Skip La Cour - Mass Machine Bodybuilding (Training, Nutrition, Mindset, & Lifestyle)

[zendo]

I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for all that you have done to help everyone here. The amount of time, thought, energy, and encouragement you have put forth is unprecedented IMHO.
It is obvious that you actually read and think about the questions that people send you, and that it is actually you responding-not a ghost writer.
Finally, I would like to thank you for getting into the supplement business and finally giving us a company that we can trust: Mass Machine Nutrition. If people really understood how bad the supplement industry is, how unethical, they would be completely disillusioned.

Gratitude and Respect,

Zendo

[skiplacour]

I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for all that you have done to help everyone here. The amount of time, thought, energy, and encouragement you have put forth is unprecedented IMHO.
It is obvious that you actually read and think about the questions that people send you, and that it is actually you responding-not a ghost writer.
Finally, I would like to thank you for getting into the supplement business and finally giving us a company that we can trust: Mass Machine Nutrition. If people really understood how bad the supplement industry is, how unethical, they would be completely disillusioned.

Gratitude and Respect,

Zendo

Hey Zendo . . .

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.

I truly appreciate your kind words.

Train Hard. Think Big.

[skiplacour]

I'm not going to let you forget the goals you set for 2013. . . .



5-12-13

We begin Week #20 of 2013

Sound off MASS MACHINES!

What's one MAJOR thing you WILL accomplish this week that has been lingering--and you know you absolutely MUST get it done? It can be either inside or outside of the gym.

Commit to finally getting it done right here.

I will ask you this every single week in 2013 and do whatever I can to help you follow through. That's my commitment to YOU.

[skiplacour]

[shishtox]

Hi Skip

First I'd like to thank you for your great thread, and the insights you provide.

I'm a 35 year old, 5,9 189 lbs and I'm not a stranger to working out, had my ups and my downs, but in general I'm a pretty hard worker, and have a good deciplin when it comes to achiving goals (training or in life generally), I'm not a big fan of suplemnts, but i belive in moderation and a good healthy diet.

although after a while of thinking and research, I'd like you to review my suplements, and see if i'm missing something or that's enough, and what's you recomendations, cause lately I feel like I'm missing the ekstra kick in training.

current stack

Dymatize Elite Whey
Opti-men Multi (changing to Anavit when done)
1 in 2 sessions i use Ripped Freak pre-workout
fish oil

bare in mind that i have a good food diet.

thanks and hope to hear from you soon.

[skiplacour]

Hi Skip

First I'd like to thank you for your great thread, and the insights you provide.

I'm a 35 year old, 5,9 189 lbs and I'm not a stranger to working out, had my ups and my downs, but in general I'm a pretty hard worker, and have a good deciplin when it comes to achiving goals (training or in life generally), I'm not a big fan of suplemnts, but i belive in moderation and a good healthy diet.

although after a while of thinking and research, I'd like you to review my suplements, and see if i'm missing something or that's enough, and what's you recomendations, cause lately I feel like I'm missing the ekstra kick in training.

current stack

Dymatize Elite Whey
Opti-men Multi (changing to Anavit when done)
1 in 2 sessions i use Ripped Freak pre-workout
fish oil

bare in mind that i have a good food diet.

thanks and hope to hear from you soon.

Hi shishtox.

I'm not sure what you are looking for or expect as far as an "extra kick" but if you have good eating habits, that will cover most of your energy needs. Supplements play a part and you take the basic supplements. What you have listed should be fine for a person who is "not a big fan of supplements."

Train Hard. Think Big.






Click here to order Skip La Cour's Mass Machine Nutrition right here on Bodybuilding.com today.

[skiplacour]

Flat Barbell Bench Press

The key to next level training with the flat barbell bench press is finding the right angle for your arms. The right angle to really engage your chest and feeling that ideal engagement is going to be different for everyone. This is something you will need to focus on and figure out yourself. But you can’t do that if you aren’t aware of just how important this is.

When you place your hands on the bar preparing for the bench press pay attention to your elbows. Are they tucked right against your body or are they flaring out at a wide angle? The answer is probably somewhere between the two. Really focus on your chest and adjust the angle of your arms until you can feel it in your chest. There is no set answer on angle; it will be different for everyone. However, you do have to find that right angle in order to get real results in the chest.

