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| by Simon Barnes at Hotsnapz |
Stunning Stephen Box is a young fitness model from Bath in Somerset, England who is represented by W Athletic agency and locally works with Room3 Agency, Gingersnap Modelling Agency in Bristol and Artemis Modelling Agency in Birmingham.
Simon Barnes
Stephen was recently crowned Mister International Great Britain, and will be competing in November for the main title in Thailand.
Stephen is a Sport Performance Graduate BSc 2010, from the University of Bath. Besides weightlifting, he likes
volleyball and hockey among other sports.
| Thanks to his dedication to training and healthy living, in just a few years, this up and coming model has achieved an amazing physique. |
Stephen also shares many tips on training and also on food and nutrition, including meal plans and recipes with detailed nutrition values. Join his Facebook pageand ‘like’ it to see more of his work and get all those tips! You can also follow him on Twitter.
We catch up with Stephen just as he is crowned Mister International Great Britain in Leeds. It is a pleasure and an honour to feature him at Stunning Men and to be able to interview him!
Here's Stephen's interview in full
Stephen, a warm welcome to Stunning Men and many thanks for taking the time to do the interview.
First of all, you have just been crowned Mr International Great Britain. Our warm congratulations! How did you get to participate?
You must feel on the top of the world right now! So, what's next? Thailand?
You must feel on the top of the world right now! So, what's next? Thailand?
Yep Thailand in November for the Mister International competition. Currently training hard, keeping a strict diet and luckily I’m being supported by my ICON Nutrition who are fuelling my training and helping me recover, huge thanks to those guys as I’d never be able to meet my training goals without them.
Now could we talk a little about yourself and your background?
Well, I’m 24 years old, I grew up in Bath and went to the University of Bath, where I studied Sport Performance for three years. Along with my degree I was a full time volleyball athlete playing both indoor and beach volleyball. Then I moved to Loughborough where I worked for the NGB of Volleyball teaching/coaching volleyball full time. Now I am back living in Bath coaching CrosFit and personal training, so if anyone want to be trained give me a shout on my facebook page.
How did you get into modelling? Is it something you always wanted to do?
Funny you should ask that as I did my first cat walk at the age of 11, then when I was 17, I was in New York on a school trip and was asked to model for A&F as an in store model. Again I put it out of my head thinking I would never be able to do it. Until two years into university I decided to give it a try and got some shoots in with some fantastic photographers.
Have you done any more runway work after that?
I have always been part of as many charity catwalk shows as possible; it gives me a chance to give back and be part of something really special. However I’d love to model at The Clothes’ show or in London fashion week.
What do you enjoy the most about modelling?
I really enjoy working with others and being creative, always thinking how can I make the picture look the best possible. I love training and knowing I have a photoshoot coming up is a huge motivation for me to push myself harder than ever.
How do you prepare before a photoshoot?
Well over the years I have slowly learnt that preparation is key. Now I will make sure I’ll get a haircut if needed. Good spray tan really helps, shaving of course, have to keep my boy next door look, along with dieting and training extra hard in the gym.
What do you like the most about working with a photographer?
Putting our ideas together to make the best possible picture, trying to put their amazing ideas into a practical form.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? And from your experience, what advice would you give a new model?
How to “smieyes” or whatever you call it, basically smiling with your eyes, really helps with the intensity/emotion of the picture.
You have a stunning physique. How do you maintain it and keep healthy? Do you do any sport?
Well I used to play volleyball 24hrs a week, now I have taken up powerlifting, I really love that style of training and getting new personal bests. I have also recently taken up CrossFit and am a fulltime CrossFit coach this year. Their philosophy of training and diet is fantastic and I recommend everyone should try CrossFit; it’s so much fun doing it with all your team mates. It forces you to work harder than you could ever think possible, which in return is an amazing feeling which you can take into the rest of your daily life.
What are your top three favourite exercises and why?
Has to be the Push Press, using the legs then shoulders to push as much weight as possible above your head and hold it. Next it has to be muscle ups, it’s basically a chin up straight into a tricep dip, it requires all of your back and abs to work with huge amounts of power. Thirdly Clean and Jerk, Olympic weight lifting is intense full body power exercise that gets my heart racing faster than anything else.
What’s the best form of cardio for you?
I don’t actually do any. If you train hard enough in the gym and eat well you don’t need to.
How do you keep motivated?
Apart from having a looming photoshoot, I get my motivation from trying to be the best I can be. That’s why I enjoy powerlifting and Crossfit as every session I can compete against myself trying to beat last week’s scores.
How do you fit fitness into your life? Is it a difficult thing to achieve?
Well having a fulltime job, training 2-3 hours every day and all my other projects I have coming up, I don’t ever watch TV, the odd film maybe, but if you want something you have to make sacrifices.
How do you approach a challenge?
I love a challenge and I always tackle it head on, I’m a bit of a geek so I will plan and prepare to make sure I meet it.
What do you do in your down time?
I’m a big movie fan so chilling out with my mates going to the cinema or at home with a game of dominoes after a hard week of dieting.
Do you have any role models? People who inspire you?
There are a few people for different reasons, someone who has inspired me recently is Ross Austen great guy and we have really helped each other this year in the industry, can’t thank him enough for the support.
We featured the amazing Ross at Stunning Men two weeks ago.
So good having friends that are into the same things as you and who support everything you do.
Now a few quick fun questions if we may? Do you think you are a good date?
No I’m terrible, I don’t drink and I’ll more than likely have to pick the restaurant and it will have to be a healthy menu. Also I’d more than likely be late as my training session would have run over.
Are you a brief man or a boxer kinda guy?
Skins actually. I’m always coaching or training so I spend most of my day in skins.
What do you listen to on your iPod?
Depends what mood I’m in, love dance and chart music while I’m training but will listen to some heavy rock, hip hop/rap before my gym session to increase my focus.
Your favourite song/piece of music to play while running?
Du Hust by Rammstein always gets me motivated to train harder.
What kind of movies do you like?
Love action hero films or anything with Will Ferrel in.
What three words describe you best?
Dedicated, Charming and a bit of a geek.
That’s eight words ... but we’ll forgive you! One last question Stephen, where do you see yourself and what would you like to be doing in 10 years time?
I’d love to own a CrossFit Box and strength gym, a chance to really help people achieve their goals, create a community of people who enjoy an active lifestyle and who push each other on.
Stephen, you have been a pleasure to interview! Thank you for your time and for being a good sport. All the best for the future!
