(WBNG) -- A local health and wellness professor, World champion athlete, motivational speaker, author, and world record holder, Bill Clark, shares advice on how to deal with the current pandemic and the worry associated.

Clark has been featured on ESPN, was the number one watched Guinness World Records social media star of 2019, and was put on the inside cover of the 2019 Guinness Book of World Records. The power lifter has been put into just about every strength hall of fame and speaks to schools and audiences as he demonstrates his strength and gives his "world champion advice."

"I'm struggling with everyone else," Clark says. "Don't confuse concern with worry. Concern allows us to be aware of problems so that we can be optimal in developing strategies moving forward. Worry is concern that's unregulated, it takes over."

For more information, visit Bill Clark's website here.

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World champion athlete and motivational speaker on how to deal with worrying during pandemic - WBNG-TV

Opened in May 2016, Rafa Nadal Academy has been passing the vision of one of the greatest players of all time onto the new generation of future tennis stars, offering them the best possible facilities at his Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor.

The Academy provides the top-tier conditions for the upcoming youngster, giving them a chance to improve the various elements of their tennis alongside highly-skilled and trained coaches from Spain and other parts of the world.

Also, some established players like Casper Ruud and Jaume Munar train in Mallorca regularly, often with Nadal himself, if he is at home. The recent setbacks with the coronavirus pandemic have forced the Academy to keep both the players and staff as isolated as possible from outside factors, closing facilities and taking good care of all the people who are currently on the Academy site.

Besides tennis, Nadal's students at the Academy have the opportunity to take care of their education as well, with Rafa Nadal International School allowing them to combine tennis and studies. Each student is prepared to face the university entrance system - including access to American institutions through scholarships, which is extremely important if they want to embrace college tennis and work more on their education.

Nadal had a message for his students who are taking classes from home, highlighting the importance of their parents and appreciating the teachers for their efforts to make the courses possible in these extreme conditions.

"During this time of confinement in which school life has changed completely, Rafa Nadal wanted to send a message of encouragement to all the students of the Rafa Nadal International School who are doing online classes from their homes during these days.

Rafa himself also wanted to highlight the important work of the parents in this process and thank the teachers for their efforts and tremendous involvement in making classes possible. Although the original concept of the school was designed with the aim that the tennis players at the Academy could combine their tennis training with academics, Rafa wanted to open the doors to all the young people of Mallorca from the very beginning, whether they were tennis players or not, so that everyone could benefit from the facilities and the academic program."

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Rafael Nadal sends motivation message to students of his International School - Tennis World USA

We have entered uncharted territory. For most of us, staying completely confined to our homes without the ability to have physical contact with friends, let alone our own family members can be very distressful. Add to that the extra task of trying to maintain a normal life during this period where nothing is normal and everything we do has to be monitored to a certain degree. Life as we know it, at least for the foreseeable future, is completely derailed and if we dont make a conscious effort to maintain some sort of control over it, it can be very easy to fall into unhealthy habits. How can you help yourself stay motivated while self-isolating? Here are a few helpful tips to keep you focused on staying healthy and positive while social distancing:

1. Set a routine

Now that we are self-isolating and are all working from home and/or staying in 24-7, its important that we create an environment that feels productive in order to avoid feeling negative and down. The best way to do this is by setting a routine. This is especially important for those with children who are used to having the daily school schedule and who really arent able to create a routine for themselves. However as adults, creating a routine is equally helpful for us to avoid becoming depressed from the lack of structure in our own daily schedules. Nothing can be more daunting than waking up every day and having to figure out what to do with your time. Under normal circumstances after a long work week having nothing planned on a Saturday or Sunday morning can feel liberating. But on a daily basis, this can become a source of anxiety. I suggest creating a schedule around the staple daily activities: wake up time, meals, bedtime, etc. Maintaining the same schedule daily will not only limit the possibility of downtime, which can lead to emotional lows, it may also help the day go by quicker so you wont have too much time to focus on the fact that youre stuck at home.

Helpful tip: Make a list of your must dos everyday: wake up, meals, bedtime, etc. Set times for those activities and then pepper in your other responsibilities around them. Ideally, you want to set times that youll stick to daily.

