What Is The 'Winter Arc,' And Why Are People Acting Like It's A Double XP Event? The TikTok Fitness Trend Explained

It seems like fitness enthusiasts on the internet just can't catch a break, with every attempt to build and foster an online fitness community with shared goals and practices getting overrun by the "TikTok"https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sites/tiktok meme squad in mere days.

The "winter arc" is one such fitness challenge; it began as an in-group and barely addressed practice back in 2022, before TikToks made the phrase "corny" within the first few days of October 2024.

But what is this "arc" anyways, and why are so many people making memes and jokes about "failing" it? Here's a look at the hottest fitness trend of Winter 2024, the "winter arc."

Where Did The Phrase 'Winter Arc' Come From, And What Does It Mean?

The term "winter arc" is likely derived from manga "arcs," with fitness enthusiasts highlighting the winter as a time for change and self-improvement and a time to make moves in silence, before bearing the fruits of their hard work the following summer.

In fitness culture, the "winter arc" refers to the practice of bulking in the winter and cutting fat before summer, with the "arc" beginning on October 1st of every year.

Some early memes about the so-called "winter arc" in October 2022 were shared on Twitter by @SoGrizzy and @OvOBrezzzy, although the few thousand likes they received on their posts barely amounted to the phrase reaching virality that year.

Arguably, a bigger early proponent of the term was fitness content creator @nickpedersen__, whose "winter arc" 2022 video gathered over 3 million plays and 800,000 likes. Nick's signature cinematic video style, showing him jogging through dimly lit streets blanketed in snow, captured the attention of fitness freaks who wanted their life to look like a Berserk fancam too.

@nickpedersen__

winter arc

♬ moment

How Did News About The Fitness 'Winter Arc' Spread Online?

More creators latched onto the idea of having a "winter arc" in 2023, with YouTuber Afro posting a Short where she shaves his head and mirrors a fan animation of Guts from Berserk, gathering over 11 million views. This is notably one of the first videos to kick off the trend of shaving one's head to commence the start of one's "winter arc," although no one seems to be able to explain the actual benefits of doing so.

In November 2023, YouTuber DJ FKU posted a phonk track called "Winter Arc Funk," gathering over 3.6 million views in a year. This is the first of many phonk gym soundtracks geared towards a specific Winter vibe.

Why Are People Joking About How The 'Winter Arc' Is 'Corny' Now?

In 2024, several TikTokers posted videos of themselves shaving their heads in preparation for a "winter arc," including @noahlifts5, who gathered over 25 million plays and 2 million likes on a video posted in late September.

The top comment on the videos saw people joking about how the winter arc is "not a double XP event."

@noahlifts5 Time to turn calories into muscles and excuses into gains.💀🥶#gymtok #winterarc #buzzcut ♬ original sound – fairiesofthenight

On October 3rd, @OvOBrezzzy, one of the first internet users to post a meme about the "winter arc" posted yet another video of a man shaving his head, joking about how "Tik tok Mfs turned winter arc corny so fast 😭😭😭"

Tik tok Mfs turned winter arc corny so fast 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/hgIDJu8oND

— 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘇𝘆’😵‍💫 (@OvOBrezzzy) October 3, 2024

Another common theme in jokes about people having a "winter arc" is how insincere some of the late adapters to the trend appeared to be. It's safe to say that whether you really are about that fitness life or not, no one will know the results of your winter toil until the Summer of 2025.

---

For the full history of the Winter Arc, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.