The Winter Bulk-Up Workout Plan to Gain Muscle in 4 Weeks

Winter does have its advantages—and one of the best is that you can set yourself up to be your at your biggest and leanest once the warm weather swings back around.

The trick is to use the winter to bulk up, then transition into an aggressive shred during the spring. This philosophy naturally gives your body the “change” it needs. You’ll be able to eat more, and—to some degree—rest a bit more as well.

Program designer Tim McComsey of TRYMFit says there are three main components to the Winter Bulk-up program:

1. The program focuses on large muscle groups: chest, back, and legs. You’ll train each group twice per week. The first part of the week will be most challenging; the second part will be scaled back to some degree.

2. The rest periods between exercises are longer to enable ample recovery from heavier, bigger lifts—60-90 seconds between sets, as opposed to the 30-45 second rests you’d see in a weight-loss plan.

3. The program revolves around “straight sets” versus the use of “super-sets” or “tri-sets”. Once you complete a set of an exercise, you’ll rest, then repeat for the prescribed number of sets that follow. This is another strategy to allow for ample recovery. The only time “tri-sets” will be used are for short ab/core workouts at the end.