How we got eliot’s deadlift to 300
Here’s Eliot’s story
Eliot has been a client of ours for years. He is super consistent and rarely misses a session. He eats well, sleeps well, strength trains 2x a week and walks a lot.
So when he told me he was getting open heart surgery, I was surprised and of course, worried. I also knew he’d recovery quicker than most people who get this procedure.
Why? Because he takes care of himself and is strong.
It is something I have seen time and time again. Clients who have to have major surgeries are told by their care team that they’ve never seen someone be discharged so quickly or recover so easily . The reason is because they went into that procedure strong. They had a good basis of strength that takes a lot of time to lose and Eliot is proof of that.
So how did Eliot return to the gym and 6 months later deadlift 300lbs?
Here’s his story.
Eliot had open hear surgery, the one where they cut open your chest. The type that is hard to recover…usually. But Eliot got released from the hospital quickly because he could stand on his own and do stairs without assistance. Why? His legs were strong from years of strength training.
Then he went to cardiac rehab and moved through that quickly. Why? Because he had trained.
Then, 3 months later, he was cleared to come back to strength training. (Side note:looking back, we both think he could have come back to weights sooner, but he wasn’t mentally prepared).
In his first few workouts, we did a lot of stretching and light work, but we didn’t change much from what he was doing pre- surgery. We benched, we deadlifted, we squatted, we did rows and we did light cardio. And we stuck to this plan for weeks and months. Slowly building week by week. Listening to his body and his mind (that can be a tricky bastard).
We started with dumbbells and kettlebells and slowly made our way back to the barbells. After every lift, I asked- how did that feel? Sometimes great and sometimes we pivoted to a different movement. Before every workout we discussed how he felt after the last one- what was sore, was something sore or pain? Then we adjusted as needed.
Neither of us was in a rush to get him back to where he was lifting pre-surgery, but with consistency, we did.
In April, just 5 months after his return to Ethos, he deadlifted 305 lbs. Not for 1, not for 5, but for 8. And it was easy.
Here are a few take aways
- Eliot is amazing
- Eliot was prepared for this
- Eliot trusted the programming and process
- You should start training now in case life throws you a curve ball
- You can, and will, get back your strength
- Being strong will never do you wrong.
- Not everyone will recover like Eliot, but being strong will help.
If this resonates with you, reach out and lets discuss how we can help you. Click HERE to book a free workout.
