I tried an Arnold Schwarzenegger-approved kettlebell workout, and it strengthened my whole body in just five minutes
The five-minute fitness test was even championed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in his daily Arnold's Pump Club newsletter.
'The Sparhawk would be a really good first-day workout for somebody,' John tells me. 'It's reasonable, doable, makes you flexible, tests your grip strength with a loaded carry, and it only takes a few minutes.'
It's an attractive pitch, delivering all of this with just a couple of kettlebell exercises – goblet squats and suitcase carries. So, finding myself with the requisite few minutes to spare one Thursday lunchtime, I took the workout for a spin. Here's why I recommend you do the same.
How to do The SparHawk workout
The SparHawk workout sees you alternate between goblet squats and suitcase carries. For the goblet squat, hold the kettlebell tight to your chest and perform a squat. For the suitcase carry, hold the weight in one hand with your arm extended by your side, then simply walk. The challenge lies in trying to complete the entire thing without putting the kettlebell down.
'You can make it harder if you want by going farther or increasing the reps,' John says. And, if you don't have a kettlebell handy, you can use a dumbbell, milk carton or pretty much any heavy item with a handle.
Goblet squat x8
Right-handed suitcase carry x60ft
Goblet squat x7
Left-handed suitcase carry x60ft
Goblet squat x6
Right-handed suitcase carry x60ft
Goblet squat x5
Left-handed suitcase carry x60ft
Goblet squat x4
Right-handed suitcase carry x60ft
Goblet squat x3
Left-handed suitcase carry x60ft
Goblet squat x2
Right-handed suitcase carry x60ft
Goblet squat x1
Left-handed suitcase carry x60ft
What happened when I tried the SparHawk workout
The SparHawk is accessible, effective and fun – all the things I think a good workout should be. From my experience, these are the same things that keep people coming back for more. I was able to do it at the park with just my well-worn 24kg kettlebell, and the gamified countdown format stoked up my competitive spirit, making it all the more enjoyable.
In the interest of honesty, this wasn't my first time tackling this workout – I found it through Schwarzenegger's newsletter back in March last year. But, having recently chatted through the SparHawk's many merits with its maker, I decided to give it another go.
Last time, my legs still felt okay by the end, and I knew I wanted to kick things up a gear for my second attempt. So, taking John's advice to adjust the squat reps and carry distance accordingly, I doubled the number of goblet squats and did a round trip to and from the half-way line of a rugby pitch after each round. This had an immediate impact.
During the first set of 16 squats, my heart rate shot skywards and my quads, which had coasted through sets of eight and below when I first did the workout, began to burn. John had challenged me not to put the kettlebell down for the entirety, so taking regular breaks was off the table. As a result, the first suitcase carry came as a welcome relief for my legs.
However, as I neared the end of my chosen out and back course for the carry, a dull ache spread through my right forearm. The muscles were straining to keep my fingers clasped around the kettlebell handle, and I found myself longing for the squats again.
As the rounds continued, the temptation to drop the kettlebell grew. But it was always outweighed by my fear of failing John's challenge, so I clung on. I was also buoyed by the fact that each round was slightly shorter than the last, thanks to the countdown format.
What I did find was that the workout was beautifully balanced. Just as one muscle was reaching its limit, the exercise and emphasis of the workout would change, allowing me to plough on. Plenty of muscles were at work too. I found my core and grip were the star players during the suitcase carry, while my quads and glutes took over during the squats. But, as John was keen to remind me, 'the body is one piece,' and everything played its part.
Before I knew it, I found myself working through my last couple of squats then heading out on the final suitcase carry. When I reached the finish line, I dumped the kettlebell unceremoniously to the ground, then a feeling of immense satisfaction washed over me. Whether this was the accomplishment of completing the workout, or simply the sweet relief of finally being allowed to put the weight down, I can't say for certain. But it felt fantastic.
