8kg to 100kg Deadlift in 5 months. Despite impaired abilities from birth..
With permission and great pleasure I share this story. One of Jason's Personal Training clients has gone against the odds and out preformed what physios and occupational therapists had told his parents would ever be possible.
The background is K is a 25 year old male, this is the testimony from his mother. His Autism prevents K from conversing in detail, so this is what we have to work with.
Hi guys,
Just want to thank you both for everything you are doing for K. What a difference we have seen in him since he started working with Jason. This is the first time in 20 plus years we have seen him looking forward to interaction that doesn't involve a computer.
K had a traumatic birth which left him with several challenges including being diagnosed as autistic. As a child, having physio and occupational therapy, we were told he was unlikely to build more muscle mass, that he always going to be floppy with poor muscle tone, basically lack of oxygen had altered his physical composition and that he was about as good as he would ever get.
Fast forward to 2018 and our move to Mangawhai. Our reasoning behind enrolling K with a personal trainer was really to help him lose a little weight and give him an outing once a week. I was expecting some resistance from K, and there was a little, but that faded when he met Jason and spent half an hour hanging out at the gym with him. He came out from that initial meeting laughing. Jason makes K laugh a lot. K then agreed to a second session and before we knew it he was booked in twice a week and enjoying himself.
Jason is genuinely interested in K’s wellbeing, he has set him an individual program with achievable goals that K is hitting. K is not only getting stronger physically he is improving in all aspects of his life. He is more communicative with us and his siblings, much quicker to smile. K’s self care has improved a hundred fold. His confidence has soared.
I’m not sure we would have had the same results with another trainer. Jason just seems to have a manner that gels with K, he motivates him to want to achieve what K’s been told in the past that he can’t.
Again, what a difference a few short months have made, looking forward to seeing what else the future brings. We cant thank you enough.
Such inspiring words from K's mum!
I asked Jason to share some of his thoughts on K's progress
When K first arrived he could barely lift an 8kg kettlebell off the floor for a deadlift let alone squat below parallel unassisted and without a weight. He barely spoke a word, often only ever responding with a shrug of the shoulders or a nod or shake of the head.
K’s mother advised me to take “baby steps” with him at the very start so our first session was half an hour. He then managed a full hour session of coaching and exercise once a week.
After several weeks, and a bit more dialogue between the two of us, K started showing a bit more interest in squatting, and even agreed to train twice a week.
After 5 months of training, K has since deadlifted a 100kg barbell, back squatted over 70kg below parallel unassisted, and bench presses over 40kg. Our conversations are still heavily one-sided but K’s definitely far more vocal now than when he first started.
It has been a rewarding experience for me. Good to have a challenge and work with a wide range of abilities. Fitness is beneficial for everyone, K proves that great things are possible with a commitment to coming along and sticking to a solid fitness program.