Max OT

[Riptastic]

Yeah im looking forward to starting this routine, im just holding out till payday.

[Jimbo]

I made an amazing strength gain my very second week of this routine. My squat goal has been 250# for the last 6 weeks but today after not touching my legs for 7 entire days I slaughtered 250#. I did 7 reps and could have done 10 but still had leg presses to do so I stopped!

This was after the 3 "Real" sets 225# 3x4. I felt so good I just had to try 250#. Easy as pie!!

New goal 300#!!!!! And I figure I'll nail that next week! MAX-OT is awesome!

[Jimbo]

ps - I only weigh 172# so I think this is pretty good isn't it?

[vandamme]

Jimbo. Nice progress! the strength gains i experience still are still awesome. enjoy it!

[goldwave84]

Guys, these are the exercises I am doing now. I have them a bit, because of my tight internal rotator which I am correcting. Also, there one or two exercises that I prefer to stay clear from.

Monday ( In order of workout)
Squats
45 degree leg press
leg press
seated calf raise
sled calf raise

Tuesday
Triceps cable pushdown
skull crusher
Isolated Ext
Seated dumbell triceps ext
Biceps bar curl
Alternating dumbell curls
forearms wrist curl
reverse curl

Thursday
Seated rear delt row
dumbell seated rear lateral raise
cuban press
Side lying external rotation
Military barbell press
Chest
Bench press
Incline press
Machine Flyes

Friday
Cable row
deadlift
lat pulldown
One arm row

Please, feel free to make any comments. I changed a few exercises just to suit my current needs, but I am always learning. I am in week 1 of the program now.

Thanks
Ash

[OldGuy]

That's not Max-OT. Not even close.

[vandamme]

oldguy is right!
if your going to do the program then do it...that doesn't look like it though.

[goldwave84]

So, my mistake was changing a few exercises? I thought you are allowed to change a few?

[goldwave84]

Well, first thing, I made 5 days into 4. I am unable to go the gym 5 times a week.

[vandamme]

you can get away with 4days a week. but i would stick to the exercises prescribed in one of the pre made setup. there are tons of them here:http://www.ast-ss.com/jeffwillet/art...chedule_15.asp

just add two days together and maybe drop an exercise for each muscle group depending on how you feel doing both muscle groups.

[goldwave84]

So, from your observation, what other mistakes I have made?

[vandamme]

use the link I provided, find a set up you like and just double up two muscle groups.
you are getting too caught up in every little detail and why this is wrong and that is wrong etc...I would just start the program as it is laid out already with the time modification you need for 4 days rather then 5. once you've trained with it for a while you will come to understand the basics of the program. and that is probably the best way to discover it, not me telling you my opinion of it.
I would read more on the site about it also because you can learn a hell of a lot from their articles and from the questions and answers section.

your program has more exercises and different exercises then max ot uses. at lest until you understand the program well, then you can change some stuff around that you want to do.

[OldGuy]

What I'd change:

Monday
Squats - 3 sets
Romanian Deadlifts - 3 sets
Lunges - 3 sets
Calf Raises (anyway you want to do them)- 2 sets

Tuesday
Stay home and pleasure yourself (you'll work your arms just as well, just remember to switch hands)
- OR -
Do your rotator work here (cuban presses, lying external rotations etc.) eventually changing this to shoulder work (raises and presses)

Thursday
Bench Press - 3 sets (I prefer dumbbells to barbell)
Incline Press - 3 sets
Dips - 2 sets

Friday
Deadlifts - 3 sets
Pullups/Chinups - 3 sets
Some other glute/ham exercise (SLDL's, reverse hypers) - 3 sets
Seated Rows (V-grip, wide grip) - 3 sets

[goldwave84]

Thanks for your advice oldguy. Now, you sure that 1) these exercises will help me put on mass and strength? 2) By leaving out the arms, will it directly reduce the growth of the muscles?

What about the following weeks? Should I jump into the given workout?

Ash

[OldGuy]

Chest and back days (Thursday and Friday) should sufficiently work your tris and bis. If you want to knock out a couple of sets extra on those days go ahead. But to use a whole day on arm isolation exercises is just a waste of gym time, IMO.

You will get strength gains using Max-OT. Mass gains will depend on your diet.

Remember, this is just a suggestion off the workout you posted. Truthfully you should follow the 12 week program that gets you started. I know that starts out as a 5 day program but somewhere, maybe in weeks 5 or 6 it goes to 4 day. I would do their program first to get the feel of it.

Also, if I was doing the program above I would change things up every few weeks (ie. change seated rows to bent over rows). This will let you hit the muscle from different angles.

[poopy pants]

im will finish week 2 of the 6 month program tonight....so far its pretty intense

[vandamme]

I respectfully disagree with oldguy on this. Arms shouldn't be treated differently then anyother muscle group. your smaller muscles are always being stressed to some extent during your workout but people seem to like to redflag arms training. you get worked but not directly, they are only secondary muscles. thats why I would hit arms directly...very low volume though, its easy to overtrain little muscles because they get worked other days as well. But you will get better results doing a very low amount of direct arm work..but again, only use the exercises that allow you to move the most weight.
if you arn't going to do arms directly, why do any exercises for hamstrings? why do abs?, why do lower back?, why do calves?

I would try to stick as closely to the pre made layouts as possible until you really understand it, its layed out like it is for a reason. to give you the best results from it.

[OldGuy]

Yeah, vandamme, but he had a whole day for it. My suggestion is if you want to do triceps add a set or two on another day, but don't throw 3 or 4 different exercises on tris for 12 or so sets. You can make better use of gym time.

[vandamme]

"but don't throw 3 or 4 different exercises on tris for 12 or so sets. You can make better use of gym time."

holy sh*t! thats a lot of sets for them i agree. max ot uses normally a totaly maybe 5 sets for tris and usally 2 maybe 3 exercises. But very low volume. that shouldn't be that hard to fit in. I think when people try to make their own split they seem to end up with more of a ronnie colemen type layout because its probably the most common bodypart split you hear about. MAx ot is very different. Doing any program as closely as its layed out would yield the best results from the program.

[OldGuy]

This was his Tuesday:

Tuesday
Triceps cable pushdown
skull crusher
Isolated Ext
Seated dumbell triceps ext
Biceps bar curl
Alternating dumbell curls
forearms wrist curl
reverse curl

I wouldn't go to the gym for that.