The Wonderful World of Stephen

Finally I am getting back to feeling like a human again.  The last few months have really sucked going through a split and a divorce.  Thankfully I have some good friends and a great family.  I have moved to Atlanta and I am going to get back into some good shape.  Hopefully I can post some pictures in a month or so.  I reconnected with my best friend from HS and have been helping him get back into shape so that has been motivating as well.  My body is getting used to teaching tumbling and coaching full time again and I also am about to start substitute teaching here so yay for 12 hour days.  Right now I am trying to stay as busy as possible and get some of the muscle back that I lost over the past 2 months.  Anyway, I am happy that I can be back on here and I hope everyone had good holidays.

Stephen

Today I worked out at my alma mater in Greenville SC.  i ran into some of my professors from 10 years ago and it was fun to see what has been going on.  In the last month or so I have lost about 10 lbs from just not being able to eat like I should have been eating due to personal issues and nto having a stable place to live.  Now I am back home for a little before I move to Atlanta and start over.  I actually had really good workouts this week and have been getting my appetite back slowly but surely.  Leg day was teusday and I went just as heavy as I have ever gone but on my last set I did 925 for 8 reps instead of 5 like last time.  Next workout I will get 10 and then I get to move up to 1000 lbs and work on getting that for 10 reps which was the goal.  Things are starting to get better and I hope they will continue to do so.

Stephen

Not a bad day for me.  I took it easy in the reps department but i went very heavy for me.  i set a new record and I am beginning to get closer to my goal of 1000 lbs for 10 reps.

1st set- box squats 165×10 leg press 655×10

2cd set 165×10 leg press 745×10

3rd set 165×10 leg press 835×10

4th set 165×10 leg press 925×5

supersets of seated calf raises, leg extensions, hamstring curls and abs

3 sets of 30×10x10×20

After that I was fried

I am not sure which direction to head with shoulder training.  I have some serious limitations from partner stunting for the last 12 years, but i can still lift relatively heavy.  I really have to make sue i don not drop my arms below 90 degrees when doing any pressing movements.  I keep my reps in the 15-20 rangewhich helps with endurance when I stunt.  Here is todays workout completed in 35 min.

smith machine military

w-up 135×15

1st set- 225×20  2min rest

2cd set- 245×20 2min rest

3rd set 265×15 3min rest

3 Giant sets 3 exercises all sets of 10, 30 reps total per set

1st exercise- barbell front raises with 75 lbs

2cd exercise- side laterals 35 lb dumbbells

3rd exercise- barbell upright rows 75 lbs

2 min break in between each set.  These are a whole lot of not fun

final exercises 2 sets reverse fly machine w/dumbbell shrugs

1st set reverse fly 75 lbsx15, dumbbell shrug 70’sx15 then 80’sx12

2cd set reverse fly 75 lbsx15, dumbbell shrug 90’sx12 then 100’sx10

last set- machine military press 190 lbs until failure- for me that was 16 reps today

Overall a good workout, didn’t kill myself and I will do something similar in about 2 weeks

I was e-mailing a mom of a girl I used to coach when she was 6-11 years old.  She is now 16 and I saw some of her homecoming pictures and wondered where the little girl went that I used to coach.  The mom said in her note  " I bet that makes you feel old".  I thought about it and at 32 years of age do I really feel old?  When I think of getting old that means to me you can’t do the same stuff physically that you could before. So i thought about it and I responded that I absolutely do not feel old because I can still do all the things that I could do back when I coached full time.  Now, however, I pay for it a little more in the morning.  Overall I am stronger in every way than I was 5 years ago, my endurance is probably better as well.  The stress level is a little higher but, on the other hand the way I cope with stress is completely different now.  Instead i try to do something healthy instead of going out.  Any way, all of that was to say i am very gratefull that I can still do the things I could do "back in the day" and that is directly related to putting in the time in the gym.  Hopefully i will be able to write the same thing 5 years from now.  I know at some point things will change so I am going to enjoy the feeling of being able to coach, lift, teach stunting for as long as I can.

Leg day (new record for me)

w-up 2 plates each sidex 15

1st set box squat 155×15,  leg press 6 plates each sidex15

2cd set box 155×15, leg press 7 platesx15

3rd setbox 155×10 , leg press 8 platesx10

4th set155×10, leg press 9 platesx10  There was actually a 100lb plate in there so it was 9 plates plus 10lbs on each side

superset 1 set of extensions and curls 20 reps total

Chest (yesterday)

w-up decline bench 135×10

1st set 225×20

2cd set 225×20

3rd set 225×17

1 arm flat dumbbell presses w/ 90’s

1set both arms x 10

2cd setx9

3rd set x8

I hold on to the rack with one hand and press with the other

plyometric pushups 3 sets of varying stances all of them you are pushing and catching yourself to build some speed

calves 10sets x10 reps of seated calves

Those were my workouts  the last 2 days and for the record no I don’t feel old.

