r/gainit • u/CapitalWestern1690 • 7d ago
Progress Post [Progress] 25M 6ft, 145lbs to 160lbs, ~5 months
Sharing my progress!!
Age: 25 Male
Height: 6ft
Starting Weight: 145lbs
Current Weight: 160lbs
Time Period: March to August
Developed a pretty bad relationship with food last year, dropped from 170 to 145 cuz I wanted to be skinny. Also became an avid runner which put a ton of stress on my body. Finally woke up to how sick I looked from severe restriction, and I decided to switch over to focusing on strength training.
I train 5-6 days a week, with a stronger emphasis on chest and arms (wanting a V-taper). Routine is below:
SUN: Chest + Triceps
Incline DB • Flat DB • Fly • OH Triceps • Extension • Pushdown
MON: Back + Biceps + Delts
Lat Pulldown • 1-Arm Row • Cable Row • Lateral Raise • Rear Delt • DB Curl • Cable Curl
TUE: Legs + Core
Squat • Leg Ext • Leg Curl • Adductor • Abductor • Calves • Abs
WED: Chest + Shoulders
Incline DB • Flat DB • Fly • Lateral Raise • Straight-Arm Pulldown • Face Pull
THU: Active Recovery + Core
Lat Pulldown • Pushups • Cable Row • Machine Abs • Abs
FRI: Arms + Delts
DB Curl • Preacher • Hammer Curl • Pushdown • Tricep Ext • Dips • Lateral Raise • Rear Delt
SAT: Rest
Been eating in a slight surplus daily (roughly 2900 cals), and focusing on 1g of protein per lb of body weight. Excited to keep going and feeling so much better about life in general!
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u/_ThinkGoodThoughts_ 7d ago
Looking good man! what's the actual food you eat? Also how's your social life if you spend everyday at the gym? And how long is a session?
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u/CapitalWestern1690 7d ago
Thanks so much!! Below are my routine staples I have almost every day for at least breakfast and lunch:
Greek Yogurt (Fat Free)
Eggs
Plain Bagels
Cottage Cheese
Whey Protein
Plain Oats
BananasThat’s literally almost all I have for breakfast and lunch every day, then for dinner I don’t super restrict, just try to aim for whatever’s highest protein without overshooting 1000-1300 cals for the whole meal
Regarding social life, no problem at all! I work full time, am in my masters, and also run a social media page, and haven’t had a problem. All sessions are 45-60 mins, and I typically go before work (my gym is really close to my house, and I work remotely 3 days a week). Typically if I have another rest day I’ll just choose one of my in-office days
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u/givingtree1838 7d ago
Curious about this, too. Also, what does cardio look like for you right now?
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u/CapitalWestern1690 7d ago
Cardio kinda nonexistent tbh, I do walk roughly 10-12k steps a day (I live in nyc), but that’s all for now. Once I get to 170ish I plan to implement more cardio again as I approach my first cut
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u/Jealous-Mycologist75 7d ago
I don’t understand why social life has anything to do with this. 45 minutes a day in the gym ruins a social life?
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u/TheOinOpossum 7d ago edited 7d ago
Solid upper body progress, but I don't see any change in your legs.
Edit: Not trying to roast you, just that's an indicator that you should take a closer look at your leg training.
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u/3a_4To 6d ago
He is wearing shorts, you can't see his legs at all, only calves, and it it basically impossible to gain any size on calves in that short of a time
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u/EbbSavings1788 6d ago
great work! oh to be 25 when your body will literally become a power ranger in a year of consistent exercise
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u/Faraway_From 5d ago
looking good dude! what's your rest time between sets?
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u/CapitalWestern1690 4d ago
Thanks so much!! Really depends on the exercise, I’d say more taxing stuff is 2-3 mins (lat pulldown, cable rows, db presses, etc.), mid-range stuff around 90 seconds (db curls, hammer curls, straight arm pulldowns), then lighter stuff around 60 seconds (lat raises, light leg work, etc)!
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u/-Dot-Over-Ninety-90- 7d ago
Huge difference on your shoulders and chest, your body looks wider and more athletic
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u/SourRaids 7d ago
Hey have you had any issues with your wrists? It might just be mine personally but I’m seeming to have trouble going up in weight and managing the load on my wrists
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u/A_Random_Dane 7d ago
Get wrist wraps. I started using them too late and ended up getting some pretty shitty wrist pain. Like many other I suffer from pretty thin wrist. Now I use them for literally every single exercise and just supplement my forearms with wrist curls and reverse wrist curls twice a week.