2. Make an appointment for your self-care

Self-care can be very healing during this time of self-isolation, because the more you do for yourself the better you may feel! And self-care can look any way you need. It could be making time for your favorite show, time for a call with your good friend, or my personal favorite, time to work out! Working out during this period has helped me tremendously. It is a known fact that exercise releases the feel good hormones in your brain called endorphins. Endorphins arechemicals produced by thebodyto relieve stress and one way to tap into them is through exercise. The best part is when it comes to releasing endorphins, it doesnt have to be anything too intenseeven moderate exercise can help the release of these natural body relaxants. Moreover, the most important key in this suggestion is to actually make time for your self-care, whatever it may be. Nestled in your daily schedule, make sure you make an appointment with yourself for your self-care so that the day doesnt pass you by without it!

Helpful tip: Think about what will make you feel good these days. It may be watching a funny movie, listening to some music or doing a workout. Then make an appointment with yourself with a time and reminder on your phone. For optimal benefits, try to schedule a feel good activity daily!

3. Make virtual appointments with feel good friends

A lot of people are stressing out about the current situation as we are surrounded by bad news all day every day. Although its important to stay informed, it is equally important to try and occupy your mind with thoughts that dont involve the crisis. This is a good time to reach out to your feel good friends. We all know that someone in our livescould be any loved one, friend or family memberthat is just super positive. These are the people you should try to spend some virtual time with right now. Make note of pessimistic people in your life who truly find it difficult to distract themselves from the worry of what is happening around them and inadvertently bring you down with their personal anxiety. We all know the, life is terrible and there is nothing else to say, people who no matter how much you try to make light of the situation, they just cant seem to. This is the time to try to lessen your exposure to any negativity. Im not suggesting you cut-off your Negative Nancy friends completely, but do try to reach out to the ones who are able to talk about something more positive these days. Yes, things arent great and right now there doesnt seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel quite yet. However, life is continuing and we have to try to stay in good spirits as best we can so that we dont compromise our immune systems at such a critical time when we need them to be strong! While self-isolating, make an appointment to talk to your feel good friends. If you are that person, try to lift the spirits of those in your life who have a hard time doing it for themselves. However, make sure you also take care of your own emotional health in the process!

Helpful tip: If you cant think of anyone who could be a positive influence these days, this is a good time to see what people are posting. Look for people posting funny memes or positive anecdotes on social media and engage that way!

This is a crazy and scary timeto say the least. For that reason, it is so important to make a conscious effort to stay healthy and positive. Try to incorporate good thoughts, good food and good energy into your life daily and before you know it, life will be back to normal!

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How to stay motivated while self-isolating and social distancing - Thrive Global

NewsEducation The revelation will reinforce fears that the fallout from the coronavirus crisis has badly hit engagement in learning

Wednesday, 8th April 2020, 11:25 am

Updated Wednesday, 8th April 2020, 2:51 pm

Teenagers who think they have already passed their GCSEs and A-levels have been trying to get supermarket and gig economy jobs before the school year ends.

The revelation will reinforce fears that the fallout from the coronavirus crisis has badly hit students motivation and engagement in learning.

In England, the exam watchdog Ofqual has said teachers will assess classwork, homework, results in assignments and mock exams, coursework and students "general progress to make predictions.

Crucially, Ofqual made clear that schools will not have to set any additional mock exams or homework to decide grades.

However, one boss of a major school chain said pupils who are no longer taking exams had disengaged from their education.

Martyn Oliver, chief executive of Outwood Grange Academies Trust - which runs 32 schools in the North of England - told Schools Week that participation in online learning among students in Year 11 and 13 was very poor.

The Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said teachers will give students predicted GCSE and A level grades, which will be checked by the exam boards (Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)

Average engagement in Outwood Granges online lessons during lockdown has been 70 per cent in the chains primary schools and 77 per cent for its secondary schools, but Mr Oliver said the latter figure had been dragged down by Years 11 and 13.

He said: As far as theyre concerned, theyve passed. Some of them are even trying to get into the gig economy, get work in supermarkets. We dont want them doing that.

Mr Oliver said the schools had refused permission to these students. We understand the pressure on them, but unless anyone defines it differently, they havent left school and they should be engaged with education.