Stephen

Once again back on leg day.  The rest of my workouts have kind of taken a backseat with all of the things I have going on right now.  I am getting in 3 or 4 but, the only one I am really worried about is hitting legs consistently.  today I was one step closer to my goal of 1000 lbs for 10 reps.  I figure about 3 more months of consistent training and i will get there.  Fortunately my back has not been bothering me as much as I thought it would and I have been relatively injury free while teaching and coaching other than the usual aches and pains associated with what I do.  My diet is going pretty well and I look a bit leaner than I have in the past.  After November and competition season my training should get back to normal.  Hopefully then I can reap the benefits in size of the hard work i have been putting in.  I did the same workout as last week but, added a few reps to end of the last set.  Once I get to 10 I’ll slap on another 50 lbs and move up.

I took about a wek and a half off because I just had to much on my plate to have any kind of successful workouts.  Plus, my body needed a break.  I have been coaching a lot more than usual because my HS cheer team that i coach is only 1 month away from their first competition.  They are doing great although we have had some setbacks between injuries and attitudes.  But, that is what you get when you work with that age.  Overall things have benn going extremely well.  I am still on track to finish up with my personal training certification in about 2 weeks and I am already lining up potential clients.  I decided my first day back would be legs and I figured they had a break and it was time to hit it hard again.  I was set to move up to mu heaviest weight since I started training legs hard again in May. This is how it went and the conversation in my head that went with it.

6:15 a.m   Do I really want to hit it hard today?  I could stay in bed for 45 more minutes or do legs.

6:25 a.m.  Get your sorry ass out of bed and go, you are making excuses to avoid the pain most people in the world would kill to have their first choice of the day whether or not to go to a gym.

6:40 a.m out the door

6:55 a.m   w-up -  Do I really have it in me today to go heavier than I have since college in 1998

7:00 a.m caffiene pill kicks in-  WooHoo ready to go

1st set box squat 155×10 slow and controlled  leg press 6 plates each sidex15  That wasn’t bad feeling ok

2cd set squat 155×10 leg press 7 plates each side x 15 I did it and it wasn’t terrible glad I only ate a small granola bar though

3rd set squat 155×10 leg press 8 plates each side x10  starting to feel a little queasy but i made it and I didn’t see any kneecaps flying out of my leg

4th set squat 155×10 leg press 9 plates each side x 5  I think I could have done more but, I didn’t want to push it to hard today  The hard part is over on to extensions and curls

3 supersets of 12 reps each set (24 total) on extension and curls

Finally done with a pretty tough workout.  I hope I have something left in my legs for 3 hours of tumbling class tonight.

If you would have told me that legs would be my favorite day last year at this time I would have laughed.   After several years of complacency I have finally gotten through the mental block of not being able to do heavy weight on squats because of my back.  It’s ok to do high reps and focus on the leg press for the heavy weight.  Next week I go up to 900 lbs on my last set of ten because i finished for 10 at 850 this week.  Hopefully i can get to my goal of 1000 lbs for a set of 10 by January.  I know that is stretching it but I hope to be there  by then.  Time to go coach my team.

Stephen

It always amazes me that I have good and bad bodyparts.  I can not workout shoulders for month and come back and do just as much as I was doing if not more than I could before.  This is also true of bi’s, tri’s and back.  This does not hold true on chest.  If I change my workout (which I am currently doing) or take some time off I might as well start over.  This same principle seems to hold true for my entire legs as well.  Genetically I wa not given the best chest card as many people on here were but, I have tried to develope what I have and will continue to do so.  Strength is always there and I will continue to improve but, I want to make sure I don’t get complacent.  Here was the workout from yesterday.

military press smith machine

w-up 135×15

1st set 225×20

2cd set 245×20  that kind of sucked

3rd set 265×18  that is most reps I have done at 265 after 2 sets of 20.  thought I could make it to 20 maybe next time

giant sets of dumbell fron raises and side laterals with 40’s and 30’s

1 set 12 and 10

2cd set 10 and 10

2rd set 10 and 10

revers cable crossovers 40 on each side

3 sets of 10

calves and abs 10 sets 0f 10 with weight from 90-180

abs 3 sets of 15 on the back extension device

finished with 15 min of cardio between 90-100 rpm  about 150 calories

I am working on getting my personal training certification through AFPA.  I have looked at several different companies to get certified through before and this one seems the most hands on plus the gym where I work is paying for it.  You are required to send 2 pictures in of 25 different exercises with descriptions of what you are doing plus a written test of 152 questions and 10 essay questions like:  Design a workout progrom for a 40 year old man with type 2 diabetes.  That is it.  Basically you have to actually learn your stuff rather than regurgitate what you quickly memorized from a book.  Anyway, you get 3 months to complete the tests and send them in.  Hopefully I will be done in a month or so. 

Leg Day-  I raised the weight today to on the legpress and finished my last set with 840 lbs for 6 clean reps, not the quarter variety you normally see.  Not bad for someone who has just gotten back into training legs regularly about 4 months ago.  This is the rest of the workout

w-up leg press 300 lbs 15 reps

1st set: box squat 155×15 leg press 570×15

2cd set: squat 155×15  leg press 660×15

3rd set squat 155×10 leg press 750×10

4th set 155×10 leg press 840×6

3 supersets of extensions and curls 24 reps per set w/145 and 115 on the machines

6 sets of seated calf raises- didn’t feel like I hit them hard enought the day before.

 I am also trying some powerlifting movements just to add some variety into my workouts.  I will talk about them once I get the form right and can actually lift some weight.