10 Nutrition Tips to help you maximize results!

Jeff Willet1. Eat right away:
It is critical to supply quality nutrition upon waking.  Whey Isolate and high glycemic index (GI) carbs is my recommendation.  My favorite combo is VP2 Whey Isolate and breakfast cereal.

2. Eat often:
You should be consuming quality nutrients every 2-3 hours from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep.

3. Eat protein every meal:
Each of your meals should consist of a protein source.  Consistent protein intake is vital for building muscle.

4. Drink a post workout shake:
Directly after training you should drink a whey isolate and carbohydrate mix to kick start the recovery process.

5. Eat carbohydrates after your workout:
Don’t be carbohydrate phobic.  In the 3 hour post workout window you want to consume high GI carbs with protein each meal.  This is true even if you exercise in the afternoon or evening.

6.  Eat lots of vegetables:
Green crunchy vegetables are perfect for providing fiber and increasing food volume while adding almost zero calories to your diet.  High vegetable intake is even more important if you are focused on fat loss.

7. Eat in the evening:
Don’t fear eating in the evening. Eating quality nutrition in the evening will not make you fat.  You need to supply muscle building nutrients throughout the entire day to maximize the recovery/muscle building process.

8.  Eat before exercise:
Don’t exercise on an empty stomach.  See tip #1.

9.  Eat a controlled calorie diet:
Calories for the sake of calories won’t help you build muscle but will help you gain fat.  Focus on nutrient dense foods and avoid empty calories that serve no purpose.

10.  Write it all down:
If you are serious about changing your body you need to be just as focused on your nutrition as you are on your training.  Writing all your meals down and charting your protein, carbohydrates, fats and total calories for the day will help you be accountable for everything you put in your mouth.  Remember, without great nutrition you can forget about great results!

32 comments

  1. So Jeff when you say high carbs after a workout , do you mean like a piece a cake , bread etc?

    • Preferably liquid carb in your post workout drink with whey isolate. Then in the post workout meals that follow a high GI and low fat carb like a potato or rice would work well.

  2. I must say Jeff after seeing your inspirational tips to the average Joe’s out there it made me confident about myself. Now i believe it’s Anyone’s game to building great body composition by just following your simple techniques that you provided in your website and especially after watching the Documentary ” i want to look like that guy!” I had mentioned your name along with your site (hope you don’t mind , lol ) to most of my friends at the gym and they also leaning towards your M.O.T techniques . Thank you

  3. Hi Jeff! Im from Sweden. Thought it could be fun for you to know that your words of wisdom is spreading all around the world 🙂

    When you say ”eat before exercise” do you mean like half an hour before training or do you mean I should take it in the dressing room right before I hit the weights?

    Just want to say thank you for sharing your knowledge and congratulate you to an awesome physique!

    • Thanks for the input! Glad you are finding my info and tips helpful!

      Eating before exercise primarily means don’t wake up and workout on an empty stomach. If you are working out at some point during the day and you are fitting training in between meals I think a pre-workout drink directly before your workout and even drinking it during your warm-up sets makes sense. I like to bracket workouts with Whey Isolate, Carbohydrates, creatine and L-Glutamine directly before and directly after training.

  4. Hi Jeff,

    In the morning’s I begin with either a syntha 6 shake or two boiled eggs and a cup of oatmeal.

    Then at 0500 I have 50 grams of protien shake.

    At 1000 I have a protien bar with 24 grams.

    1200 I have a tuna fish sanwich on wheat with a cup of fruit.

    1400 I have another 50 grams of protein (shake), I take animal PAk and Argralin.

    1500 work out free weights. 3 set of 6-8 1751lbs flat bench
    3 sets 6-8 175 decline
    3 sets of 10-12 shoulder press 40-45lbs
    3 sets of 8-10 35lb arm curls
    immediatley followed up with no break 3 sets of 10-12 of 151b curls with arms extended 45 degrees out

    3 sets of 10 rower 1201lbs

    next day cardio 2 – 5 miles
    then 3 sets of 20 ab crunches on the machine with 50lb
    3 sets of 10 300lb leg press
    3 set of 12 80lbs calve thing on a machine

    Im new at this but I have seen some results lost 20fat lbs 178 now 158.

    Is this right or am I wrong and how can I improve?

    I only take one day off a week.

    Thanks for any tip.

    • Due to a very high volume of requests I am unable to address individual workout routines and diets. I recommend checking my blog for lots of free tips on training and nutrition. There are multiple free Max-OT routines available on my site. I highly recommend Max-OT.

  5. Hello Jeff!

    Regarding Pre and Post workout. Where should I fit in my Anabolic Rush? Should I take one portion 30-45 minutes before workout or drink it during the warm up sets like you recommend with the protein/carb drink? And also with the post-workout should I begin to sip on one Anabolic Rush during the last 10 minutes of my workout and then follow up with my protein/carb drink?

    How about optimize the effects of the Anabolic Rush? Should I cycle it with 3 days followed by another non-three days? Or take it 5 days in a row and then not take it during the weekend(non workout days)?

    Thanks for your time!

    • Anabolic Rush is primarily a pre-workout drink. I would drink Anabolic Rush 30 to 45 minutes prior to your workout. Then you could bracket your workout with a carbohydrate/protein drink.

      I wouldn’t take Anabolic Rush after the workout. I would take it on the days I train and always pre-workout. I don’t think it needs to be cycled.

