5 Winter Workout Tips For Serious Muscle Growth
It’s that time of the year to put on some bulk – wintertime. Just hibernating and eating a lot will not help. The body tends to put on weight during winters, which can be your boon or bane depending on your choices. You need to train hard and eat like the beast.
Unlike in the summer, it’s hard to follow a diet in the winter when you can cover up your love handles simply by wearing a jacket. Don’t bother with a strict diet and use it to gain the bulk and work it out in the summer for that crazy physique. But don’t take it too easy and indulge too much in the holiday season. Just take a chill pill when it comes to the diet.
Trying new workouts during winter is a good idea. Try all the workout routines you want with FITPASS – attend different workout routines at 3,500+ gyms and fitness centers across 12+ cities of India. Book a session anytime during the day to workout near your home, office or anywhere else.
Winter Muscle Gain Tips
- Lock, Stock, and Barrels
When it comes to compound lifts, go all in. Perform all exercises that make you push weight – dips, close-grip benches, Russian deadlifts, etc. Give your all to become stronger and bigger in the strength training process. Do 5 sets instead of 3 for the main exercises, which will allow you to work with heavier weights. This will effectively work with the fast-twitch muscle fibers.
Forget isolation exercises that work particular muscles and go on to compound exercises. For example, do leg press or squats instead of leg extension. Winters are no time for focusing especially on, let’s say, shoulder raise variations. Even the assistance exercises should be compound exercises.
- Drop sets for Maximum Returns
Start your workout with big lifts and use them to get maximum returns during your gym workouts. If you just finished 5 sets with heavy-weights, drop the weight by 5-10% and continue the same exercise for up to 3 sets instead of moving on to the next exercise. However, take into account how you feel. Leave at the first set if you don’t feel too good about it. By all means, perform 3 extra sets if you feel great. Doing this will not only ensure that you spend your gym workout time on exercises that offer maximum returns but increase your muscle mass as well.
- Go Full Speed
Completing your gym workout exercises as fast as possible during winters is one of the best things you can do for bulking up. Do more sets and fewer reps with long rest periods for a nervous-system-based program.
Inversely, fewer sets and more reps with short rest periods for a metabolic-focused program. Rest for 3, 5 or even 10 minutes between sets for the full recovery of the nervous system if your goal is a power lifter’s strength. Rest for 45 seconds to a minute if you want big muscles.
- Go for the Strength-Aerobic Method
The strength-aerobic mix in a gym workout is a system in which you can develop the slow twitch and fast-twitch muscles simultaneously in a session. Performing a lift recruits both slow and fast-twitch muscle fibers. Slightly changing the performance of an exercise allows you to focus on either of the muscle fibers.
Start with bench press or big lift squats that require you to put in all you have got. Work with all you have got to complete 5 sets until you feel you have given it all. Then, significantly drop the weight and focus on tempo training. This is a great way to focus more on slow-twitch muscle fibers.
- Low-intensity Cardio
You will find that the gym workout training programs of the biggest bodybuilders include some form of low-intensity cardio. It builds your peripheral vascular network in addition to maintaining body fat. This network relates to the arteries and veins in the arms, hands, legs, and feet.
While protein consumption is essential in muscle building, it would be of no use if the blood didn’t transport it to the muscles. Low-intensity cardio increases the blood flow to the muscles; a kind of cardiac development as well as the vascular system development. Including these exercises like brisk walking and swimming can improve blood flow and therefore, your performance.
5 Exercises for Winter Muscle Gain
- Bench Press
This exercise targets the chest muscles and drastically improves upper body strength. Bench press benefits the chest, arms, shoulders, back, and triceps. This compound exercise offers great results with heavy-weights.
- Deadlift
One of the best mass building exercises for the body, the deadlift works more muscles than any other exercise; it engages all major muscle groups. Deadlift benefits the hamstrings, inner thighs, back, Gluteus Maximus, quads, and calves. It is also good for the central nervous system, which improves hormone release that helps muscle growth.
- Leg Extension
The leg extension is the best exercise to strengthen the quadriceps attachment for the knee and the patellar ligament. Including leg extension in your gym workout will strengthen the main knee joint attachments. Leg extension benefits the quads, Vastus Lateralis, and Vastus Medialis.
- Barbell and Dumbbell Curls
Barbell and dumbbell curls are the best exercises for muscle growth. They target specific muscle fibers and break them down. Dumbbell and barbell curls benefit the shoulders, forearms, and biceps.
Pull-ups are a great mass building exercise. However, adding weights can help you reap the muscle growth benefits of pull-ups. Add in a dipping belt and add a plate before pulling. Weighted pull-ups benefit the back, posteriors shoulder, biceps, and forearms.
