Was watching Maximillian's final Assist me and got inspired to take Frank from Level 1 to Level 5 with as small an effort as possible. Got it! No drink, 2 bars.
Did I just blow your mind GAF?
The notation is -> L, M, H, S, j. M, j. M, j. M, j. S, A1+A2 (mash), qcf+S (get to level 3), qcf+ H (ground bounce), qcf +S (level 5 and reset).
You can also do L, M, H, A1+A2 and do the rest. Doing a raw A1+A2 does around 46 hits, which become 92 exp by the end, so you need another couple of hits for Level 5.