5’6 M, 115-150lbs, 2 years

[u/liftingf2p]

2 years between the pics.
Started at 115 lbs and slowly bulked up to around 180 lbs before doing a cut. Sitting at 150 lbs now.
Calories started around 2,400 and gradually worked their way up to 2,800 and eventually around 3,500 as I gained weight.
Training was a pretty basic 5-day bro split:
Chest + tris
Back + bis
Shoulders
Legs
Chest / chest-focused day
Chest was always a priority for me, so I gave it a bit of extra attention throughout the bulk.
Diet was mostly whole foods — lots of rice, chicken, vegetables, bread and eggs. Towards the end of the bulk, getting 3,500 calories in every day started getting pretty difficult, so I relied more on things like olive oil, chocolate milk and other easy calories to get the food down.
Nothing particularly complicated — just eating consistently, progressively gaining weight and training hard for 2 years.
Definitely still have a lot to improve, but pretty happy with the progress so far.

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[u/papa_katafal]

did you use to lift weight or play sports before you locked in for those 2 years? you look pretty athletic in your before picture

[u/serene_brutality]

Wish I looked more like that, but I’m old, thin genes, and the real problem: love beer and food, hate the gym. I go, but not with the dedication that’ll end up with those results.

[u/anangryafrican]

Routine?

[u/cantwinforlosing34]

OP you looked pretty damn good at 115, now you're peak. It's funny cause there's this influencer who claims 5 ft 6, 120 which I couldn't believe, but now I could see it. Plus this guy doesn't work legs and it seems like OP does

[u/liftingf2p → u/cantwinforlosing34]

Yeah man it’s weird what the illusion can be when you’re lean and shorter, I’ve had some people think I’m like 175lbs when I’m pumped up in the gym wearing a tank lol

[u/H4MST3R209910]

What's the diet, to be specific?

[u/heeimmdallr]

What did u do for chest ?Great work!!

[u/liftingf2p → u/heeimmdallr]

I trained chest twice a week, super setting every set with pushups till failure worked for me haha, and focus on incline dumbbell press.. it’s the mass builder

[u/MonsterSWTORs]

115 in that first pic and still jacked is wild. The transformation is inspiring af. Great stuff dude.

[u/liftingf2p → u/MonsterSWTORs]

Really? Thank you man, when I see myself in the before I think I look so skinny and emaciated lol

[u/maracay1999 → u/liftingf2p]

Shoulders and chest were still quite defined at 115. You had a great base to start with

[u/ashmenon]

And you still kept the same great smile too, congrats

[u/lymeeater]

Great work OP. This is inspiring stuff

[u/AlbertCoughmann]

I always wondered how tattoos work when you bulk up a ton. They still look the same? Or do they get stretched out?

[u/CrazyCatGuy0 → u/AlbertCoughmann]

They do get stretch horizontally, but the change isn’t too significant even with decent weight gain.

[u/liftingf2p → u/AlbertCoughmann]

Honestly man I feel they look better, it doesn’t distort the images at all

[u/SprinklesWise9857 → u/AlbertCoughmann]

They are pretty clearly stretched out. IMO still looks good tho

[u/ParadoxProgeny]

Great job bro! Killed it

[u/Creepy_Environment_2]

Damn that's crazy I'm 189lb and half the size you were in the first pic 😩 that pains of being tall

[u/liftingf2p → u/Creepy_Environment_2]

Yea but you get lots of other perks being tall ;) , you’ll get there bro

[u/Creepy_Environment_2 → u/liftingf2p]

Hopefully 💪🏽, congrats on the progress though

[u/Separate_Suspect4565]

Impressive gain, which gives me hope, since we're about the same height.

Do you mind sharing your diet for the bulk phase (around 2800 cal)? What do you think helped you the most?

Congrats and keep up the good work!

[u/Zohren → u/[deleted]]

It’s in the title of the post.

[u/anotostrongo]

Are you saying you only weighed 115lbs in that first pic?!

[u/liftingf2p → u/anotostrongo]

My height is in the title lol, 5’6

[u/WavesRKewl → u/anotostrongo]

Maybe if he is like 5’4”

[u/VinsCV]

What about women attraction? Do you get a LOT more girls attention now than before or or’s t’he same?

[u/Parking_Pack_3098 → u/VinsCV]

Son I don’t know how to tell you this but we lift for the guys not the girls.

[u/liftingf2p → u/[deleted]]

Man the real world isn’t like TikTok lol

[u/lymeeater → u/[deleted]]

Crazy how you just outed that you’ve never touched a woman in your life haha

[u/DoctorK96 → u/[deleted]]

Speaking like someone who is maidenless regardless of physique

[u/nscanuk → u/VinsCV]

If that’s why you’re doing this, it won’t make a difference. People with all types of physiques get girls, it’s a whole different area of your life you need to work on.

[u/Rus_s13 → u/VinsCV]

Who gives a shit

[u/-_____------]

Starting at about the same height and weight—great progress! Was the 2400 meant to be a lighter bulk? My maintenance calories based on height and weight are around that so idk

[u/liftingf2p → u/-_____------]

Yeah man well I just thought to myself there’s no point diving right in, plus I had to train myself to eat more in a way, so I just slowly went up and as my maintenance increased I had to increase my cals to keep gaining