About this workout
Winter is the perfect time to bulk. You are covered up, the holidays bring plenty of food, and there is no beach pressure, so you can focus on eating and lifting to pack on real muscle. This 12 week push/pull/legs plan is built for the off-season mass-building months. Five hard days a week with serious volume, paired with a proper surplus, add size across your whole body. Come spring, you will have real muscle to reveal. Bulk smart, train hard, and use the winter.
Who This Program Is For
- You want to use the off-season to build serious muscle.
- You can train five days a week and eat in a surplus.
- You have access to a full gym.
- You already train and can recover from high volume.
Who this is NOT for: beginners, who grow on less, and anyone trying to stay lean right now. A bulk means accepting a little fat gain in exchange for muscle.
What You'll Need
- A full gym with barbells, dumbbells, cables and a pull-up bar.
- A real appetite; a surplus is non-negotiable for a bulk.
- A log to drive progressive overload across 12 weeks.
The Program
Five days on a push, pull, legs, push, pull rotation. Train with real volume and push most sets close to failure. Eat in a surplus so the training turns into muscle. Rest as needed to keep the quality high on the big lifts.
| Day 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Push A | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Barbell Bench Press | 4 | 6-8 | 2 min |
| Seated Barbell Shoulder Press | 4 | 8 | 90 sec |
| Incline Dumbbell Bench Press | 3 | 10 | 75 sec |
| Cable Lateral Raise | 3 | 15 | 45 sec |
| Tricep Pushdown | 3 | 12-15 | 45 sec |
| Day 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pull A | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Deadlift | 4 | 5 | 3 min |
| Pull Up | 4 | 8-10 | 90 sec |
| Bent Over Row | 4 | 8 | 90 sec |
| Face Pulls | 3 | 15-20 | 45 sec |
| Barbell Curl | 3 | 10-12 | 60 sec |
| Day 3 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Legs | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Barbell Squat | 4 | 6-8 | 2 min |
| Leg Press | 4 | 10-12 | 90 sec |
| Walking Lunge | 3 | 10 each leg | 75 sec |
| Lying Leg Curl | 3 | 12-15 | 60 sec |
| Standing Calf Raise | 4 | 12-15 | 45 sec |
| Day 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Push B | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Incline Barbell Bench Press | 4 | 8 | 90 sec |
| Dumbbell Shoulder Press | 4 | 10 | 75 sec |
| Dumbbell Bench Press | 3 | 12 | 75 sec |
| Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 3 | 15 | 45 sec |
| Cable Rope Overhead Tricep Extensions | 3 | 12-15 | 45 sec |
| Day 5 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pull B | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Romanian Deadlift | 4 | 8-10 | 90 sec |
| Lat Pulldown | 4 | 10-12 | 75 sec |
| Seated Cable Rows | 4 | 10 | 75 sec |
| Reverse Flyes | 3 | 15-20 | 45 sec |
| Hammer Curls | 3 | 12 | 45 sec |
How to Progress
Twelve weeks of building mass, with deloads to sustain the volume.
Weeks 1 to 4. Set your working weights and dial in a surplus of about 300 to 500 calories over maintenance. Add weight or reps on the main lifts each week.
Weeks 5 to 8. Keep driving the big lifts up and pushing accessory volume. You should be gaining steadily.
Week 8 (deload). Take a lighter week to recover from the volume, then repeat a lighter week near week 12.
Weeks 9 to 12. Keep overloading and eating well. By week 12 you will have added real size to reveal when you lean out later.
Warm-Up and Recovery Notes
Warm up thoroughly before the heavy compounds each day. Five hard days a week demand a good warm-up to stay healthy.
Recovery is the limiter on a high-volume bulk. Sleep eight or more hours, take the deloads seriously, and keep the surplus generous but not so big you gain only fat.
Nutrition and Supplementation
A bulk runs on food. Eat in a surplus of about 300 to 500 calories over maintenance with at least one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, built from quality foods plus the extra calories.
Support: protein powder or a mass gainer to hit your calories and protein, creatine monohydrate at 5 grams a day, and a daily multivitamin.
FAQ
Will I get fat on a bulk? You will add some fat, which is normal and expected. Keep the surplus moderate and you will gain mostly muscle with manageable fat, ready to reveal on a later cut.
How much should I gain? Around half a pound to a pound a week for most people. Faster than that is mostly fat. Slow and steady keeps the bulk cleaner.
When do I cut? After the winter bulk, run a cut like our summer cut plan to reveal the muscle you built. Bulk and cut in cycles.
Questions and results
Ask a coach
Running this program? Tell us what week you are on and how the progression is going. A coach answers every question here.