AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Every day, grocery workers are restocking toilet paper, eggs, produce and canned goods as fast as the items fly off the shelves.

They disinfect keypads, freezer handles and checkout counters as hundreds of people weave around them, sometimes standing too close for comfort amid the coronavirus pandemic. Some work for hours behind clearplastic barriersinstalled at checkout counters, bulwarks against sudden sneezes or coughs that can propel germs.

They arent doctors or nurses, yet they have been praised for their dedicationby Pope Francis, former U.S. President Barack Obama and countless people on social media, as infections and death counts rise.

From South Africa to Italy to the U.S., grocery workers many in low-wage jobs are manning the frontlines amid worldwide lockdowns, their work deemed essential to keep food and critical goods flowing. Some fear falling sick or bringing the virus home to vulnerable loved ones, and frustration is mounting as some demand better workplace protections, including shorter hours to allow them to rest, and hazard pay for working closely with the public.

Everyone is scared everywhere, here in South Africa and everywhere in the world, said Zandile Mlotshwa, a cashier at Spar supermarket in the Johannesburg suburb of Norwood.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and the vast majority survive. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can be more severe, even causing pneumonia or death.

In the U.S., a handful of states Minnesota and Vermont were the first have given grocery workers a special classification that allows them to put their children in state-paid child care while they work. Unions in Colorado, Alaska, Texas and many other states are pressing governors to elevate grocery workers to the status of first responders.

The governments responsibility is to step up in these moments, said Sarah Cherin, chief of staff for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union in Seattle, the first U.S. epicenter of COVID-19.

The union, which represents about 23,000 grocery workers and 18,000 health care workers, won early concessions for higher pay.

We have always been a group of people who come to work when others stay home, Cherin said. Our workers need the same protection others get.

U.S. grocery and food delivery workers are insisting employers pay them more and provide masks, gloves, gowns and access to testing. Whole Foods workers called for a recent sickout to demand better conditions, including double pay. A group of independent contractors for the Instacart grocery delivery service walked out to force more protections.

Some of the biggest employers in the U.S. are responding.

Kroger, the nations largest grocery chain, said it will give all hourly employees a $2-an-hour Hero Bonus through April 18. That follows temporary $2 pay bumps by Walmart, Target and others.

Walmarts raise is just for hourly employees in distribution centers, but its also giving bonuses to full- and part-time workers. Walmart, the nations largest private employer, and Target will provide masks and gloves to front-line workers and limit the number of customers in stores. Walmart is taking the temperatures of its nearly 1.5 million employees when they report to work.

Most will see it as a welcome relief, Walmart spokesman Dan Bartlett said of the new measures.

But that doesnt alleviate the fear when shoppers wont follow the rules, including social distancing.

Jake Pinelli, who works at a ShopRite in Aberdeen, New Jersey, said customers dont stay 6 feet (2 meters) away from others and typically dont wear masks or gloves. Staffers have protective gear, but the younger employees often give it to older co-workers or those they know have health conditions.

Most of us are terrified, Pinelli said. But he stays on because he wants to help.

I have not only bills to pay, but its the only way right now I feel like I can do anything for my community and help out, Pinelli said.

Some have fallen sick.

The Shaws supermarket chain told workers last week at six stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont that one of its employees had been diagnosed with COVID-19. The company reminded workers to wash their hands regularly and stay home if they dont feel well.

At the Organic Food Depot in Norfolk, Virginia, cash is no longer used. Customers cant bring reusable bags. Children under 16 are banned.

If somebody fell sick in the store, the store is most likely going to shut down, manager Jamie Gass said.

Gass, 47, said his wife has asthma, which means she would be more vulnerable to the coronavirus. Yet he feels pride going to a job that helps ensure people get fed in a crisis.

Am I scared that I could catch this? Absolutely, Gass said. But Im sure everybody is in that position. Im just taking as many precautions as I can, so I dont have to worry as much.

In Italy, where more than 14,000 people have died of COVID-19, consumers seem to prefer smaller, family-run stores and markets.

One of them, the Innocenzi grocery store in Rome, was established in 1884 by Emanuela Innocenzis grandfather. Its wooden shelves, marble entrance steps and cherished custom of clerks waiting on each customer hearken back to another era. The small store now allows in only two customers at a time.

