Do 4 to 6 Repetitions.

This is the heart and soul of Max-OT. This is the range of reps that you will be using for virtually all exercises. In the beginning, there will be some where you may do more, but not many. As I progress you through the program, you will see that by the end of your first year, all of your lifts will be in this range. Now when I say 4 to 6, what do I mean exactly? Well simply put you need to select a weight that will allow you to complete at least 4 reps on your own, but no more than 6. If you can do more than six, it is too light. If you can not do 4, then it is too heavy. It is really that simple.

The reasoning behind this is to achieve maximal muscle fiber and motor unit recruitment. You may be thinking why not just do sets of 1. This is somewhat counter-intuitive, but that would not necessarily achieve maximal recruitment. As the duration of the set increases, EMG patterns change from the first rep no matter how heavy it is. This tells us that the motor units are doing a number of things - 1. altering their firing rate 2. increasing in # of units active 3. Failing and shutting off. 1 or 2 reps can not induce that much overload, there isn't enough time.

Intensity

Aside from the physiological aspects of a Max-OT workout, there are numerous mental aspects that will allow you to focus more energy to each and every set. A set of 4 to 6 repetitions will be much shorter than one that is 10 or 12. This means that you need to concentrate for a much shorter time. Less time means that the amount of mental focus and intensity you can create and maintain for each set will be much greater. Believe it or not your level of motivation plays a huge part in how much force (weight you can lift) you can produce. Being able to create this mind set is critical to being able to accelerate your results from Max-OT. Once you realize that it is the heavy weight that stimulates muscle growth, you will continually search for new ways to increase you meant al focus and intensity so you can continually become bigger, stronger and leaner in a shorter amount of time. This is what Max-OT is all about.

Rest 2 to 3 Minutes Between Sets.

The Max-OT program is about creating a maximal level of intensity and overload. This takes a lot out of you. Each set of the work out is physically demanding, and requires as a complete of a recovery as we can achieve This s call Short Term Recovery (STR). After every set, rest 2 to 3 minutes. During this time hundreds and thousands of physiological processes are taking place as the muscle recover.

Research has shown that after about 3 minutes, approximately 99% of the muscle fibers and neurons involved have recovered as much as the are going to. For a complete recovery and for that last 1% to recover would take 48 hours, and 96 hours for the neurons to completely recover. This amount of recovery allows you to literally attack the weights with the utmost focus and intensity each and every set. Doing so when you are physically and mentally fatigued will not generate the same results.

Being fully recovered before each set is one of the most important aspects of training that people seem to want to overlook. Being fully recovered before each set allows you to achieve the maximal level of overload that you are capable of. As you will The Max-OT program does not make use of various fatigue or so called "Advanced" techniques such as super-sets, pre-exhaustion and so on. Let it be made very clear now, that fatigue does not build muscle! Once you are fatigued, you can not generate a maximal overload. For many of you it will be hard to separate fatigue from overload with years of being bombarded with "Feeling the Burn". The burn is nothing more than an accumulation of lactic acid with in a muscle from carbohydrate metabolism.

Years and years ago there was research that found there was a relationship between lactic acid and growth hormone and came to the conclusion that the more acid (Burn) more growth. As we say in the real world, "Kinda but not really". If you utilize this information correctly, it can be used to your advantage, but the weight room is not the place.

Train Each Muscle Group Once Every 5 to 7 days.

This is termed Muscle Specific Recovery. Recovery is Everything- Recuperation is Everything! Muscle do not grow while you are in the gym pounding the weights, they grow while they are recovering outside of the gym. For this reason you should only be training each muscle group once a week. That means the time between identical workouts or muscle groups should be at least 5 to 7 days. After you train your chest, do not train your chest again for and entire week. If a muscle is not fully recovered that it can not generate maximum overload and your results will falter. More over, this type of recovery time creates the feeling of always wanting more. When you start spending 45 minutes in the gym, doing 7 sets and walking out the door before everyone else is done with their first exercise, you will feel a little guilty to say the least. But you will also feel like you could have done more. This is a GOOD feeling. Use that to fuel the next workout. Use that to reach a higher level of intensity.

1 Full Week Off After 8 to 10 Weeks

That's right an entire week from all training. Max-OT is an intense and brutal form of training, it places a higher than normal demand on your body. YOu will need this time to fully recuperate from the damage that you have done. This time should be focused on your nutrition. The proper building material is needed to allow the the growth process to actually take place. The quality and amount of food you eat needs to improved. It is as important, if not more important than the training itself. This week off is the key element of the Max-OT program, with out it, you will be short changing your results.

It is important to try to avoid any strenuous aerobic or anaerobic training during this week off. Your primary focus is recovering. Although it doesn't take much on your part to recover, it can be challenging for some to do virtually nothing for a week due to a fear of turning to a fat slob after all your hard work. Don't fall into this train of thought, it simply isn't true and it isn't going to happen.

Feed yourself well and allow all of your hard work to shine through. This is a pretty good overview of the Max-OT training program. It should set you on the right path. In the members area I go into more detail on the finer aspects and techniques that separate Max-OT from the crowd and that will accelerate your results to a blistering speed.