Dein erstes Forum » service to the ex-offender community is much-neede

Five months ago, Novak Djokovic finally closed the deal on his career Grand Slam. After going 0-for-11 at Roland Garros, he defeated Andy Murray in an emphatic four-set final.That gave Djokovic the years first two major titles -- and a seemingly insurmountable lead as the ATP World Tours No. 1-ranked player. He found himself 8,035-points ahead of the No. 2 Murray, the equivalent of four Slam championships.In retrospect, that grand flourish in Paris was the beginning of the end of Djokovics 2016 season.I think after the French Open, the majority of us felt that Novak had a lock on the No. 1 ranking because of how dominant he had been, said Darren Cahill, former coach of No. 1-ranked Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt. When he wins the French, when he finally gets there, it has to be a letdown.Hes only human.Mary Carillo, who will be a commentator during this weekends Fed Cup final for Tennis Channel, was also among that majority.When Novak won the French Open, I thought, This guys capable of running the table. Who the hells going to stop him from being the king? Carillo said. Ive got to say its a big surprise whats happened to Novak, the way he lost his way.In my mind, its a bigger surprise than what happened this year with Serena, Roger and Rafa.Thus, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, for the first time since points were first awarded at the year-end event in 1990, could feature a frenetic winner-take-all championship match Sunday Nov. 20. Its a potential matchup of two friends and rivals who first met as 11-year-olds at a juniors tournament in France. (Murray won 6-0, 6-1.)Its hardly an unreasonable scenario. Murray has won 19 straight matches and is a sparkling 47-3 since the French Open. Djokovic? The four-time Barclays defending champion is a combined 23-0 against the other three players in his group, Milos Raonic, Gael Monfils and Dominic Thiem.Lets crunch the numbers: Murray currently leads Djokovic by 405 points, but with 275 coming off his total from last years Davis Cup final, the lead is effectively 130 points. Because the three round-robin matches are worth 200 points for each win, with 400 for a semifinals victory and another 500 for winning the title, whoever goes one round further will be the top-ranked player. As long as Djokovic wins two round-robin matches, their meeting in the final would produce the year-end No. 1 -- the best possible punctuation for mens tennis.For the first time, Murray is the favorite to win this tournament, said Brad Gilbert, Murrays former coach and part of ESPNs coverage team in London. I would definitely say the Muzzard is playing the best tennis Ive seen him play.While Djokovic won the French Open, Murray very quietly was having his best clay season. He was also a finalist in Madrid and won the title in Rome. And then his season took off, with the title at Wimbledon and a gold medal at the Rio Olympics. He finished with a flurry, winning the last four events he played, in Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna and Paris.That title ended 122 consecutive weeks at the top for Djokovic. Murray, at 29, is the ATPs oldest first-time No. 1 since John Newcombe in 1974.Murray, according to Cahill, has learned to win when hes not playing his best.His average level has improved considerably, Cahill said. Hes had to struggle and survive. Hes gutting his way through matches now.Andys never shied away from the fact that hes always wanted the No. 1 ranking. To do that you have to be incredibly consistent. In the past, he dropped too many second- and third-round matches. Hes managed to eliminate that.Some of that mental toughness, according to ESPN analyst Pam Shriver, came from his time away from coach Ivan Lendl, who abruptly quit after a three-year stint, only to return two years later this past June.This made him more resilient, Shriver said. Hes been relentless and aggressive in his pursuit of Djokovic. I think its great for mens tennis. Murray has been constantly trying to overcome this extraordinary trifecta of Fed, Rafa and Djokovic.Beyond Murrays beefed-up grit, Gilbert identifies two other areas of dramatic improvement.The second serve and the forehand are better than ever, Gilbert said. Against the Big Three, maybe they didnt hold up. Now hes dictating play way more than he ever has. Usually a coaching change comes when things arent going to plan. Andy added Lendl after a terrific clay court season.That put everything together.Djokovic, meanwhile, looked spent after the French Open. He lost in the third round at Wimbledon to Sam Querrey, the Serbs worst effort at the All England Club in eight years. And while he won the title in Toronto, Djokovic lost his first match in Rio de Janeiro to Juan Martin del Potro and fell in the US Open final to Stan Wawrinka. Shanghai (a semifinals