A dentists office provided masks, which employees wipe down with alcohol each day and reuse.

Emanuela Innocenzi shrugged off the popes praise.

The doctors, the nurses have special training, she said. This is our work.

Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Michael Casey in Boston; Alexandra Olson and Anne DInnocenzio in New York; Frances Demilio in Rome; Andrew Meldrum in Johannesburg; and video journalist Rodrique Ngowi in Quincy, Massachusetts, contributed to this report.

See the article here:

Grocery workers are key during the virus - and they're afraid - Shelbyville Times-Gazette

Reading Time: 12 minutes

Gibran Khalil Gibrans poem Pity the Nation, published in 1933, could almost have been written about lockdown in modern day Lebanon. Most prophetic is the line pity the nation that eats a bread it does not harvest. Lebanon is indeed far from harvesting its own bread, given that we import 85 percent of our food needs and that even what we produce locally is reliant on imported items, be it in the packaging or raw material.

Amidst the ongoing economic crisis, now compounded with coronavirus crisis, prices on a wide range of imported and locally produced food items (based on individual and collective observations)including basics like potatoes, pasta, and riceare on an increasing trajectory, while consumers purchasing power is simultaneously decreasing.

Back in November 2019, the World Bank warned that, if the economic situation continued to worsen, 50 percent of Lebanese could be living below the poverty line. With the situation showing no signs of improvement anytime soon, a growing number of Lebanese are worrying about how to feed their families and collectively we have all been reminded of the importance of well-developed agriculture and agro-industry sectors. Unfortunately, the agriculture sector in Lebanon is underdeveloped and contributes a mere 5 percent to GDP, with an additional 5 percent coming from agro-industry, according to the UNs Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

It is this reality that is facing local stakeholders in food production who tell Executive, via telephone interviews, about the challenges of operating under the existing crisis and how the agriculture and agro-industry sectors can be supported in order for Lebanon to meet more of its food demands locally, and so decrease its dependency on imports.

Lebanons compounded crises have created new challenges for local food production sectors and brought them to the forefront of public debates on social media and news programs. However, agriculture and agro-industry had been struggling long before Lebanons economic woes accelerated in the last quarter of 2019. Before we talk about the crisis, we have to know that the agro-production sector was facing many problems even before the economic crisis, says Marc Antoine Bou Nassif, founder of LAtelier du Miel, a honey production company that has been in operation since 2012.

One of the problems facing agro-industry, according to Bou Nassif, is a lack of government imposed regulations and control over food production, which creates a chaotic local market and regulatory barriers to exporting Lebanese products in external markets (he gives Executive the example of not being able to export honey to European markets because a test for a certain enzyme is not available in Lebanese government labs).

The regional export market is another area where the food production industry has been suffering since the onset of the war in Syria in 2012 and the subsequent closure of land borders (the impact of which was felt starting 2015), says Mazen Khoury, production manager at Khoury Dairy. Because of the longer routes refrigerated trucks had to take to reach Iraq, in the example Khoury gave, the cost of transport increased from 10 percent of overall production cost to 40 percent. The regional market, according to him, is still suffering from many of the same factors today.

Indicative of a weakening economy, and another detrimental factor to local agro-industrialists according to Khoury, was the closure of regional (in 2017) and local (in 2018) supermarket chains. These closures in addition to the smaller markets who were also struggling with paying back the credit they owed us caused us an estimated annual loss of $500,000, he says.

It is in this fertile ground of challenges that buds of Lebanons ongoing economic crisis made their first appearance. As the agro-industrialists interviewed for this article explain, Lebanons food production industry is a value-added one, in the sense that almost all raw materials are imported, paid for with foreign currency, and are used in Lebanon to make the final product.

Food producers were faced with a severe cash flow problem when, after the banks reopened on November 1, 2019 (following almost two weeks of closure), their credit lines were cut and access to their dollar accounts severely restricted. Its like somebody opened a new company on November 1 and they have zero cash flow, says Youssef Fares, general manager of olive production company Olive Trade, which owns Lebanese olive oil brand Zejd. Our only cash flow is the stock we have at hand and so we are trying to sell that and use the money to buy our supplies, because the money we have in the bank has no meaning anymore. This is the big problem. Fares tells Executive that he only imports the bottles and containers for his olive oil because Lebanese glass production factory Soliver shut down in 2017.

