A day in the life of Stephane and Stefan

Hi, I am Stephane. A lot of people who do not train and know me in real life or via social media often think what I do is always fun and games or it is super easy for me. They see only the best bits of what I do, the accomplishments, the achievements, the success, creating a 2D fallacy of me. So writing this blog I hope give a contrast to the fallacy created, showing the work, the pain and multiple failures that goes into my workouts,thus creating a 3D view of a day and the life of Stephane.

And my name is Stefan and I wanted to introduce myself by explaining why I train, however I’m not really sure why. I don’t have a goal in mind. I go to the gym 5 or 6 times a week, but my goals change often as I’m never satisfied. I feel like I just do it for the love of training; from lifting weights to kicking a football, I just enjoy challenging myself, seeing my personal progress and the way I feel after exercise.

We are working together to create the blog “Gym It 24/7” to show you the day and life we live, how we train and why we train.

We have known each other for over 7 years now and have trained together on and off for the past five years; of all the people we have trained alongside we enjoy training together the most because we heavily contrast: Stefan has structure to his workout and Stephane just does what he feels. Stefan writes down his work out for weeks in advance and Stephane just does what he feels. And with Stefan’s structure combined with Stephane’s ability to break it with spontaneity, comes a workout that defeats the both of us.

My practice is calisthenics, I have done calisthenics for 4 years after I stumbled across it while freerunning and I instantly fell in love as I always trained similar to the art and calisthenics upgraded my way of training. Alongside calisthenics I practice kickboxing and have done so for over 7 years but started taking it more seriously 3 years ago after getting into calisthenics.

And the way I train is in the gym. I started going to the gym loosely about 6 years ago when I was at school. I say loosely because it was at a tiny school gym with lack of equipment, however I have to include this because It paved my way to the love of training. Even as a kid I was interested about how much I could lift. I also play football, in which I played for a variety of decent teams, both on a Saturday and Sunday, but I don’t really play as often as before due to work commitments.

The best thing I enjoy about training is the people I meet along my journey when I am out and about from scaffolding sites around the city to in the parks I go to and even in other countries. No one person trains the same and getting together to train with new people you combine workouts and create a super workout, swap tips and tricks so you can do your craft better and show off what you can do. Writing this blog I also aim to share tips and tricks I have learnt.

For me the reasons I like to train are slightly different. I do like the people I meet along my fitness journey, however the main reason I enjoy training is the variations you can do with the weights. You have simple barbell but the many different exercises you can do with is only defined by the knowledge you know about the equipment. The more you go, and the more you train you start to create new modifications for the weights enhancing your training regimen, which is always making your workout unique and enjoyable.

I enjoy the fact that calisthenics requires no weights so essentially the world is your gym and the only thing stopping you is your mind, so I find it funny when people complain they are not fit due to not affording a gym membership. A gym-to me- is what you make it. The floor is free, make the floor your gym. Run, squat, press up, sit up.My mindset is built around calisthenics now so when I am about I always think of where I can train and what I can do in various locations.

To be honest there is not much I don’t like about working out but one thing is definitely accessibility to workout parks and good ones at that. Does it need to be so costly to be fit and active? Another would be trying to fit training around British weather and work. Rain and the cold is an instant demotivator and a mood killer especially if you want to train outdoors and can’t feel your fingers. If work was long and draining it's hard to workout after; it requires a lot more discipline. And burpees, I hate burpees.

 

So far I’ve been writing about the good side of training, but don’t get me wrong, it does sometimes get daunting. For example, I hate walking into a packed gym where 90% if the equipment it taken. I hate it so much that i feel like turning around and leaving the gym. That and legs. But that’s when I have to solely rely on mindset and discipline to drive me to the end of those workouts and to get the best out of the workout. I am only human. I still have days where I try to skip the last 1 or 2 reps because I’m struggling to lift the weight. Occasionally I overcome that and finish my set, but sometimes I do drop the weight and that doesn’t just affect my progress but also shifts my mentality.

Although it does have its challenges: Finding time to train around work, setting up a business and spending time with my girlfriend it does get difficult, however it’s a challenge I face 7 days a week. That’s why I wanted to write this blog. To not only explain the way I train, but to explain what happens behind the scenes of a stereotypically simple life where you can just work, train and have a social life without batting an eyelid. But to uglify it by explaining the difficulties faced on a day-to-day basis.

The long term aim is to be healthy when we are well over 60 and still working out; still active and still full of energy. Giving young people a run for their money. But for now its to master calisthenics and to keep progressing in the gym, while enjoying the journey, aiming to inspire people to push themselves past what they thought was possible. Through failure lies success.