Max OT

[AlaskaMuscle]

Has anyone tried the max ot style of training. I just started and so far it is great. It seems to be a HIT style of training with more sets and reps.

[GirlyMuscle]

Sledge and I are doing it. I like it so far.

[juiceinator3000]

i loved it but hit a plateau as far as strength goes after about 6 weeks. i feel that improving strength is very important for me as far as building muscle goes so i switched after that, though i do still follow a lot of the principles as far as keeping reps b/w 4-6 (sometimes 8) and never above that

[GirlyMuscle]

Did you change your program every 4 weeks like suggested?

[juiceinator3000]

yep

[s2h]

ya great way to make gains i do it in the off season for a 4 week on 4 week off and it works well for me,if you slso supp you might wanna try diffferent supps and doses during your heavier training,bump it up a bit just like your your training!

[AlaskaMuscle]

I am just starting week 2 in about an hour. I have not been this sore since I started working out. The first week was great. I am doing the lifting portion of it. For cardio I have been doing 20 min of intervals and on my day's off I do an hour of slow and steady. So far so good but like I said I have just started. What kinds of cardio breakdowns have the rest of you used during Max OT training?

[GirlyMuscle]

My PLAN is to do the 16 min HIIT. However, with traveling to Australia, settling in, etc that has not happened. I do have to bike to the gym every other week when Sledge is away at work and that's a 25 min ride each way so that's my cardio.

I did get a bit sore in the first week but I thinnk that's because I took a couple of weeks off since I'd just competed. I was also finding my working weights. Now that I have that down and I can truly hit failure in 4-6 reps I do get sore. So make sure you're working with the correct weights. Then again, soreness isn't always an indicator of a good workout.

When Sledge and I started the program we questioned the program. It almost seemed too easy. But as time went on we found that it's really a good plan. My weights go up every week indicating I'm getting stronger and hopefully that means more muscle.

[AlaskaMuscle]

What is the break down for the 16 HIIT cardio? I am starting week three tonight.

[GirlyMuscle]

Ya know, I just looked it up and I am mistaken. I got the 16 minute HIIT cardio thing from the video documentary "I Want TO Look Like That Guy." In this video the guy does MAX-OT throughout his off season and contest prep. A couple of times he mentions the 16 min HIIT cardio. However, I just got out the manual for MAX-OT and this is the guidelines.

Do 30 minutes of high intensity cardio 3-5 times a week.

Do the cardio 8-12 hours before or after your weight training session. NEVER do cardio before or after your weight training session.

If you think you need to drop bodyfat faster than this cardio regime allows it's better to drop calories than to increase cardio.

That's pretty much all it says.

[AlaskaMuscle]

Thank you. I saw the same show and thought the same thing. That makes better sense to me than 16 min.

[a-dog]

max-ot cardio is a little different than HIIT cardio, you're supposed to go all out for 16 minutes and try to beat your totals every workout. I asked Skip Lacour about this on his BB.com thread cause I was always a little confused by how it was described on the AST site. I went all out for 16 minutes with the tension on the bike on 3, recorded my totals then did 15.5 mins all out and .5 on 4 and so on and so on. eventually you'll run out of steam. it's intense as hell.

[AVBG]

For the uninitiated, what are some of the principals that make HIIT? When does HIIT training become volume style training? Are more people doing HIIT and not aware of it ie warm up sets then the 1-2 balls to the wall sets?

[AlaskaMuscle]

When I do Max OT as it was explained to me I do a few warm up sets of 8 to 12 for each body part then I have 2 to 3 working sets of 4 to 6 max effort. I do 2 to 3 exercises for each body part. My break down is legs, off, pulling movements, off pushing movements, off, off, start over. On three of my off days I do cardio. I also do 20 min of intervals before I do each lift as body fat loss is my main goal. I take one day off a week.

[data]

I've been doing a MaxOT style of training for years. I basically pick 3-5 exercises per muscle group and do a couple heavy ass sets of 4-8 reps. A typical back workout might look like deads, pulldowns, barbell rows, one arm db rows. A typical chest workout might only consist of flat bench, incline bench, and a dip. I do everything heavy except for shoulders (and dips) because they seem to fatigue slowly and I need a bit higher volume and reps to really inroad the muscle. This type of training has by far put the most size on me.

I don't do high intensity interval cardio tho because it burns me out fast esp if I'm lifting heavy. I'd rather just walk on the treadmill for 30-35 minutes.