dhuge67

Also, if you care to follow my progress with the USMC, you can check this out: http://chrisd7.blogspot.com/

One week remains until I go off for Officer Candidate School in Quantico, VA. The time has finally come, I'm prepared, and it's going to suck balls! That's alright though, because I know that pain is temporary and quitting is forever. I'll post again on here when I'm a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps...shaved head and all. After this Summer, I am going to see a Doctor and evaluate my current situation. I may end up waiting until I'm out of the military to do surgery, since there's no point in having it hidden under a cap all the time and who knows how much else I'll lose in the next 3-4 years. I still want to get it right though, and I'm not going to give up and just leave a messed up transplant up there. I will address the issue and get it done right, by a top surgeon, probably H&W or Feller. I'll still be 25/26 and I think that's still young yet old (balded) enough to come close to finalizing my hair "situation." Thanks for all the support guys, wish me luck down there in Quantico! Semper Fi Dhuge

One week remains until I go off for Officer Candidate School in Quantico, VA. The time has finally come, I'm prepared, and it's going to suck balls! That's alright though, because I know that pain is temporary and quitting is forever. I'll post again on here when I'm a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps...shaved head and all. After this Summer, I am going to see a Doctor and evaluate my current situation. I may end up waiting until I'm out of the military to do surgery, since there's no point in having it hidden under a cap all the time and who knows how much else I'll lose in the next 3-4 years. I still want to get it right though, and I'm not going to give up and just leave a messed up transplant up there. I will address the issue and get it done right, by a top surgeon, probably H&W or Feller. I'll still be 25/26 and I think that's still young yet old (balded) enough to come close to finalizing my hair "situation." Thanks for all the support guys, wish me luck down there in Quantico! Semper Fi Dhuge

You're right. It's been said that the only variable that should change based on your goals (gain muscle vs lose fat) is your diet and not your training. Lift hard, then eat depending on your goals.

While that might be nice aesthetically, I prefer to gain both strength and size. The truth is, you'll never get bigger if you don't continually progress in one of a few ways: 1) The volume of work done in a period of time 2) The number of reps done with a certain weight 3) Increasing the weight used 4) Increasing the total tonnage per body part

By the way, what rep ranges do you guys find optimal for building strength and lean mass? Personally, I've had the most success with a set progression like such: 7, 5, 3, 3, 5, 7 (starting at 80% of my 1 rep max, then 85%, then 90% and back down).

You make some good points, but you also make a lot of bad ones. Your average Joe does not want to look average, but he doesn't know any better. If you want to look average, then do what average people do. If you want to be strong, big, and muscular, do big and compound lifts. Olympic lifts like Snatches, even. They aren't hard to learn, even if you just look at step by step pictures of a rep or ask an Oly lifter to show you. Also, 40% carb intake? Fat intake should be higher than Carb intake. Consume 1/3 of your daily carb intake pre workout, and the rest immediately post workout. In my case, I take in 50 grams of carbs pre workout, and 100 post. It's called Nutrient timing. Buy the book on Amazon for like $7. Make breakfast a large meal (hopefully a preworkout meal). Start the metabolic fire early in the day, then add a log to the fire every 2 hours. Kick your own ass in the gym. Nobody ever got big without putting out...unless 40% of their intake was from D-bol tabs. Later baldies!

This is bullshit. Start with compound exercises. You don't have to start heavy, but start with what is relatively heavy for YOU. Machines train a limited range of motion and a less optimal motor pattern is developed. Just because you don't go down the big hill first (heavy weight) doesn't mean you don't use the proper skis (exercises) when taking the bunny-hill (light weight).

Oh yeah! Keep rest intervals to 60-90 seconds.