The increased parallel foreign exchange (FX) rate coupled with the restrictive banking policies led to both financial and access related difficulties across the sector. Speaking for Biomass, a company which produces an organic line of fresh produce, dairy products, and pantry items, its executive manager Mario Massoud says: Most of the organic raw material we use in farming [from the seeds and animal feed to the greenhouses and equipment] is imported. This has dramatically increased in cost and became more scarce, making it more costly to operate than before October 2019, because of the halting of the credit lines and the issues with the FX exchange. He says that buying from local agricultural distributors is also costly since their prices have increased as well (the price of organic seeds has increased threefold, for example) and they ask to be paid in cash dollars.

Khoury also tells Executive about the increased costs from local suppliers, saying that even the price of the milk they use as raw materialwhich they buy from the local farms they control to supplement their own supplyhas increased from LL900 per liter to LL1,350 (which was the amount set by the Ministry of Agriculture on March 4 to support farmers, who have had pay the increased cost of imported cattle feed). Khoury says their cost of production has increased by roughly 50 percent because of these factors.

Another major consequence of the economic crisis, according to Nadine Khoury, CEO of Robinson Agri, is that the halting of credit lines means the company can no longer extend credit to farmers, who are dependent on that support. The problem with the agriculture sector is that banks do not give loans to individual farmersyou need land or assets as collateral, when most farmers rent the landso what usually happens is that private sector agriculture companies lend to most farmers, she explains. The economic crisis cut off our credit limits in the banks so we were no longer able to lend to these farmers and started asking for payments in cash. Robinsons Khoury explains that since the spreading of COVID-19 and increased fear about possible food shortages and limited imports during the crisis, several NGOs, in collaboration with agriculture companies, have launched campaigns to support small growers and sustain the agricultural sector. These interventions could help in alleviating the hard times we are going through, although they are not enough on their own, she says.

The coronavirus has largely made matters worse for Lebanons food producersalthough some have seen sales pick up with Lebanese in lockdown looking for healthier options.

Local sales of Taqa, a Tripoli-based wholesale bakery that produces healthy snacks, had decreased by 35 percent since the start of the economic crisis in October 2019, but Soumaya Merhi, founder of BreadBasket sal, which owns Taqa, says they have stabilized since the beginning of 2020 with the start of the coronavirus lockdown. We have experienced a positive shift in our product sales because people are looking for healthy products to consume at home, she says.

Massoud has also noticed this increased demand on health-conscious products since news of the coronavirus hit Lebanon, although he says it is too soon for him to quantify it. Also, people are now experimenting with cooking in their homes like never before, he says. For farmers and sellers of fruits and vegetables or healthy foods, this is opening a bigger market for them [as those looking to prepare healthier meals at home source fresh produce]. According to Massoud, demand for Biomass products has increased tremendously in the past month, both regionally and locally, to an extent that he is worried they wont be able to keep up in the supply side (these observations are based on feedback at points of sale, when asked for a percentage increase he told Executive no figures had been finalized yet). If we want to increase the production of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers, we should have done so three months ago, he says. We are starting to do this now and expect the augmented harvest in August. We expect the demand to remain high because people are now more aware of the benefits of eating healthy, fresh, and organic foods.

Those Executive spoke with have attributed the desire to cook at home and eat more healthily as behind consumer decisions they have witnessed during the lockdown period, though caution it is too early to determine the longevity of these trends or their impacts on their businesses long term. Increased interest in eating healthy and home cooked meals aside, the coronavirus crisis has caused disruptions to the food production business. Besides making imported goods even scarcer and costlier to secure, Massoud says coronavirus has had a negative impact on their exports. We used to export via air freight with Middle East Airlines but today the airport is closed, he says. We do have a few cargo planes, such as DHL, but they are not enough and so everyone is fighting for cargo space in air freights. Because of the corona[virus] lockdown, export is kind of limited or more expensive.

A big percentage of Zejds clients are in the hospitality sector, from caterers to restaurants and hotels, according to Fares. With hospitality outlets across the country shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Zejds local market demand is down to almost zero. While Khoury admits that agro-industry is faring better under the coronavirus lockdown than other sectors that have been completely shut down, he tells Executive that despite it being too early for exact numbers he has noted a drop in consumption of dairy products that he attributes both to a decrease in consumer purchasing power and to people being more conscious of food waste (buying only the quantities they need and avoiding wasting food).

