Lifter finds power in positive thinking
Tim Andrews survived a knife attack in his flat with an atrophied arm but simple tasks such as opening doors and windows were still a daily struggle.
Then 17, Andrews was recovering from surgery to his left shoulder after dislocating it twice in amonth.
His arm was out of a sling but not moving it for months, after not being told to keep it mobile, meant his shoulder was crooked.
Essentially, his arm was wasting away.
More than five years later, Andrews has recovered sufficiently to perform a 130kg deadlift, a personal best.
When first arriving last year at Hamilton’s Tu¯ Tonu Rehabilitation Health Centre, he was unable to lift a 1kg weight with his injured arm.
In October, his 125kg deadlift set aworld record in his weight class at the GPC (Global Powerlifting Committee) national championships in Devonport.
Weighing 54kg, the 22-year-old from Hamilton is as fat as a matchstick. He looks nothing like a powerlifter.
Wearing a thick, denim jacket with furry lapels, a dress shirt, jeans and ankle boots, he doesn’t look like much of a gym-goer either. Minus the jacket, that’s his gym attire, too.
Nevertheless, Andrews is hoping to deadlift 145kg by January and qualify for the next GPC world championships.
His recovery is remarkable after training regularly for the last 17 months with strength and conditioning coach Leigh Bristowe, a former rugby sevens player for Waikato and Southland.
‘‘It was theworst shoulder I’ve ever seen,’’ Bristowe said.
‘‘Everyone who comes through these doors is broken and is often like ‘fix me, fix me’.
‘‘We’ve flipped it around. We’ll give you the map and the tools but it’s your job to go away and put the pieces together.
‘‘Tim’s [injury] was extraordinary because it was so bad. He couldn’t pick up anything and was carrying this dead weight around.’’
Andrews has a come a long way since that knife attack in his old Hamilton flat.
He vividly recalls his friend’s boyfriend turning up, grabbing a carving knife, and trying to kill her.
Grappling with his useless arm, Andrews intervened, was nearly stabbed in the melee, receiving a cut along the side of his body, and said he was lucky to escape any further serious injury before the police arrived.
Still, it was still a low point and his arm wouldn’t heal for at least another four years.
Therewere different physiotherapists, different treatment, different exercises. Nothing worked.
‘‘It was incredibly demoralising,’’ Andrews said. ‘‘I really lost all motivation and believed my arm was going to be stuck like this for the rest of my life.
‘‘I couldn’t open doors with my left arm, I couldn’t open windows, I couldn’t drive, I pretty much couldn’t use it. I could hold things like a cup of tea but using any strength, pushing or pulling, that was out of the picture.
‘‘Over the years, everything just moved me towards using my right arm and I didn’t think about it.’’
Bristowe remembers when Andrews first arrived at Tu¯ Tonu. He also started physiotherapy treatment with Timi Tapara.
‘‘I saw a dress shirt but a guy with a bad injury. People often come here with emotion behind their injuries. If it’s been a long journey like Tim’s, being pushed aside constantly, and not taken care of properly, there is [emotion],’’ Bristowe said.
‘‘I also saw a guy who was hungry to fix his injury, so he could have a better quality of life. You don’t meet people like Tim that often.’’
They settled on powerlifting to aid his recovery. Thatmight seem odd for a severely injured shoulder but, as Bristowe explains, you’ve got to ‘‘move it or lose it’’.
‘‘The hardest part can be convincing people to do the opposite ofwhat their doctors have told them. The worst thing you can do is rest it, in some cases.
‘‘You actually need to get into the gym and get blood flowing for it to be alive.’’
Gradually, Andrews was gaining more strength in his arm and lifting heavier weights.
Withinmonths, therewere no longer concerns about whether he could lift, it was how much.
In fact, his deadlifts were so good, he entered this year’sGPC national championships and his 125kg lift was a new GPC record in the men’s junior 56kg weight class.
That’s about a quarter of the astonishing 501kg deadlift world record set in May by Icelandic strongman Hafþor Bjornsson, better known as The Mountain from Game of Thrones, but for Andrews’ competitionweight (54.1kg), lifting more than twice his body weight is an impressive feat nonetheless.
The deadlift looks simple in practice but it’s a challenging test of core strength that engages most of the major muscle groups.
Before every lift, Andrews takes several deep breaths, carefully bends down, grips the bar, and slowly lifts with a smile.
Bristowe, whose heaviest deadlift is 270kg, can’t pinpoint exactly why powerlifting has been so effective in Andrews’ recovery, but he said it’s a personal battle you have to overcome.
‘‘It’s a funny one. We’ve got lots of different athletes and lifters who come in and themost important thing is that it’s always going to be a battle with yourself. When you go to competitions, it’s about bettering your previous numbers and not anyone else’s.’’
Andrews will keep lifting, and smiling, and credits everyone at Tu¯ Tonu for helping him move on from that one-armed lifestyle, as he looks forward to advancing his skills as a vocal coach and starting a non-profit organisation.
His shoulder problems, meanwhile, are a distant memory.
‘‘I do have ongoing chronic pain but that’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life,’’ he said.
‘‘The injury and atrophied arm has all gone now.’’
‘‘I do have ongoing chronic pain but that’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life.’’
TimAndrews