Steve Serio Shares the Training Routine That's Won Him 2 Gold Medals
When he was 11 months old, Steve Serio underwent surgery to remove a tumour in his spinal cord, leaving him paralysed. At the age of 14, he took up wheelchair basketball—where he went on to play for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and professionally in Germany for several years after college. Today, the 36-year-old is co-captain of the USA Men's National Wheelchair Basketball team and now heading into his fifth Paralympics in pursuit of his third consecutive gold—a feat never done (yet) by a wheelchair basketball team. Last time Men's Health US spoke to him, he was fresh out of the team's first training camp, and headed to practice games. We caught up with him in early July to talk about how those games went, his last-minute preparations before the Opening Ceremony, and what he's looking forward to most in his final Paralympics.
The first practice games went incredibly well. We actually went three for four in our games against Team Australia, which is great. There are obviously places that we can get better, but it was just great to be together with the guys, even if the wins and losses at this point don't really make a difference. It's just a matter of continuing to improve as a group. And we definitely did that over the course of those days.
We're headed to Madrid next week for our next round of practice games. We'll see Team Spain and Team France, which will be really cool. And we'll play Team Poland, who won't be in Paris, but they're still a really great European team to practice against. All of these practices are another way to step forward.
Right now, we're playing so that everybody gets playing time, running different lineups to see who meshes well with other players and matches styles. We do pretty intense video sessions after each game to make sure that everybody's understanding the reads that people are making, and that we understand the game plan from the coaching staff. So these practice games are not just about playing time, but they're really about finding the chemistry between the players and within a five-player lineup. We're trying to mimic the games in Paris to the best of our ability.
Mentally, I'm ready to go. Getting a chance to watch the swimming and track and field trials over the last couple of weeks has me amped. The Olympics are really here, which means that the Paralympics will be here in close to a month. I love watching all these Team USA athletes getting a chance to live their dream, and it's hard that we have to wait another couple of weeks. Physically, I'm right where I'm supposed to be. I am still rehabbing my shoulder from the injury I talked about the first time I spoke with you. But I'm also balancing that with some really intense training weeks. Madrid will be a really great test for me personally to see where my health is to make sure that I'm where I need to be. I still need to take it somewhat easy, though, and remember that I'm still a ways out. But it's hard not to get excited right now.
We come back from Madrid at the beginning of August, and then we'll have about two weeks before heading to Paris. My practices will change a little bit—I'll spend less time doing weight room stuff, like my workout below, and a bit more on-court work to refine my skill set. At that point, the time that I can put in on the court is going to be way more impactful than increasing my benchpress.
This will be my last Olympics, so the goal is to just try and appreciate every single moment. Usually in these test games, I'm so zoned in that I'm not as present as I am right now. I'm trying to stay connected to the team as much as I possibly can. Honestly, once the game starts, you can blink and it's over. It happens so incredibly quickly that you don't really have time to really think about what's going on. You just prepare for your next game, and then you're on to the next one. I have a huge entourage of family and friends coming to Paris. I look forward to enjoying that, instead of looking it as kind of a burden. Usually having a ton of people around is a bit of an extra weight that is put on our shoulders as athletes, but now I'm all about it. I'm trying to make sure that everybody has a wonderful experience.
At our last camp, my team nominated me to be our representative for flag-bearer during the opening ceremonies. Every team gets one nominee and then there's a voting process. This is my first time being nominated, and it's a huge honour. I'm trying not to get my hopes up about being selected, but my teammates telling me they nominated me was a moment I'll always remember. So we'll see what happens with that. That would be really exciting. I always look forward to living vicariously through my rookies—watching them experience everything for the first time is pretty cool.
Steve Serio's Workout
Wheelchair basketball requires a ton of upper body stamina and strength. That means a good deal of chest, back, and shoulder work in the gym. Here's what a typical day in the weight room looks like for him.
The Warmup
Resistance Band Rotations
3 sets of 12 to 15 reps per side
Straight Arm Retractions
3 sets of 8 to 10 reps per side
The Workout
Dumbbell Press
3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Pullups
3 sets of max reps
Dumbbell Halos
3 sets of 1 minute of work
Weighted Leg Raises
3 to 4 sets of 1 minute of work
Hinge and Curl to Press
3 to 4 sets of 1 minute of work
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