Who is Jason Maxwell and Mike Samuels’ Program Good For?
If you’re wondering whether Jason Maxwell and Mike Samuels’ workout program called The DUP Method is right for you, then this review will help you make your decision. Below, I’ve given a complete review of the program in 4 different sections. At the end of this review, I also give my final thoughts on the program, as well as a final tally.
Title:
The DUP Method
Author(s):
Jason Maxwell
Mike Samuels
Author Credibility
I think that Mike Samuels and Jason Maxwell have some great credibility.
Firstly, Mike is very lean. Judging by his picture, he knows how to get below 10% body fat with ease. With that being said, he doesn’t have a large amount of muscle definition. Since The DUP Method is more of a strength-based program, then this is OK. How do you tell if someone is strong by looking at their picture?
Researching Mike, I’ve found some interesting facts. First of all, he is coached by Dr. Layne Norton. Norton is known as being one of the biggest advocates of Daily Undulating Periodization (DUP) in the fitness industry; having close ties with the primary researching in DUP, Dr. Mike Zourdos. This probably means that Mike Samuels has learned everything he knows about DUP from the source itself: Dr. Layne Norton and Dr. Mike Zourdos.
Another interesting fact about Mike is that he is incredibly strong. This is good news since The DUP Method is a strength program first and foremost. For instance, Mike currently holds the under-23 bench press record for the South East of England. This is a huge accomplishment. Lastly, Mike has appeared on T-Nation, Livestrong.com, Layne Norton’s website, the Personal Trainer Development Center, and EliteFTS.
On the other hand, it’s obvious that Jason Maxwell has the brains behind the program. He is literally a trained rocket scientist. It’s not everyday that you get to do a program written by an actual rocket scientist. This is good because you know that he can respect the science and applications of strength training. Looking into his background info, I found that he graduated in the top-3 of his class in Aerospace Engineering. I cannot even fathom how intelligent he must be. This gives me a lot of hope and helps me trust his fitness programs.
While he has a good amount of muscle, I wouldn’t classify him as a “bodybuilder”. With that being said, he’s much bigger than many other “science geeks” I’ve seen. On top of this, Jason has a master’s level nutrition certification, and has been featured in T-Nation, Muscle & Fitness, Greatist, EliteFTS, Breaking Muscle, The Personal Trainer Development Center, and many other well-respected publications.
In the end, when you combine two great brains in the fitness industry, you know that you’re working with some very smart authors. With that being said, none of these guys have PhD’s, and they’re not pro bodybuilders or powerlifters, so I can’t give them a perfect score of the “been-there-done-that” variety.
Author Credibility Score: 9.5/10
The Program
Why Was The DUP Method Made?
In one of the promotional emails, Jason talks about the reason The DUP Method was created.
In his story, he tells about how he was fascinated by this new training philosophy called “Daily Undulating Periodization” that he heard of from reading Dr. Layne Norton. He was acquaintances with Mike Samuels at the time, and he knew that Mike was being coached by Layne Norton for his upcoming bodybuilding show. Jason reached out to Mike and asked him to write an article about DUP on his website, JMaxFitness.com. Mike complied.
Jason said that he then did Mike’s sample program that he gave in the article. It helped Jason break through a strength plateau, so he knew that DUP was the real deal. Apparently, the article blew up on Jason’s website, and Jason approached Mike about teaming up and creating a full-fledged DUP program to help people get bigger, stronger, and leaner.
Program Components
The DUP Method by Jason Maxwell and Mike Samuels consists of the following components:
- Main Manual
- Nutrition Guide
- Optimal Plan (5 Days per week)
- 4 Days Per Week Plan
- “Busy Man’s” Plan (3 days per week)
- DUP For Beat Up Lifters Plan (for those who are injured or have trouble with injuries)
- Hypertrophy Plan (for muscle gain)
- Fat Loss Plan
- Bench Press Video Guide
- Squatting Video Guide
- Deadlifting Video Guide
The DUP Method comes with a ton of stuff. I can’t imagine how long it took Mike and Jason to create this program. First of all, the Main Manual gives you everything you need to know to be successful with DUP. It contains a huge FAQ that provides every single answer you can think of about DUP. I found that this was very helpful and a bit different compared to other fitness programs. The manual also introduces each DUP program and gives 1-2 variations on each program.