Food producers struggles with the increased cost of production, and the other operational pressures they are dealing with, makes it increasingly difficult for them to sustain their businesses without increasing their prices. Producers are in full knowledge, however, that most consumers are struggling financially and cannot afford excessive price hikes, and so tell Executive they are trying to maintain a balance between managing their costs without pricing out their customers.

Most of the agro-industrialists interviewed mentioned relying on their export markets to introduce fresh money into their local accounts, which, in turn, are used to pay their suppliers. With the high conversion rates, its almost impossible for you to continue without guaranteeing fresh money so, for me, its become essential to keep my good books with my export partners in order to sustain my purchasing power, says Merhi, who imports 20 percent of her raw material and now exports almost 50 percent of her production to Qatar, Canada, and very recently to Saudi Arabia.

Merhi says she has been able to keep Taqas price as is not only by relying on exports but also through producing less quantities, trying to access raw material locally when possible, negotiating the best possible deals with her suppliers, and creating synergies with local producers who use similar ingredients as her.

Khoury says that, despite a long resistance to doing so, those in the dairy production sub-industry could no longer absorb the compounding cost increases and so hiked their prices by 8 percent in January 2020, followed by another 8 percent increase in March. He explains that while Dairy Khourys prices have increased by 16 percent so far this year, their cost of production has increased by around 50 percent. Biomass also only recently, in early April, introduced an average price increase of 15 percent on some products, although they are trying to keep their prices in check by leveraging both their export markets and stocks and attempting to negotiate better deals with their suppliers, according to Massoud.

This increase in the price of food, in a time when a big percentage of Lebanese are losing their jobs or experienced reductions in their salaries, has scary implications. The potential problem is bigger than a factory closing or companies going bankrupt, says Khoury. Today, if people can no longer afford to feed their children, we will be facing a social problem where people might steal or commit crimes before they allow their family to go hungry. The problem started with an economic crisis and corona[virus] but it is heading to an even worse direction of a problem of famine.

Given this scenario of increased prices on imported foodstuffs (and the upward creeping prices of locally produced ones) it has become clear that if the Lebanese government wants to avoid the looming threat of hunger among the countrys population, then one of the immediate and more effective ways of doing so is through supporting local food producers. Today the crisis is an opportunity to solve the key problems facing beekeeping and agro-industry in general,Bou Nassif. It is forcing us to give importance to our local production since we can no longer import at the same rate as before. We also have to export agro-industry products to get fresh money into the country so thats another reason to support the sector. Supporting local food production, according to Merhi, also has the added benefit of employing Lebanese, decreasing dependency on imported foods, and therefore benefiting the local economy through generating a circular economy.

Both Fares and Robinsons Khoury tell Executive separately that the government should subsidize some of the food production industrys imports. A new strategy should be placed by the government who is the body responsible to provide real solutions to the current economic collapse, Khoury says. What is needed in the short is an immediate action plan to assist the agri input companies by subsidizing their import needs just like they are doing with fuels, grains, and medical supplies. We still only need $75 million till the end of 2020. She explains this figure is based on the cost estimations made by the association of the distributors of supplies for agricultural production in Lebanon, and was presented to Riad Salameh, the governor of Banque du Liban, Lebanons central bank, and the agriculture minister separately a couple of months ago. For Mazen Khoury, the short term measures the government can take in support of the sector are subsidizing the difference in the currency exchange or, if that is not possible, supporting agricultural businesses with exports so they can sustain themselves with the fresh money accounts.

While short-term measures such as subsidies are vital to offer immediate support to the sector, it is also important to keep the lessons learned during these crises in mind and foster long-term measures to develop the food production industry. The aim, according to those interviewed for the article, is not to have food production be the sole, or even the strongest contributor to GDPas there are too many obstacles in the way for that (see article on food sufficiency)but rather to develop it enough to at least meet local demand and be less dependent on imports. I hope now we understand that the economy should be built on a multitude of factors, such as a well-planned agriculture sector that can contribute 8 percent to GDP, good industry (including agro-industry) that is 20 to 25 percent GDP, and also services and tourism, says Atef Idriss, CEO of MENA Food Safety Associates. That way, if one sector is hit the other sectors can support it. We got to a time when our economy became too dependent on services and tourism and we spent a big portion of our budget to develop infrastructure, real estate, and tourism in urban areas, forgetting that we have citizens in rural communities such as areas of the Bekaa who can only live from their land, or in the south who want to export their olive oilone does not cancel the other. We need a minister of economy who can look at the big picture and develop an interconnected economic model for Lebanon.

