Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Sample 5-day Workout Schedule


I thought some of you might find it helpful to view a sample 5-day Max-OT workout schedule. There is nothing special about this arrangement or any other Max-OT arrangement for that matter. You can group the body parts and the order of days in any number of ways and still be effective.

Here are some important principles to keep in mind when constructing your schedule:
  • Train each body part once per week.
  • 4-6 reps for major body parts.
  • 6-8 total sets for bigger muscle groups.
  • 4-5 total sets for smaller muscle groups.
  • Select mostly free weight compound exercises.
  • Don't group large body parts together like chest and back or legs and chest.

MONDAY (Back & Traps)
Back:
Deadlifts....2 sets 4-6 reps (After warm-up)
Weighted Pull-ups.... 3 sets 4-6 reps (After acclimation set)
Bent-over Rows.... 2 sets 4-6 reps (After Weight Acclimation)
Traps:
Barbell Shrugs.... 2 sets 4-6 reps (After Weight Acclimation)


TUESDAY (Chest)
Chest:
Flat Barbell Bench Press.... 2 sets 4-6 reps (After warm-up)
Incline Barbell Bench Press.... 2 sets 4-6 reps
Weighted Dips.... 2 sets 4-6 reps


WEDNESDAY (Legs & Calves)
Calves:
Calf Raises On Leg Press.... 3 sets 6-8 reps
Seated Calf Raises.... 2 sets 6-8 reps

Legs:
Squats.... 5 sets 4-6 reps (After warm-up)
Stiff Leg Deadlifts.... 2 sets 4-6 reps (After weight acclimation)


THURSDAY (Biceps, Triceps & Forearms)
Biceps:
Barbell Curls….3 sets 4-6 reps
Standing Dumbbell Curls….2 sets 4-6 reps

Triceps:
Lying Triceps Extensions….3 sets 4-6 reps
Cable Push-downs….2 sets 4-6 reps

Forearms:
Barbell Wrist Curls.... 3 sets 6-8 reps


FRIDAY (Abs & Shoulders)
Abs:
Cable Crunches.... 3 sets 8-10 reps (After weight acclimation)
Weighted Leg Raises.... 2 sets 8-10 reps

Shoulders:
Military Barbell Press (To the front).... 3 sets 4-6 reps (After warm-up)
Side Lateral Dumbbell Raises.... 2 sets 4-6 reps
Seated Rear Lateral Dumbbell Raises.... 2 sets 4-6 reps

Believe. Achieve.

http://www.jeffwillet.com/

8 comments:

  1. Jeff, do you happen to have a 3 day a week routine? I know 5 is ideal; however, due to my travel schedule 3 is most practical (although I concede not optimal)

    Thanks

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  2. Hi Jeff,
    How important is it to keep workout time consistent? For example, I always make sure that I am walking into the gym just after 9:00 a.m. Is there merit in this extra scheduling effort, or is it sufficient to simply be training every day irrespective of when? Thanks in advance!

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  3. I think there is merit to having structure to your workout time but still the most important factors are intensity and consistency.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Jeff! I have just seen the movie "I want to look like that guy" with you and Stuart Macdonald. It was really good and got me motivated to try max-ot again. A couple of years ago I tried max-ot but got back to my normal high volume routine after a little while. Can I use this sample workout plan that you have in this blog post or is it better do follow the max-ot 12 weeks plan on the AST site? And can you tell me the workout plan that Stuart followed in the movie?

    //Anders, Sweden

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  5. The arrangement is not as important as the principles. As long as you are executing the Max-OT principles you can arrange the week a number of ways with equal effectiveness.

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  6. OK! Thank you very much Jeff! I have now studied the max-ot principles. Can this be a good way to go:
    8-9 set on big musclegroups
    5-6 sets on smaller musclegroups
    4-6 reps on big musclegroups
    8-10 reps for abdominals (6-10 for hyperextension)
    6-8 reps for forearms, calves
    3-4 exercises for big musclegroups, 2-3 exercises for smaller musclegroups
    Every set taken to failure
    5 HIIT-workouts รก 15-20 minutes after every workout (5 per week)

    Thank´s for your help Jeff and for bringing the motivation back to me for heavy weight training!

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  7. Thanks Jeff, I've been meaning to try this for a while.

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  8. G'day Jeff,
    Whats your opinion on strip setting?
    I train at a very high intensity.
    Example:
    Flat Bench- 4 - 6 reps
    Super set with
    Incline Dumbbell Press
    1st strip, 4 - 6 reps
    2nd strip, 6 - 8 reps
    3rd strip, 8 - 12 reps

    Pretty much 4 sets in one.
    Cheers
    Mick
    (Bec's Partner)

    ReplyDelete