Now it's over to you. Choose a number of squat reps and a suitcase carry distance that suits your fitness level, then give SparHawk a try for all the benefits above. There's also a bonus perk you won't find in any fitness textbook: next time you do a big shop, carrying it is going to be a cinch after this.
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ITV News
a day ago
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Calls for the Channel Islands to follow UK moves to introduce compulsory eye tests for all over-70s
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Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
Our lives changed forever after my husband had the Covid jab...a stroke left him blind and paralysed - and the stress has broken our marriage
When Vicky O'Neill casts her mind back to life during the pandemic, one date remains forever etched in her memory. For it was on May 17, 2021, that husband John awaited his turn to have the newly-approved AstraZeneca Covid vaccine. The doting father-of-two from Althorne, Essex, was considered more at risk from Covid-19 because of his asthma and was optimistic the jab could offer a 'return to normality.' Still, moments before his appointment, the then 41-year-old turned to his wife and said he was worried about the possible side-effects. 'We were sitting in the car, just the two of us. And he said to me, "I'm going to go in and have AstraZeneca, and you're going to have the Pfizer. That means if there's any problems - because we don't know much about these vaccines - at least there is still one of us here for the kids." 'I told him not to be stupid. He went in, had his jab and didn't think anything of it.' But the IT contractor's words turned out to be a chilling foretelling of events that would forever change their lives. Within the next 10 days, John suffered a devastating stroke that would leave him blind in his left eye, paralysed down his right side and 60 per cent brain damaged, among other permanent disabilities. As he and his family would later discover, John had suffered an extremely rare reaction to the Covid jab that causes blood clots with a low platelet count. Known as VITT - vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis - medical experts said such a reaction would only happen to one in 50,000 people. Four years on, John and his loved ones acknowledge just how lucky he is to even be alive - but the repercussions continue. Now aged 46, John has been left a shadow of the man he once was, unable to work and needing full-time care. The financial impact on the family has also been immense - with John confessing they have been 'living on nothing', and their beloved four-bed detached home is now up for sale. Having received an 'inadequate' compensation payment from the Government, John fears he has become one of the 'forgotten' individuals whose lives changed immeasurably after they had the vaccine - and he has added his name to a 50-strong class action currently going through the courts. In the latest consequence of this tragedy, the tremendous stress endured by the couple has brought an end to John and Vicky's 16-year marriage, with the pair taking the difficult decision to divorce. It's a decision borne more out of necessity than desire, with both clearly devastated that events have turned out this way. But after 25 years together, both agree it is the right thing to do for their children and are determined to remain heavily involved in each other's life. 'As you can see, we get on but everything has changed. John's changed. I've had to change, and life is so very different,' said a tearful Vicky, who has cared for her husband full-time over the last four years. John, who still struggles with his speech in the aftermath of his stroke, simply nodded while dabbing away his tears. Looking around the lounge of their comfortable home, vibrant family photos point to an array of happier times in their life. Vicky had just turned 18 when she met John, an ambitious IT contractor who previously earned a six-figure salary. 'We were very lucky. John worked really hard and we had a good life, like we've never asked for anything. I was working as a graphic designer for an architect in London. 'We were both very career-minded, but we knew what we wanted. We bought a house together in Romford while we were still very young and we had our own cars. We done it all ourselves. You know, we had a good life.' The couple married in 2008, and four years later had their daughter, Freya, now aged 13, followed by their son, Mason, now eight. 'He's been diagnosed with autism and ADHD so he's 100 miles an hour, but the most amazing kid,' Vicky enthused. 'We had everything we wanted - life was good.' Five years ago, the couple decided to move from Romford to the more rural surrounds of Althorne to provide 'a better life for the kids'. They bought their current home and planned to renovate and extend the property, but plans were halted after the world was plunged into the Covid pandemic. Both John and Mason, who was aged just four at the time, suffered from severe asthma and out of caution the family shuttered themselves off from seeing anyone. 