Reid's Offseason Journey to become a Natural Pro

[bigryan03]

FARRRRRRKKKKK dude that is one of the most epic transformations I have ever seen. Speechless.

[Shazriki]

Hopefully you can relax a bit over the christmas break and "find yourself" a little bit. With an excessive work load it can be extremely draining and impossible to fully "detach." Just had my last day on Friday and I already feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders even though I still have exams to study for. Hopefully it works the same for you bro.

[Reid456]

Blueberry XT whey + blueberry wrap


Chicken/pepper tortilla pizza


Egg/ham/cheese sandwiches


Toffee bits pancakes w/ coffee ice cream


FFGY blueberry sludge


Rice/lentils/vegetables + chicken breast

[Rypt1]

Hopefully you can relax a bit over the christmas break and "find yourself" a little bit. With an excessive work load it can be extremely draining and impossible to fully "detach." Just had my last day on Friday and I already feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders even though I still have exams to study for. Hopefully it works the same for you bro.

^^^ This. Hopefully the break from school (and I assume you'll be going to visit family) will let you rest and re-charge a little. Like the bible states, life won't be easy but you God never lets it be more than we can handle (as long as you give your burden/s to him). I know you'll get through this, just take one day at a time.

Oh, I always find that when life is kinda "down in the dumps", serving others is a quick fix.

[bigryan03]

^^^ This. Hopefully the break from school (and I assume you'll be going to visit family) will let you rest and re-charge a little. Like the bible states, life won't be easy but you God never lets it be more than we can handle (as long as you give your burden/s to him). I know you'll get through this, just take one day at a time.

Oh, I always find that when life is kinda "down in the dumps", serving others is a quick fix.

^this.

[Reid456]

^^^ This. Hopefully the break from school (and I assume you'll be going to visit family) will let you rest and re-charge a little. Like the bible states, life won't be easy but you God never lets it be more than we can handle (as long as you give your burden/s to him). I know you'll get through this, just take one day at a time.

Oh, I always find that when life is kinda "down in the dumps", serving others is a quick fix.

It's funny you mention this because I've had a couple people who lurk this thread to PM me over the last couple of days saying that my log/journey was an inspiration to them and asked for some advice. Really made my day and made me remember that a big reason why I do this log is to help people to learn from my failures or successes. Sometimes you never know if you've helped changed somebody's life, but it's an awesome feeling to get some validation every now and again.

Today's motivation:


Key take-a-way: Don't be afraid of failure. This has always been my personal demon and I'm still fighting it.

[offroadatv200]

I agree with the helping others when youre down and out. I have an older client that just text me letting me know he has already lost 6 pounds in the first two week of training, and is able to do things he could not do prior to the stretches / training we go through.

Anyways, killer transformation man. Mine was the opposite, i was always the chubster prior to lifting. and the food..........drool

[Reid456]

I agree with the helping others when youre down and out. I have an older client that just text me letting me know he has already lost 6 pounds in the first two week of training, and is able to do things he could not do prior to the stretches / training we go through.

Anyways, killer transformation man. Mine was the opposite, i was always the chubster prior to lifting. and the food..........drool

I actually went from chubster in early high school, to skinny after starting to run track, to chubster 177lbs freshman year of college, to 160lbs not looking terrible, to 180lbs before contest prep. It's been a little up and down, haha.

[offroadatv200]

I actually went from chubster in early high school, to skinny after starting to run track, to chubster 177lbs freshman year of college, to 160lbs not looking terrible, to 180lbs before contest prep. It's been a little up and down, haha.

Yup, mine was pretty similar. Except i never hit skinny, HA.

[Reid456]

Just realized I haven't posted workout updates in a week. Well I've now finished Week 3 of my second cycle of 5/3/1:

5/3/1 M2W3 OHP
3x warmup sets
1x5x90
1x3x105
1x1omx115 - 4 Not terrible but not the greatest.
5x10x65

Dips
bw+30 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 9

5/3/1 M2W3 Deadlift

Deadlift
3x warmup sets
1x5x265
1x3x300
1x1omx335 - 5
5x10x175

Wide grip pullups
Didn't have the motivation

5/3/1 M2W3 Bench

Bench
3x warmup sets
1x5x130
1x3x145
1x1omx165 - 5 Actually hit 6 here but the spotter was an absolute moron who had his hands on the bar the whole time. Knew I should've taught him how to spot before doing the set. Kind of pissed, but what was done was done.
5x10x90

Pendlay rows
135x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 Felt great today. Actually moved up the 45s so that made the ROM a little bit easier.

5/3/1 M2W3 Squat

Squat
3x warmup sets
1x5x220
1x3x250
1x1omx280 - 3
5x10x145

Smith Calf Raises
2pps + 10s + 2.5s x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Was pretty happy with 280x3. I think before prep started I was barely doing more than this at 25lbs heavier. I did eventually work my way up to 315x5 during prep so that's the target I need to beat.

Food

ham/egg/cheese paninis


Turkey chops + sweet potato fries + vegetables w/ sriracha


I think tonight will be the return of the BAP. I'll let you guess the acronym but I'll tell you the last word is pancake.