I'm glad you like it. The key is to switch up your rep/set ranges over time. If you do 5x5 for 4-8 weeks, change over to 3 sets of 8-10 after that, then go to 12-15 for a while. Usually, I would limit higher rep ranges (8+) to 2 weeks and then go back to lower rep ranges. You would actually be really amazed at what 10 sets of 3 will do for your muscle growth. The important thing here? Total reps performed at an intense weight. 10x3 gives you 30 reps at a significantly heavy weight. 5x5 gives 25, 4 sets of 8 yields 32. Most people won't perform more than 24-50 reps per body part. Once you go beyond that, you start to enter the realm of muscular endurance, which isn't good for building size or strength. Just an FYI. Keep your reps in the 24-50 range, using heavy weight, and you'll be gold. I find my favorite set/rep ranges to be: 5x5, 10x3, and 4x8. Sometimes I'll employ a 2x25 to tax the smaller muscles that seem to respond to high reps better (biceps/calves). Another good scheme is tempo and pyramid & reverse sets. Basically, all of your reps come in succession, and in ascending then descending weight. For pyramids & reverse: perform 5 reps with a given weight, increase by 10% and do 5 more reps, then increase the weight again and do 5 more reps immediately, then increase once more and do 5 more reps, then remove weight for 5 more reps, then remove weight again and perform a final 5 reps. This is hugely taxing but highly stimulating. Tempo is the utilization of the rate at which you lift the weight. I like to do stuff like this on bicep work. Say you're curling some weight and you perform your first 2-3 reps at a fast speed. You contract the weight up as quickly as possible, then go back down and up as fast as possible. After 3 reps like that, perform 2 reps where you count that it takes 4 seconds to bring the weight up, pause at the top, then lower the weight over the period of 6 seconds. Doing stuff like this will vastly increase the effectiveness of your contractions. The body swing and the inherent "bounce" that comes with rhythmic lifting is not necessarily good. Counteract it with tempo changes and reap the benefits. That's all for today!

That advice is bullshit. To get leaner you want to do high intensity interval sprint workouts on a track, a bike, or a treadmill. Take 15 minutes and every 30 seconds go all out, then jog or walk for 30 seconds and repeat for 15 minutes. As for lifting, you want to hit heavy weights and the major compound exercises. Squats, deadlifts, bench press, military press, pull ups, dips, rows, lunges, etc. 5 sets of 5 reps would be a good starting place for you. Do 3 total body workouts per week and one day of cross training, and you'll lean out in a few months. Example: Day 1 Flat Dumbbell Bench: 5x5 Chest-Supported Rows: 5x5 Squats: 5x5 Weighted Pull Ups: 5x5 Weighted Dips: 5x5 Day 2 Deadlifts: 5x5 Military Press: 5x5 T-bar Rows to Neck: 5x5 Lunges: 3x12 steps Some bicep/tricep variations Day 3 Snatches: 5x5 Clean and Press: 5x5 Incline Bench: 5x5 Step Ups while holding weight above your head: 3x12 Shrugs: 3x12 Leg Curls/Leg Extentions: 3x12 Reverse Hyper Extensions: 3x10 Day 4 Do circuits of pull ups, push ups, run an 800, snatches, crunches. Repeat til you puke. Eat a gram to 1.5 grams of protein PER BODY POUND. Limit carb intake to immediately before and after your workouts. High glycemic immediately after you workout, then have a normal meal an hour after that. Enjoy your new body.

That's a really great transformation. I bet you're one happy dude.

Did he get his from Pistone or Dr. Brandy? LOL!!!!

The Commandant of the Marine Corps recently said that "all Marines will go," so I fully expect to do a tour of duty (or multiple) in the 'ol Sandbox. Hopefully I'll have some interesting things to share with you all, after I come back from that experience. OCS (boot camp) is going to be a joke for me, physically. I just have to hold myself from laughing at the D.I.s and I'll be fine! lol I fully intend and expect to graduate and commission and then live off of one MRE a day, forget all about showers, the Internet, fitness, or even friends; it'll be all about winning the mission and getting the men back safely. I've gotta be "Tom Hanks" about this (Saving Private Ryan). And if we're out of Iraq by then (doubtful), I'll try to bring back Kim Jong or Ahmadinejad's head... They'll need a little more than a hair transplant...

I just thought I'd pop in to share a few things with you all. First, the hair situation: the scar is hardly visible anymore. It seems that at about the 1-year point, it looked much more faded than it did at even 6 months. Today, it's really, really thin and light-looking, which makes it easier to buzz my hair. The hair in the front (the transplants) looks slightly better, due to the "aging" of the transplants. It's still a dusting of follicular units though, and I'm still thinning out all over...but much more slowly thinning than I did at age 19. Marine Corps: Just 2.5 months until I ship off to Quantico, VA for a nice 10-week Summer vacation. Training is going well; lifting and running are my main areas of concentration for the time being, much to the flummoxing of my peers at Penn State.....RIGHT. For them it's beer first, books second. For me it's the gym first, the books second. Well...good luck to everyone with their current growth or upcoming procedures. I wish you all luck! Thanks for the continued support, Chris

I'm doing well, thanks... Hair sucks, but I'm just 21 and 1/2 years of age, with a lot of donor hair left, and a positive outlook about the future possibilities regarding my hair situation. Things will get worse before they get better...BUT THEY WILL EVENTUALLY BE AWESOME. I'll have envied hair someday! Haha...maybe not...but it'll be fine since I know where I can turn to look for the "best current doc" when the time comes. Thanks again all, SF

Pretty damn obvious, but I don't care. It's thin and white, so it just looks like I had brain surgery or something...and that's what I'll say: "Yeah, I'm crazy, wudderyagonnadoaboutit?"

