Weightlifting Doctor Motivates Patients

Doug Tran, M.D., an internal medicine physician with Edward Medical Group, uses his own weightlifting experience to motivate his patients.  He is able to draw from his own regimen of nutrition and training to better advise his patients on their own health and wellness journeys. 

Dr. Tran started in daily group exercise at a local CrossFit gym about five years before the coronavirus pandemic began, which he credits with providing him both a physical and mental health boost, however like many other gyms they stopped offering classes due to COVID-19.

Dr. Tran reflected on that time saying, “My journey started around COVID quarantine for weightlifting. I started working out here when we were on lockdown. The gym owner was nice enough to let me come in and lift on my own without anyone around so I wouldn’t get infected.”

During that time he would train on his own and record his lifts so his coach at the gym could critique them. As he improved both technically and in strength, his coach encouraged Dr. Tran to try weightlifting competitions for fun. 

Dr. Tran ended up qualifying for Masters Nationals. There, he won a bronze medal in the 50-54-year-old age group and qualified for the 2022 PanAmerican Masters in Puerto Rico. However, he elected to forgo that competition this year in order to be better prepared for next year’s series of events. He reflected on that experience saying, “..that’s some goals I want to set for next year: add on more weight, get technically better, get stronger, and hopefully compete again in Masters Nationals and have enough weight total to compete at PanAms and potentially Worlds.:

Dr. Tran says that in addition to leading him to want to be healthier, this personal health journey has helped him better relate to his patients as they take on their own goals, even if those don’t involve ending up on a podium somewhere, “I think it’s something that whether or not I achieve that goal or do well at PanAms or Worlds, that journey, that experience, that ability to workout and exercise when you don’t want to workout and exercise really just allows me to be able to keep grounded and understand what my patients are going through as well.”