What is bear mode?
Bear mode is a training routine focused on looking more muscular. The goal of going bear mode is to look bigger in your clothes and feel stronger. The diet and training plan focuses on bulking up, maintaining a healthy body fat percentage, and working out your neck, shoulders, traps, and forearms. A healthy body fat percentage for men is between 15 to 20%. For women, it is between 20 to 30%. Bear mode was popularized by Jeff Nippard, who is a bodybuilder and powerlifter on YouTube. Some training techniques help you gain muscle and look shredded without a shirt on, but you might look lean or small when clothed. Bear mode can help you look ripped while clothed.
How to Go Bear Mode
Eat a 300 to 500-calorie surplus. To increase your muscle mass and body fat percentage, fitness experts recommend bulking, or eating several hundred more calories than your normal caloric intake. Track your caloric intake for a few weeks to see what your baseline is. Then, make changes to get 300 to 500 more calories per day. If you’re having trouble consuming more calories, opt to eat 5 to 6 small meals each day. Snack on healthy foods rich in protein and fat to increase your calorie intake. For instance, eat nuts, avocado, hummus, greek yogurt, protein powder, cottage cheese, and eggs. Certified personal trainer and nutritionist Pete Cerqua says “mak[e] sure that you have protein in each of your meals throughout the day” when you’re “increasing and strengthening muscles.”
Maintain a healthy diet of lean protein, fats, carbs, veggies, and fruit. It’s important to eat good sources of energy to stay healthy when you increase your caloric intake. A good bulking diet consists of 30% protein, 50% complex carbs, and 20% unsaturated fats. Protein options include lean cuts of meat (chicken, turkey), salmon, tuna, eggs, tofu, chickpeas, black beans, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Complex carbs include whole grains (pasta, quinoa, brown rice), potatoes, corn, squash, black beans, lentils, and all kinds of fruits and veggies. Unsaturated fats include avocados, nuts (almonds, cashews), seeds (pumpkin, sunflower), and olive oil. Fitness and health experts do not recommend dirty bulking, which is eating whatever you want to increase your calorie intake. This can be unhealthy and there’s little evidence that it helps you increase your muscle mass or performance compared to a “cleaner” bulk.
Focus on working out your neck, shoulders, traps, and forearms. The other component to getting a bear mode physique is lifting heavy. Switch up your weight-lifting routine to spend more time on your neck, shoulders, traps, and forearms. This helps you get a bigger, more muscular look. Personal trainer and strength coach Brendon Rearick recommends doing 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions for each exercise to build muscle quickly. We’ll explain the best exercises to do in the section below! Use weights that are a challenge to lift at the end of each set. This helps you build muscle and get stronger. Write down the weights of your initial lifts in a journal or on your phone. Update them each week to track your weightlifting progress.
Work out your other muscles and do compound lifts. Make sure you’re still working out your legs, glutes, arms, and abs each week to stay healthy and strong. Do compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and pull-ups to work out multiple muscles at a time and target the major muscle groups.
Do regular cardio exercises. Incorporate mild to moderate cardio exercises into your routine to stay healthy and full of energy. Aim to do at least 150 minutes of cardio each week. You might choose to walk, jog, row, or use the elliptical or stair climber machines. For instance, do about 20 minutes of cardio each day. Choose to do cardio before or after you lift weights on strength training days.
Keep track of your body weight percentage. Calculate your body fat percentage each month to ensure you’re gaining mass healthily and reaching your body fat percentage goal. Aim for a slow increase by gaining about 2% of your body weight each month. For instance, if you’re 175 lbs (79 kg), aim to gain around 3.5 lbs (1.6 kg) per month until you're at your body fat percentage goal. Use an online body fat calculator to find your current body fat percentage. Or, use a smart weight scale, get a 3D scan, or get a DEXA scan. If you’re reaching your body fat goal too quickly, cut back on your calorie surplus. If you’re behind your goal, increase your calorie surplus.
Bear Mode Exercises
Neck exercises: dumbbell shrug, neck curl, neck extension. Stretch your neck before exercising it with weights by doing 10 reps of each exercise with just your body weight. To do dumbbell shrugs, hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your body. Hold your arms loosely against your sides with your feet shoulder-length apart. Certified strength and conditioning specialist Adam Shuty says to tighten your core and shrug your shoulders upwards to your ears, feeling the pull along your traps and lats. Pause for 1 second and then lower your shoulders. To do a neck curl, lay back on a bench with your shoulders at the edge and your head hanging off the end. Fold a towel across your head and loosely press a lightweight plate against your forehead. Slowly lower your head back until your gaze is parallel to the ground. Then, lift your head forward until your chin touches your chest. To do neck extensions, lay face down on a bench with your head hanging off the end. Rest a towel behind your head and hold a lightweight plate on top. Slowly lower your head down to your chest until you can see your feet. Then, lift your head up until your neck is parallel to the floor.
