Alright, I have been going crazy trying to design a workout plan for the upcoming semester. I've been reading every website and magazine I could get my hands on. Last semester I did my own thing which was basically 3-5 exercises (Often supersetting the last 2 exercises) of 3 sets per muscle. I did 8-10 reps for the first set, 6-8 for the 2nd and 4-6 for the 3rd. My progress was pretty good, but I wanted to try something new. I picked up FLEX magazine last month which had a 12 week getting ripped program I decided to try. I started it 2 weeks ago, but after reading more on the internet, I'm not sure how efficient its principles are. So here are my questions (Please answer any or all that you can/want):

1) How beneficial do you feel Max-OT is for actually building muscle/strength?
2) Is it possible for me to lose body fat while following Max-OT if proper dieting and cardio 3-4 days/week is incorporated?
3) Is it okay to supplement an exercise they give if need be?
4) If you are only supposed to do 4-6 reps per set and you start with a weight where you can only get 6 reps, by the 3rd set, how are you supposed to get 4-6 reps still without lowering the weight? I mean, for most people you get "weaker" with each successive set.

I have read the entire Max-OT Introduction and Week 1. My only concern is the phrase they use all too often, "forget everything you've ever learned before, because it's not right" . It just is hard for me to comprehend that everyone out there is lifting incorrectly. However, with how much talk I have heard about Max-OT, I am willing to give it a try if people have had success with it.

I am almost 21 (male), about 5'7" and weigh around 168lbs. I probably have around 11-14% body fat, but I don't know for sure. My goal is to have 7-8% by June and I will do whatever it takes to get me there.

I GREATLY appreciate ANY and ALL input! Thanks!

It appears that you want to do both gain strength and lose body fat at the same time. I find that a hard thing to do at the same time. If you read through John's main page you will see exactly were to start to get you body down in body fat. He documented everyday for over a year. He ate on average 1300 to 1700 CLEAN calories on any given day and exercised with weights 3 x a week and did high intensity interval training for cardio everyday of the week. I don't think it has to be any more difficult than that. With all do respect, I have looked at the OT training and it makes sense to me but you really don't have to make it more confusing than you need to. Just follow the above said for three to four months, be patient, and watch what happens. NO DEVIATION. tanks

1) How beneficial do you feel Max-OT is for actually building muscle/strength?
2) Is it possible for me to lose body fat while following Max-OT if proper dieting and cardio 3-4 days/week is incorporated?
3) Is it okay to supplement an exercise they give if need be?
4) If you are only supposed to do 4-6 reps per set and you start with a weight where you can only get 6 reps, by the 3rd set, how are you supposed to get 4-6 reps still without lowering the weight? I mean, for most people you get "weaker" with each successive set.

1. I feel Max-OT is incredibly beneficial for building strength and muscle mass. You minimize your total time in the gym (which helps to prevent overtraining) and thus maximize the results you get from what/how you lift.

2. It is absolutely possible for you to lose body fat while incorporating cardio and proper nutrition (which is relative to you) into your regimen along with Max-OT weight training. I am currently doing this; Over the past month I have lost 8lbs. while consistently increasing my strength.

3. I'm not sure what you're asking here...could you be more specific?

4. Sometimes you do have to lower the weight. Sometimes you can lift 6 reps at the same weight for 3 sets. It depends on how well your body recovers in between sets. Isolated exercises (that is, exercises that work only one muscle group) in particular lend themselves to maintained reps over the course of several sets, as you are not fatiguing your body to the extent as you are when you execute a compound exercise (an exercise that works multiply muscle groups). Along with the 2-3 minutes of rest time between sets, it is plausible that you stay at the same weight and in some cases at the same rep count over the course of two or three sets of the same exercise.

It appears that you want to do both gain strength and lose body fat at the same time.

Well, not entirely true. I am no Arnold but at 5'7" and around 170lbs, I have a pretty decent sized build. My main concern is losing the excess fat for the time being. I just wanted to know about the muscle gains in Max-OT in general to see if what they say actually works. Not to mention that by gaining muscle, I'd be increasing my metabolism which leads to more calorie loss per day.


3. I'm not sure what you're asking here...could you be more specific?


Sorry, basically if I don't have the proper equipment for a particular exercise, or if there is a big crowd around the equipment I need, would it be okay to substitute it for something similar?

If your interested in getting specific strength gains that I would not deviate at the gym from specific exercises. I am assuming that you are setting measurable goals. If you just want to lose fat and keep you strength or maybe maintain your muscle size then I say that you can deviate exercises as long as you stay focused on the principles of the program. Slow controlled movements with the low rep scheme. 6-9 sets blah blah blah

Ok, back to question 3:

You certainly can alternate exercises to fit your tastes (to a certain degree). Everybody responds differently to different exercises, so experiment; find out which exercises yield the best gains for you, then apply the Max-OT philosophy to your workouts. This is what I've done and I've had good success thus far.

1) Let me put it simply, I'm squatting 10 lbs less than when I was 18. I'm turning 30 this year. I've been adding weight every week.

2) I've lost 10 lbs in a little more than 3 weeks. My nutrition isn't perfect yet but isn't too much of a liability and I am confident if it were dialed in perfectly I would have seen as much as 2 more lbs lost.

3) Keep to the program as much as possible. Mulit muscle group exercises are far more desirable. You absolutely must keep incline bench, bench, squat and dead lift. Those exercises cannot be adequately replaced.

4) It will take time to dial in your limits. You want 4 reps on that last set. You will know when you reach the limit.