  6. Thanks for your very quick response!

    So if I don’t need to cycle with Anabolic Rush, should I still continue to cycle with my Micronized Creatine for 3 days and then off for another 3 days like Paul Cribb suggests?

    And if Anabolic Rush is really setting up an anabolic environment for the body before workout, wouldn’t all the ingredients be beneficial for post-workout too to continue having an anabolic “rush” for the next 3 important hours after workout?

    Thanks!

    • I think the primary function of the ingredients is for pre-workout.

      The anabolic effects you are looking for in a post training drink nutrition will be achieved with whey, carbohydrates, creatine and L-Glutamine.

      If you are following Paul Cribb’s cycling strategy then you can continue to follow that pattern and in that scenario I believe you would want to cycle Anabolic Rush as it contains creatine.

  7. avatar
    Scott Anderson

    Hello jeff i am from Scotland UK

    I noticed how highly Paul Delia has rated Dymetadrine Xtreme in Max OT and couldnt wait to try some but i found out that the product has been discontinued!

    I wondered if the “ephedra free” version was any good,as its all i seem to be able to buy here in the UK or if you would be able to recommend another product?

  8. avatar
    richard anderson

    Hey jeff,

    im from scotland , been working away at the max ot routine for bout 3 weeks now ! things are going well and i’m learning alot of usefull tips as well as seeing sum wicked gains . Jst got a little queery about Dymetadrine Xtreme ? i realise it been discountinued and there is a ehpedra free version . Will this stuff be as good or could you recommend another product ?

    many thnks , ricky

    • Yes, I think the current ephedra free formulation of Dymetadrine Xtreme is still an effective thermogenic accelerator and energy enhancer.

  9. What kind of vitamins would you recommend to take directly after workout? Would C-Vitamin be enough or should I take some Multivitamins? What about Vitamin E? I often read and follow your diet from your 2003 NPC Journal. It would be nice to see how your diet is laid out today and how it has changed from 2003!

    Thanks!

  10. avatar
    richard anderson

    hey jeff,

    been working away at max OT for a few weeks now . Learning tonnes of stuff as i go ! just had a couple of questions , one was regarding nytro pro 40 ? since it has been discontinued what would u reccommend ? also i purchased some dymetadrine capsules which are now ephadrine free , will these be worth taking ?

    cheers , ricky 😉

    • There are many meal replacement products out there. Muscle XGF by AST Sports Science is a good one and I also like Lean Body by Labrada. Yes, Dymetadrine Xtreme is an effective product.

  11. avatar
    Corey Mainit

    Jeff, Im coming up on week 9 of Max OT and am ready to take a break and let some nagging injuries recover. What would you advise I do for my week off nutrition…without the workout in my day it changes the whole nutrient timing concept doesnt it? Should I only eat vegetables on non training days?

    Corey

  12. avatar
    Dale Machin

    Hi Jeff, got a quick question, one that i have never really known through my 4 years of training, but what is the maximum grams of protein that your body can absorb at one time.

    I see alot of people double scoop to 60grams straight after their workout but other people have said that the body can’t absorb that much at one sitting, is this true?

    thanks.

  13. Hi Jeff. I have a question about protein intake. Im 6′ 230 and Im trying to put on more muscle size. After talking with a nutritionist,she told me that to gain muscle mass,I only need about 1.7gm per (Kg) of bodyweight.

    I started the Max-Ot workout and was starting the diet that was layed out. After I told her that I needed 300-400gm of protein which is 1.5-2 gm per lb of BW, she said that was way too much and it mostly comes down to calories. I want to follow the program correctly,but dont want to take a buch of protein powder a day if I dont need to. Whats your advice? Thank you!

    • My opinion/advice is consistent in all my DVDs and posts. I believe during a maximum muscle building phase you want to get around 2 grams of protein per pound. You can see on my “Lost Logs” ebook the exact nutritional breakdown I followed.

  14. Hey Jeff,

    Loved the “ThatGuy” video–very informative. However, I started carbohydrate cycling and really find the diet to be quite psychologically rewarding (ex: if I do well with very low carbs today, a higher carb day is right around the corner). However, I noticed you never mention, concerning nutrition, limiting any certain macro like carbs (except for right before a competition). I was wondering if you might give me your opinion on carb cycling and limiting macros.

    p.s. the specific carb-cycling plan I’m following is outlined here–>http://bodybuilding.com/fun/par30.htm

    Thanks.

    • I don’t have any personal experience cycling carbs. I prefer to keep consistent nutrient ratios and follow gradual and progressive caloric skims.

  15. Jeff,

    I watched the video and thought it was amazing and totally inspiring. What product would you recommened to take instead of Ny-Tro Pro as it has now been discontinued?

    Thanks

    (from the UK)

  16. Hey Jeff –

    Really enjoying Stu’s video and the information on your site. Over the last year I have dropped 115 lbs pretty much adhering to what you have above and staying militant with clean eating, lifting and cardio. I’d like to switch over to bulking a bit and had a question about post workout carbs. I have read that High GI is ideal to spike insulin (post workout being an ideal time to push nutrients). Vitargo is a bit pricey and I have heard gummi bears and sweet-tarts suggested as an alternative which goes against everything I have learned over the past year. Is this ok to do them post workout only? Would a rice cake have the same effect and be a little more sensible? Or what would you recommend mixing with whey/creatine/glutamine post workout as a carb?

    Appreciate all the tips.
    Cheers // brian

    • Congrats on your progress! Glad the information on my site has been helpful.

      Any high GI carb source will accomplish the goal for post workout. You want the simple sugars at that specific time.

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