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

Use the cold weather to your advantage and start packing on muscle with this aggressive four-week workout routine.

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8 Stubborn Muscle Groups
Westend61 / Getty

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.

Routine

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Day 1

Chest, shoulders, and triceps I

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 1 of 5

Bench Press

Equipment
Barbell
Sets
4
Reps
8
Rest
90 sec.
Exercise 2 of 5

Incline Dumbbell Press

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
4
Reps
8
Rest
90 sec.
Exercise 4 of 5

Dumbbell Overhead Press

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
4
Reps
8
Rest
90 sec.
Exercise 5 of 5

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
3
Reps
10
Rest
60 sec.
Exercise 6 of 5

Triceps Pushdown

Equipment
Elastic Band
Sets
3
Reps
10
Rest
60 sec.
Exercise 7 of 5

Dumbbell Kickback

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
3
Reps
10
Rest
60 sec.
Exercise 8 of 5

Hanging Leg Raise

Equipment
Pullup Bar
Sets
3
Reps
12
Rest
0 sec.
Exercise 9 of 5

Decline bench reverse curl-up

Equipment
Bench
Sets
3
Reps
12
Rest
0 sec.
Exercise 10 of 5

Flutter Kick

Equipment
No Equipment
Sets
3
Reps
30
Rest
30 sec.

Day 2

Back and biceps I

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 11 of 5

Pullup

Equipment
Pullup Bar
Sets
4
Reps
8
Rest
90 sec.
Exercise 12 of 5

Bentover Row

Equipment
Barbell
Sets
4
Reps
8
Rest
90 sec.
Exercise 13 of 5

Lat Pulldown

Equipment
Cable Machine
Sets
4
Reps
8
Rest
90 sec.
Exercise 14 of 5

Seated Cable Row

Equipment
Lat Pulldown Bar
Sets
4
Reps
8
Rest
90 sec.
Exercise 15 of 5

Shrug

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
3
Reps
10
Rest
60 sec.
Exercise 16 of 5

Biceps Curl

Equipment
Elastic Band
Sets
3
Reps
10
Rest
60 sec.
Exercise 17 of 5

Hammer Curl

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
3
Reps
10
Rest
60 sec.

Day 3

Legs I

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 18 of 5

Squat

Equipment
Squat Rack
Sets
4
Reps
8
Rest
90 sec.
Exercise 19 of 5

Deadlift

Equipment
Barbell
Sets
4
Reps
8
Rest
90 sec.
Exercise 20 of 5

Dumbbell Lunge

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
4
Reps
8
Rest
90 sec.
Exercise 21 of 5

Barbell Glute Bridge

Equipment
Barbell
Sets
4
Reps
8
Rest
90 sec.
Exercise 22 of 5

Standing Calf Raise

Equipment
Box
Sets
3
Reps
10
Rest
60 sec.
Exercise 23 of 5

Seated Calf Raise

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
3
Reps
10
Rest
60 sec.
Exercise 24 of 5

Horizontal Cable Woodchop

Equipment
Cable Machine
Sets
3
Reps
15
Rest
0 sec.
Exercise 25 of 5

Side Plank With Lateral Raise

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
3
Reps
15 (each side)
Rest
0 sec.
Exercise 26 of 5

Barbell Hip Thrust

Equipment
Barbell
Sets
3
Reps
15
Rest
30 sec.

Day 4

Chest, shoulders, and triceps II

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 27 of 5

Band-Resisted Flye

Equipment
Resistance Band
Sets
4
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 28 of 5

Dumbbell Flye

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
4
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 29 of 5

Cable Crossover

Equipment
Cable Machine
Sets
4
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 30 of 5

Dumbbell Squat Front Raise

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
4
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 31 of 5

Dumbbell Overhead Press

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
3
Reps
15
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 32 of 5

Incline Dumbbell Skull Crusher

Equipment
Bench
Sets
3
Reps
15
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 33 of 5

Bench Dip

Equipment
Bench
Sets
3
Reps
15
Rest
30 sec.

Day 5

Back and biceps II

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 34 of 5

Chinup

Equipment
Pullup Bar
Sets
4
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 35 of 5

One-Arm Dumbbell Row

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
4
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 36 of 5

Lat Pulldown

Equipment
Cable Machine
Sets
4
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 37 of 5

Dumbbell Row

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
4
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 38 of 5

Shrug

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
4
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 39 of 5

Cable Rope Curl

Equipment
Cable Machine
Sets
3
Reps
15
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 40 of 5

Cable Crossover Curl

Equipment
Adjustable Cable Machine
Sets
3
Reps
15
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 41 of 5

Neutral-Grip Triceps Extension

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
3
Reps
12
Rest
0 sec.
Exercise 42 of 5

Weighted Swiss Ball Crunch

Equipment
Swiss Ball
Sets
3
Reps
12
Rest
0 sec.
Exercise 43 of 5

Crunch

Equipment
Swiss Ball
Sets
3
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.

Day 6

Legs II

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 44 of 5

Dumbbell Squat

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
4
Reps
15
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 45 of 5

Dumbbell lying hamstring curl

Equipment
Bench
Sets
4
Reps
15
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 46 of 5

Squat

Equipment
Squat Rack
Sets
4
Reps
15
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 47 of 5

Single-Leg Calf Raise

Equipment
Sets
3
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.
Exercise 48 of 5

Standing Calf Raise

Equipment
Box
Sets
3
Reps
12
Rest
30 sec.
Shown as walking calf raise
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