What's Your Story? What are Your Goals from here on in?

**KevinCouch** · 07-04-2012, 09:31 AM

Thought I would start a new thread about how we all got to this point and what are you looking to achieve from this point on?

We've got a lot of great guys in this thread some old timers like me, BC, JD and even Jason is getting a little longer in the tooth these days.
And we've also got a lot of young BBs in here that are just beginning and some at a very high level already.

Thought it would be interesting to know our backgrounds and history and how we got to this thread?

Feel free to share your story.

**KevinCouch** · 07-04-2012, 09:55 AM

I'll start. I'm 45 going on 46 and began training at 13 years old for football. Was a strong athletic kid and played running back in high school and was very fast. I got very strong during highschool and overtrained my ass off at such a young age. Nobody knew better back then and I would have had made much better gains at a very young age if I had backed off. My first contest was in 1991 the NPC DC Grand Prix. Big show, placed 2nd middleweights. This was encouraging so 5 months later that same year (1991) did the NPC Mt. Rodgers (national qualifier) weighed in 162 (didn't have welterweight class back then) and won middleweights and overall. Then June 1992 did Washington DC BB show and won class and overall title. Two weeks later stepped on stage on Junior Nationals. Was overwhelmed with the number of guys in the middleweights about 35 guys in class and quality physiques. I placed 6th which to me I was very happy with and weighed in at 164 so I was a very light middleweight.

Decided to take a year off and add size to come in at top of class. Had to requalify in 1994 did the 1994 NPC Winchester Open and weighed in at 176 and won class and overall title against some really quality BBs. At this point I felt like I was going to be a top guy at Nationals.....

Stepped on stage at 1995 Junior Nationals again with a stacked lineup about 35 in class and got knocked back down to size. Got my ass kicked. I went in overconfident and not in my normal condition and placed 9th. Still respectable but I was devastated. I quit competing. Continued to train but did not have any plans on competing ever again.

Fast forward to 2010 got the itch to compete again thinkin I still had it so on pretty much on a whim 8 weeks out began to prep for Masters Nats. Now they had welterweights so I dieted down and won my class. It was probably my best condition to date but not as big as I had been in the past. Lots of feedback from the judges and George Farah and told me I should do Nationals that year. Blew back out, had some other health issues so had to pull out of show few weeks before.

So all that said I'm preparing for this year's Nationals. Because I've had some great success on stage even with the few shows that I've done over years I feel like I will do well against these younger guys. I'm looking foward to the challenge and whatever the outcome I don't think I will ever compete again. It's a personal goal for me to stand on stage next the best and not my ambition to compete as a pro.

**Jordan Coburn** · 07-04-2012, 10:49 AM

Well Kevin’s a tough act to follow, but I’ll try J

I’m 23 (24 in 2 weeks) and I’ve been training hard since 20 years old.

I was 3 sport athlete in high school (basketball, baseball, soccer… Captain of basketball and baseball teams my junior and senior years) I’ve always been a stocky, athletic guy. My first year of university (2006, age 21) I was trying out as a walk on to my schools basketball team and I blew out my MCL. The resulting injury and rehab and complications left my on crutches for over 6 months. In this span I went from 210 to 285 (!) as a result of extreme inactivity and eating like total shit and getting hammered 3+ nights per week. By the time I was 20 I was up to nearly 320 pounds. That summer in 2008 my grandmother put me in touch with a nutritionist and I had decided enough was enough. From june 01 2008 to January 1 2009 I got down to 225 skinny-fat pounds. At this point I was doing no weight training what so ever and was doing about 30 mins cardio a day and “eating clean” (as I look back it was about 2000 cals a day or so max) and playing basketball 3-4x per week and I still boozed and partied and enjoyed myself.
After this point I decided to start lifting if for no other reason than I wanted to try something different. My body responded FAST. Eating roughly the same diet, I gained 15 pounds at the same BF% in about two months. Strength came naturally as well…my first chest workout I could flat bench 115 for 6 reps…3 months later I was doing 225 for reps for multiple sets. The first time I squatted I did 185 for reps. It was weird. The more I learned about training and nutrition, and my training evolved and the more I grew until last summer I hit 250 at about 25% BF. At that point I decided to compete and start using AAS and started 20 dieting and using 500 test E per week.

This is where the shit hits the proverbial fan.

My friend advised me to do a Keto Diet. With NO CARB REFEEDS. cut to 20 weeks later I’m doing 3 hours of cardio a day, cranking an insane amount of Clen, I have no metabolic rate to speak of at this point and I’m eating maybe 1500 cals per day. I was 208 on stage in admittedly so-so condition but having enough muscle to stand with the big boys at 5’8. After this, my body was completely fucked. I ballooned up to 245 7 days after the show all while eating 2500 cals per day and under 100g of carbs per day and still doing cardio. Not the off season I had planned, to say the least. I got up to 260 by march and I had to make some changes. I got together with a guy who preps some people in my area and I couldn’t be happier with how things are going.

