Adam Benichikh got ripped in 8 WEEKS after 2 accidents left him with a broken back

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Adam Benichikh fell off a balcony and burst three vertebrae in his spine
Then fell onto railway tracks, re-injuring his spine and breaking his foot
After a gruelling recovery, he changed his lifestyle
Swapped junk food for clean eating and got ripped in just eight weeks
Reduced his body fat from 15% to 6% and gained 6.6lbs in muscle

By Annabel Fenwick Elliott for MailOnline

Published: 08:54 EST, 8 September 2015 | Updated: 10:15 EST, 8 September 2015

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A man who piled on the pounds following a series of accidents has turned his life around by using the recovery time to overhaul his body.

Adam Benichikh, a 22-year-old project manager from Kensington, was left in agony after falling off a third-floor balcony and seriously injuring his spine in London.

Just weeks later, he fell onto train tracks in Zurich and broke his foot.

After two years of restricted movement and being banned from the gym, Mr Benichikh made a full recovery and overhauled his lifestyle - gaining a six-pack in the process.

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Adam Benichikh, 22, pictured (left) at the end of his recovery process, having filled out on junk food and been largely immobile and (right) after an eight-week diet and fitness overhaul

Mr Benichikh, a former model, moved from his native Spain to London at the age of 18 and gained a degree from UCL before landing himself a job with a hospitality consulting company.

But his upward trajectory was dealt a huge blow after two near-fatal accidents in the space of a month in early 2012.

'The flat I lived in back then had massive windows in the kitchen that looked over the balcony,' he explained of his first accident.

'My flatmates and I were making breakfast and I remember it was a really hot morning, so I decided to get out to get some air.

'I was chatting with them through the big window, perched on the edge of the balcony while cooling down and then lost my balance.'

Mr Benichikh says he remember crashing to the concrete below and was unconscious for the next two days.

Mr Benichikh lost his balance while perching on his flat's balcony and crashed to the concrete, after which he was unconscious for two days in the intensive care unit at St. Mary’s Hospital, pictured

He burst three vertebrae in his spine and underwent a mammoth seven-hour spinal fusion operation that saved his life

He broke three vertebrae in his spine and was admitted to the intensive care unit at St. Mary’s Hospital where a mammoth seven-hour spinal fusion operation saved his life.

Just a few weeks later, having recovered from the injuries which left him unable to sleep, sneeze or even cough, Mr Benichikh had another accident.

'I was in Zurich's main train station and I was really late to catch a tram so I was sprinting as fast as I could,' Mr Benichikh recalls. 'At some point, I tripped, fell onto the train tracks and was knocked unconscious.'

Passers-by dragged him off the tracks before the next train's arrival and he was flown via Air Ambulance back to London for a similar operation which left him with six titanium bars in his back and a gruelling recovery period.

'I'd become pretty unfit and gained a lot of unhealthy weight because I was unable to exercise much at all,' he says.

'During my few years of recovery, my movement was very restricted and my physical activity cut down to the minimum. Exercising in the gym or lifting weights was completely forbidden for me.'

After his year of restricted movement, followed by another year of physiotherapy twice a week, Mr Benichikh was finally told his back had healed and was given the all-clear to join a gym.

But another setback came in the summer of 2014, when he dislocated his shoulder and, once again, was left unable to exercise - piling on the pounds as a result.

A month after Adam's first accident, he fell on train tracks in Zurich while running for a tram, breaking his foot and damaging his back again - which left him with six titanium bars in his back. Pictured, his scar

'I would always order takeaways and sometimes I would eat a whole tub of ice cream to myself, as well as packets of crisps or crackers with cheese dips,' he says.

This downward slide was eventually reversed when Mr Benichikh found a personal training studio based in Bank, London.

At the end of his stint with them, he has reduced his body fat from 15 percent to six percent, and built muscle which saw his weight increase from 11st 7lbs to 12st 3lbs.

'I wanted to train with someone who knew what they were doing and took into account my body’s condition and limitations,' he explains.

After a consultation, Mr Benichikh was assessed and given a specific nutritional plan which swapped Nando’s takeaways with chicken or beef, brown rice and kale, and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for cashew nuts and almonds.

He began an eight-week training programme which left him in better shape than his model days, and far happier and healthier.

'The first two weeks were the hardest in terms of my diet change, but everything got more manageable after that,' he said.

'It's still a bit difficult when going out for dinner, but apart from that, it's fine.'

Mr Benichikh joined a personal training studio called Embody Fitness and was given a nutritional plan which swapped takeaways with chicken, kale and brown rice, and Ben & Jerry’s for cashew nuts and almonds

His eight-week training programme left him in better shape than he had been before his accidents, and Mr Benichikh, pictured working out, has since stuck to his regime

Mr Benichikh credits his personal trainer Tim Richards with setting him safe goals based on his previous injuries and keeping him committed.

'That took a weight off my head, so I would just accomplish my training without thinking too much about each step,' he remarks.

Asked whether he has stuck to his new regime, Mr Benichikh says he has, for the most part.

'I really notice how different you feel after eating healthier foods,' he says. 'I've realised how sensitive your body becomes to sugar and junk food - even one meals - how awful you feel after eating badly.

'I do indulge in some kind of dessert or chocolate every few week, but that’s about it, the rest of the time it's just clean eating.

Mr Benichikh is now working as a project manager for a hospitality consulting company, and for those of you who may be wondering, yes he's single.