The need for a long term vision and plan developed by the public sector that would guide the development of the food production industry was stressed by all those to whom Executive spoke. The plan would have, as its main pillar, the reduction of dependency on imports both for needed ingredients in the agro-industry and the supply chain materials for agriculture. For local consumption to [help improve Lebanons trade balance], it is important to produce locally and try as much as possible to meet local demand in some products, such as wheat or potatoes, through local production, Fares says. There needs to be a strategy to provide food for people at lower costs, so that means with reduced imports.

To Merhi, any plan to support the agro-industry sector through the production of raw material should follow through the production process until the end product. To invest in agro-industry, you need to have the supply chain buckled, she says. To simply plant something is not enough, you need to think of distribution, supply, and workers [employed] under good working conditions. She adds that, in order for this to succeed, it needs private sector initiative from individual companies with the support of the public sector, the latter of which she sees as having failed agro-industrialists to date.

We are living in unprecedented times globally, where nothing is certain and the future is obscure. In Lebanon, this is compounded by an ongoing economic and financial crisis. Lebanese are dealing with the very real worry of going hungry, having lost parts of their incomes or their jobs and seen prices of food increase. This should not be a time to panic and give in to despair, however, it should instead be the time for the government to take immediate measures to support local food production. Lebanese food producers were succeeding prior to these crises, despite all the obstacles in their pathsall they are asking for now is for some support to be able to feed the nation.

Read the original here:

Lebanese agro-industrialists discuss challenges and opportunities in times of crisis - Executive

A "motivational" message has been circulating during the coronavirus lockdown, which is allegedly supposed to kick our butts into gear since most of us now have more time on our hands.

Here's one version:

On its face, it may sound logical. We often don't do things because we lack timeor think we doso now that we supposedly have more time, we should be doing those things now, right?

Just one thing thoughthere's a deadly global pandemic and massive economic crisis happening, which might be just the tiniest bit distracting right now, Jeremy.

A trauma psychologist from Beirut weighed in on this idea that we should be extra productive right now, and she didn't mince words. Alaa Hijazi's Facebook post has been shared 19,000 times, so people are clearly appreciating her wisdom. She wrote:

I thought I was spared the horrid 'motivational' phrase going around now'If you don't come out of this with a new skill, you never lacked time, you lacked discipline'until I saw it on my local yoga studio page.

As a trauma psychologist, I am utterly utterly horrified, enraged, and bewildered about how people can believe and spread this phrase in good conscience.

We are going through a collective trauma, that is bringing up profound grief, loss, panic over livelihoods, panic over loss of lives of loved ones. People's nervous systems are barely coping with the sense of threat and vigilance for safety, or alternating with feeling numb and frozen and shutting down in response to it all.

People are trying to survive poverty, fear, retriggering of trauma, retriggering of other mental health difficulties. Yet, someone has the nerve to accuse someone of lack of discipline for not learning a new skill, and by a yoga teacher!

This cultural obsession with [capitalistic] 'productivity' and always spending time in a 'productive,' 'fruitful' way is absolutely maddening.

What we need is more self-compassion, more gentle acceptance of all the difficult emotions coming up for us now, more focus on gentle ways to soothe ourselves and our pain and the pain of loved ones around us, not a whipping by some random fucker making us feel worse about ourselves in the name of 'motivation.'"

Indeed. Even those of us who are still employed full-time are finding it difficult to focus some days like we used to. The enormity of this pandemic and the global shutdown over it weighs heavy on all of us. Our sense of normality has been turned upside down and the uncertainty over what even the near future holds makes sustained attention a challenge.

Add in the fact that many people now have children at home who used to be at school or childcare, many are struggling to figure out how they're going to pay rent or buy groceries, many are watching businesses or careers they've spent years building crumble before their eyes, many have health conditions that make them anxious about catching the virus, and it's not hard to see how neither "time" nor "discipline" are our big problems right now.