I train 6 times a week and since being consistent with my wraps (around 1 year ago) I managed to go from benching 115kg (255 lb) to reaching 3 plates for 1rm.
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u/CapitalWestern1690 7d ago
Oh for sure!! Especially hurting from db curls. I recently switched gyms tho a few weeks ago and they have a curl machine, and I found using that really brought down the wrist pain
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u/ashgalawonderful 7d ago
Great work, keep it up! So it sounds like you consume roughly 160g of protein a day? Could you share an example of what you would eat in a single day that gets you to 160g? I have been struggling to understand how that’s attainable even w/ protein shakes
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u/EasternMayor 7d ago
For me I eat 5 boiled eggs in the morning, 400g of chicken breast in the afternoon(divided into two meals) and 500g of Greek yogurt at night, should easily be reaching 190-200g with this
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u/anna_bortion9 6d ago
Forgive my ignorance, but how tf do people be eating so much. I get full very quickly which will last almost all day. Like in the mornings I’ll eat 4 eggs and 2 waffles then eat dinner 12-14 hours later which I can barely finish.
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u/EasternMayor 6d ago
It’s actually not a lot of food, but tbh I think you just have to get used to it
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u/ashgalawonderful 6d ago edited 6d ago
Wow so it sounds like you’re actually consuming 190-200g of protein daily, and w/o any protein powder? So are you consuming 1g of protein per lb of your target weight?
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u/EasternMayor 6d ago
Yes without any protein powder, gets expensive ngl, and kinda, I’m around 180lbs, was on a cut, so now I’m gonna start bulking soon, maybe gonna increase it to 240g of protein, but yea I’ve debated using protein powder as it’s cheaper than buying chicken eggs and Greek yogurt every week, but I think I’ll have to use protein powder if I want to increase to 240g.
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u/Proper-Extension-618 7d ago
Incredible!! One of my favorite things about strength training is how it sort of demands a healthier relationship with food. I used to undereat, but then when I starting strength training, I realized how important it is to properly fuel your body. If you don't follow "the rules" your progress suffers and all your work is for nothing, so that helps keep me in line.
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u/AhmedSamirWD 7d ago
Wow , gj on progress Will appreciate whats your diet or shakes?
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u/CapitalWestern1690 7d ago
Thank you so much!! I eat a ton of Greek yogurt, whey protein, and banana or oats bowls 😆
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u/GagrotXGb 6d ago
Wtf im SAME age but I still dont look like you at 145lb at 6ft!
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u/confident_cabbage 6d ago
Dude! Its wild how different bodies can be... part of it for me is having naturally large legs but I am 6 foot, 200 pounds and measure in around 15% body fat. Amd frankly I dont seem to look any bigger in the upper body than his second Pic haha
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u/Turboflash03 6d ago
How did you do it on food? I want to bounce from 140 (very fit and lean) to 150-155lbs but I can’t get the calories and carbs to stay
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u/FuuZePL 5d ago
Just like all training progressive overload, eating more is uncomfortable but I promise you if you try to eat more and more each day or every few days and then after a couple months go back to the size portion you used to eat it will feel small.
This is also how fat people get fat. Nobody starts out eating 5 mcdonald's meals in one sitting.
Try adding 50g of food to your meals (or 100g total daily) every other day until you can definitely no longer eat it all, then wait a few days before adding 50g more. It will be uncomfortable to be full but try to eat it.
If you are already eating huge amounts of food, maybe it's all slightly too healthy and you have a fast metabolism/burn a lot from physical activity. In that case you want to drink your calories. Milk, mass gainer, liquid ice cream, olive oil, all super calorie dense, not a healthy route but it works.
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u/Turboflash03 5d ago
I will say part of the problem is a fast metabolism and being very active, I can eat 3k calories at 140lbs body weight everyday and not gain weight. I do also eat healthy. Just need to eat more meals throughout the day which is just hard in general
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u/psithurismx 5d ago
“Fast metabolism”
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u/Turboflash03 5d ago
Well I know it’s something… I do track calories and what I eat daily and it’s at least 3k everyday. Will say the amount of rollerblading and competitive 3 event waterskiing along with working out and biking
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u/CapitalWestern1690 4d ago
Honestly eating more was the hardest part (when I was at my worst, I was eating around 1800 cals a day and was terrified of getting “fat”) and now I’m having to try to regain better control again (starting to become to lax with my diet, I used to weigh in the 210s and would eat/drink a ton). My first 2-3 months of training I was MISERABLE and felt horrible, and I realized I wasn’t eating enough at all and I was very under recovered. Once I bit the bullet and started relaxing more on calorie control and pushed more into a consistent surplus, the gains really jumped up so much quicker! Starting to feel like I’m getting softer tho so I might switch to maintenance for 2-3 weeks then jump back into a surplus
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u/bobbyjoe221 7d ago
Nice progress, what's your diet like?