The law states that children aged 15 or 16 can work up to 12 hours in any school week, and up to 35 hours a week in the holidays. There are no such school term based restrictions for 17 and 18 year olds.

There are fears the impact of the cancellation of exams on student motivation could widen attainment gaps between children from privileged and deprived backgrounds.

In a report, the Sutton Trust social mobility charity said that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds should get catch-up classes once schools reopen.

Even if all possible steps were taken to minimise the impact of school closures on the attainment gap, having students away from school for a long period is likely to have a substantial impact on attainment, especially for those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, the report says.

Looking in the longer term, it will be important to put in place interventions to help students to catch up when schools restart. This could for example include increasing the pupil premium [funding] to help schools provide additional support for disadvantaged students when they return to school, or catch up sessions for this group of students before other students return.

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GCSEs and A-levels: Concern for student motivation as teens who think they've passed seek jobs in supermarkets and 'gig economy' - inews

Its no secret that the creative landscape has changed dramatically since the COVID-19 outbreak. The Working From Home setup is a strange adjustment for everyone - as noted by creative agency Paradise London who wanted to help support the industry.

Paradise London has reached out to creatives across all industries to help curate a series of online talks focused on keeping the community inspired and motivated through these difficult and uncertain times. Designers, writers, musicians, marketeers, entrepreneurs, photographers (to name but a few) - are all featured in self filmed, motivational tutorials to motivate, inspire and connect the creative network.

#PLDNTalks is a direct response to the coronavirus epidemic - sending a message of positivity and support on a global scale. The videos are designed to keep the audience thinking, creating, sharing and innovating their ideas as they face new challenges in all aspects of life. Encouraging their network to Give a little help, the branding and marketing agency are editing and releasing all supplied content free of charge and hosting online on their instagram channel @paradiselondon.

Each day a new topic from a new creative is released; growth as an entrepreneur, music videos on a budget, maintaining sanity in quarantine and branding and business advice are some of the topics already explored, with commercial director of broadcast Talia Levine, music and media strategy consultant Soraya Sobh, and music artist Dani Sylvia some of the first to lend their voice.

Launched on Friday the 27 March, the bite-size educational content features leaders in the industry sharing intimate advice from the comfort of their own home. If you would like to participate in a PLDN Talk, or for more media information please contact: Luke Jekyll - Marketing Manager luke@paradise.london

// Featured in this article

Paradise London

Paradise London is an independent fully-integrated creative agency dedicated to enhancing, connecting and refining brands worldwide.

Excerpt from:
A series of motivational talks to inspire the creative industry - The Drum

Our editors take care to highlight sales and deals on items that we think youll enjoy and at prices we think youll like. Shop TODAY has affiliate relationships so we may get a small share of the revenue if you buy something through our links.

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Rylee Johnston

Rylee Johnston is a Commerce Intern for TODAY.com.

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10 kitchen gadgets that will motivate you to cook - TODAY

Chiapparelli, 64, who has a mop of shaggy curls on his head and still wears those tight, mid-length gym teacher shorts nearly every day, even in the winter, didnt plan on any of this when he was starting out in coaching and teaching physical education 40 years ago. He spent 32 years coaching three sports, then dialed it back to just hockey and baseball after his wife asked him to, though he still helps out on the sidelines of varsity football games on Saturday afternoons in the fall.

The programs were fairly mediocre when he took them over, but he joined the board of the local Little League and tried to make it a little more competitive, encouraging better players to play in older divisions. He also started after-school floor hockey and baseball programs in the districts elementary schools, giving him an early look at the best athletes in town.

He paid his high school players to coach the children and used the rest of the money to help improve the facilities and opportunities for his high school teams. They got batting cages and bullpens and spring trips to tournaments against other nationally ranked teams, plus some sweet swag batting gloves, polo shirts, sweatshirts.

His players also do off-season weight training and conditioning in the mornings before school. He joins them for five-mile runs several mornings a week. His team is the grounds crew. They rake the infield and manicure the pitching mound and home plate and roll out the tarp when bad weather is coming.

In the early 1990s, he started scheduling games against the best teams in New York, teams that battered his Tigers at first. Now his teams regularly contend for state championships.