The Nutrition Guide is an all encompassing nutrition manual that basically teaches you how to use flexible dieting so that you can eat whatever you want while doing the program, calculating Calories, proteins, fats, and carbs, and tips on supplements. Anyone who follows this program will learn a lot about nutrition from this manual.
Components 3 through 7 are different done-for-you plans that you can print off and take with you to the gym, so you can start working out in no-time. Personally, I think that these are the best value to the program since they’re quick and easy to follow.
Component 8 is basically a whole Fat Loss manual on its own. It teaches you the ins and outs of using DUP for getting lean. This is probably the program that Mike Samuels used to get to single digit bodyfat for his bodybuilding show.
Components 9-11 are 4 minute videos teaching you the main lifts. The quality isn’t great, but what you learn in the videos is very helpful if you don’t know how to bench, deadlift, or squat. While I think these are the weakest components of the program, they are also free bonuses, so beggars can’t be choosers.
Who is The DUP Method for?
Daily Undulating Periodization is a type of periodization. This means it’s the method in which you manipulate sets and reps to achieve a goal. This means that literally ANYONE can use DUP. With that being said, I think that The DUP Method was targeted more towards men and women who want to get strong first and foremost. Since they added the “DUP For Beat Up Lifters”, I think any ages can do this program as well. So if you want to get strong, then this is probably the best program I’ve seen on the subject.
Program Component Score: 9.5/10
Has The DUP Method Created Real World Results?
It’s no secret that DUP gets people results. There are tons of athletes using DUP to get stronger, build muscle, and lose fat. People like Layne Norton, Ryan Doris, Paul Revelia, Ben Esgro, Will Grazione, Mike Pucci, Nick Cheadle, Lori Pyper, and Katie Anne Rutherford are all publicly known to be using DUP.
On top of this, there is actually scientific research proving that DUP works. In 2002, Rhea et al. showed that DUP is superior to linear periodization (similar to programs such as 5×5). The study was done with 20 trained males who had at least 2 years of training experience. They did a 12 week DUP plan for 3x per week. The DUP group gained almost twice as much strength when compared to the linear group (program similar to 5×5). In 2008, Petersen et al. took 14 well trained firefighters. Half were put on a DUP program and the other half were put on a linear program. In 9 weeks, the DUP program increased strength, power, and vertical jump more than the linear group. Overall, the DUP group increased their 1RM much more than the linear group.
On top of this, the testimonials I’ve seen for the DUP Method are pretty good. This means that many people are buying, using the program, and getting results. With that being said, I’d love to see more before and after pictures for The DUP Method.
The cool thing about DUP is that it gets you very strong. Strength is the foundation in everything you do. Want to build muscle? Get stronger first. Want to lose fat? Get stronger first. Who has bigger pecs, the guy who can bench 135lbs or the guy who can bench 225lbs? Lastly, what builds more calories, squatting 225lbs or squatting 315lbs?
Results Score: 9/10
Comparison to Other Programs
To tell you the truth, there aren’t many strength programs out there. The ones I can think of off the top of my head are the Juggernaut Method, 5/3/1, and the Texas Method.
All of these programs are proven to get the user stronger, but none of them really uses DUP (although, the Texas Method seems to have a similar and less-evolved set up). This is what I think makes The DUP Method a classic. It’s the first strength program to use Daily Undulating Periodization, and it does a very good job with it. To tell you the truth, I think this makes The DUP Method an instant classic among strength programs.
Price
The best sales price I’ve seen for The DUP Method is $67. With that being said, this program barely ever goes on sale. Its regular price is $97, which is a bit pricey. Is it worth that? Yes, it definitely is. The amount of content you get with this program is killer. You know the program works because it’s backed by science, research, and many athletes use DUP.
Since strength is the base in which everything you do in the gym is based on, then this program is very important to have in your arsenal. I’ve already said that it’s an instant strength training classic, and for good reason. After buying it for $97, I can say that I found this was a bargain for what you get in return. After using the program and getting results, I would gladly pay that again. At the end of the day though, it’s still a lot of money for people.
Price Score: 8.5
Final Thoughts
The DUP Method is an instant strength training classic among the likes of 5/3/1, The Juggernaut Method, and the Texas Method. It’s the new kid on the block, but it’s one of the first strength training programs with proven science and research directly backing up its claims.
If you follow it to a “T”, you will get great results regardless if you’re male or female, young or old, The DUP Method works and is probably one of my favourite programs I’ve reviewed. I highly recommend it.
Grab your copy of The DUP Method by clicking HERE.
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