Slim Pickins: An Interview with IFBB Pro Allison Frahn
IFBB Pro Figure Competitor and GNC sponsored athlete, Allison Frahn was born and raised by her parents (Jane and Wayne) in the New York/New Jersey area. She currently resides in Mahwah, NJ. As if one beauty isn’t enough, Allison has an identical twin (Lauren) as well as another sister, Kristen.
The Fight of Her Life for Allison Frahn
Allison Frahn is a great competitor on stage and puts a lot of time into her workouts and diet. She, unfortunately, has had to fight through more than just brutal workouts in the gym — such as brain surgery. In 1998 while a Freshman in college at the University of DE, Allison faced the scariest moment of her life. She woke up one morning to what felt like a seizure where her entire body was shaking. When it was over, she jumped off her top bunk and couldn’t feel her left foot. She was walking around campus and kept tripping on her foot. Allison Frahn went home to a neurologist where they did an MRI. It was then that they discovered a “mass” on her brain, which God-willingly turned out to be a benign granuloma – just in a really bad spot! She found this out on Christmas Eve and had surgery on Dec 28th. She was released from the hospital with a catheter through a vein in her arm into her chest where she had to administer an antibiotic 2 times a day.
This took a lot to overcome – both mentally and physically. It created fears that she thought were insurmountable, but with the help of her family, faith, and friends she has come through this and it has only made her stronger. Allison’s faith became much deeper as a result; it is also at this time that she developed a strong connection with St. Therese, thanks to her aunt Marybeth.
Starting a Business
As if battling through something like brain surgery wasn’t enough, Allison Frahn decided to take on opening up her own business — Alli’s Slim Pickins. She started this business with a line of protein muffins which she was selling via the Internet. The shelf life was causing some unnecessary hurdles so she then transitioned to a dry blend, which she primarily sold into the Muscle Maker Grill franchise. Allison is currently working on reformulating her blend and developing this further, but this takes time – as she is the only person handling this project.
This is also the name of her weekly column on the Muscle & Fitness Hers website. Check it out!
Allison Frahn and Her Crazy Schedule
Allison Frahn loves being busy even though there is a lot of stress that comes along with it. On top of being a competitor, sponsored athlete (where she must travel for events/expos/shows/etc.), and owning her own business, Allison is also a Senior Manager of Finance for Nine West Group from 7:30am to 4:30pm.
A typical day for Allison Frahn looks like this:
- 4am wake up
- 4:30am train/cardio
- 7 am leave the gym for work
- Finance role until 4:30pm
- 5pm back to the gym (during Competition season)
- Balance of night: either cooking, writing articles for MF Hers, grocery shopping, packing for GNC trips, getting herself all prepped to do it all over the next day
- In bed by 10pm
Putting in the Work
Allison Frahn always used to buy Muscle and Fitness, Oxygen and other fitness magazines growing up. She thought to herself, “If I could only look like them and be in the magazine one day, my dreams would come true!” In college, post-surgery and recovery, she wanted to improve her health. She started going to the gym with her boyfriend and roommate, Melissa, before class each morning. Allison would do a ton of research online for training methods, proper nutrition, supplementation, etc. From there the rest is history! She was hooked — it is her lifestyle no and wouldn’t have it any other way. She wants to be able to help others achieve their goals as well.
Her column, Alli’s Slim Pickins, is just one way that she is able to reach out and give delicious healthy recipes so you can eat good without suffering (such a huge misconception that people have). Her tagline states: “100% Taste, 0% Guilt”.
Dreams did come true for Allison Frahn and she was able to do many photoshoots for magazines. She mentioned it has been truly an honor to be featured. Her next goal is to grace the cover of one of the many popular fitness magazines.
Allison began competing in 2005 with the INBF and then received her pro card with the WNBF.
GNC picked her up in 2005 – what a blessing! She absolutely loves this team and is so honored and grateful. She switched to the NPC in November 2009 and earned her pro card this year with the IFBB. Her next show will be Oct 15th – the Houston Pro.
With GNC, Allison Frahn travels at least once a month to various bodybuilding/fitness/figure competitions and/or expos. The most notable events where all of the athletes attend are the Arnold Classic in Columbus, OH and the Olympia in Las Vegas, NV. Allison believes that proper nutrition and supplementation are critical components to a healthy body—as GNC represents: “Live Well”.
Allison trains every single day – doing both weights and cardio. She does much more cardio when she’s preparing for a show. She mentioned her day just doesn’t feel right without training.
Yes, she knows that she needs rest too — once this season is over she’s going to try to work in a day of complete rest so her body can recover and make the improvements that she plans on.
What’s the Future Look Like?
In 10 years, Allison Frahn would like to still be involved in the industry in one way or another, be it still competing, Alli’s Slim Pickins, a new venture, fitness modeling, working for a fitness-related company… who knows! It’s in her blood though! She would also want to have a family at some point, all things in due time she says.
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When asked if there was anyone she would like to thank she said, “The list is probably too long, but I’ll mention a few: God, St. Therese, my family who attends almost all of my shows, Melissa for being such a great role model in college, Ronnie, Bruce, Rafael, Mike Davies, Adela Garcia and the amazing OFF Challenge Team, Mr. Kim Oddo – my current simply phenomenal trainer – yes, I’m an Oddo’s Angel. I will devote a very special shout out to my twin sister Lauren who has been by my side for every single minute of this journey, from backstage touch-ups, to make up, etc., to seeing me off up to minutes before I walk on stage, I don’t know if I could do it without her! I am so proud of her for all of her accomplishments as well, as she had done a great job with her Fitness Modeling and has since been picked up by Labrada. I wish her so much continued success… she deserves it and works so incredibly hard.”
*I conducted this interview with Allison Frahn on behalf of FitTreasures Magazine who has now gone out of business. The interview and title image was approved for use through its original use on the FitTreasure Magazine website.*
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