Im not afraid to lose, and thats what I tell the kids, he said. When you put yourself up against the tougher challenge you get used to having tougher challenges.

Since the season got put on an indefinite hold, he has cleaned up his yard and done all the early spring chores around the house. He usually works Sunday nights tending bar at a local tavern, but that isnt happening either. Now hes just bored, a guy who is used to having five jobs, who now barely has one. He should be throwing a thousand pitches a day for live batting practice, because hitting a ball out of a machine just isnt the same, but hes got no one to throw to. And nothing fills the hole of whats really missing.

Originally posted here:
For Coaching Lifers, Losing the Game but Sticking With It - The New York Times

Posted April 08, 2020, 10:30 am

In the fall of 2019, my hospital put out word that it was looking for physicians who might wish to undergo intensive training to become certified health and wellness coaches. Having worked with patients who have used health coaching, I jumped at the chance. Their experiences were almost universally positive: many of them had attained health goals that had been otherwise elusive, such as the weight loss they invoked annually and fruitlessly as a New Years resolution. The few physicians I knew who were also coaches seemed to be able to fuse the different skill sets in a way that expanded their ability to connect with their patients and address their health needs on a deeper level.

Just as a sports coach can help an athlete develop and excel at a sport, a health and wellness coach can help anyone excel at living their life, even or especially if they have chronic medical conditions. The coaching process is similar to talk therapy in that it involves two people discussing ideas and issues, but it is different in that the person who is being coached is in the drivers seat, creating their goals as well as the strategies on how to arrive at these goals.

People tend to hire health coaches to help them with a broad variety of health issues, such as weight loss, stress reduction, the management of chronic conditions, improving diet and exercise, tobacco cessation, addiction, and adjusting to a life-altering health event, like a heart attack. There is overlap between what a health coach does and what a life coach does, but a life coachs domain is much broader, and includes career issues, executive coaching, and professional effectiveness.

A key technique utilized by coaches is motivational interviewing, in which a coach asks open-ended questions intended to help their client elicit his or her own reasons for change. Instead of the doctor saying, You need to lose weight, a coach might ask, How might your life be different if you lost the weight that youve been trying to lose? The concept, which has been proven effective in many research studies, is that people who are changing for their own reasons, on their own terms, are far more likely to succeed when compared with someone telling them what to do which is less motivating and is more likely to instill resistance to change.

Motivational interviewing has been creeping into the medical profession as well, with great success. With the intensive focus on it I received in my coaching training, I now put it in the forefront in my interactions with patients, trying to really hear what they are saying and to engage them as much as possible in coming up with solutions for the various health issues that arise. Patients seem to genuinely appreciate this, and while I havent conducted a study, this approach certainly seems successful in terms of both my relationships with patients and the results I am seeing.

Whereas traditional psychology has focused on what is wrong with people and what needs to be fixed, coaching philosophy focuses on what has, can, and will work better for you. This means that instead of rooting around for problems to dwell on, a coach will work with you to harness your strengths, in order to improve the health behaviors you want to address.

Coaching is effective for people managing a variety of health conditions. According to a recent study, coaching results in clinically relevant improvements in multiple biomarker risk factors (including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and cardiorespiratory fitness) in diverse populations. Coaching has also helped improve health-related quality of life and reduced hospital admissions in patients with COPD. No wonder some doctors offices are offering it, some insurance companies are paying for it, and private companies are even starting to offer coaching to their employees in order to lower their healthcare costs.

Coaching is a relatively new field, and it is an unregulated industry, so you do not need any certification to practice as a health coach. There is no strict definition of what a health coach even is, which adds to the confusion. In other words, anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves a coach. However, there are many programs that do train and certify coaches, both in person and online. Among the most popular and well-respected are: The National Society of Health Coaches, The American Council on Exercise, Dr. Sears Wellness Institute, Duke Integrative Medicine, and Wellcoaches School of Coaching (which is where I was trained). It is strongly recommended that you choose a certified coach, to ensure that they have a certain level of training and experience.