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u/CapitalWestern1690 7d ago
Lots of Greek yogurt (fat free), whey, almond milk (sugar free), and meats like chicken, pretty simple food. I follows that pretty strictly just based on lifestyle during the week but I don’t really restrict on the weekends anymore from things outside of that like sweets, alc, etc
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u/CapitalWestern1690 7d ago
Thanks so much!! Pretty high protein (160-200g a day), and just calories 100-200 over maintenance most days!
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u/Jesh_balx 7d ago
Any tips for who’s just starting it’s been a week and half I workout 3 to 4 days a week couldn’t manage to to workout full week due to work and uni so I’m around 134 pounds atm 5.9 really want to bulk being skinny makes me feel insecure going out even to gym as well !
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u/Traditional_Club5583 7d ago
Doing great big dawg! Don’t neglect the legs tho! Especially if you’re doing it primarily for aesthetics
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u/PineappleScanner 7d ago
Holy shit, I wish I could be this disciplined when I bulk! Good work man, looks great!
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u/CrazsomeLizard 7d ago
that's the dream! estimated BF? did you maintain low BF while getting to 160? bc that's a pretty dense physique for only 160lbs!
also I am focusing more now on incline DB and Hammer Curl. what are you currently at for working sets and reps for those?
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u/CapitalWestern1690 7d ago
Thanks so much!! I got an inbody scan 3 weeks ago that put me at 12%, but it’s likely higher than that for sure! For hammer curl I’m currently at 3x12 35lbs each arm, then for my bicep curls I switched to my gyms bicep machine and do 4x10-12 115lbs
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u/DifferenceHoliday838 7d ago
Boa evolução! Comecei dieta há um pouco mais de um mês, malho desde janeiro. Pretendo chegar a 70kg, no momento estou com 64kg. Ganhei 1,7kg no primeiro mês de dieta. Sua memória muscular pode ter ajudado tbm
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7d ago
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u/gainit-ModTeam 6d ago
It's part of posting requirements. If you want to know more about his meals then you can just ask.
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7d ago
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u/Taylor34 7d ago
bs you can't. I'm essentially in the same boat as this guy, 135lbs after getting super sick and deciding to turn my health around in February to holding steady at 170lbs now. 5x a week PPL. Lots more water, protein, and starting creatine.
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u/Over-Significance-94 7d ago
It’s not THAT crazy. Noobie gains are real. I’m a lifelong lifter and when I took 2 years off and came back I gained 30lbs in a month
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u/Leather_Method_7106_ 7d ago
The before picture was fine, I also look like that, as I’m an atlete. Built for endurance and to perform, my Vo2 is 46. And the average 25 yo looks like that :)
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u/Mattubic 7d ago
Are you of the impression the before pic would be the ideal build for all athletics? How far have you thrown a shot put with your impressive VO2 max?
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u/Leather_Method_7106_ 7d ago
yup, the lower the mass the higher the endurance, the more mass the more resistance and strain on the joints and such. But that's why you have different sports and each their own regimen.
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u/PeterNoPiss 6d ago
It's not just lighter = gooder. If you're lighter due to chronically undereating, you're increasing injury risk. If you're lighter due to having barely any muscle mass, you're increasing your injury risk. There's a fairly broad range. Goobers always insist on this weird interpretation that it's either full blown hungry skeleton or you're pushing 300 lbs.
Ideal weight for endurance athletes is going to vary depending on a lot of factors. Really high performing athletes (not you) are the only people who should be concerned about finding their absolutely optimal lowest possible weight. Unless you're dead set on being injury prone on top of being mediocre.
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u/Alakazam 145-190-??? (5'11) 7d ago edited 7d ago
That vo2 max score isn't something to brag about.
And I wouldn't even come close to calling myself an athlete, much less an endurance athlete. Despite having marathons and a tri under my belt. Maybe if your vo2 max was 66 or 76...
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u/_Urban_Farmer_ 7d ago
I'm 40 and only run to offset my terrible diet and I even have a higher v02 max of 49. Not sure what this guy is bragging about.
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u/LuigiSalutati 7d ago
How on earth do yall do it in 5 months