The 12 Week Transformation of PT Michael Stephens

The next person in our transformation series is Michael Stephens, a Personal Trainer based in Crosby, a town in the North of Liverpool. This could be a name you recognise from a previous article, and you wouldn’t be wrong. With being a long term client and becoming a close acquaintance with the My Fresh Box employees, Michael featured on our Q&A series, where he shared his knowledge and expertise with some extensive answers to our questions, which can be read here.

Michael has always been into his fitness, joining the army on a personal trainer programme when he left school at the age of 16, where he spent just over 6 years working towards and becoming a physical training instructor. He was responsible for making sure the soldiers were operationally fit all year round by designing and implementing their physical training scheme. In 2016, Michael left the forces and became a fully qualified Personal Trainer, who is now following his own career path and trains clients on a one to one basis at the gym he works at in Crosby.

Beforehand

The idea to start a serious transformation started when Michael was no longer able to work due to the lockdown caused by the global Coronavirus pandemic, which saw gyms closed for the foreseeable future. Following two days of having nothing to do but attend his own, private gym; Michael decided that this would give him the perfect opportunity to work on the biggest project in his life, his physique.

Although there wasn’t a specific time frame put in place prior to starting this workout, he suspected that it would be a few months before life for the likes of himself would return to anything close to normal. This resulted in him setting an initial three month goal for himself to get into gear and improve his body, but was under no means a strict confirmation that this new found lifestyle would end come the start of July and after this period of time was up, and that he would see what was happening with the country’s public places come this point.

Throughout

Throughout his transformation period, Michael was dedicated to only eating meals provided by My Fresh Box, with a side addition of pieces of fruit if he felt the urges to snack or had sweet cravings. Increasing his My Fresh Box order to over 35 meals at least every week, Michael calculated the amount of each macro he needed to intake along with his workload for the day, making a strict-ish food and workout plan that he intended to stick to. “Having the calories and macros sorted helped me within this project so much. It not only saved so much time calculating but it meant that I was able to just crack on with working out and getting started on this transformation”. 
When it came to working out though, he was equipped and a lot more prepared than Chris, the first candidate in the transformation project, as Michael had a small homemade gym with a wide range of equipment, not just a set of light dumbbells and an exercise bike. So, with everything in place, it was simply down to Michael to get into gear and get started.

Afterwards

The goal for Michael was to bulk up and look a lot more defined, and that’s exactly what he done. The mixture of cardio to try and tone up alongside weight lifting to improve his muscle definition meant that Michael had to check that he was eating the correct mix of food, and ensure that he wasn’t focussing too much on a certain element, finding the correct balance. Alongside the clear change in appearance, his strength, endurance and fitness also improved. The weight that he was lifting and the amount of repetitions he could do comfortably increased by quite a bit in the final week of his transformation compared to the start, as well as being able to carry out cardiovascular work for a longer distance and at a faster time than beforehand, as well as personally saying he didn’t feel as tired as he was. “Honestly, having these meals made for me made my life so much easier. With having them premade and only needed to be microwaved meant I wasn’t spending ages in the kitchen chopping and prepping everything, then having to cook myself which wouldn’t have even tasted as nice as what Tony and the chefs can make. The fact that they’re good for my nutrition and have the macros counted as well were also a massive help, allowed me to just work out what I needed to eat each day, and which meals to eat at what times, such as what will give me more energy for before my workout, alongside a high in protein meal for after my workouts.”

If you’re located in Crosby or North Liverpool and looking for a Personal Trainer who will be able to give you excellent one to one coaching sessions and support, then drop Michael a message on his Instagram page and see what he can do for you. Likewise if there’s anything you’d like to know regarding his transformation then feel free to drop him a message simply asking him, he’s a lovely lad! 
Also, we have a number of opportunities for you here at My Fresh Box, whether you’re looking for a customised goal or are a personal trainer that would like to get involved in one of our series – we current have a Q&A Series and taking on people for this transformation series – then get in touch with us either through one of our social channels (which can be found in the footer) or via email at hello@my-fresh-box.co.uk.