It’s That Time Of Year To Start Bulking — Here’s Our Foolproof Workout And Diet For Getting Yoked

The hoodies are already part of your daily attire and soon enough will be joined by jeans and work boots. Time for the shorts, tank tops and sandals to hit the closet for a while so instead of bitching and moaning about the cold weather, use these fall and winter months to bulk up. And that means enjoying some cheat meals and maxing out on your lifts.

Don’t get too crazy, though. You don’t want to blow all of that hard work from the spring and summer. But if done correctly, you can add some quality size that can be maintained even when you are back in short sleeves and no jacket.

BULK WORKOUT

If you were doing a lot of lighter-to-moderate weights and higher rep counts, all you need to do is bring the weight up a bit and lower the reps. And you want to get back to doing more basic compound movements instead of isolation exercises. Here’s an example:

CHEST

Flat Bench Press – 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps

Incline Bench Press – 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps

Decline Bench Press – 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps

Flat Bench Flyes – 3 sets of 15,12,10 reps

 

SHOULDERS

Rear Delt Raises – 3 sets of 15,12,10 reps

Seated Behind-the-Neck Presses – 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps

Seated Side Lateral Raises – 3 sets of 15,12,10 reps

Standing Front Lateral Raises – 3 sets of 15,12,10 reps

Dumbbell Shrugs – 4 sets of 12,10,8,8 reps

BACK

Bent Over Rows – 3 sets of 10,8,8 reps

Deadlifts – 3 sets of 10,8,8 reps

Single Arm Dumbbell Raises – 3 sets of 10,8,8 reps

Seated Cable Rows – 3 sets of 10,8,8 reps

 

BICEPS

Standing Barbell Curls – 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps

Seated Alternate Dumbbell Curls – 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps

Seated Concentration Curls – 3 sets of 15,12,10 reps

One-Arm Incline Curls – 3 sets of 12,10,10 reps

 

TRICEPS

Close Grip Bench Press – 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps

Skull Crushers – 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps

Triceps Pushdowns (with rope) – 3 sets of 15,12,10 reps

Weighted Dips – 3 sets of 10,8,8 reps

LEGS

Squats – 4 sets of 12,10,8,6 reps

Leg Presses – 3 sets of 10,8,6 reps

Leg Extensions – 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps

Leg Curls – 4 sets of 10,10,8 reps

Standing Calf Raises – 4 sets of 12,10,10,8 reps

 

ABDOMINALS

Weighted Rope Crunches – 4 sets of 25,20,15,12 reps

 

FOREARMS

Seated Barbell Wrist Curls – 4 sets of 15,12,10,10 reps

 

BULK DIET

Give yourself some wiggle room with added cheat meals but try to keep it in perspective. Nutrition is the key to looking good and you will be wasting a lot of time and effort in the gym if you’re sloppy in the kitchen. But you want to add calories and protein, so feel free to keep the portions high when it comes to eating cleaner food. That will be your strategy throughout these months – small portions for the infrequent cheat meal and larger portions otherwise.

Good carbs before and after your workout will help you put on some lean muscle mass, as well. So stock up on oatmeal, brown rice and sweet potatoes.