'We were extreme, we didn't want anyone to visit because they both had asthma and we worried about the virus. 'When this jab came out, we thought this is what we needed to get us back into the world again.' 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Vicky was asked to make a choice between John having his leg amputated or to start anticoagulation treatment including a plasma transfusion, but both procedures were 'extremely life threatening.' 'John was already paralysed on the right side by the stroke. He could not move, he couldn't sit up, he couldn't do anything for himself. He couldn't even lift his own head. 'The only thing he could do was lift this leg - and now they might amputate it.' Devastated by such a decision, Vicky said she believed John would not want to go ahead with amputation but would be guided by the doctors. They agreed to go ahead with the plasma exchange, with John reacting well to the treatment. He remained in intensive care for weeks before finally being transferred back to Broomfield Hospital and a short rehabilitation stint at Homerton Hospital. In all, John spent four months in hospital before coming home - but life would never be the same again. He presently takes 17 tablets a day and remains 'under every consultant possible'. 'John struggles with his speech and has aphasia. He also has difficulties reading and writing and recognising numbers. He's blind in his left eye. His carotid artery is now completely blocked, so doctors have to monitor him constantly to ensure he has no issues there. 'The artery in his left leg is blocked. So he has no pulse below the left knee and that causes a lot of problems. If he walks even 10 metres he gets pins and needles because of the restricted blood flow. 'His right leg was affected by the stroke and is now his weak leg. 'He's also now on the border of heart failure as a result of the stroke and we are getting him assessed for possible dementia.' Lifting his right arm and hand, John shakes his head before letting it drop. 'That arm is nothing', he added, showing he had lost the use of his limb. With the benefit of hindsight, Vicky acknowledges that at the point John returned home in September 2021 - and she became his full-time carer - the challenges had only just begun. 'Mason was starting school, and then Freya went back for the first time since the pandemic began - and we had to just try and be normal. 'But when I look back now, I didn't ever have any downtime. I had gone from my husband nearly dying to having to come home to look after the children and get them to be understanding of what was going on. And in all of this, I was still learning what was going on with John.' There were also new concerns for Vicky around their finances. 'John had been the main breadwinner, and all of a sudden he wasn't there. We would be OK for a little while due to savings, but my husband has had a stroke and he's not going to get better. I kept thinking what are we going to do?' John has been eligible to claim Personal Independence Payment and Employment and Support Allowance, while Vicky has claimed Carer's Allowance and been able to work a few hours each week to supplement her income. 'But for a family of four, you just can't survive on that,' explained Vicky, who said they had struggled over the last four years and the couple have had no other option than to sell their home. John was found to fit the criteria for the Government's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), which offers a one-off financial payment of £120,000 in the event that a vaccine likely caused at least 60 per cent disablement. In John's case, that figure was found to be 90 per cent - but that money alone will not be enough to financially secure the family for the years ahead. He has now joined a class action launched by Leigh Day solicitors against AstraZeneca, which was indemnified during the pandemic, and the Government, which would likely pay out if their claim is successful. Lawyers representing victims and families are suing AstraZeneca under the Consumer Protection Act 1987. They argue the vaccine was 'a defective product' that was 'not as safe as consumers generally were reasonably entitled to expect'. AstraZeneca has strongly denied these claims. Health officials first identified cases of VITT linked to AstraZeneca's jab in Europe as early as March 2021, just over two months after the vaccine was first deployed in the UK. On its website, Leigh Day stressed it was not an 'anti-vaccination' case. 'It is however a case about fairness – a case in which we are trying to secure fair compensation for those families who paid the ultimate personal price for agreeing to be vaccinated during the pandemic.' Vicky said if they were to be successful, the money would take away their financial stress - but tragically it would never bring back the life they once had. 'I was lucky that we didn't lose John, and our children were lucky that they didn't lose their dad, but they have lost him in a huge way, in every way possible. He is still here, but he's not the man he was. 'It worries me going forward, because John has lots of issues and we don't know how they are going to progress. 