Thanks again guys. I'll post before I leave and then again when I come back (from hell). Til then, take it easy. Candidate DiEugenio

I was under the impression that transplanted hair, from older procedures can be shocked out, but it will more than likely grow back. It's the native, non-transplanted hair that if shocked out, probably won't return. That's what I think, but someone can correct me if I'm off-base.

Bill, Joe, thank you. Semper Fidelis = Always Faithful In less than a year, I hope to be able to return that motto as a Marine, to Mr. Ferko. Everyone, take it easy!

Thanks for the good wishes, guys, it's kind of you. Maybe this is "a good time to be bald," so to speak? Hopefully some advancements in surgical techniques and medicinal innovations will lead to even better options in the future. Maybe by the time I go back to addressing this issue, I'll have the ability to restore a lot of hair and at a lower cost (to my wallet and body). Til then, I've got a lot more to worry about (Drill Sergeants) than my hair.

Thanks man. If I learned anything from this process, it's that information is king and I didn't have enough and should have listened to the good people here. How many times does one have to make a mistake like that before he learns??? Anyway, I do plan to ultimately restore my hair, and at least I do know that is possible and I have a place to turn to in the future. Propecia didn't regrow my hair, though it may have slowed or stopped the loss...but it's not worth it due to the sides and the cost/mental anxiety of taking a hormone altering drug. I've decided to let nature take its course, but I will go under the knife in the future, I just don't know when or with whom. Here's my 1 year pic, after just shaving off an almost "full" head of hair. The hair I have when I grow it out is just pretty thin all over, and the transplants weren't high quality so they are actually more obvious the more I grow it. Chris

In 20 days I'll be 1 full year post op, and boy, nothing's changed! LOL Okay, I don't want to look like I've gone crazy or anything, but hairloss has taken a backseat to LIFE for me right now. It's a good thing that it's not bothering me like it used to, but it's bad that my surgery didn't help the problem much and just left me 6,500 dollars poorer and with a permanent scar. Okay, all is not lost. I am 21. I don't even have a real job yet. I'll deal with the issue at some point when finances and life allows me to take a 2 month physical respite. The scar isn't all that ugly (and luckily neither is my face ), so I lucked out on that. (I also figure I might as well mention that I stopped my Propecia use today. I just dumped the shit. I was getting sexual sides and I think it was slowing my progress in the gym. It didn't regrow anything, so it's just not worth it to stay on it. I was thinking of taking Saw Palmetto as a cheap replacement, but I might just go with the flow now. Meds just slow the inevitable and with sexual side effects...hell no.) I'm going into the Marine Corps, so a shaved head won't look so odd...how ironic. Anyway, I learned a hard lesson and all I can do is look forward now and I just hope to be able to deal with this in the future and with an excellent doctor. I'll be checking back every now and again... Thank you all for the support and wish me luck at Quantico, when I'll be down there for 10 weeks this coming Summer. Thanks again, Chris "Dhuge" DiEugenio

In 20 days I'll be 1 full year post op, and boy, nothing's changed! LOL Okay, I don't want to look like I've gone crazy or anything, but hairloss has taken a backseat to LIFE for me right now. It's a good thing that it's not bothering me like it used to, but it's bad that my surgery didn't help the problem much and just left me 6,500 dollars poorer and with a permanent scar. Okay, all is not lost. I am 21. I don't even have a real job yet. I'll deal with the issue at some point when finances and life allows me to take a 2 month physical respite. The scar isn't all that ugly (and luckily neither is my face ), so I lucked out on that. (I also figure I might as well mention that I stopped my Propecia use today. I just dumped the shit. I was getting sexual sides and I think it was slowing my progress in the gym. It didn't regrow anything, so it's just not worth it to stay on it. I was thinking of taking Saw Palmetto as a cheap replacement, but I might just go with the flow now. Meds just slow the inevitable and with sexual side effects...hell no.) I'm going into the Marine Corps, so a shaved head won't look so odd...how ironic. Anyway, I learned a hard lesson and all I can do is look forward now and I just hope to be able to deal with this in the future and with an excellent doctor. I'll be checking back every now and again... Thank you all for the support and wish me luck at Quantico, when I'll be down there for 10 weeks this coming Summer. Thanks again, Chris "Dhuge" DiEugenio

I wish Feller still performed large FUE sessions...since that's the only surgery I'm really considering right now - with all of the physical demands on me to stay in shape, I couldn't be down for more than 7 days at the most. Damn, I'm depressed about my hair situation...