If you want to go read books on hustling and build up some skill set, Jeremy, go for it. But let's not lay a guilt trip on people who are going through a traumatic experience that none of us have experienced before and none of us were prepared for.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

Read more from the original source:
A trauma psychologist weighs in on the risks of 'motivational' pressure during quarantine - Upworthy

No matter where you are in the world, chances are, youre locked up at home. Everyone everywhere in the world is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Most places are dealing with it through lockdown which requires people to stay at home as much as possible.

So, if youre stuck at home, you probably need something to help pass the time, right? Youve probably gone through the entire Netflix library at this point, too. What else could you do, then? Well, now might be a great time to jump into a new podcast.

Also Read:

5 TV Shows That Infamously Rushed Their Endings

The Truth Behind The Leaving Of Vicki Gunvalson After 14 Season

Here are six podcasts from varying genres that could help keep you entertained.

Roman Mars is the creator of the hugely popular radio show called 99% Invisible. In it, he discusses the subjects of design and architecture in great detail. However, hes one of many stuck at home around the world. So, he decided to apply his design knowledge to things that he can get his hands on around the house and talk about them. Its a fascinating listen and gives a lot of context to mundane, household items.

This is a podcast that should be on everyones playlist, whether theres a quarantine or not. Neil deGrasse Tyson is great at communicating complex concepts of astrophysics anyway, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Startalk Radio. You dont even necessarily have to listen to the newest episodes, either. Even his older episodes are filled with fascinating information.

Also Read Eminem: This Song Just Crossed A Mark Of 1Billion Views On YouTube!

Also Read Samsung Galaxy S20: Does It Support Samsungs Camera Controller Watch App? Get To Know

Alex Goldman and PJ Vogt are the hosts on this one. Reply Alls concept is very simple, too. They scour the internet for amazing stories that no one has covered and told people about them. Theyve also started taking calls from their listeners recently and they Livestream it all on Twitch.

If you liked studying history in school, youll love especially love this one. If you didnt, give it a listen anyway. Dan Carlin is an engaging storyteller and listening to him highlight some of historys lesser-known events is quite illuminating.

Sticking with the historical theme, Behind The Bastards does what its name suggests. It analyses the lives of some of historys most brutal rulers and shines and light on their motivations. Its not just the more popular names like Adolf Hitler, either. There are sure to be some names in here that you wont hear anywhere else.

For the film buffs reading this, Unspooled is the perfect podcast for you. Youve likely seen many movies throughout this quarantine and want to talk about them with someone. Unspooled will fill that hole in your in heart, with comedians Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson going through the American Film Institutes top 100 movies.

If youre looking for even more podcast recommendations, head on over to The Ladders list.

See more here:
The Best Six Podcast: Will Give You Motivation To Utilize This Quarantine - - Trending News Buzz

Michael Woods (EF Pro Cycling) is back on his turbo trainer as he begins his recovery from the broken femur he sustained in a crash at Paris-Nice last month. The Canadian is aiming to be competitive in time for the World Championships road race in Switzerland in September and he also has an eye on the Tokyo Olympics, which have been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"At the moment Im finding motivation in the fact that the Olympics have been postponed to 2021," Woods told his team website.

"The World Championships also look like theyre going to happen in September, and those were the two biggest goals for me this season, and now I think I can certainly be back 100 percent for both of them."

Paris-Nice was the last WorldTour event to take place before all racing was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The calendar is currently clear until at least June 1, but the Tour de Suisse (June 6-14) has already been cancelled, while it remains unclear as to whether the Tour de France, scheduled to start on June 27, will take place as planned.

On Thursday, the UCI reiterated its desire for the 2020 World Championships to go ahead in Aigle and Martigny from September 20-27.

Although Woods intends to be back in action by September assuming the cycling season has resumed by then he stressed that he had no intention of rushing his recovery, pointing out that his athletics career had ended prematurely due to a stress fracture.

"Im lucky in a way by having the experience of ruining one athletic career by not doing it right in the recovery process, and its taught me some valuable lessons," Woods said. "Ive set a date for when I want to be back by but its not set in stone, so if anything pops up Im not going to rush it, Im just going to take it as it comes."

For the time being, Woods is in the early phase of his rehabilitation, and his work on the bike is limited to some low intensity outings on his home trainer.