Another next level tip for the flat barbell bench press is that you shouldn’t be moving the bar straight up and down. Now, I know it looks like that what the most experienced, accomplished, and knowledge guys in the gym are doing but take a closer look. The movement should have a slight “banana shaped” arc to it so the bar is closer to your chin at the top of the movement than it is when you start. You feel the much more stimulation in your chest this way. This should be a very slight arc, maybe an inch or so is all from the bottom to the top of the movement. Practice that and you’ll know you have the arc right when you start feeling it in your chest.

Remember to control the weight on the way down.

Train Hard. Think Big.




LIMITED TIME OFFER on Bodybuilding.com

Buy Skip La Cour’s Mass Machine Nutrition MM1000 Micronized Creatine
and Get MM60EFL Energy & Fat Loss Capsules FREE!
($21.99 Value – Yours Free)


Click here to order here on Bodybuilding.com.

[ticalman2000]

Love these next level training tips Skip! They're the best part of logging onto ******** everyday too.

Thanks!

[ffarob]

First, I'd like to say that this is one of the best threads on all of BB.com. The advice Skip La Cour gives is some of the best I've ever come across. With that said, I'm hoping you can shed some light on flexibility.

I've noticed that as I've been improving my strength, my flexibility has diminished some. My hamstrings dont feel nearly as flexible as I remember them to be, DOMS could be to blame here, and when I work my tricep on dumbell extensions my anterior deltoid feels very tight and forces me to flare my elbow outwards.

Currently, I warmup with light weight and let that stretch out my muscles through the motion. Then, occasionally throughout my workout I'll stop and stretch out the muscle group I'm working for a few seconds. Lastly, I'll do some light stretching when my workout in complete.

How often do you recommend stretching during workouts and after? Do you also use your days off from lifting to work on flexibility?

[realmyo]

Hi Skip!

First off I'd like to say thank you for taking the time out of your day to answer our questions! It's awesome and helpful!

Secondly I have a question about making gains in the gym. Last may I decided to take one year off from college to concentrate on my health. I'm 6 feet tall, 21 yrs old, and when I started bodybuilding 2 months later in July I started at 145 LBS. I'm coming up on a year straight of consistent exercise, and strict dieting (I have the fortune of being able to shop at whole foods, so my diet is clean, and I'm hitting my targets for protein, carbs, ect). What I've noticed is that my body likes to make gains at or around 10 LBS increments. I'm currently weighing in at 168 LBS, so I've hit these "growth spurts" twice this year. My question is, are these gains normal? I was under the impression that gains should come consistently: but mine just seem to come as spurts. I typically gain 10 LBS, then for 2-3 months I don't gain at all even when i adjust my diet, and push myself harder in the gym. I'm still a bit of an amateur at this, so what do you think?

[skiplacour]

Love these next level training tips Skip! They're the best part of logging onto ******** everyday too.

Thanks!

I'm glad you are finding them helpful, ticalman2000.

Thanks for taking the time to post the positive comments.

Train Hard. Think Big.

[skiplacour]

First, I'd like to say that this is one of the best threads on all of BB.com. The advice Skip La Cour gives is some of the best I've ever come across.

Thanks for the kind words, ffarob.

I'm glad my efforts are helping you out.

With that said, I'm hoping you can shed some light on flexibility.

I've noticed that as I've been improving my strength, my flexibility has diminished some. My hamstrings don't feel nearly as flexible as I remember them to be, DOMS could be to blame here, and when I work my tricep on dumbbell extensions my anterior deltoid feels very tight and forces me to flare my elbow outwards.

Currently, I warmup with light weight and let that stretch out my muscles through the motion. Then, occasionally throughout my workout I'll stop and stretch out the muscle group I'm working for a few seconds. Lastly, I'll do some light stretching when my workout in complete.

How often do you recommend stretching during workouts and after? Do you also use your days off from lifting to work on flexibility?

You have to appreciate the "simple basics" of what's going on when you train to build muscle.

Every time you achieve your goal of tearing down muscle tissue with weight training during your workout, it's going to repair itself a little shorter than before.

So, stretching is important--especially over time.

How important? How long or how often should you stretch?

Well, that depends on your fitness goals and how important flexibility is to you. And, that depends on how time you are willing to invest in stretching.

It's really up to you.

I think I heard Arnold say on some old video footage that "you should stretch in terms of time just as long as you train with weights." That's quite an investment in time!

I never stretch that much . . . not even close . . . . but flexibly has never been all that important to me.

Train Hard. Think Big.

[skiplacour]

Hi Skip!

First off I'd like to say thank you for taking the time out of your day to answer our questions! It's awesome and helpful!

