6 months of hard work.

Frank Reynolds

Frank Reynolds

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Figured i would throw this up here, as this section seems to be slow..lol


First i want to start off saying while this transformation may not be "super" impressive, there are some things to consider. I have been for the last year+ fighting a SLOW thyroid(tsh +5.0) and pretty low natural test(325-400) So it has really been a battle for me.. I have not had a cheat meal, missed a meal, strayed from my diet, cardio, missed a gym day, etc in probably the last 6-12months if i had to guess.

A little back story. In the winter of 07 i got back into the gym after a 3+ year lay off, and was basically starting from square one. After a few months of hard training, i was making some good gains, when one "intoxicated" saturday night i broke my middle finger completely threw the bone, which required emergency surgery.

I basically lost all my gains again. I got back into the gym around 6/07, at a FAT 200lbs with very little muscle. Over the next 2-3 months i dieted down to about 184 or so, hitting the weights hard, and trying to get back into shape.

Around October of 07 it was GROW time. I began "bulking" following the Anabolic Diet.

Pic 1 4/16/08- I made it up to 198lbs. I had gained a bit of fat, but also packed on some much needed muscle.

I have always been a front delt dominant presser, which left my delts far over shadowing my chest. It was at this point i made it my goal to bring chest up. I really focused on keeping my shoulder blades pinched back, chest high, etc. I also got very careful with my exercise selection.

At this point it was time to start shedding fat very slowly, while trying to preserve/gain muscle.

Pic 2 5/23/2008
In this pic i was at 195. At this time i hired Skip Hill at intense muslce to help me with my diet. My training stayed the same(DC). Skip is the man. It was one of the better investments i have made IMO. I am pretty good at putting together my own diet, but i love to learn, and see different approaches, and why things get done a certain way, so didn't mind shelling out for assistance. Better then spending money on supps that do next to nothing IMO.

Pic 3 6/26/08 Here i was down to 191. In this pic i am looking pretty flat, as i believe it was on a friday, after a week of no carbs.

Pic 4 10/20/08 In this pic i am at 186, and finally have brought my chest up quite a bit IMO.. I am also a good deal leaner. I am holding a bit of water as it was the Monday after a Saturday reefed.

Goals over the next yr are to continue to lean down to about 9-10%, i would think i still have another 5-7lbs of fat to drop to get there.. Once i hit that point, i will try and stay between 10-12%, while adding muscle. Over all i would like to get to 190-195@ 10%.

I weighed 181.4 this morning, so i am actually a bit leaner then even in that pic, but very flat(tomorrws refeed day!!:donut:)
Thanks for looking!
 
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Jayhawkk

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Definitely a noticable change! Congrats on sticking with the discipline on getting there.
 
Frank Reynolds

Frank Reynolds

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Definitely a noticable change! Congrats on sticking with the discipline on getting there.
Thank you.. The positive reinforcement is much appreciated.

Here is actually the whole time line of the last year. I was actually like 2-3 weeks into dieting in the first pic, i started off even worse then that..
 
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flobot

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Need more triceps and lateral and rear deltoids, plus decline bench press.
 
Frank Reynolds

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Need more triceps and lateral and rear deltoids, plus decline bench press.
Thanks-
Triceps are my focus currently. 100% agree with you there. That is the one part i can not really nail down what works for me yet.

My rear delts are "decent" , but get overshadowed by my front delts.. I am hoping this problem evens out, as i put more mass on.

Thanks again-
 
flobot

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Triceps is actually a prob. for me too. Yeah man I can imagine what your delts would look like if you get that back part to the same dimensions as the front.

Keep up the good work! Btw, good looking pitbull (I like its expression), is it a pet or is it game?
 
Svgeman

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Nice guns man .
Work on the tri's and rear delts .
Front delts and bi's are awesome .
 
FlawedGrunt

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Bis are ****ing awesome. Mind telling me how you lost the weight
 
Frank Reynolds

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Nice guns man .
Work on the tri's and rear delts .
Front delts and bi's are awesome .
Thanks man.. I will be working on them indeed.

Bis are ****ing awesome. Mind telling me how you lost the weight
thanks. Basically just consistency. Sticking to my diet, cardio, etc. We have been taking fat loss VERY slowly. I have actually put on a bit of muscle, while slowly coming down in BF.
 
nparisi

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Awesome work dude...especially to work through losing gains I know how hard it was for me when I stopped lifting for like 6 months...keep it up
 
leanbody

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Awsome work dude! Huge transformation fast! You are looking nice & lean now - vascularity in the shoulders is impressive as are the guns. For tri's I like decline skullcrushers - go heavy and to exhaustion- then follow up w/ cable work.

All together excellent!
 
Aggravated

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I think his rear delts look small due to how is is posing. He isn't pulling his shoulder all the way back. Not proper form for a side chest IMO.
 
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great progress... i agree with the tri's, crazy to think what his arms will look like with a more definited tri!
 
Frank Reynolds

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I think his rear delts look small due to how is is posing. He isn't pulling his shoulder all the way back. Not proper form for a side chest IMO.
That is a big part of it. Also in the most recent pic the angle kills my tris to some degree, and with the angle my rear delts are barely even visible. Both have come up a bit, and will be the focus over the coming months.

We just bumped cals up yesterday to start adding more size, i ended up at about 178 after the holidays(low of 176) so a good 7-8lbs down from the last pics, and pretty lean. Strength steadily climbed as well..

Thanks for the feed back.
 
TexasLifter89

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damn good in 6 months bro! I would love to look like that at 180
 
Frank Reynolds

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SFW- Thanks

Tx- Thanks man... :thumbsup:
 
Hank Vangut

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the change from jul '07 to oct '08 is very dramatic.
nice work in just over a year!
 
lciaccio

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wow...nice improvements for 6 months!!! what kind of cardio program have u been implmenting? hiit? please share
 
Frank Reynolds

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Hank- Thanks brotha.. I have watched your progress as well.. very nice.

Aggravated- thanks again.

lciaccio- Cardio was all low intensity, on my off days(4x wk).. The durration changed as i dropped down in bf%.. Like i said we took it VERY slow in order to keep putting on muscle.
 

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