Stephanielynn76's Blog

Hey y'all! I just wanted to share what I've been doing lately. As I have mentioned before, I have loosely been following the PHAT training template with the exception of my leg days. I've continued with the same basic leg routine that I started back a year ago (when I started my first bulk) but with modifications along the way to change it up.

 I do two leg days per week. It looks something like this: (the weight amounts are from my first set pyramiding up to my last... 3-4 sets... usually dropping the number of reps as I get heavier)

Day 1

Leg press (270lbs-510lbs)

Stiff-legged deadlifts- barbell (135lbs-155lbs)

Plate-load squat machine (180lbs-270lbs)

Good mornings (50lbs-65lbs) Extensions (120lbs)

Glute-ham raises (holding 10lb plate)

Day 2

Box squats -below parallel with free weights (100lbs-133lbs)

Regular deadlifts -free weights (133lbs-188lbs)

Walking lunges -kettlebells (30-35lbs)

Glute bridges (105lbs-125lbs)

Calves (110-120lbs)

I've had a few questions about the box squats so I figured I'd answer them here. The box I use is the one on the right (image below). The one on the left is about parallel so you can see the one I use is quite low... especially for me because I've got long legs (I'm 5'7")! Going lower is much harder and therefore I don't use as much weight. However I find the depth targets the glutes more which is what I wanted. (I like big butts and I cannot lie... LOL)

 So, I try to separate the leg days so that I have a few days recovery between them. I often do them on Tuesdays and Fridays but make adjustments based on my work schedule/kid's school schedule. I am hoping to see strength improvements all around throughout this bulk but my main focus is on squats and deadlifts. I'd like to get my box squat up to my body weight for 10 reps and my deads to 200lbs for 10 reps. We shall see how it goes... I'll post about it when/if I do!

So... that's my current leg routine. I'm open for questions if you have any! I will come back and post some on upper body stuff on another day. If you have a request for a blog post/topic let me know!

So I got on the scale yesterday and oy.... 137.5!!! Holy crap! I ENDED my last bulk at 137lbs after 6 months of gaining. I've still got the rest of October through January to gain so I may end up 145-150lbs! It's all good though... because at 137lbs today I look better... leaner and more muscular than I did last time at this weight. It is progress! If you want to build muscle you can't be afraid to gain. It's part of the process. Getting "soft" (putting on some body fat) is also par for the course. You've got to mentally get passed that to make progress.

Here is a shot of me from this weekend... jeans shopping. 

Wow it's been so long since I've been active here on MFP! I know I'm not around here much but I've got this blog that I've chronicled so much of my journey on that I feel like it's a part of me... and I need to update it! So much has changed since the beginning! It's interesting to go back and read... even for me! Anyhoo... here is where I am right now...

Another year has gone by and I turned 36 on Tuesday (September 25). Here is the official birthday picture. 

Some of you might remember the pictures I did of myself last summer... well it's been almost a year so I felt like another self-portrait session was in order. I did one last week and I'm in the midst of planning another in the near future. These are more than just pretty pictures to me though... they are a form of self expression for me. This first set of images is sorta my representation of softness, innocence, and purity. I'm currently in to the monochromatic look (white-on-white) and I am a HUGE fan of all things vintage. I am wearing a slip in some of these that really is a vintage slip... it was one my mother had from way back when I was a child. There was also a vintage dress from a garage sale and also a few images where I experimented with just draping myself with a piece of sheer white fabric.

 

 

Hey yall! It's been a while so I thought I'd update my progress! So I did the competition back in June and since then I gained about 5lbs (at least that's what stuck after the cruise) and have pretty much maintained around 130lbs. I'm just so over tracking every calorie at this point that I'm not doing it for now. I'm just eating intuitively but still following IF. I am still planning to bulk but I want to wait until it cools off a bit more. All of my shorts are size 4 and given the amount of lean mass I was able to add to my glutes during the last bulk... they are already fitting quite snug. If I gain much more I won't have anything to wear!

So, I am not sure how I'm going to manage my nutrition during the bulk but I am thinking I'll just add breakfast back in. I will only need a few hundred extra calories so a protein shake or some oats in the morning would do it. As for my training, I just started a new routine... Layne Norton's PHAT... with my own modifications. For those not familiar with it:

http://www.simplyshredded.com/mega-feature-layne-norton-training-series-full-powerhypertrophy-routine-updated-2011.html

I created these handy dandy reference tags with the complete training schedule to take with me to the gym. I love them! Yes I am a total gym nerd. 

Haha... uhm yeah... I ate a LOT of food on my cruise. My new favorite dessert is called chocolate melting cake... and I ate it every single night after dinner with a side of cookies and brownies. I indulged myself for the entire week and ate everything my heart desired. The result...??? A 6.5lb gain on the scale!!! I'm not sure how much of that is fat/fluid/glycogen but it's all good. I got on the boat super lean and fairly flat-chested and now I'm filling up my bra's better. My bum looks plumper too... so I'm ok with the gain! LOL I'm going to go back to my cutting diet for 4 more weeks then start bulk #2 in August. I'm looking forward to making some strength/mass gains this coming fall. :)

Here are some pictures from today...

So Saturday was my first ever figure competition. I entered two different divisions --figure open (all ages) which was divided into two categories... tall and short (I was in the tall)... and master's figure which is for women over 35. I got 3rd place in figure tall and 3rd place in the master's. I took home TWO trophies! I was thrilled to have placed at all so this was an exciting night for me.

The competition has two parts... the pre-judging which was at 9:00am and the evening show at 6:00pm. The pre-judging is where they determine the winners and the evening show is where they award the trophies. These were taken in our motel room after the pre-judging and before the night show...

When I got there the evening before I had to register and get measured for height. I also paid to have my spray tan done there at the show. This was done the night before and you couldn't take a bath or get wet. My makeup appointment was for 4:00am the next morning. The makeup artist did an exceptional job! After that we went to eat pancakes at IHOP and then I came back and did my own hair. Then it was time for the stage!

I was TERRIFIED up there... shaking like a leaf when I was doing my turns and poses. I was told after that I looked really relaxed so I must be a pretty good actress! LOL. Over all the experience was fun and exhilarating! I met some other competitors there who were just lovely people and I enjoyed talking to them in our waiting room off stage. 

So, overall it was a wonderful experience and I am definitely considering doing it again! The women that placed higher than me definitely had more muscle mass. My goal for now is to do a few more bulk/cut cycles before competing again. I was planning to do that anyway regardless if I ever hit the stage again or not. I don't know if I will compete again next year or in 2-3 years... I suppose it will just be whenever I feel ready!

For now, I'm going to try and maintain this level of leanness for a few more weeks... probably till the end of the summer. I will start bulking again in August! When I figure out what I'm going to do for my bulking routine I will post it here just to share.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes! I'm very appreciative of your support! The journey continues...

We're going on a cruise this year for our family vacation... I got a new suit! Yes the print is kinda weird, but I liked the fit so I got it anyway. It was 50% off at Victoria Secret!

This was take the week of my show btw... 

So I did some posing practice up at my gym yesterday... had a friend snap this...