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 gives your body a change it needs. You’ll be able to eat more, and to some degree, rest a bit more as well.
Program designer Tim McComsey (@TimMcComsey) says there are three main components to the Bulk Up:
If you’re very new to working out, check out our best exercises for men and women to learn proper form.
1. It’s focused on large muscle groups such as Chest, Back, and Legs. You will train them twice per week. Smaller muscle groups like Shoulders, Biceps, and Triceps are secondary. The beginner of each week will be the most challenging, the middle-to-end is scaled back as though it’s a tapered recovery without going easy.
2. The rest periods between exercises are longer to enable ample recovery from heavier, bigger lifts. You’re looking at 60-90 second between sets versus 30-45 seconds which you would see in a weight loss plan.
3. The Bulk Up plan revolves around “straight sets” versus the use of “super-sets” or “tri-sets”. Once you complete a set of an exercise you will 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.
Before you get started, check out this piece on intuitive eating and this one on Tim’s grocery store essentials for building lean muscle.
DAY ONE: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
1. *BB Flat Chest Press
2. *DB Incline Chest Press
3. Push Ups
4. *DB Standing Shoulder PressSeated DB Lateral Raise
5. Cable Tricep Press Downs with Straight Bar
6. DB Bent-over Tricep Kick Backs
Sets, reps & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest
The Tri-set Finisher
Complete 3 sets of with 30 seconds rest between each one.
7A. Hanging Leg Raise x 12
7B. Decline Bench Reverse Curl Up x 12
7C. Swimmer Kicks x 30
DAY TWO: Back & Biceps 1
1. *Pull Ups
2. *BB Bent-over Rows
3. *Cable Free Motion Wide-grip Pull Downs
4. *Seated Free Motion V-bar Rows
5. BB Shrugs with 1 second hold
6. BB Standing Curls
7. Seated DB Hammer Curls
Sets, reps & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest
DAY THREE: Legs 1
1. *BB Squat
2. *BB Deadlift
3. *DB Forward Lunge
4. *Glute Ham Leg Raise
5. Standing Calf Raise
6. Seated Calf Raise
Sets, reps & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest
The Tri-set Finisher
Complete 3 sets of with 30 seconds rest between each one.
7A. Free Motion Cable Torso Rotations with Straight Bar x 15 per side
7B. Side Plank Up-Downs x 15 each side
7C. Decline Bench Weighted Russian Twist x 15 per side
DAY FOUR: Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps 2
1. *Standing High Free Motion Crossover Fly
2. *Flat Bench DB Fly
3. *Machine Cable Fly or Band Fly
4. *Standing DB Front Raise
5. *Seated DB Shoulder Press with Palms-In
6. DB Bench Tricep Skull Crushers
7. Weighted Bench Dips
Sets, reps, & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest
DAY FIVE: Back and Biceps 2
1. *Chin Ups
2. *Single-arm DB Row
3. *Free Motion T-bar Pull Downs
4. *Two-arm DB Row
5. *Seated DB Shrugs with 1 second hold
6. Cable Rope Curls
7. Cable Crossover Curls
Sets, reps, & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest
DAY SIX: Legs 2
1. *Sissy Squats
2. *Slide Board Hamstring Curls
3. *Narrow Stance BB Squats
4A. Standing DB Calf Raises
4B. Weighted Walking Calf Raises
Sets, reps, & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest
A/B indicates superset
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