'Money can't buy happiness. It can make things stable, which is great, but it's not going to change what happened. It's not like having a broken arm that you can fix and go back to enjoying life, doing your job and taking the kids to the park. 'It's never going to happen for us. 'John has been robbed of his life, and he can try and make another life for himself, but it's always going to be limited because of what happened.' Vicky is keen to stress that she and her family are not against vaccinations, but feels saddened their lives were upended simply because they tried to 'do what was right'. 'We just wanted to do right by our family, our friends, the country. We just wanted to do our part in getting back to normal. 'But life is far from normal for us - and we just don't know what the future holds.' In a statement to MailOnline, Leigh Day partner Sarah Moore said: 'As a result of his injuries, John will never be able to work again, or be the husband and father that he once was for Vicky and their children. 'Presently the Government scheme provides them with a one-off payment of £120,000. That is less than John's annual earnings prior to his injuries and is wholly inadequate to provide him with the specialist care that he needs to live with his injuries let alone provide for his family. 'John stepped forward for vaccination at the Government's request, along with thousands of others, and yet when he needs the Government to stand with him and his family by providing meaningful financial support they are nowhere to be seen. 'John and others like him do not want to have to bring a legal claim, they want to put their energies into putting their lives back together. 'The fact that they are having to do so should be a cause of national shame, the pandemic was a period of national solidarity and yet, in the aftermath when the country has moved on, those injured like John have been forgotten.' Official data shows at least 81 Brits have died from blood clot complications apparently linked to the AstraZeneca jab, according to figures collected by the UK's drug watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. A further unconfirmed number have been injured and/or disabled. Further Covid vaccine rollouts have either minimised use of the AstraZeneca jab and/or phased it out entirely in favour of mRNA alternatives like those made by rival pharma giants Pfizer and Moderna. However, AstraZeneca's jab is credited with saving some 6million lives globally during the Covid pandemic. AstraZeneca previously said in a statement: 'Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems. 'Patient safety is our highest priority, and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines. 'From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.'
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
Researchers say kids' taunts in the playground are as bad for mental health in adulthood as violence
'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me' is the playground chant aimed at bullies by kids through the generations but it seems those words may not be true, after all. Verbal abuse of children could be as damaging to their mental health in adulthood as physical abuse, according to researchers. Those exposed to such abuse when young were likely to feel disconnected, pessimistic, and emotionally unwell in later life, according to a study of over 20,000 adults in England and Wales. Adults who were physically abused as children had a 52 per cent higher chance of experiencing low mental well-being - around 64 per cent for those who had been subjected to solely verbal abuse. While verbal abuse had a marginally higher impact, researchers said the difference was not statistically significant and further studies would be needed. Being exposed to both types increased the risk by 115 per cent, according to the study - published in BMJ Open - led by Liverpool John Moores University. Study lead author professor Mark Bellis said: 'Our research shows verbal abuse in childhood may inflict mental health scars as deep and enduring as those caused by physical abuse.' The prevalence of verbal abuse had risen in recent decades 'eroding the long-term mental health benefits we should see from reducing physical abuse', the study suggested. It found the prevalence of child physical abuse halved from 20 per cent among those born between 1950 and 1979 to ten per cent among those born in 2000 or later. When it came to verbal abuse, the prevalence rose from 12 per cent among those born before 1950 to around 20 per cent among those born in 2000 or later. Researchers said an estimated one in six children endured physical abuse, primarily from family members and caregivers - one in three of which were subjected to verbal abuse. Jessica Bondy's the founder of Words Matter, an organization focused on ending childhood verbal abuse by adults, said: 'We must act now to confront the lasting harm caused by cruel, critical or controlling language. nWe need to build children up -not knock them down. 'The mental health of the next generation and our shared future depend on it.'
