Pavel Ythjall
HOW COMPLICATED DO YOU WANT TO MAKE IT? NOT VERY, WE HOPE.
You go to the gym, you pick big compound moves, hit them as heavy as possible with good form in hypertrophy-centric rep ranges, go home, devour tons of protein and some carbs, rest, and repeat. And then you grow.
That’s more or less how mass gaining works. When you start overthinking it, start getting too cute with your exercises and sets and reps, that’s when results stall out. Confusion is good (muscle confusion, that is), but complicating matters is not.
We’re into the cold months now, so it’s a great time to stay bundled up and start adding some Winter Mass—that’s what we’re calling this six-week program. We think you’ll like it. It’s only four days a week, so it won’t rule your life; it’s customizable in that you’re able to pick the exercises you want from our generic movement menu (see the “Exercise Options” section); and it’s grounded in the well-established, and very straightforward, linear periodization model. It’s not complicated, nor should it be. It’s simply more size in six weeks.
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PROGRAM DESIGN
The programming here follows a basic linear periodization scheme, which simply means that the weights get heavier and rep counts increase each phase (or mesocycle). This program is broken down into three two-week phases, with the linear model (higher weight, fewer reps) applied to every exercise.
The breakdown of sets and reps for most muscle groups will look like this, where “1,” “2,” and “3” refer to the first exercise for a given body part, the second exercise, and the third exercise.
The most notable exception to this scheme set/rep scheme is legs, where the reps are slightly higher because the lower body tends to respond better to higher reps. This is also the case for traps, calves, and abs, which are also known to do well with high reps.
As you can see, the reps don’t fluctuate too violently; aside from legs, rep counts don’t exceed 15 for large muscle groups, and they drop only as low as five reps for one exercise in the final two weeks. A vast majority of sets fall between eight and 12 reps, which is ideal for building size.
- EXERCISE 1 | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 5 x 10 | PHASE 2: 5 x 8 | PHASE 3: 5 x 5
- EXERCISE 2 | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 12 | PHASE 2: 4 x 10 | PHASE 3: 4 x 8
- EXERCISE 3 | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 3 x 15 | PHASE 2: 3 x 12 | PHASE 3: 3 x 10
TRAINING SPLIT
Feel free to train on any four days of the week you like—e.g., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday; Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday; Monday to Thursday, etc. There should be no lifting on rest days, but you’re open to do whatever form of active recovery you want (cardio, yoga, etc.)
- DAY 1: Chest, Back
- DAY 2: Legs
- DAY 3: Shoulders, Traps, Abs/Core
- DAY 4: Biceps, Triceps, Calves
- REST
Your rest periods don’t need to change drastically from phase to phase. A good rule of thumb is to rest one to two minutes between sets throughout the program. The exercises with five sets (5 x 10, 5 x 8, 5 x 5) will be especially challenging, so feel free to take a full two minutes there. Your 60-second rest periods can be reserved for the 3 x 10–15 exercises, and you may even be able to drop down to 45 seconds on smaller body parts.
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DAY 1: CHEST & BACK
Warmup: 5 minutes of light cardio + 50 band pull-aparts + 1–2 light sets of 10–15 reps each
Phase 1: Weeks 1-2, Phase 2: Weeks 3-4, Phase 3: Weeks 5-6
BACK
- BARBELL ROW | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 5 x 10 | PHASE 2: 5 x 8 | PHASE 3: 5 x 5
- LAT PULLDOWN | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 12 | PHASE 2: 4 x 10 | PHASE 3: 4 x 8
- CABLE ROW | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 3 x 15 | PHASE 2: 3 x 12 | PHASE 3: 3 x 10
CHEST
- INCLINE PRESS | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 5 x 10 | PHASE 2: 5 x 8 | PHASE 3: 5 x 5
- FLAT BENCH PRESS | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 12 | PHASE 2: 4 x 10 | PHASE 3: 4 x 8
- DUMBBELL FLYE | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 3 x 15 | PHASE 2: 3 x 12 | PHASE 3: 3 x 10
When training chest and back, feel free to alternate the order whenever you like—doing chest before back. You also have the option of supersetting chest and back exercises, something Arnold Schwarzenegger was famously fond of doing.
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DAY 2: LEGS
Warmup: 5 minutes of light cardio + 1–2 light sets of 15–20 reps of leg extensions + 1–2 light sets of 10–12 reps of squats
Phase 1: Weeks 1-2, Phase 2: Weeks 3-4, Phase 3: Weeks 5-6
QUADS/GLUTES
- SQUAT | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 5 x 10 | PHASE 2: 5 x 8 | PHASE 3: 5 x 5
- LUNGE | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 12 | PHASE 2: 4 x 10 | PHASE 3: 4 x 8
- LEG PRESS | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 3 x 15 | PHASE 2: 3 x 12 | PHASE 3: 3 x 10
HAMSTRINGS
- ROMANIAN DEADLIFT | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 12 | PHASE 2: 4 x 10 | PHASE 3: 4 x 8
- LEG CURL | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 3 x 15 | PHASE 2: 3 x 12 | PHASE 3: 3 x 10
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DAY 3: SHOULDERS, TRAPS, ABS/CORE
Warmup: 50 jumping jacks (focusing on full shoulder ROM) + 50 band pull-aparts + 1–2 light sets of 10–15 reps of shoulder presses
Phase 1: Weeks 1-2, Phase 2: Weeks 3-4, Phase 3: Weeks 5-6
SHOULDERS
- SEATED SHOULDER PRESS | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 5 x 10 | PHASE 2: 5 x 8 | PHASE 3: 5 x 5
- UPRIGHT ROW | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 12 | PHASE 2: 4 x 10 | PHASE 3: 4 x 8
- LATERAL RAISE | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 3 x 15 | PHASE 2: 3 x 12 | PHASE 3: 3 x 10
TRAPS
- SHRUG | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 20 | PHASE 2: 4 x 15 | PHASE 3: 4 x 12
ABS
- WEIGHTED CRUNCH | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 20 | PHASE 2: 4 x 15 | PHASE 3: 4 x 12
- PLANK | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 3 x 30 sec. | PHASE 2: 3 x 45 sec. | PHASE 3: 3 x 60 sec.
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DAY 4: ARMS, CAVLES
Warmup: 50 jumping jacks (to warm up the calves) + 1–2 light sets of 10–15 reps each of curls (biceps) and cable pressdowns (triceps)
Phase 1: Weeks 1-2, Phase 2: Weeks 3-4, Phase 3: Weeks 5-6
ARMS
- SKULL CRUSHER | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 5 x 10 | PHASE 2: 5 x 8 | PHASE 3: 5 x 5
- superset with BARBELL CURL | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 5 x 10 | PHASE 2: 5 x 8 | PHASE 3: 5 x 5
- HAMMER CURL | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 12 | PHASE 2: 4 x 10 | PHASE 3: 4 x 8
- superset with CABLE PRESSDOWN | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 12 | PHASE 2: 4 x 10 | PHASE 3: 4 x 8
CALVES
- STANDING CALF RAISE | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 20 | PHASE 2: 4 x 15 | PHASE 3: 4 x 12
- SEATED CALF RAISE | PHASE 1 (sets x reps): 4 x 20 | PHASE 2: 4 x 15 | PHASE 3: 4 x 12
FLEX
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