[The Solution]

Did you make those SP fries yourself or are those frozen SP Fries? Look like they came out perfect.
What was your recipe if you cut/cooked yourself?

[Reid456]

Did you make those SP fries yourself or are those frozen SP Fries? Look like they came out perfect.
What was your recipe if you cut/cooked yourself?

They were frozen alexia sweet potatoes. I've kind of wanted to try roasted carrots after seeing IrishPilot make those.

[hamiltronj]

Reid dat food..hhnnnnggg

Im glad things are starting to trend upwards for you brother. Keep your head on straight and things will be just fine.

[Reid456]

Approach to nutrition lately has been to track all throughout the day and leave a solid 1000 calories for my last meal and a couple beers both of which I don't track but I try to hit as close as I can. It's Christmas break, haha.

[bigryan03]

Approach to nutrition lately has been to track all throughout the day and leave a solid 1000 calories for my last meal and a couple beers both of which I don't track but I try to hit as close as I can. It's Christmas break, haha.

Nice approach there man.

LOL spotters like that kill me. Thats why I bench in the rack

[jpfaherty]

They were frozen alexia sweet potatoes. I've kind of wanted to try roasted carrots after seeing IrishPilot make those.

Those are money! Were they the chipolte version? HNNNNG.

That blueberry wrap you made is different! How was it?

Great transformation pic on the previous page too! Great things in here Reid. (I've been slacking lately, stay away from the boards a bit on my deloads ha)

[Reid456]

Nice approach there man.

LOL spotters like that kill me. Thats why I bench in the rack

Yeah maybe I should start.... Or move back to DBs which I really like a lot more. The only problem with DBs is the 10lb increments. If I had some microplates, it would be awesome.

Those are money! Were they the chipolte version? HNNNNG.

That blueberry wrap you made is different! How was it?

Great transformation pic on the previous page too! Great things in here Reid. (I've been slacking lately, stay away from the boards a bit on my deloads ha)

I am not aware of chipotle version. Yeah they are pretty darn good.

The blueberry wrap was actually pretty good. The blueberry muffin dymatize XT whey makes that really soft-feeling sludge and it went well with the tortilla. Not sure if it would be better cold or warmed.

Things are going well in life now. Got a 3.34 GPA for this semester which is FAR better than I was expecting. Actually managed all A's and B's. That was a huge burden from my shoulders.

My friends and I have started a Bible study every morning which has been really refreshing. It's interesting too because most of my friends are leaders in the Young Life organization, but I have just never felt that it was for me, but I'm still able to witness in my own way. I got a couple of PMs recently from people who said that I really was an inspiration to them in terms of bodybuilding and faith which literally just blows my mind. I feel like I haven't really accomplished much, but if I can provide a good example for others to follow and I'm helping others to learn in their bodybuilding and life journey, then that provides a lot of motivation for me to continue doing this and working hard. It's just nice to be reminded that my actions don't only affect myself but also has the power to affect others as well. That provides both a new sense of responsibility and motivation.

[Rypt1]

Congrats on getting all A's and B's for the semester!

[Reid456]

[The Solution]

Very proud of you with a great semester in school man which matters Most.. what is your major? Maybe i missed that by chance?

[Reid456]

Very proud of you with a great semester in school man which matters Most.. what is your major? Maybe i missed that by chance?

Chemistry

[Ccm644]

Chemistry

Wow, that has got to be seriously hard and demanding, Well done

Nice Vlog

[bigryan03]

SWEEEEEEEEEET! We getting Vlogs now!!

[The Solution]

You make me want to start doing a V-Log.. never really have.

[Reid456]

ham/cheese/broccoli omelette w/ toast


Giant chocolate pancake


chicken/broccoli/pb/mustard wrap


rotini w/ ground beef, broccoli, pasta sauce, parmesan cheese

pretty much same as above except w/ onions


Blueberry muffins

w/ blueberry xt sludge

$$$ shot

[Reid456]

ground beef + onions + green peppers + sweet potato + salsa + cheese stir fry


2 cups chocolate fudge pudding + 1 cup FFGY + chewy granola bar


after cherios added in


was farting all night....

[bigryan03]

was farting all night....

I lol'd. My parents hate it when I stay at their place hahaha.

[NaturalPursuit]

Damn...those muffins!! do want!!!

[Reid456]

Damn...those muffins!! do want!!!

They looked a lot better than they tasted, heh. Not enough sugar/fat.

This week has been a deload week which has been nice because I don't even feel like training anymore. I think I'm experiencing some minor depression symptoms recently, so that kind of sucks. It's weird because I want so very badly to be motivated to train and progress but I just can't get into it. Even during my workouts I don't get the feeling that I used to get back before contest prep when I was training hard and loving every minute of it. So, maybe this is just a time-dependent thing but I'm going to continue trying to make good decisions and I know I will come out on the other side here soon one of these days.

[Ccm644]

Don't let it get to you, have a nice Christmas then see how you feel.
Maybe a little break is needed
Everyone sure goes through these times, hope you find the path you want soon