My short term goal is to be top 3 in the Light heavyweight category at the 2012 New Brunswick bodybuilding championships and then take a Kevin/provo/data approach to the off season and stay lean and make slow steady gains.

My long term goals are to be as big and lean as humanly possible all while staying as healthy as possible (IE: not running insane amounts of gear, keeping an eye on my blood pressure and other health markers) and maintaining a functional professional and personal life as possible while achieving these goals.

Should be easy, right? J

**KevinCouch** · 07-04-2012, 10:54 AM

Posted by Cobe16 Couldn't read his black font on black screen

Well Kevin’s a tough act to follow, but I’ll try J

I’m 23 (24 in 2 weeks) and I’ve been training hard since 20 years old.

I was 3 sport athlete in high school (basketball, baseball, soccer… Captain of basketball and baseball teams my junior and senior years) I’ve always been a stocky, athletic guy. My first year of university (2006, age 21) I was trying out as a walk on to my schools basketball team and I blew out my MCL. The resulting injury and rehab and complications left my on crutches for over 6 months. In this span I went from 210 to 285 (!) as a result of extreme inactivity and eating like total shit and getting hammered 3+ nights per week. By the time I was 20 I was up to nearly 320 pounds. That summer in 2008 my grandmother put me in touch with a nutritionist and I had decided enough was enough. From june 01 2008 to January 1 2009 I got down to 225 skinny-fat pounds. At this point I was doing no weight training what so ever and was doing about 30 mins cardio a day and “eating clean” (as I look back it was about 2000 cals a day or so max) and playing basketball 3-4x per week and I still boozed and partied and enjoyed myself.
After this point I decided to start lifting if for no other reason than I wanted to try something different. My body responded FAST. Eating roughly the same diet, I gained 15 pounds at the same BF% in about two months. Strength came naturally as well…my first chest workout I could flat bench 115 for 6 reps…3 months later I was doing 225 for reps for multiple sets. The first time I squatted I did 185 for reps. It was weird. The more I learned about training and nutrition, and my training evolved and the more I grew until last summer I hit 250 at about 25% BF. At that point I decided to compete and start using AAS and started 20 dieting and using 500 test E per week.

This is where the shit hits the proverbial fan.

My friend advised me to do a Keto Diet. With NO CARB REFEEDS. cut to 20 weeks later I’m doing 3 hours of cardio a day, cranking an insane amount of Clen, I have no metabolic rate to speak of at this point and I’m eating maybe 1500 cals per day. I was 208 on stage in admittedly so-so condition but having enough muscle to stand with the big boys at 5’8. After this, my body was completely fucked. I ballooned up to 245 7 days after the show all while eating 2500 cals per day and under 100g of carbs per day and still doing cardio. Not the off season I had planned, to say the least. I got up to 260 by march and I had to make some changes. I got together with a guy who preps some people in my area and I couldn’t be happier with how things are going.

My short term goal is to be top 3 in the Light heavyweight category at the 2012 New Brunswick bodybuilding championships and then take a Kevin/provo/data approach to the off season and stay lean and make slow steady gains.

My long term goals are to be as big and lean as humanly possible all while staying as healthy as possible (IE: not running insane amounts of gear, keeping an eye on my blood pressure and other health markers) and maintaining a functional professional and personal life as possible while achieving these goals.

Should be easy, right? J

**Jordan Coburn** · 07-04-2012, 10:56 AM

sorry kevin, copied from a word doc!

**Jordan Coburn** · 07-04-2012, 12:19 PM

Kevin,
Always really enjoy your posts. Your competetive record is very impressive and I really like your outlook on competing vs. health and personal life balance.

**BigJD69** · 07-04-2012, 01:02 PM

Good post!

**KevinCouch** · 07-06-2012, 10:25 AM

Need More Sharing in here.....We ALL have a story!

**Provo82** · 07-06-2012, 10:57 AM

27 years old, played sports in hs was always strong but never big. weighted 155 when i graduated hs but could bench press 275 when i was barely even working out. Found serious addiction in the discipline and daily grind of bodybuilding. have done 6 contests now some i did great and some i got spanked alot of lessons learned along the way. Hoping to test the waters at the jr usa or jr nationals next year for my first national level show.

