Max-OT stands for Maximum Overload Training and is based on the physiological principle that overloading a muscle with heavy resistance creates the best stimulus for growth. The Max-OT principles were created by Paul Delia, CEO of AST Sports Science and are the principles I’ve followed exclusively since 1998. Paul was a very valuable mentor and I model a lot of my teaching after things I learned from him.
Max-OT is a low volume, high intensity approach to weight training that will maximize muscle and strength gains. Remember, this is very important to anyone interested in fat loss because every ounce of muscle you can build you are going to raise your resting metabolic rate and make fat loss easier. Plus, if you can build muscle you will achieve a more shapely/toned body when all is said and done.
When I speak about volume I am talking about the total number of sets and reps you are going to perform in any given workout. Most “typical” workouts prescribe way too many sets and reps, particularly those workouts that are supposed to be designed specifically for “toning”.
I often hear people say they don’t want to lift heavy because they don’t want to get too bulky or they will point to one of my contest photos and say they don’t want to look like that; they just want to “tone up.” They make it sound as if the moment they start lifting anything challenging they’ll add gobs of muscle over night. Before I yell at them, I remind myself it is not their fault they have this fear of lifting heavy. This misinformation has been ingrained in their heads. We all hear it all the time….light weight and high reps for muscle tone and heavy weight with low reps for bulk (I hate the term bulk by the way. To me that is another way of saying fat because adding quality muscle will never make anyone look “bulky”. A so called “bulky” look comes from too much body fat). Every time I hear the talk about light weights for muscle tone I want to scream because that is just not accurate and leads people to mediocre results.
You don’t need to lose any sleep over building too much muscle. Building muscle is very low on the physiological totem pull. You need to do a lot of things right with your weight training and diet to build muscle and not only that, you have to do these things day in and day out for a long, long time. Even then you might not build appreciable amounts of muscle depending on your body’s propensity to do so. It is doubly hard for women right out of the gate because they don’t have the hormonal support to build muscle easily on top of everything else.
Take drug free bodybuilders for example. They work their tails off for years doing everything geared towards building muscle from a diet, training and supplement standpoint just to add a few inches of circumference to their muscles so what makes the average person think they are going to start working out and become the Incredible Hulk over night? It just isn’t going to happen so stop listening to all that nonsense and start grabbing heavier weights.
Lifting heavy weights is not going to automatically make you huge but it is going to set you up to build muscle way more efficiently than high rep training. The reason is because overloading the muscle with a heavy weight will create the best stimulus for the muscle to grow and become stronger. This is not my opinion, this is physiology talking. And let’s remember the whole purpose behind lifting weights to begin with is to build muscle and strength. (More muscle = higher resting metabolic rate and a more shapely body when you lose the fat with smart diet and cardiovascular exercise.)
I believe Max-OT is the best way to train to maximize results based on what physiology tells us and also based on my own 20 year real world study with myself as the primary test subject as well as countless other success stories over the globe. Men and women alike. I was a very good bodybuilder before I started Max-OT. After I adopted the Max-OT principles 100% I became one of the greatest drug free bodybuilders in the world.
Our documentary “I Want to Look Like That Guy” it illustrates my point perfectly. In the documentary, Stuart MacDonald was the test subject and he followed Max-OT training for a 6 month period while also following the Max-OT cardio principles as well as a very strict and carefully calculated nutritional plan. In those 6 months his results were astounding and you can watch it happening right in front of your eyes during the film. He went from over 30% body fat to under 6% body fat and lost over 50lbs. All this by continuing to lift heavy weights throughout. If you follow the logic that heavy weights build bulk and light weights get you toned and trim then how do you explain Stuart’s outstanding results?
Keeping the weights heavy with Max-OT style training kept Stuart in a state where he was building and at the very minimum maintaining muscle throughout his strict diet and intense cardiovascular exercise. I guarantee you that if Stuart followed the “normal” guru advice and did a lot of high rep, high volume workouts with long duration cardio he would have never achieved the results he did. He may have been able to lose 50lbs or even more but his physique and body composition would not have been as incredible as there were at the end of the film. Why? Because he continued to have a muscle building emphasis with his weight training by using the Max-OT principles.
If you take nothing else away from reading my blog entries, hopefully you will at least have an understanding of why a smart muscle building component to your workout plan is absolutely critical if you really want to transform your body and why Max-OT style training is the most effective way to make sure that component is met.
Max-OT should be the constant in your workout program whether your goal is to be a champion bodybuilder and gain maximum muscle or your goal is to tone up and shed fat.
I understand the principles of Max-OT and now use them myself. And while i also understand that you will not veer from this training modality and why should you. As the saying goes, “if it’s not broken…”.
That said, do you see any value in adding static contractions and slow negatives to each rep? Perhaps you have experimented with these and could tell of your experiences.
I have not attempted that nor do I personally see the value in it. I prefer to execute reps in a smooth motion with a controlled negative. I don’t really stress any specific cadence or exaggerate the motions one way or another.
How do you do it? Really? It seems that once you have decided that something works, you do not veer from it in the slightest. That is really commendable. I wonder are you like that in other areas of your life.
With that said, what if you discovered research that suggested ways to produce the same benefits if not greater using a different system than that which you follow and perhaps in even less time. Would you think about trying it or would you just ignore it?
You pose a good question. You can train a variety of ways and still achieve results. My feeling is basic physiology isn’t going to change and therefore the basic triggers for maximum results aren’t going to change. The Max-OT principles are built with an understanding of those basic physiologic principles. Based on that and my own results and experience over 20 years is why I am so confident in these principles and personally choose not to vary them.
I think it can be over-analyzed. At the end of the day I believe principles that will always be productive to drug free trainers are low volume, heavy weights and basic free weight lifts.
My question is with the cardio side of this. You say to do 16 minutes each time. How hard should you be going? say if you are on a treadmill at what pace? Can this cardio be performed on a bike? or better still half on a bike and half on a tread mill?
Max-OT cardio is addressed in this blog entry http://www.jeffwillet.com/newsite/2010/05/short-durationhigh-intensity-cardio-is-key/
Just wanted to know, I have gained alot of weight on the past few years I’m at 138kg.. Just started getting back to training, so would you recommend for weight loss and muscle gain I follow this principle or should I do more cario???
Execute the Max-OT principles and add more cardio if fat loss is a primary goal. Also, make sure to watch caloric intake closely.
Hi Jeff, I would like to know how much lean mass have you gain since 1998, when you started using Max-OT principles, until 2003, when you won your pro card. It’s just curiosity of a fan.
I don’t have any good way to measure that. I never tested my body composition during my career.
What exactly is ‘heavy’ lifting? ‘Heavy’ would be relative, right? So how is it determined? Is it by how many reps you can do before failing? And how many sets?
“Heavy” lifting is determined by the rep range. I would determine heavy lifting as a weight you can only complete 4-6 reps with.