What is the winter arc? Meaning, origin and how to do it

The winter arc, explained

Think of it as your training arc, set in winter. For three months, you pick a handful of rules and stick to them every day: hit the gym, get enough sleep, cut out fast food, get outside and walk. No vague goal like “get back in shape”: rules you can check off every night, yes or no.

The French online dictionary Orthodidacte defines it as “a time of year, as winter approaches, that young people use for self-improvement.” At first, it was mostly about lifting. Today the word also covers sleep, food, screens and your mindset.

Where does the term “winter arc” come from?

It comes from story arcs in TV shows and anime. The training arc is the part where the hero disappears, trains in silence and comes back a different person. The winter arc applies that idea to your life: winter becomes your training arc.

According to Orthodidacte, the phrase has been used this way in English since 2022 and in French since 2023. It became a mass trend on TikTok in fall 2024, with its own aesthetic: the gym at 6 a.m., the cold, Greek statues, phonk music. On October 8, 2024, the French daily Le Parisien called it “the anti-blues trend that’s a hit on TikTok.”

When does the winter arc start?

By convention, on October 1. In 2026, October 1 falls on a Thursday: over 90 days, the winter arc ends on Tuesday, December 29, 2026, or on Thursday, December 31 if you do the whole quarter (92 days).

You can also start on another day. The rule is to make it 90 days from your day 1. The full calendar, week by week, is in our article on the winter arc 2026 dates.

The winter arc rules

There are no official rules. The winter arcs that last have a few things in common:

• few rules, between 3 and 9;
• rules you can check yes or no: “gym 4 times a week” rather than “work out more”;
• the same rules every day, from day 1 to day 90;
• a mix of no-gos (fast food, alcohol), effort (gym, running) and recovery (sleep).

In the Winterarc app, the contract has 9 rules:

• Only water
• Zero fast food
• No phone while eating
• Gym
• Run
• 20 min outside
• Gratitude
• 10k steps
• 7-8h of sleep

We break down each one, with its sources and variations, in the 9 winter arc rules.

Why 90 days?

It’s roughly how long it takes for a habit to stick without effort. In 2010, a team at University College London followed 96 volunteers as they took on a new daily habit, like eating a piece of fruit with lunch or running for 15 minutes before dinner. It took a median of 66 days for the habit to become automatic, ranging from 18 to 254 days depending on the person and the habit (Lally et al., European Journal of Social Psychology).

90 days covers that median with room to spare, and it’s still short enough to see the finish line from day 1.

You said 90 days. Prove it.

Why winter and not January?

Starting on October 1 puts you three months ahead of New Year’s resolutions. On January 1, when everyone’s signing up for the gym, your 90 days are already done.

Winter is also the season when the days shrink the most: in Paris, daylight drops from about 11 hours 45 minutes on October 1 to 8 hours 15 minutes on December 21. Fixed rules, like getting outside for 20 minutes a day or going to bed at the same time every night, give structure to the weeks when you’d rather stay inside.

Why people start

When you sign your winter arc in Winterarc, the app asks for your main goal.

winter arcs signed in the app

2,527

starts set for October 1

460

rules already checked off

13,982

Out of those 2,527 winter arcs, here’s the main goal people picked:

• Build muscle46%
• Lose fat34%
• Take back control12%
• Go the full 90 days, period8%

Start dates, the most-kept rules and the times people check off their day are in our study of the first 2,500 winter arcs.

How to start your winter arc

1. Pick your date. October 1 to start with everyone, otherwise next Monday.
2. Write down your rules. Between 3 and 9, each one checkable yes or no. If you’re not sure, take the 9 rules above.
3. Sign them. A winter arc doesn’t get renegotiated in week 2. Write your rules, sign them, show them to someone.
4. Take a photo on day 1. You’ll compare it to the one from day 90. It’s just for you.
5. Check off your day every night. In the app, 6 check-ins out of 10 happen between 6 p.m. and midnight: one minute to look back on your day.

In the app, you sign your contract by holding down the button. Not a box you tick without thinking: a move that commits you.

For training, follow our 90-day winter arc workout program, and to plan your days, the sample routine.

The mistakes that make people quit

Too many rules at once. Fifteen rules on day 1 means fifteen chances to fail every day. Start with fewer, and keep all of them.

Vague rules. “Eat better” can’t be checked off. “Zero fast food” can.

Counting on motivation. The energy of October 1 doesn’t last 90 days. What lasts is a fixed schedule: the gym on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, lights out at 11 p.m.

Quitting after one missed day. One missed day doesn’t erase the twenty before it. In Winterarc, your first missed week is covered by the freeze and your flame survives; on the second, it goes out, but the winter arc keeps going until day 90.