"When I was able to get on the bike it was just so nice, I was buzzing afterwards, even though it was just 15 minutes at a 50 watt average, it was just lovely to move the leg and be a bit more active," he said. "Now theres an opportunity for people to drop me for a change. Im getting passed by everyone on Zwift right now."

Read this article:
Recovering Woods finds motivation in postponed Tokyo Olympics - Cyclingnews.com

People love lists. This has been proven time and time again. Whether it is the NFL Networks Top 100 list, or weekly Power Rankings, fans love to debate where their favorite team/players rank among their peers.

Recently, the Pro Football Hall of Fame released their All-Decade teams from 2010-2020, and while the Pittsburgh Steelers were represented with Antonio Brown and Maurkice Pouncey, there were no defenders who made the list.

And there is one current member of the black-and-gold who took offense to being snubbed.

Mr. Cameron Heyward.

Heyward took to his verified Twitter account to talk about not being on the list, and how it is going to motivate him for the upcoming 2020 season.

It seems as if Heyward isnt just thinking of being a snub, but he is angry about being left off the list. When you think about it, when it comes to All-Pro and Pro Bowl voting, the fact Heyward is labeled as a defensive end in the Steelers 3-4 base defensive package has always hurt him and put him against pure pass rushers. This has since changed, but it doesnt help his case when those who dont take the time to look at Heywards complete body of work, and overall success, when it comes to these accolades.

For Steelers fans, they feel for Heyward, but they should find solace in the fact Heyward is going to come into the 2020 season with a fire in his belly to prove those voters wrong, and this could equate to success for the black-and-gold.

A fired up Heyward could turn an already legitimate defense into a force to be reckoned with not just in the AFC North, but in the NFL.

Get your popcorn ready...

Be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes for the black-and-gold as they prepare for the 2020 NFL Draft, and the upcoming regular season.

Originally posted here:
Cam Heywards snub of the All-Decade team leads to motivation for 2020 - Behind the Steel Curtain

Like many sportspersons around the world, badminton player Ashwini Ponnappa is finding her way through uncertain times.

The Tokyo Olympics has been postponed to 2021, there is little clarity over the new Olympic qualification period, and no one even knows when international sport will resume.

All that Ashwini confined to her home here on account of the coronavirus-inflicted lockdown can do is to stay fit and ready when the time comes to return to the court.

This is the most important period for us. We have to stay motivated to train and do our exercises. There are days when you dont feel like doing anything. You dont even know what day of the week it is. In this situation, self-motivation is important, Ashwini, a Red Bull athlete, said.

It helps that national coach P. Gopi Chand, Ashwini and other India international shuttlers are part of a WhatsApp group. Gopi sir motivates us through our group. He gives us exercises, and he conducts group classes, Ashwini, who partners Sikki Reddy in womens doubles, said.

While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set 29 June 2021 as a general Olympic qualification period deadline, it is up to the individual sports federations like the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to take their own final decision.

It is confusing. It would be nice to know the qualification criteria. That being said, clarity cannot emerge until the coronavirus outbreak subsides and things return to normal. Until then, you have to train and be ready to get back on court, Ashwini said.

Ideally, the BWF should extend the qualification period by how many ever months have been lost. In fact, the more time given the better. But if the cut-off is set at the 2020 All England Open (which concluded last month), that will be sad, Ashwini said.

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Self-motivation is important: Ashwini - The Hindu

Even though Im not a runner, Ive been doing the bodyweight strength training workouts on IG live with runnersworldcoach.katie_fogel

Zwifting, virtual yoga, virtual training classes!chainringqueen

Hitting the Alps, Tour of Utah, and Moab, Utah trails every day on my NordicTrack S22i iFit! Follows by a yoga session on the beaches of Thailand.oldhamtroy

Lifting weights and sprints on my BMX bike. Skate park riding if theres no one around!jimmacnaughton

Im a new dad and dont want my kid to think I look dumpy when hes older, so lots of walking the dog and turned the garage into a mini-gym and got one of those Tacx tablet mounts to do workouts from GCN on YouTube.keylorhalbur

Yes! Workouts are now in the living room, kitchen, sidewalks, some rides outside while we are allowed, using my @tacx trainer and Zwift for a ride around NYC, doing HIIT and Yoga classes live. It helps that as a Yoga teacher I have also been practicing and hosting live yoga classes! Keeping my mind healthy, body strong and soul lifting!!angelalifespark

Virtual training early morning then yoga, breakfast, and saxo practice. Afternoons ride as weather permit and movie nights....with popcorn for sure.sr.robertcala

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How Cyclists Are Staying Motivated and Active at Home During Social Distancing - Bicycling

HONG KONG: The Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is a big challenge for athletes. Those who train for the love of the sport have an advantage over those who need clearly defined goals, a sports psychologist says - with motivation being the key element.

