Max Cotton is a former competitive fighter, and now founder of Vor, an AI-powered workout automation system that personalizes fitness programs and integrates them into apps for gyms, sports, and healthcare platforms. With a background in combat sports and over a decade in fitness, Max is passionate about using technology to scale impactful training solutions. His mission is to help people achieve their health and performance goals, from reversing type 2 diabetes to excelling in their sport.

INTRO:

Can you tell me a bit about what you do and what success looks like in your world?

Max: I run a company called Vor, a workout automation system and AI-engine that creates personalized workouts, commenced before the launch of ChatGPT and built exclusively for workout creation. Success for us is adoption into Big Tech platforms and new markets. We’ve been grinding in the fitness space for a while and are now expanding into sports and healthcare.

For healthcare, we’re entering medical fitness, helping people reverse type two diabetes through prescribed exercise. It took 3 months for one client I worked with to reverse his diabetes with training, which is also success to me because you’ve changed someone’s life. For sports, we’re starting with Padel: creating systems for Padel players to get fitter, faster, stronger, and injury resistant, and working with suppliers and operators in the industry. So, success there would be getting successful integrations in each sport.

Is the personalization based on the sport or the person?

Max: Both, the engine is capable of a high level of complexity; It knows what to prioritize based on different inputs. The sports and healthcare side just adds more layers. For example, a padel player who wants to do Hyrox, wants big biceps, a big ass, plays rugby on the weekend, and all these other things, will receive a personalized program that takes into account all their goals, impairments, ability, background, and more.

We do make people prioritize things, especially because a lot of times as a trainer people come to you wanting everything. But they can’t have everything at the same time, they have to choose what they attack in order. We do the same thing at Vor: we make people prioritize and the program is built according to those priorities.

How did you get started in that? Were you always involved in the sports industry?

Max: 15 years ago, being a professional fighter was the goal, and I was technically a professional fighter, but it wasn’t my career, I was still working. I went into a sales job in London, and got really unfit, until I eventually got back into training and made the switch back into the fitness industry 10 years ago. I set up a company that was the fitness side of mixed martial arts and I ran classes, but I didn’t know what I was doing on scaling a business even though it was a cool idea. I then set up another business which would eventually become Vor. It was online coaching and workplace wellness where I went into workplaces to teach classes, which got torpedoed from covid, but the online coaching side of that business went through the roof. We started looking at how to scale, and how to build an engine to automate the training side of things, which we realized was our IP and the main thing to sell and how Vor came to be today.

ROUTINES & HABITS:

Do you have a non-negotiable habit?

Max: Training has been a constant in my life for almost 20 years now. I always say there are two types of fun: type two fun and type one fun. Type one fun feels great at the time, while type two fun feels horrible at the time, and great after, which is a lot of what I've done over the years, like ultra marathons, jiu jitsu, and combat sports. I think I just want to compete a lot, especially in the gym; It just sets my mind right, more than anything, and it can turn a bad day into a good day, or a bad week into a good week. Though it’s not a conscious nonnegotiable, I realized that when I’m not doing it, I’m much less capable of handling business and personal stress, so it’s a huge part of my life.

Do you have any systems on sleep or recovery?

Max: I wouldn’t say I have a system but my sleep hygiene is pretty good: I read in bed every night, which has been a game changer for me, I don’t keep my phone in the room. Training is the big lever, but without good sleep nothing is possible. I think sleep, nutrition, and exercise are all kind of equally impactful; When one is off, it can turn into a vicious cycle: if you eat badly, you train badly (or not at all), when you sleep badly, you train badly, especially something as cerebral as jiu jitsu, and when you train badly, it affects you mentally. But, if you start with one, start with sleep. It’s difficult to do it the other way around and assume if you train that you’ll sleep better. I have a one-year-old daughter, so I know how difficult it is to get good sleep but getting it right makes everything else easier.

Have you noticed a certain time of the day that you perform better training?

Max: The problem is I think the best time of the day for me is about 11 in the morning, which is probably the most inconvenient time, unless you're retired. I usually go in the evening, some lunch classes, but when I go to a lunch class, I feel like it's two hours out my day, which, when you're trying to build a business, is not setting a good example. I am not really a morning workout person; If I have no other option, I'll do it, but somewhere around the middle of the day is spot on for me, but unfortunately, it just doesn’t really work.

The main thing for me is not letting perfect be the enemy of good; get it in when you can and when works for your schedule.

MINDSET:

What do you tell yourself on days where you feel off or unmotivated?

Max: I just zoom out and know everything’s going to be okay. Looking back on your evidence locker from the past, you have years to show that everything will be okay, and you shouldn’t stress.

What mindset shift impacted you most?

Max: Treating training as a part of work. When you’ve been trying to build a business for years, you feel guilty when you’re doing anything that isn't the business. So, you become unproductive because you neglect training, which makes you less focused, which actually makes you worse at your job.

I've had situations where it’s just me in my old office by myself, and I'd be just basically staring at a spreadsheet for most of the day, whereas if I'd gone out, trained, done something and come back, I would have got that task done and moved on. So, the biggest mindset shift is treating that as part of work, and I have that same expectation for everyone in the team, to be flexible. I'm not as good as adopting that myself, but I am better at seeing that it's a priority now, and that I need do it in order for the business to succeed.

What do you think the biggest mistake people make is when trying to optimize performance?

Max: Exactly that. It's just people trying to over optimize. I don’t train as many people now, but when I do keep some clients and the first question people ask you is, what supplement should I be taking? It's like, Whoa, you're sleeping four hours a night, and you're drinking so much, there is not one supplement out there that's going to help you. On day one, they try and look for the 1% rather than 99%.

If you are sleeping seven hours a night, walking every day, eating 80% good and getting five fruit and veg a day, and exercising three times a week, you're doing better than probably 90% of people. If you relentlessly try to optimize, you're setting yourself up for failure. If you're always trying to optimize, you end up like Bryan Johnson, where like, my wife says, “he's here for a long time, not for a good time”. Just live your life a little bit.

TOOLS & TRACKING:

Do you track any metrics? If you do, which do you think have the biggest impact?

Max: I am wearable tech free. I think it's really easy to get obsessed with wearable data. And I definitely did with the Apple Watch, where you feel like you should be doing workouts according to how many calories it burns, but that was really getting me into bad habits.

I think if you're running a lot and signing up for a race, you do need to have a wearable because you can't guess your pace. But now, when I run, I don't measure anything, I just go. I'm not saying no to all wearables, since the wearable industry is huge, but I think you can be very fit and healthy without it. And I think certain people can become neurotic and more stressed from them. And some of these metrics are nonsense as well; some companies have been showing that their stress and recovery algorithms are kind of complete guesswork. If you feel recovered and well rested, that’s usually a better indicator than your watch telling you otherwise.

CLOSING:

Which habits or routines truly move the needle for you? And what’s one thing you would advise others to do that could move the needle for them?

Max: Find someone to hold you accountable. If you get the other stakeholders in your life to be on board with your plan, that makes it significantly easier to do what you set out to do. Another thing is niche advice but to just plan, especially when you have a one-year-old.

CLOSING:

VOR: an AI-driven workout automation engine built to personalize fitness programs at scale.

Designed for gyms, sports organizations, and healthcare platforms, Vor creates tailored workouts based on users’ health, goals, and performance needs. Its mission is to empower people with scalable tools for better fitness, longevity, and overall health.

Vor is currently expanding into sports-specific training and “medical fitness” to help individuals reverse chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes through exercise.