Shoulder exercises: shoulder press, Arnold press, face pull. These exercises primarily target the deltoid muscles in your shoulder. To do a shoulder press, stand up straight with your feet shoulder-length apart. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing towards you. Then, hold the weights in front of your shoulders. Tighten your core and lift your arms straight up over your head. Pause and slowly lower them back into position. To do an Arnold press, sit on a bench with a 90° back support. Grab a dumbbell in each hand and hold the weights in front of your face with your palms facing you and your arms in an “L” shape. Then, rotate your arms out and to the side without moving your elbows. Lift your arms straight up over your head. As you bring them down, rotate the dumbbells so your elbows are once again in front of you and your palms are level with your face. To do a face pull, adjust the cable on a cable station to be about eye height and add a rope attachment. Step back until you have to fully extend your arms to grab each end of the rope. Stand with your feet shoulder-length apart and engage your core. Then, pull the rope towards your face, extending your elbows to either side of your body.
Trap exercises: shrugs, upright row, farmer’s carry, lateral raises. The trapezius muscle, or traps, is a back muscle that starts at your neck and covers your shoulders and upper back. To do an upright row, stand with your feet shoulder-length apart. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing you and hold your arms in front of your thighs. Lift the weights up, bringing your elbow to the side and the weights to your chest. Certified personal trainer Errol Ismail says, “don't raise your elbows past your shoulders [and] pull through the elbows, not the wrist.” Then, slowly lower your arms down. To do the farmer’s carry, grab 2 dumbbells in each hand and let your arms hang down by your sides. Keep your back upright and straight and simply walk forward 20 steps. Rest and repeat 2 to 3 times. To do lateral raises, hold a dumbbell in each hand so your palms are facing each other. Stand upright and keep your feet about shoulder-length apart. Then, personal trainer Dean Theriot says to raise your arms outwards at your sides, stopping when they’re at shoulder height. Slowly lower them back into position.
Forearm exercises: reverse curl, wrist curl, farmer’s carry. Forearm exercises not only build your muscles, but they can also help improve joint stiffness and grip strength. To do a reverse curl, hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing you. Stand upright with your feet shoulder-length apart and pin your elbows to your side. Then, lift your forearms up to your shoulders. Slowly lower your arms back into position. To do a wrist curl, sit on a bench or chair and grab a dumbbell in each hand. Rest your forearms on your thighs with your palms facing up so your wrists are hanging off your thighs. Then, raise your wrists up towards your forearms to lift the weight. Slowly lower your wrists back into position.
Bear Mode Workout Plan
Follow an existing plan or make your own. Split up your weight lifting days so you’re not working out the same muscles back to back. Follow the example plan below or try a weightlifting program like Jim Wendler’s Boring But Big. Day 1: Squat, bench press, lateral raises, wrist curl. Day 2: Deadlift, upright row, dumbbell shrug, neck extension. Day 3: Rest day. Day 4: Squat, shoulder press, Arnold press, reverse curl. Day 5: Rest day. Day 6: Romanian deadlift, pull up, farmer’s carry, neck curl. Day 7: Rest day. Stretch and warm up before each workout.
Pros of Bear Mode
You look bigger in clothing. By bulking up and focusing on working out your upper body, you grow your neck, shoulders, and traps. This helps you look more muscular even when you’re wearing a shirt.
You can enjoy a less strict diet. When you bulk up, you just need to focus on getting lots of good protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. This leaves you with a lot of freedom to eat what you like.
You get stronger. Feeding your body well and lifting heavy weights helps you progress quickly in the gym. Your muscles won’t only look bigger, but you’ll likely feel stronger, too.
Cons of Bear Mode
You can lose muscle definition. When you bulk up, you naturally gain fat. So, you might lose your leaner look, the appearance of your abs, and other muscle definition. Be careful when eating a calorie surplus. You want to maintain your body fat percentage within a healthy range of 15 to 20% for men and 20 to 30% for women.
You might feel more sluggish. Eating at a caloric surplus can make you feel tired and lead to low-energy workouts. It’s important to regularly do cardio to help fight off sluggishness.
When will I see changes to my physique?
You might see results in 4-6 weeks, depending on your starting physique. If you are a regular gym goer and already have a strong foundation of muscle, it can take 1 to 2 months to look bigger and feel stronger. If you’re new to the gym, it might take several months to build up your muscle mass. The best way to achieve results is to be consistent. Healthy progress is slow and steady, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t see changes right away. For instance, set a training schedule for yourself and stick to it. Plan out your meals ahead of time to ensure you’re eating nutritious, whole foods.
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