Training on through coronavirus-related lockdowns and other restrictions is a daunting task in itself, with motivation the driving force.

And according to German sports psychologist Oliver Stoll, athletes in individual sports have an advantage over those from team sports who can only train in small groups, if at all.

Stoll acknowledges that those from athletics don't have the tracks and fields available, and swimmers can't train in the pools, but that nonetheless "team sports athletes are much worse off.

"Nothing at all is going for them. Except from being online or can playing the garden with their families," he said.

Some football clubs like Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have resorted to cyber training and others have permission to be at the training ground in small groups.

Individual sports athletes have also had to change their training routines but at least decide on their own how to proceed, with motivation being the key factor.

"The question is why I do sport? If I am intrinsically motivated I do it for the sake of the activity, because I love it. An award is first of all no factor," Stoll said.

"When I am extrinsically motivated I do it because of the result," he said, referring to promotion into another league, a winners' party, a finisher t-shirt or a medal.

Stoll, who has been working with the national diving team since 2008 and took part in the Hawaii ironman in 1988, said that intrinsically motivated athletes have a clear edge at the moment, with events cancelled and no one knowing when leagues can resume.

Stoll said it helps to be "intrinsically motivated and active because you love it, and are not looking at a special award directly related to it."

Top athletes such as race walker Christopher Linke, who came fourth at last year's world championships in Doha, don't necessarily fall into that group.

Linke readily admitted he has completely lost his motivation and doesn't know what he is training for.

"I am not an athlete who likes to train without goals. I don't go to training because I enjoy it so much but because I know it is part of being able to achieve a top result," Linke said.

Hurdler Pamela Dutkiewicz, a 2017 worlds bronze medallist, said: "In sports, goals are clearly defined, and linked with a certain day and even time. I adhere to the guidelines ... But the aimlessness of not knowing exactly what will happen when, or at all, is really difficult."

Stoll meanwhile said that it is also possible to run a marathon even without a competition, looking at those - mainly amateurs - who have prepared for all those spring races over 42.195km which have been cancelled.

"You can have the aim of running 42km. And if it is important to prove that you can run 42km you don't need a competition. If you want to," Stoll said. - dpa/Asian News Network

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Motivation the key in coronavirus times, says sports psychologist - The Star Online

Scott McTominay is determined to keep improving and do more at Manchester United, with the Scotland international hoping to have put injury struggles behind him.

The 23-year-old had to be patient when stepping out of a famed academy system at Old Trafford, but his persistence was rewarded when he broke through under Jose Mourinho.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has also found a regular role for the hard-working midfielder within his plans.

McTominay was, however, restricted to spectator role for two months earlier in the 2019-20 campaign after suffering knee ligament damage in a Boxing Day clash with Newcastle.

He worked his way back to fitness in time to score a memorable late effort in a derby win over Manchester City, but is taking in another enforced break during the coronavirus pandemic.

McTominay feels better prepared for a spell without football after spending time on the treatment table and is eager to take his game to even greater heights when cleared to return to the field.

He told Uniteds official app of his past experience and future ambition: I had a couple of injuries which were difficult to deal with mentally.

For me that is one of the main priorities, keeping your head screwed on mentally.

Physically I've always had that attitude to keep improving and wanting to do more and more to sustain yourself in the team, and keep yourself in the best shape as possible.

For me that has just been normal for me.

McTominay added on being in lockdown: I've had a training partner, Callum, who's asking me the questions, and we've had a really good week or two of training and eating all right foods, and staying on top of it.

So I feel like that motivation comes from him as well and everyone around me who are good people. So for me that is important.

United had worked their way back into contention for a top-four finish prior to football shutting down, while also reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and Europa League, with Solskjaers side hoping that a green light will be given to complete their fixture list at some stage.

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McTominay motivated to keep improving at Man Utd following injury frustration - Yahoo Sports