M Group Services

M Group Services Medicine Ball Challenge Day 7 Jonny Yarr

Day 7 of the medicine ball challenge

The only thing that instigates more conversations with complete strangers than the medicine ball is my dog, Laika. So I took both to the park and I wasn’t disappointed. Lots of great conversations about mental health and I really feel at the end of this week that we have achieved what we set out to do. This challenge is all about getting people to talk freely about mental health and breaking down the stigma and I have been encouraged by my experiences this week.

A lot of people have asked me why I am making this any harder than it already is with the deadlifts. A couple of months ago, my wife tragically lost her 19-year-old nephew, who succumbed to his own mental health challenges, which has been devastating for the family. Shortly after this I became

aware of the Medicine Ball Challenge, which needless to say, resonated strongly. I wanted to do whatever I can to raise awareness for this worthy cause and decided on this.

The 100 tonne challenge update:

Final day!! I never want to do a deadlift again. My old knees were creaking and my lower back was screaming at me, but I went for a sprint finish (kind of). I had been doing 20 sets of 10 reps all week in 2-minute intervals, taking 40 minutes per day. I threw out all structure in the race to the finish line and managed to do the final 200 in 31 minutes.

100 tonnes completed. Totally worth it.

M Group Services Medicine Ball Challenge Day 6 Jonny Yarr

Day 6 of the medicine ball challenge

It’s Saturday, so with only two days remaining, I took the opportunity to head into London with my wife to see what conversations I could start. Where better than Spitalfields Market… There was no shortage of market traders who were more than a little curious why I had a medicine ball cuffed to my arm and were fully engaged in the conversation about mental health. Success! We also made our first baby purchase, a pair of slippers, for our baby boy who is due in December. I hope he likes rabbits.

I’m not getting too much sympathy from my wife. She claims that her medicine ball is heavier than mine.

Saturday night and I went to the pub with friends, donning the old ball-and-chain, to watch my mighty Irishmen get a great victory over Scotland to keep the Rugby World Cup dream alive. Nothing like a few beers and the energy from a big sporting event to get the conversations flowing.

The 100 tonne challenge update:

The thing about bodyweight deadlifts is that at high volume they are hard, but you can always do one more. Crouch, touch, pause… engage!

And repeat… 200 times.

M Group Services Medicine Ball Challenge Day 5 Jonny Yarr

Day 5 of the medicine ball challenge

Great news… I can see again! This is just as well, as I had two important conversations on camera with Richard Nelson, our Ex-Armed Forces Lead, and Tom Tuppen, Director of Sales & Strategy in the Energy Division.

Richard has spearheaded this entire team challenge over the month of October and I was grateful to hear first-hand about some his experiences with friends in the community that have dealt with the issues we are trying to address, sometimes with the worst imaginable outcomes. It was also enlightening to speak with Tom, who has seen more this his fair share of friends with mental health struggles after having spent seven years serving in the Gurkhas. Both Richard and Tom are big supporters of the Medicine Ball Challenge and see this as a great opportunity to promote positive discussions about metal health.

Friday night and we went out to a bar in Clerkenwell. Great fun and lots of conversations about the challenge.

The 100 tonne challenge update:

Surely not again!!! Who’s idea was this, anyway?

1000 deadlifts done now at £76kg means we are at the 76 tonne mark. 2 more days to go and then I can never look at a kettlebell again.

M Group Services Medicine Ball Challenge Day 4 Jonny Yarr

Day 4 of the medicine ball challenge

The Medicine Ball gods are clearly not satisfied with the burden of carrying the medicine ball for a week and the 100 tonne challenge. I woke up today with a sharp pain in my left eye and could hardly see. Bad timing as I had to go to Manchester for an important meeting. Fortunately our COO, Alain Loosveld, was at Euston train station and was able to shepherd me along the way. I even managed to open my eyes for a quick photo.

Needless to say, turning up at the large meeting, half blind and with a medicine ball cuffed to my wrist, we spent the first part of the meeting talking about the Medicine Ball Challenge and mental health. This is, after all, the whole point, so I’ll mark this down as a win.

The 100 tonne challenge update:

Everything hurts, but we at least are past the half-way mark. It wasn’t made any easier by the fact that I had to do the majority of the deadlifts with my eyes shut. Fortunately, I had my dog, Laika, to cheer me on!

M Group Services Medicine Ball Challenge Day 3 Jonny Yarr

Day 3 of the Medicine Ball Challenge

You can be sure of two things when you take on the medicine ball challenge. The first is that everything is harder. Much harder… Whether that is getting to work, doing work, eating lunch or just getting up for a glass of water. But I guess that’s the whole point and we are lucky enough that we get to pass on the ball at the end of the week. People dealing with metal health issues aren’t so fortunate.

The second thing is that you are guaranteed to have lots of great conversations! It would be weird if you didn’t. Even living in London, home of the weirdest, having the ball handcuffed to you requires some explanation. I popped out to the local farmers market for lunch and took great pleasure talking with the locals about what we are trying to achieve.

The 100 tonne challenge update:

Day 3 in the books and this is getting hard now – the pain is kicking in. My lower back is on fire and I’m losing grip strength. But nothing like accountability and a camera in your face to keep on going. This was designed to hurt.

When I trained for this, I didn’t take into account how much harder it would be with the medicine ball. It doesn’t just add weight, but it’s also very awkward and requires a lot of extra effort.

M Group Services Medicine Ball Challenge Day 2 Jonny Yarr

Day 2 of the Medicine Ball Challenge

M Group Services Medicine Ball Challenge Day 1 Jonny Yarr

Hello everyone,

Today marks the start of the Medicine Ball Challenge in support of our Ex-Armed Forces Community across M Group Services.

 James and I are leading out two teams of four from across the Group with the goal raising awareness of mental wellbeing, and fundraising for two charities: ABF The Soldiers Charity and Combat Stress. The challenge involves being cuffed to a 3kg Medicine Ball for seven days before passing the Ball on to the next person. The ball is a physical representation of the invisible burden of mental health so many of us can experience.

The aim of the event is to generate awareness of stress and anxiety within the armed forces community (and beyond) and to break down the stigma that can be associated with mental health issues.

 David Steele, our ESG&I Technical Content Manager, was on hand to represent our ex-Armed Forces community at today’s launch and to handcuff James Hobson and me to our respective medicine balls.

The 100 tonne challenge:

The medicine ball is meant to be a tangible representation of the invisible burden of mental health. So, in the interest of raising awareness, I intend to increase my burden!

 I will do 200 deadlifts per day with a 76kg weight (my bodyweight), using two 36kg kettlebells, the 3kg medicine ball and the 1kg chain. This equates to over 100 tonnes over the 7 day challenge. With day 1 now in the books, I can assure you, this is going to hurt!

 I have several plans for the week ahead, including an interview with our CEO, Andrew Findlay, to discuss why the Ex-Armed Forces community is so important to M Group Services and why our teams are making this effort to support all of our people to address mental health issues. So please stay tuned for further updates this week.

If you’d like to make a donation to ABF the Soldiers Charity or Combat Stress please visit the team’s joint fundraising page:

https://events.soldierscharity.org/fundraisers/MGROUP/medicine-ball-challenge

Many thanks,

Jonny