loss to Roberto Bautista Agut) and the Paris Masters (a quarterfinals defeat by Marin Cilic) didnt go much better.Paris was not good, Carillo said. There was nothing declarative in his game.Gilbert wonders whether injury might be a factor in Djokovics recent performances.If you think about it, hes been incredibly healthy, then all of a sudden hes a little nicked up, Gilbert said. The arm, the wrist, its been different things all summer. Maybe thats affected practice and how he does things.The great thing about tennis, though, is that whoever finishes No. 1, the race for next year starts really soon. Theres no one else in equation for 2017 other than Murray and Djokovic.Cahill laughed when he was asked whether Djokovic, who like Murray is 29, would ever regain the No. 1 ranking.Nah, Cahill said. Everyones reading into this way too much. Hes been so dominant the past three, four years. Its tough to get to No. 1 -- tougher to stay there.I think hell recharge his batteries for 2017. What hes gone through speaks volumes about what hes been able to maintain. Hes been so dominant you forget to appreciate. It doesnt come easy, even to the great players.Whatever happens in London, Murray -- the once-scowling, ranting, on-court tyrant -- is in a better place. When John Isner forced the Paris final to a third set, Murray did not sulk. Rather, he bounced around the court, sprinting to get in position to return the next serve, even after getting aced. It was a refreshing (and telling) display of positive energy.Everythings all right with Andy, Carillo said. Hes married and has a little girl. Hes taken the happy mantle that went from Roger the Rafa to Novak. Happy helps on the court. Its nice to see him smiling. Nike Air Max Tn Baratas . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Nike Air Max Plus Tn Ultra Baratas .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. http://www.vapormaxbaratas.com/vapormax-off-white-baratas-venta.html . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). Nike Air Vapormax 95 Baratas . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. Nuevas Nike Vapormax . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. I cant say what it is, but I, like the thousands of other people in this country, have an inexplicable fascination with crime-based television series. In fact, much of my honeymoon was spent binge-watching the second season of Orange Is The New Black, and many late nights with my husband are reserved for Beyond Scared Straight reruns. Naturally, when I was introduced to ConBody, the NYC-based prison-style boot camp, I was intrigued.Yet, unlike my favorite fictional shows, the ConBody workout was inspired by a very real experience for founder Coss Marte. See, Marte is a former drug dealer who spent part of his youth in and out of the correctional system. He did his crime, served the time and is now looking to change ... not only the way we work out, but how the public views ex-offenders, and to give them economic freedom.Behind barsMy class with Marte began at 8 a.m., sharp. A group of flushed-face women, drenched in sweat, exited as I rang the bell to enter the studio. The space, which is located on Broome Street in Manhattans Lower East Side, are Martes old stomping grounds. This was the first [spot] that gave me an opportunity to rent with my criminal background, he says when we first meet.While serving a seven-year sentence (eventually reduced to four years), he masterminded the very exercises that now make up the class I was getting ready to join. I developed the moves from my previous incarceration, he says. I learned a combination of exercises from ex-Marines-turned-correctional officers through a program called Shock. Its a six-month military boot camp program that saves you two-and-a-half years from your prison sentence.Martes gym -- which he says was a dungeon, with no windows or ventilation, when he found it -- is now a well-lit white studio with black-painted fence lines, barbed wire and sketches of prisoners in mid-escape etched on the walls as decor.A workout developed in a 9-by-6 foot prison cell using no equipment -- straight bodyweight exercises -- couldnt be too hard, I thought.Boy, was I wrong.Lock downMy class of five was instructed to leave our belongings, including our shoes, in lockers just outside of the studio. Show off that pedicure! Marte says?playfully. Eyeballing the room, I was surprised to see a female-dominated class -- just one man and four women in total.Marte says the proportion is standard: A lot of females tell me that they dont like going into studios with a lot of equipment because theyre overwhelming. This is a tough cardio, strength-training program that feels doable. Plus, all you have to do is show up in comfy workout gear, no add-ons required. So, youre not jumping through hoops to participate in the classes -- which range from 30-minutes to a full-hour, at $30 per single session.Once the clock strikes 8, the sound of an iron gate slamming shut rings out. Then the warm-up begins. Fat Joe and Remy Mas All the Way Up serves as the soundtrack for our dose of cardio, which included jumping jacks, squat thrusts and glute kickbacks. Next, some floor-based ab work, followed by toning exercises, including scissor kicks and pushups.Doing the timeAfter a series of calisthenics during the warm-up (who knew simply standing up and sitting down for 30 repetitions could constitute as exercise), Marte introduced the real workout with more hip-hop tunes on rotation. I created some of the moves on my own, like the up-and-downs. The space that I was using in my cell was so small that sometimes I couldnt do a full squat, so I would sit down and stand up, and I realized -- thats hard!For the remaining 45 minutes of class, Marte created an eight-lap routine consisting of nonstop calisthenics, including mountain-climbers, planks, 10-second pull-up holds and more.?And as hard as it got with each lap, Martes encouragement throughout the class was helpful. And his own success story proves that the routine offerrs noticeable results.dddddddddddd Prior to being imprisoned, the 5-foot-8 Marte weighed 230 pounds, had high blood pressure and sky-high cholesterol. He was even told that if he didnt slim down, there was a strong chance that he would die in prison. On his custom workout plan, Marte lost 70 pounds in the first six months of his sentence, a physical change that was life-altering.[When] I lost the weight, Marte says, my cholesterol and blood-pressure levels went back to normal. Obviously, I wasnt eating great in prison, but I started trying to increase [healthier] carbs and vegetables in my diet. And for ConBody regulars, Marte has hired a registered dietitian to offer nutrition advice for those in need of pointers. All of my trainers are certified trainers, but were not dietitians. For those who enroll in personal training programs, I refer them to our dietitian.Speaking of trainers, though I only experienced Martes class, it was interesting to learn that many ConBody instructors were formerly incarcerated, and others are close to the prison system in some way.?Having experienced the difficulty of securing a job with a tainted record firsthand, its Martes mission to help those looking to get back on their feet after serving time. We go into jails and prisons to train the inmates to become personal trainers through a correspondence program to help them get their ISSA [International Sports Sciences Association] personal trainer certification, Marte notes.The releaseOnce we cool down, the class finished with wall sits and a crab crawl toward Marte for a celebratory high-five -- a positive reinforcement that is far different from the instructors own experiences during their prison-based boot camp courses.Sometimes, well stop a class to tell the participants about the prison experience and the struggles that we went through, Marte says. Sultan Malik, a ConBody instructor, who had previously been imprisoned for robbery, tells his classes that if he could do seven years in solitary confinement, they should be able to handle this 45-minute class.We did these same workouts in a small space with nothing. Here, you have someone motivating you and a class of people that are pushing you. We try to build that camaraderie and social support, Marte adds.And unlike the real deal, Marte and his team encourage participants to take their mugshot after the workout as proof that they did the time.Marte, who receives what he calls fan jail mail, says that he regularly receives inquiries from prisoners looking to apply for positions at ConBody upon their release. And given that one in 35 adults in the U.S. have faced correctional control, including prison, jail, parole and probation, his service to the ex-offender community is much-needed.Marte says his goal is to create a platform so that the ex-offenders can be trained by a ConBody mentor via computer. I want to hit 100,000 people and employ 50 ex-cons [of varying offenses] by the end of next year, he says.Youll be able to choose your personal instructor based on their profiles on the studios website. These videos will tell the story of why they went to prison and why they want to change their lives, Marte says.Marte is also exploring opportunities to expand, starting within the New York City metro area and eventually branching out overseas. So, if youre not in the Big Apple, no worries. Soon, youll be able to #DotheTime too!Lyndsay Green is a Chicago-based style and travel editor and founder of Beauty Atlas magazine, a destination guide for beauty enthusiasts. When shes not in some far-flung destination testing natural face masks or stocking up on foreign beauty products, you can find her brushing up on her tumbling skills in an adult gymnastics class in the Windy City. ' ' '