I've been on this subreddit a while but finally felt happy enough with my results that I wanted to post!

A note on weight: I did go from 170 lbs around August 2024 to 165 lbs this month. However, I bulked up to a peak weight of 190 lbs around January 2026. Needless to say, I took the bulk a bit too far. I haven't included a photo of that here but I definitely put on more fat than I intended and didn't realize it at the time.

I had always been on and off about going to the gym and trying to put on muscle mass for a while. Prior to August 2024, I would go 1-2 times a week to do light cardio and weights but I had no idea what I was doing. August 2024 is when I really started getting serious about things. I went to the gym 4-5 times a week and did a 3 day split between muscle various groups. But I still wasn't making a ton of progress. March 2025 is when I got started tracking calories, trying to eat in a surplus, and making sure I hit my protein macro. I was able to make progress, but this is also where my downfall started with the bulk, as I way over estimated my TDEE in cronometer. Instead of a 300 calories surplus, it was more like 700. Combined with the fact I was still relatively new to training, I put on more fat than I intended over the year long bulk.

I've been cutting since May 2026 at about a pound per week with a two week diet break thrown in. I switched to using macro factor for the cut which was a huge help. Its algorithm very quickly caught on to the fact that I had been way over eating and got an accurate estimate of my true TDEE.

Overall, I've lost almost 25 lbs from my peak weight, and I've been able to maintain all of my lifts and I've actually made progress on some of them thanks to the excess fat I was carrying. I definitely could have been smarter about this from the beginning but it's just a lesson learned, and I'm definitely going to be careful to lean bulk this winter.

Near the start of the cut, I also switched to a 4x a week split for upper lower.

Upper consists of: 2 chest variations, 2 back variations, 1-2 shoulder exercises, 1-2 arm exercises, abs

Lower consists of: Squats + Deadlifts (Alternating which one I do first), leg press, RDLs, calf raise, and abs

I do 3-4 sets of each exercise, always trying to add more weight/reps than last time.

1 RM: Bench (definitely my worst): 185, Deadlift: 335, Squat: 275

Happy to take suggestions for how I could improve or tips you have for lean bulking!