New Kettlebell Challenge for RehabCare
Monday, 20th August 2012: Imagine lifting 10 adult elephants! That’s the cumulative weight (50 metric tonnes) that fitness coach Dave Hedges will be lifting as part of his latest kettlebell fundraising challenge for RehabCare’s HOPS resource centre in Dublin’s Pearse Street. The challenge will take place from 1pm on Saturday, 1st September at Irishtown Stadium, Dublin and all are welcome to come and show their support.
The kettlebell challenge will be officially started by James Fennelly, Ireland’s Strongest Man and by Adrian O’Dwyer, National High Jump Record Holder and Irish Olympian in 2004. Dave successfully completed a similar challenge for the HOPS resource centre in February last year. Back then, he was swinging a 16kg kettlebell but this year the weight has increased to a staggering 24kg (52lb).
A favourite form of exercise with celebrities, sport stars and extreme athletes, kettlebells are bowling ball-sized cast iron weights with a single looped handle on top. For his challenge, Dave will attempt to walk one mile around the sports track while swinging the 24kg kettlebell. The kettlebell must be swung each time a step is taken, meaning that the bell will be lifted nearly 2,000 times over the course of a mile. He will be accompanied on the day by teams of enthusiastic volunteers who will take part in a separate kettlebell relay race.
The kettlebell challenge seeks to raise money for RehabCare’s HOPS resource centre which provides services and supports to adults living with mental health difficulties. The service offers a variety of programmes and activities in order to maintain wellness and improve the quality of life of those who attend the service.
Through his gym, Wild Geese Martial Arts, Dave has provided martial arts and fitness activities to 16 people who attend the HOPS centre for the past two years. According to Nessa Canavan, HOPS services manager, the participants, who range in age from their late 20s to mid 60s, have all experienced huge benefits from attending classes with Dave.
She says, “The feedback from the martial arts programme has been really positive. Participants have said how the exercise helped to reduce anxiety and lift their mood and was a great bonding experience for the group. We hope that the money raised by Dave’s challenge will help to further finance our physical activity programme, ensuring that more participants can reap the benefits of regular exercise for both physical and mental well-being.”
Dave Hedges is passionate about the benefits of regular exercise. “It helps to build confidence and instil a feeling of control and self-worth. After a long day of mental stress, either at work or as a result of illness, putting this stress into lifting a bar, hitting a punch bag or kicking a football is probably the best tonic one can ask for.”
Find out more about the benefits of keeping fit at www.wildgeesema.com and www.fennellyfitness.com. Further information on RehabCare is available at www.www.rehab.ie
You can sponsor Dave Hedges’ Kettlebell Challenge on www.mycharity.ie
ENDS
Issued by: Dara Duffy, Rehab, tel: (01) 205 7268/(087) 799 5194, email: dara.duffy@www.rehab.ie
About RehabCare
RehabCare is the health and social care division of the Rehab Group. It provides a range of community-based health and social care services to people with disabilities, older persons and others who are marginalised throughout Ireland. These include resource centres, respite care, outreach, as well as home-based, residential and supported accommodation services. More than 3,000 people benefit from RehabCare’s services every year.
RehabCare’s HOPS recovery-oriented resource centre, located on Pearse Street, Dublin, provides day and after-hours services to 26 adults with mental health difficulties. Staff work on a one-to-one basis enabling each person to achieve life satisfaction, while also promoting wellness through therapeutic, social and creative opportunities.