subject kinda says it all.

I've read parts of the Max-OT course and find it confusing but I guess I need to pay more attention. yesterday I did an upper-body workout 4 sets of 4-6 reps, forgetting that you're supposed to do warm-up sets and I worked too many muscle groups. man, I'm paying for it today. should I even bother with Max-OT at this stage, or is it suitable for newbies?

Also, the Max-OT course has you training daily from what I've read so far, but John and others seem to get by with three days. this is one reason I think it's confusing.

I did OK on an elliptical machine doing what I guess was HIIT: 1 minute at about 50%, another at about 90%, for 15 minutes. that was probably too long and it took a long time to recover but I felt OK doing it. I think I'll alternate aerobix with weight training days though. it was a lot to do both.

I'm 41, 5'7" 167lb, 22%bf. I've always been heavy. I lost 23lbs on lo-carb and no exercise over the past six months but it's time to build up and cut. I also smoke (yeah, I know, bad).

maybe I'm trying to do too much too soon? I'm still tuning the eating plan; I need more protein and carbs, fewer fats. I guess the temptation to overdo it is pretty high what with the promise of getting John's results. Right now I look like he did at the beginning, only shorter and even more pasty :)

Yeah I think you are going too hard too early. If you keep it up you might end up injured which would be really frustrating

With the weights just start off with compound exercises at 3 X 12-15. After about 3 weeks you can reduce the reps and increase the weight until eventually you are ready for MAX OT.

With the HIIT start off doing only 4 sets not 15 and finish the rest of the session with some continuous training at a medium level. Then each week add a set. You may also want to do some fartlek training to help prepare for HIIT. When I started HIIT i'd do 4 sets and Id be wrecked. It took some time to build it up.

Just keep learning and progressing safely and eventhough you might not be working as hard as you think you can your body will still respond really well because its used to being sedentary.

Marcus

short answer - max-OT is too much for a beginner. :p

first off, you don't know what is "heavy" yet for various things, so you would need to mess around for a couple weeks just to see where you are at; this is assuming you know how to do all the exercises (which is unlikely)
so the odds of getting results is low, and getting injured is high.

having said that, I tried max-OT right off the start aswell.
my gym isn't busy so I started on chest day instead of leg day (as the PDF recomends).

when it came to back day, I didn't feel safe with dead lifts so I skipped them after some poor attempts, and when it came to arm day, it was clear that on chest day I fried my triceps and on back day I killed my biceps. so I didn't even go to the gym that day because I knew my arms were in no condition to train.
bottom line - it was abundantly clear to me that as a beginner I had no business trying max-OT. :whistle:

I did however build a more conservative "3 day split" beginner routine around the max-OT philosophy; but used a higher rep range then the 4-6 max-OT suggests. I did that routine for 8 weeks, and got pretty great results.
I have changed my routine slightly every 8 weeks, and am now heading toward my 20th week.
I am currently doing a more intermediate "4 day split" and feel pretty good about my experience level; now I feel like I know how to do most lifts propperly, and I am very familiar with what is "heavy" to me for various lifts. :tucool:

So to answer your question - figure out your goals (cut or bulk, etc)
and then set up a plan to achieve them.
I would suggest a conservative start with a 3 day split (push/pull/legs) in the 6-8 rep range and also do cardio 2-3 times per week. :gl:

No, I don't think you should start with Max-OT. Instead, I'd recommend that you select one of the training programs at www.exrx.net. That's a really good site, and it shares a lot of the same ideas as Max-OT. Actually, in one respect it can be more extreme than Max-OT, in that it suggests doing just one heavy set, because you gain so little from additional sets.

Be careful with your back and shoulders. I've had a back ache for a week now because I did some heavy squats that my back wasn't up for. I think it's wise to focus on exercises for strengthening back and shoulders before attempting exercises that are clearly risky.

As for someone new to weight lifting, MAX-OT or HIIT is kinda hard and demanding. However as i am currently doing both methods and finding it very intense, esp doing those easy to get injured exercises like squat and deadlift but the benefits are there, shorter workout time and getting results faster. Newbies are not advised to take up these kind of training methods, i've been doing lifting for more than 3 months before i took up MAX-OT. :confused:

'k, thanks. all good info!