Secondly I have a question about making gains in the gym. Last may I decided to take one year off from college to concentrate on my health. I'm 6 feet tall, 21 yrs old, and when I started bodybuilding 2 months later in July I started at 145 LBS. I'm coming up on a year straight of consistent exercise, and strict dieting (I have the fortune of being able to shop at whole foods, so my diet is clean, and I'm hitting my targets for protein, carbs, ect). What I've noticed is that my body likes to make gains at or around 10 LBS increments. I'm currently weighing in at 168 LBS, so I've hit these "growth spurts" twice this year. My question is, are these gains normal? I was under the impression that gains should come consistently: but mine just seem to come as spurts. I typically gain 10 LBS, then for 2-3 months I don't gain at all even when i adjust my diet, and push myself harder in the gym. I'm still a bit of an amateur at this, so what do you think?

You're doing awesome, realmyo.

Keep it up, brother!

As far as your overall gains over the entire year (12 months or so), that's is what happens quite often for someone who dedicates themselves to training and eating right on a consistent basis. So, that's pretty normal.

Does it usually happen it 10 pound spurts in 2-3 month increments?

I've never heard that before or/and or never noticed that before. Maybe.

As far as the gains slowing down and coming more gradually, that will more than like start happening for you during this next coming year.

Just remember that the QUALITY of your physique will be improving with every workout and every meal--even though you might not see the big gain in weight or see the massively visible changes in the mirror.

Train Hard. Think Big.

[SonnyKSac]

OK. Skip, my man.

I went and did one of the main "popular" workouts from bb.com. It was a good workout but I found myself at the gym for at least two hours. I just cant spend that much time in the gym every day. I know Ive said it before but after taking this week off from weights I am sticking with Mass Machine for the full 26 months. Diet has been on point though . Its time for me to become more dedicated.

Thanks again for sharing everything on here man.

[realmyo]

You're doing awesome, realmyo.

Keep it up, brother!

As far as your overall gains over the entire year (12 months or so), that's is what happens quite often for someone who dedicates themselves to training and eating right on a consistent basis. So, that's pretty normal.

Does it usually happen it 10 pound spurts in 2-3 month increments?

I've never heard that before or/and or never noticed that before. Maybe.

As far as the gains slowing down and coming more gradually, that will more than like start happening for you during this next coming year.

Just remember that the QUALITY of your physique will be improving with every workout and every meal--even though you might not see the big gain in weight or see the massively visible changes in the mirror.

Train Hard. Think Big.

Indeed I do! That's why I asked you about it because, like I said, I was under the impression consistency (aside from the occasional plateau) was the norm. But anyway's I'll keep experimenting to see if it's and error in my diet, lifting, sleep, ect. My body does adapt fairly fast to new workout routines, so maybe I'm not changing things up as often as I need to. But thank you again Skip for taking the time to answer my question! I appreciate it.

[skiplacour]

Hi emanuelahmed. . . .

Great job posting videos.

On these cable rows, there are two things that you can do to make them even more effective:

1. Try to keep your body/back a little more upright when you hands get to your "belt buckle" area. Now, your back doesn't necessarily have to be straight up and down at the top of the movement, but you should lean back quite so much. Try that and tell me how it feels.

2. Keep you elbows tucked in close to your torso throughout the movement. Your arms should almost be brushing up against your sides.

Good work.

Train Hard. Think Big.

[emanuelahmed]

Hi emanuelahmed. . . .

Great job posting videos.

On these cable rows, there are two things that you can do to make them even more effective:

1. Try to keep your body/back a little more upright when you hands get to your "belt buckle" area. Now, your back doesn't necessarily have to be straight up and down at the top of the movement, but you should lean back quite so much. Try that and tell me how it feels.

2. Keep you elbows tucked in close to your torso throughout the movement. Your arms should almost be brushing up against your sides.

Good work.

Train Hard. Think Big.[/QUOTE]

thanks alot! i will try and implement those tips!

the arms and elbows i dont know if its because i am filming from the side but i always try to keep them tucked in to my body.
next time i will get one from the front or back

thanks!

[emanuelahmed]

Hi emanuelahmed. . . .

Great job posting videos.

On these cable rows, there are two things that you can do to make them even more effective:

1. Try to keep your body/back a little more upright when you hands get to your "belt buckle" area. Now, your back doesn't necessarily have to be straight up and down at the top of the movement, but you should lean back quite so much. Try that and tell me how it feels.

2. