my body -- learning how to use my body the proper ways and knowing when I�m hurting, just to (listen)."

Just as she shrugs off the abuse she endures during the Monarchs season, Newton brushes off the notion her type of relaxing is anything but.

She's a mainstay in the gym.

"Recently, I started doing my individual skill workouts on the basketball court and it�s about an hour-and-a-half a day and it kicks my butt," Newton said. "It's been fun.

"This is the first time I�ve fully focused and pushed myself," she continued. "Oh my goodness, sometimes I feel like I�m about to have a heart attack out there. But you have to keep going."

Sound like a blast?

The great news is, along with a healthy body, Newton expects her ankle to be more than ready to play when the team tips off training camp in mid-May.

"This is the best I�ve felt in some years," Newton said cheerfully. "Even dating back to when I played at Rutgers, because it was always constant. For the first time, I�ve been able to take a break and (my body) actually healed. By the time training camp comes, I�ll be 300 percent!"

Before she returns feeling refreshed and rejuvenated to the ARCO Arena hardwood, Newton realizes she can be wiser in how she approaches the game.

"My problems date back to when I was a junior in college and never actually stopping to rest," Newton admitted. "Eventually you start overcompensating for so many things you don�t even know what you�re overcompensating for, and I didn�t even realize it. Part of my body, the muscles in my body, pretty much just shut down."

Fortunately, she's learned.

"I was overcompensating for this and that and everything else -- I corrected all of those ailments," Newton said, before reiterating her current good-standing. "I just feel great. I can run down the court without pain."

Sure, she's accepted the body can't sustain repeated trauma without repercussion. However, it won't keep her from ripping her jersey and losing her mouth guard scrapping for a loose ball or battling a big in the paint.

"I�ve learned how to hit the floor so it doesn�t hurt too badly," Newton said confidently.

Speaking of hitting the floor, the Monarchs open training camp in less than a month. Like her teammates, she's eager for lucky season 13 to begin, even though she'll have to get through an especially grueling training camp, now that League rosters are limited to 11 players.

"My biggest thing is to focus on being able to be in shape and do everything I can to make sure I can be prepared for training camp and just be ready for everybody to fight for one of those 11 spots," Newton said. "I�m just looking forward to a new season and beginning where we finished last year. I think we were all in a good place with the amount of work we put in toward the end of the season.

"Not going overseas makes me so hungry to just get out on the court and play with an actual team. I�m just looking forward to getting the hard work done and having a blast on the court."

Sounds like the typical mindset of a Monarchs player -- relaxation characterized by an average person's vision of boot camp, followed by an eagerness to unite with her teammates, work hard and put on a great show for Monarchs fans all summer long.