I will be adding more and more clips from this rare workout footage so stay tuned!

Michael Vrabel, Karlee Foley and Stuart MacDonald all achieved amazing transformations using information detailed in my DVD's and Books.

Mass Media is great for spreading fitness misinformation especially when it comes to nutrition so here are a few things to keep in mind that will help you sift through all the nutrition info garbage out there

Eating to simply lose weight and eating to change your body composition is not necessarily the same thing.  To really change your body you have to follow an eating plan that will enhance the muscle building process while encouraging fat loss.  Simply eating low calories is not enough.  Sure you can lose weight by just lowering your calories but if the right nutrients and intelligent nutrient timing are not well executed you will have a hard time building and maintaining muscle which will ultimately be a limiting factor in the degree of results you can achieve.

Here are some simple nutrition tips to keep in mind to help you maximize your results:

1. 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.  Gradually skim away calories:
If you are emphasizing fat loss you want to gradually skim your calories over a long period of time while maintaining smart nutrient selection and timing.  Drastic calorie cuts or simply removing all carbohydrates from your diet is not a productive long term strategy for changing your body composition.

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!

You can have the greatest weight training workouts in the world but if your nutrition and cardio plan is lacking you will not achieve super lean status!

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind as you structure your plan…

Cardio:

Remember to keep it short (16-20 minutes) and intense. You should be “huffing and puffing” the whole time. You need to be out of your comfort zone.

Short duration/high intensity cardio will have a greater impact on your metabolic rate and keep it elevated longer after exercise.

I recommend establishing a distance goal and then strive to beat it each session.

Nutrition:

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.

Keep a mindful eye on your caloric intake. Focus on nutrient dense, protein rich foods and avoid empty calories that serve no purpose.

Make sure to consume small, frequent meals and include lots of green crunchy vegetables!

(If you want to see the exact nutrition plan I used to get ultra shredded check out my “Lost Logs” eBook for every last detail!)

Max-OT was developed by AST Sports Science founder and one of my mentors, Paul Delia. I had the privilege of working with Paul directly for four years when I lived in Colorado and worked at the AST Sports Science headquarters. That was the greatest educational experience of my life and also the most productive years of my training.

In that time I like to think that we refined the Max-OT principles even more and there is not a doubt in my mind it is the most effective way to train to maximize results.

Here are some key Max-OT principles you will want to keep in mind as you structure your workouts:

• 4-6 reps per set.
• Each body part worked only 1 time weekly.
• Select basic compound exercises.
• Low set volume.
• 1 Week off after every 8-10 weeks of training.
• Warm-up efficiently without inducing fatigue.
• Keep cardio short and intense (16-20 minutes in duration).
• If you perform cardio and weight training in the same session, do cardio after weights and not before.

View FREE Max-OT 5 Day Schedule

Here are 5 great tips to help you achieve awesome abs!

1.  Cardio, cardio, cardio:
Cardio plays an important role in fat loss.  Keep your cardio sessions short (16-20 minutes) and intense.  If you are emphasizing fat loss do cardio at least 5 times a week.

2. Monitor your caloric intake:
You should keep a log of your food intake each day so you can calculate your total caloric intake.  Once you establish a starting point you will want to gradually skim calories over time to target fat loss. (see my “Lost Logs” for a perfect guide)

3. Eat your vegetables:
Vegetables, especially the green crunchy variety, are a helpful tool for fat loss.  When you are following a low calorie diet vegetables help you stay satisfied and digesting all that fiber helps keep your metabolism elevated.

4. Don’t crunch your life away:
Ab crunches will not trim your waistline.  Training abs once a week directly is enough, especially if you are following the Max-OT training principles. Train abs with resistance to help develop the abdominal muscles and let diet and cardio take care of the fat loss.

5.  Eat often:
Small frequent meals throughout the day will help keep your metabolism elevated and aid the fat loss process.

As we fast approach the season of New Year’s resolutions it is the perfect opportunity to arm yourself or someone you care about with a proven plan that will maximize results.

The “I Want to Look Like That Guy” SYSTEM is a special value package that contains ALL my DVD’s including the newly released “I Want to Look Like That Guy” Director’s Cut plus a training journal and my “Inside the Mind of a Champion” e-Book.

You will not find a better collection of materials to inspire an amazing body transformation anywhere!

2. Keep cardio short and intense. 16 to 20 minutes of high intensity cardio will have a greater effect on elevating your metabolism and will keep your metabolism elevated longer after exercise than long duration moderate intensity cardio.

3. Work out of your comfort zone the entire session. You should be “huffing and puffing” throughout.

4. Set distance goals and try to beat them every session. Working to beat your distance goals will give you a tangible marker of intensity to strive for rather than simply putting in your time.

5. Frequency. If fat loss is a high priority I recommend cardio 5-7 days a week. Remember every cardio session you do will give your metabolism a jolt and fire up the fat burning process!

In the excerpt below from my eBook “Inside the Mind of a Champion” I address this topic.

Scheduled time off won’t hurt you, misguided efforts and a lack of intensity will. It doesn’t matter how many hours you spend in the gym, if you consistently use a bad approach you’ll consistently get marginal results. In order to achieve outstanding results you need to do more than just put in your time. You have to continually kick ass in the gym and execute an intelligent plan.

Intense Max-OT training for a span of 8 to 10 weeks will create the best stimulus for maximum muscle gains and the scheduled week off will play an important role in how well you fully recover and respond (grow) from all the hard work in the gym.

To continually take your results to a higher level, your head needs to be in the game each and every workout as well and a mental break is just as important as a physical break. Mental recovery is overlooked in virtually every training program but not in Max-OT because Paul is acutely aware of the critical role your mind plays in building maximum muscle.

A large part of your training success will hinge on your mental approach. If you are sputtering mentally your workouts will suffer and that is a fact. To get the most out of your workouts you need to focus and concentrate 110% each day. You can’t afford to let your mental approach suffer. A scheduled week off gives you a very important mental reliever and helps keep you fresh and focused in the gym.

You need to understand that training is only one part of the equation, albeit a big part, but only one part none the less. Recovery, nutrition and supplementation all play roles of equal importance and if any one of those aspects suffers, the end results will suffer too.

It is crucial that you understand the importance of cyclical recovery and get over any mental barriers that may prohibit you from taking scheduled time off. View the big picture and realize how vital this extended recovery period between intense Max-OT cycles is for your progress as well as your overall health and well being.

After you train with Max-OT intensity for 8 to 10 weeks straight, a week off will be a welcomed and deserved break. You’ll return to the gym stronger, mentally sharper, re-focused and hungry to build maximum muscle during the next Max-OT training cycle.

What do I mean by 6 good reps?  That means you are in control of the weight for all 6 reps and require very little to no assistance from a spotter to complete the last rep.  If you are sloppy or really struggle to get 6 reps it is not a good idea to move up in weight just yet.

If you get too ahead of yourself with weight selection you will begin to sacrifice too much form and control.  This will lead to an increased potential for injury and a greater likelihood of plateauing with your weights.

When you are training with the Max-OT principles you want to use the best balance of loose form and maximal weight, being careful not to expense one for the other.  Remember that loose form doesn’t mean sloppy or out of control it simply means allowing your body to move naturally through the exercise rather than being too strict or rigid.  You can get a great visual example of exactly what I mean by loose form while under control in my training DVDs.