The time commitment and cost of coaching are highly variable. Some people do very brief coaching even one session for a discrete problem, such as whether or not to accept a job offer, whereas others may participate in coaching for months or years, for something like managing weight, diabetes, depression, or hypertension. The cost varies with the skill and experience of the coach. As mentioned previously, some employers and medical plans may cover this, as there is abundant evidence that, for example, health coaching around issues such as weight loss can significantly lower healthcare costs. It is important to note that coaches take privacy very seriously, and they have a professional code of ethics, but there are not the same HIPAA-level privacy protections as there are when you visit a medical office.

Coaching appears to be as effective when administered remotely by phone or the Internet when compared with face-to-face coaching. This provides great flexibility, as coaching can be performed in person, over the phone, or via videoconferencing.

Coaches resumes will often be available for you to review, so see if their interests and experience overlap with the issues you wish to address. Coaches enter the field from a wide variety of different backgrounds, and it might be an advantage to pick a coach who has a background in a health or wellness-related field, though many extremely talented coaches come from careers in different realms. Word of mouth is always an excellent way to find a coach, or you could call your insurance company and, if this is an offered benefit, its likely that they have coaches they can recommend.

Unlike health fads that come and go, health coaching has strong evidence behind it backing its effectiveness for improving health and well-being. Becoming a health coach has been deeply rewarding to me, because it is rare in life that you get to promote happiness, build resiliency, save people money, and help people live longer and more fulfilling lives at the same time.

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Health coaching is effective. Should you try it? - Harvard Health Blog - Harvard Health

SAN MARCOS, Texas -- A year ago, Alex Muntefering didnt think hed be discussing his departure from Texas State University.

The Parkston native was thankful for the Division-I assistant coach opportunity he held on the cross-country and track and field staff for three and a half years.

He developed as a mid-distance and long distance coach, built strong relationships with his runners and helped guide the Bobcats to unprecedented long-distance running success. They won three Sun Belt Conference championships -- 2019 womens indoor track, 2019 mens outdoor track and 2017-18 womens cross-country -- and he coached multiple runners to all-conference placing and school records.

The long road trips for meets and recruiting weighed on him, though, and forced him to start thinking about his future. As hard as it was to step down in December, he wanted to find a better balance in his life between coaching and family.

Over the course of this past fall, I think there were some seeds that were starting to be planted in my heart about what I wanted my life to look like, Muntefering said. What I wanted my role as a coach to look like. More importantly, what I wanted my role as a family person to look like.

Muntefering took a chance, leaving Texas State in December 2019 to open a private coaching business in San Marcos, Texas, called PR Project. Hes still located in the same town as Texas State, utilizing the highly-populated market between Austin and San Antonio where the presence of private coaching is evident.

Thats what it came down to for me, Muntefering said. Having this passion to coach, but to see how I can design my life to maximize my ability to coach and not let it be a sacrifice to other parts of my life.

Hes still learning how to run a business, but hes formulated a plan in how he wants it to develop. As of now, Muntefering is coaching seven runners, with hopes of obtaining as many as 30. Its different from other private coaches who work with 75-100 athletes, but hes focused on quality rather than quantity.

I want to have a smaller amount of athletes, but be able to pour more and more of my time into them, Muntefering said. I know if I took in a large number of athletes, like 75 to 100, I would sacrifice the quality of my coaching.

This wasnt the passion Muntefering envisioned growing up. Even during college, he figured hed continue running or go into physical therapy. Now, hes blending what he learned at all of his stops, even if he didnt know he wanted to be a coach until he was a junior at Colorado State University.

The work ethic comes from growing up on a farm in the state he still owns the Class A 800-meter state record (1:53.76). Hes dealt with transferring from the University of Oklahoma to Colorado State, then excelled on the track despite not having the most talent.

As a graduate assistant at South Dakota State University, Muntefering was able to observe the training and interactions between runners and coaches. His knowledge behind the science of different workouts grew at Texas State, as well as learning to not just work hard but to work efficiently.

Most importantly what I learned here at Texas State (was) how to pour into people, Muntefering said. Using my role as a coach, how to positively impact people. I knew it was something I wanted to gain in my lifetime as a coach, but Texas State afforded me the opportunity to actually do that. To really be able to get deep with each of my athletes.

If the right opportunity arose, Muntefering would return to collegiate coaching. For now, hes focused on growing PR Project, and having the same influence his coaches had on him.

