• The Smart Way to Add Bulk

• Manage Carbs for Weight Loss

• Optimize Your Training Time

• The Truth About Healthy Fats

For most of my career, winter meant one thing — bulking season. This was the time to eat big, train hard, and pack on as much size as possible before cutting down for competition. But the way I approach bulking now is different from when I first started.

Back in the day, I misunderstood what bulking really meant. I wasn’t the guy eating pizza and burgers five times a day, but I still made mistakes — pushing calories too high, not paying enough attention to food quality, and assuming that more food always meant more muscle.

It worked to an extent — I got bigger  — but I also made things harder on myself when it was time to lean out. Over the years, I’ve learned how to bulk smarter.

The goal isn’t just to gain weight — it’s to add quality muscle while staying strong, mobile, and healthy.

If you’re trying to put on size this winter, here’s how to do it the right way.

Train With a Purpose

If you’re eating in a surplus but not training properly, you’re just getting bigger, not building muscle. That’s why I take a structured, periodized approach to bulking. My training shifts in a few key ways:

Prioritizing strength gains: I focus on heavier, lower-rep work with compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and presses to build dense, thick muscle.

Programming for hypertrophy: Strength is the priority, but I still follow a well-structured periodized plan that includes more aggressive hypertrophy-focused methods than I would during a cut.

This means progressively overloading moderate-rep work (8 to 12 reps) and using strategic techniques like drop sets and rest-pause where appropriate.

Maintaining movement quality: I make sure I’m still training through full ranges of motion, keeping mobility in check, and controlling my lifts. More weight means more risk — so movement quality is everything.

And one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned? Bulking isn’t an excuse to throw form out the window and chase numbers. Every rep still has to be intentional.

Eat to Build, Not Just to Gain Weight

Diet is where most guys mess up. The old-school "dirty bulk" mindset — where you eat as much as possible and get fluffy in the process — just isn’t the best approach. While I never went full “see-food diet” mode, I still made the mistake of eating too much without considering what my body actually needed.

Now, I take a controlled surplus approach — eating more but not so much that I gain unnecessary fat. The goal is muscle gain, not just weight gain.

Here’s how I do it:

Protein is always the foundation – I aim for 1 to 1.2g of protein per pound of body weight to fuel recovery and muscle growth.

Carbs increase, but strategically – I eat the majority of my carbs around my workouts to fuel training and recovery, keeping them moderate the rest of the day.

Fats stay balanced – Around 20% to 25% of my total calories come from healthy fats to support hormones and overall health.

Consistency over perfection – I eat clean 80% to 90% of the time, but I don’t stress over enjoying a burger or dessert now and then. The key is hitting my overall macros while keeping food quality high.

Maintaining Athleticism While Bulking

One mistake I see guys make when bulking is losing their ability to move well. You don’t have to run sprints or do box jumps to stay athletic, but you should:

Keep explosive movements in your program – Controlled power-focused exercises like explosive presses help maintain power without risking injury.

Train through a full range of motion – Don’t let heavier weights limit your mobility. Make sure your squats, presses, and pulls stay deep and controlled.

Prioritize mobility and movement quality – If your flexibility and movement patterns suffer, you’re setting yourself up for injuries down the line. I make sure to include dynamic warm-ups, mobility drills, and active recovery work to keep everything moving well.

How to Bulk Smarter This Winter

If you’re looking to add size, keep these things in mind:

✔ Eat in a controlled surplus – 250 to 500 extra calories a day is plenty for lean muscle gain.
✔ Follow a periodized strength and hypertrophy plan – There’s a method to getting bigger while staying functional.
✔ Time your carbs around workouts – Maximize energy and recovery without unnecessary fat gain.
✔ Keep explosive movement and mobility work – Stay strong and move well.
✔ Be patient – Real muscle growth takes time. Don’t rush the process.

Bulking season is the time to build your foundation. Do it right, and you’ll be stronger, leaner, and more muscular when it’s time to lean down.

Set the Standard!

Chris

Most lifters train based on what they see their favorite bodybuilders doing, whether that’s pushing every set to failure or sticking to traditional single-body-part splits.

But if you want to build muscle while staying strong and athletic, there’s a better way: pair muscle groups for smarter, more efficient training.

Pairing Exercises for More Gains

Typical bodybuilding programs train one muscle group per session with long rest periods between sets. While that works, you can train more effectively by pairing exercises — something Chris does to maximize both strength and hypertrophy.

So, instead of waiting 3 to 5 minutes between heavy sets, Chris will, for example, pair a single-arm pulldown with an overhead Arnold press.

This approach keeps you moving while allowing your nervous system time to recover, letting you lift heavier without burning out too early, and creating more overall stimulus for growth.

How to Apply This to Your Workouts

• Pair exercises to stay efficient and provide recovery time.

• Control fatigue — don’t rush to max weight; build up to your top sets.

• Use rest-pause training to increase time under tension and stimulate more muscle growth.

Pushing hard in the gym is important, but training smart is what leads to real progress.

To get more from your workouts, download the STNDRD app today!

— Justin King

When people think about nutrition for muscle growth, they focus on protein and carbs, but fats play a critical role in hormone production, joint health, and overall recovery.

If you’re training hard but feeling sluggish, sore, or not seeing the strength gains you expect, your fat intake might be too low or coming from the wrong sources.

Why Fats Matter for Performance

• Hormone Production: Testosterone, the key driver of muscle growth, is built from dietary fats. If your fat intake is too low, your hormones take a hit.

• Joint + Tissue Health: Fats lubricate joints and support connective tissues, reducing aches and improving long-term resilience.

• Sustained Energy: Unlike carbs, fats provide slow-burning fuel, helping with endurance and stable energy levels throughout the day.

How to Optimize Fat Intake

• Prioritize Quality Fats: Include avocados, whole eggs, grass-fed beef, salmon, nuts, and olive oil in your diet.

• Don’t Overdo It: Aim for 20% to 30% of daily calories from healthy fats.

• Use Fats for Satiety: Adding fats to meals can help control hunger, especially when in a calorie deficit.

A well-balanced diet isn’t just about protein and carbs. Fats are essential for building muscle, staying lean, and keeping your body running at its best.

Q: Hi Chris, I keep hearing that cutting carbs is the best way to lose fat. Should I drop carbs completely if I’m trying to get lean?

—Tracy M., London, England

A: Hey, Tracy, not necessarily.

Cutting carbs can be an effective tool, but it depends on your body type, insulin sensitivity, and overall diet.

If you’re overweight or struggling with fat loss, reducing carbs temporarily — not eliminating them entirely — can help reset insulin sensitivity and improve fat metabolism.

A common strategy we use is a 14-day low-carb phase, where carbs are minimized while keeping protein and fats high. This helps stabilize blood sugar and improve insulin function.

After that, carbs are strategically reintroduced, often post-workout or before bed, when your body is most efficient at processing them.

Instead of going zero carbs, focus on:

• Prioritizing whole, nutrient-dense carbs (sweet potatoes, rice, oats, fruits) over processed junk.

• Carb cycling by eating more carbs on intense training days and fewer on rest days.

• Timing carbs properly — post-workout and in the evening can help with recovery and sleep.

Bottom line? Carbs aren’t the enemy. It’s how, when, and what kind you eat that matters.

 Question for Chris? Hit reply or email [email protected] and we’ll consider it for inclusion in a future issue of The Standard.

Champion Mentality

“If you want to be incredible, great, amazing, and legendary, you really need to focus on one thing. Everything I’ve achieved has come from me working to be the best bodybuilder I could be.”

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