**bushmaster** · 07-06-2012, 11:06 AM

I am 30 yrs old and have done two shows. Both of which I won my class, Middleweight. I am a veteran and served 27 months overseas in Iraq. When I was honorably discharged I became heavily addicted to Oxycontin for a few months. Once I stopped going to the gym I realized I had a problem and checked myself into a suboxone clinic. I kicked the addiction in 3 weeks, which he Dr. told me would take 6 months at least. Haven’t touched one since I quit back in 2008. My new addiciton is bodybuilding and am trying to make up for lost time as I just started in 2009 at the age of 27.

**Provo82** · 07-06-2012, 11:18 AM

Originally Posted by bushmaster

I am 30 yrs old and have done two shows. Both of which I won my class, Middleweight. I am a veteran and served 27 months overseas in Iraq. When I was honorably discharged I became heavily addicted to Oxycontin for a few months. Once I stopped going to the gym I realized I had a problem and checked myself into a suboxone clinic. I kicked the addiction in 3 weeks, which he Dr. told me would take 6 months at least. Haven’t touched one since I quit back in 2008. My new addiciton is bodybuilding and am trying to make up for lost time as I just started in 2009 at the age of 27.

lots and lots of respect for that story as i have someone very very close to me dealing with an addition of that kind and there recovery was not anything like that and is still a struggle. takes a strong willed dude to handle it like that.

**KevinCouch** · 07-06-2012, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by bushmaster

I am 30 yrs old and have done two shows. Both of which I won my class, Middleweight. I am a veteran and served 27 months overseas in Iraq. When I was honorably discharged I became heavily addicted to Oxycontin for a few months. Once I stopped going to the gym I realized I had a problem and checked myself into a suboxone clinic. I kicked the addiction in 3 weeks, which he Dr. told me would take 6 months at least. Haven’t touched one since I quit back in 2008. My new addiciton is bodybuilding and am trying to make up for lost time as I just started in 2009 at the age of 27.

Great Post BM. Much resspect bro!

**KevinCouch** · 07-06-2012, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by Provo82

27 years old, played sports in hs was always strong but never big. weighted 155 when i graduated hs but could bench press 275 when i was barely even working out. Found serious addiction in the discipline and daily grind of bodybuilding. have done 6 contests now some i did great and some i got spanked alot of lessons learned along the way. Hoping to test the waters at the jr usa or jr nationals next year for my first national level show.

P. it's guys like you can look at a weight and get stronger. If you decided to do the Juniors this spring you'll be ready. With your work ethic and "attention to detail" you'll be ready!!

**lastson** · 07-07-2012, 06:17 PM

Originally Posted by bushmaster

I am 30 yrs old and have done two shows. Both of which I won my class, Middleweight. I am a veteran and served 27 months overseas in Iraq. When I was honorably discharged I became heavily addicted to Oxycontin for a few months. Once I stopped going to the gym I realized I had a problem and checked myself into a suboxone clinic. I kicked the addiction in 3 weeks, which he Dr. told me would take 6 months at least. Haven’t touched one since I quit back in 2008. My new addiciton is bodybuilding and am trying to make up for lost time as I just started in 2009 at the age of 27.

First off, thank you for keeping my family safe.. I have huge respect for anyone that has served our country...
Secondly, nice work on kicking a bad addiction, not many are able to do it, let alone in that short of a time period...

Last

**lastson** · 07-07-2012, 07:29 PM

I'm 37 and like most guys started lifting for sports my freshman year, I was a pretty good baseball player, but football got the girls so I went that direction, the only problem was my freshman year I weighed 115 pounds and was about 5' 4" - 5' 5". I was told that I needed to put on about 50 pounds and the best way to do it was to join the power lifting team, which was coached by my DBs coach.. I was hooked, not because I was that strong, but I was doing very well, missed a state qualification by one place competing in the 123 pound class... This isn't a hard feat, when most of the guys lifting are much bigger than you... so the 123 pound class didn't have a lot of competition... Ended up moving to a school that didn't have a power lifting team, and got mixed in with some football players that gave me bad advice on diet and how to gain weight.. ( eating a loaf of butter bread a day in addition to everything else) So I graduated a nice and fat 180.. went to college with the same diet plane blew up to 240 ( over about ten years ) now that I was no longer playing sports.. And one day just decided that I was too damn fat and needed to drop some weight.. So a few years back , started eating cleaner and lifting again and dropped down to 190-200... Got stuck there for awhile and decided to get some help.. Started working with Jason Theobald January of 2012 at about 195, and got down to 165 at my lowest point... Still a little fat, but nowhere as bad.. Now that my diet was on track, I sought the help of S2H to get my training up to par about 8 weeks ago and have made huge changes since then...

I've never wanted to compete, I'm just not big enough, but I've always wanted to look the best I could... and I'm getting pretty close, who knows maybe in a few years I'll give it a shot, but for now I'm just trying to get to around 190 and 8% BF, once I get there, who knows...