I think slowly over time as I got to learn and see some really great coaches of mine practice their art of coaching, Muntefering said. I think it just slowly started to get ingrained in me that this would be a really (good) opportunity for me to use in my lifetime to positively impact others.

Link:
Still on the track: Parkston native Muntefering dives into private coaching after DI opportunity - The Daily Republic

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - APRIL 29: Pitching coach Steve Foster meets with Kyle Freeland #21 of the ... [+] Colorado Rockies in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on April 29, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Ideally, the Rockies would have played their 12th game of the season Wednesday, completing their first homestand in the process. The starting pitchers would have been on their third turn through the rotation.

Of course, none of that has happened with the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the start of the season and causing concerns whether there will even be games this year.

Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster said when Major League Baseball halted spring training March 12, the starting pitchers were given a road map of sorts about what would be needed when a second spring training began.

This is kind of an unprecedented time, Foster said Wednesday on a conference call with Denver media. The thing that I know is if you give us 20-25 days, I think its going to give us plenty of time to get our pitchers built up enough to be able to compete. Theres enough history in this game to know what it takes to build a starting pitcher up. It all comes down to that, because the relievers and the position players can get ready in plenty short time.

Foster said weekly Zoom meetings began this week. Pods have been established for both the major league and minor league pitchers with the pitching coaches and coordinators serving as pod leaders for the weekly meetings that can include discussion of training regimens to keep arms and bodies in shape and go well beyond those conventional areas.

Coaching isnt just coaching when were on a baseball field, Foster said. Coaching is life coaching as well. And sometimes life goes in directions we didnt expect, and we certainly didnt expect this.

Mental skills development director Doug Chadwick is in charge of distributing a weekly YouTube clip or article to pitchers throughout the organization. Foster said Chadwick gets input from pitching coaches, and then hes going to pick what the weekly discussion is going to be centered on. This week, Chadwick selected a YouTube clip from author, speaker and pastor John Maxwell titled, The Reasons Why Most People Fail Dont Make This Mistake.

Foster said Chadwicks choices are something to spearhead a discussion. But with pitchers widely disbursed Foster said about 15 Rockies pitchers live near the clubs complex in Scottsdale, Ariz. - there is an added benefit to these discussions.

It pales in comparison to just seeing faces and laughing, Foster said, and if we need to cry, well cry. But most importantly, its that were connecting, were staying engaged, were encouraging, were finding out the information from guys on how theyre doing because no ones been here before.

Foster said the pitchers are following health mandates, and some have been pairing off when it comes to playing catch Kyle Freeland and Jeff Hoffman, Chi Chi Gonzalez and Jairo Diaz and Carlos Estevez and Antonio Senzatela.

Freeland has purchased a portable mound. And reliever Scott Oberg has brought one out of storage, as he noted in his Instagram post showing the mound outside his home in Sewell, N.J., and captioned: What bullpens look like for the forseeable future.

Foster was speaking from his home in Mosinee, Wis. He said his daughter, Lauren, a shortstop on the University of Wisconsin softball team will finish her junior year online next month. They have been working out together, but not playing catch or hitting since she wont be playing until next spring.

Foster said what he missed most being away from baseball are the people and the competition and being part of the team.

Our everyday existence is about a win and a loss, Foster said, and risking it all and being all-in and engaged and interacting with people and laughing and loving and crying.

Its by no means the same as trying to weave through nine innings and prevail, but Foster has found some competitive outlets around the house.

We do have Yahtzee here, he said. We have ping-pong. We have a pool table. Weve got some things around the house to draw a little blood.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected Fosters family in other, more serious ways as well. His brother P.J. Foster, 39, was getting ready to leave the U.S. Navy after 20 years and was on his way home from the western Pacific Ocean. But when crew members of the USS Theodore Roosevelt tested positive for COVID-19, the aircraft carrier went to port in Guam so crew members could be tested and isolated, causing an extension of the younger Fosters tour of duty.

Hes been recalled, and now hes on a warship in the South China Sea, Foster said. Thats as much as I know.

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Rockies Pitching Coach Steve Foster Remains Connected With His Pitchers - Forbes