The Design Studio That Got Carried Away in the Gym

Skinny to Muscular Graphic Designers?

We were graphic designers once. Lifting weights? That was for bros. And besides, we'd already tried and failed several times. We'd already decided to blame those failures on our skinny genetics.

We're Jared Polowick and Shane Duquette. We were university roommates while getting our design degrees at York University in Toronto, Canada. We became fast friends, and when we graduated, we decided to start a graphic design firm together. It went well, for a time.

We even built an entire business selling WordPress themes to bands: Foxhound Band Themes. Life was good, for the most part.

Our Descent Into Atrophy

But after many long days spent hunched over our computers, our bodies began withering away. We had always been skinny, but "clinically underweight" became painfully underweight, and soon we couldn't ignore that pain any longer.

We decided to bulk up. We would do whatever it took, even if that meant going back to the gym. (We really didn't want to go back to the gym.)

The thing is, this time it worked. Jared gained 22 pounds in five weeks, Shane gained 12. We had finally found a way to bulk up.

How We Became Bulking Experts

Emails started flowing in from skinny guys asking for advice. Honestly, we were just as surprised as everyone else. Why did this bulking attempt work when all of our other attempts had failed?

We were getting these emails asking for advice, and yeah, we were pretty excited about our gains, but the process was miserable. Eating that much food sucked. It sucked so, so bad. Our skinny stomachs weren't designed for bulking diets. We had to spend several hours each day force-feeding ourselves. We felt nauseous all day long. Moreover, our newbie gains were starting to plateau, and we had no idea why.

Partnering with a Strength Coach

We realized that we were out of our depth. So we found an expert to help us: Marco Walker-Ng, BHSc, PTS, PN. Marco is a certified strength coach who helped college, professional, and Olympic athletes bulk up.

But what truly impressed us was that he was a naturally skinny guy who had gained 63 pounds. He had also studied under Eric Cressey, MKin—a hero in the bulking world. Eric Cressey is the guy who helps all the Major League Baseball players bulk up.

We offered to help Marco build a website if he would help us build our bodies. It was the best trade we ever made.

He taught us how to make a homemade weight gainer, and immediately our diets got easier. He gave us a proper bulking workout routine, and within a couple of weeks our muscle gains were back on track. He taught us about balancing stress and recovery, and soon this new lifestyle became incredibly rewarding.

Not long after that, Jared had gained 45 pounds, Shane had gained 55 pounds, and the emails from other skinny guys kept rolling in. We kept on doing our best to help them, and with Marco's workout programs, it was going astonishingly well. At first, we had a couple of beta testers gain 20 pounds over the course of a couple of months. And then one of them, Obe, gained 20 pounds in just four weeks. (Now, of course, your results may vary. Everyone's bulk looks a little different. These are just examples.)

The emails kept coming in. Our testers were stoked with their results. We knew we were onto something.

Not only had we gotten results ourselves, but our client transformations had earned us a great reputation. We gradually became experts at helping skinny guys bulk up.

Bulking Programs for Ectomorphs

The three of us decided to create Bony to Beastly together. Marco would be the strength coach, program the workouts, and teach the lifts; we would be the writers, illustrators, designers, videographers, and marketers.

The three of us made a 6-month bulking program, filmed hundred of lifting tutorials, wrote a detailed lifting and diet plan, and created an online community where we could coach people through the program.

And it took off! In fact, it was doing so well that skinny women started complaining. Why were we only helping skinny guys? That was bullshit. And we agreed. It was. So we made a program for skinny women, too. Bony to Bombshell was born.

Bony to Bombshell took off too. For example, our article on female aesthetics was a huge hit. And that left us with a difficult decision. We decided to shut down our design studio and pursue Bony to Beastly and Bony to Bombshell full-time.

We have thirteen years of experience now, and we've helped over ten thousand skinny people finally gain weight, along with the many millions of people who have read our articles.

Outlive: A Dream Body for Everybody

In the meantime, we kept fielding questions from our non-skinny friends and family. On top of that, we kept getting emails from Bony to Beastly and Bombshell alumni, asking if we could help their non-skinny wives/husbands/mums/dads, etc.

So Jared decided to head up a new project called Outlive. It would focus on helping out-of-shape "skinny-fat" people get their dream bodies.

Marco is still the strength coach, and Jared's wife, Michelle, joined the team as an illustrator.

Outlift: Even Bigger, Even Stronger

We also realized that Bony to Beastly and Bony to Bombshell had a big limitation. After bulking up, our members weren't bony anymore. They would finish our bulking programs and fall in love with our approach to fitness, then be left with nowhere to go. They were outgrowing our bony brands.

Shane and Marco decided to head up a new project called Outlift. It's a fitness site written from the perspective of a naturally skinny guy, but it's for everyone. It's not just about bulking, it's about lifting weights, building muscle, doing cardio, and living a healthier lifestyle. It's for everyone.

So, Outlift is about finding the link between size, strength, health, and aesthetics. Stronger and healthier bodies tend to look better. In fact, strength seems to be almost synonymous with aesthetics. Moreover, a strong muscle looks big, a big muscle is strong, and being bigger and stronger is incredibly good for our health. There's such a thing as a body that's just all-around great.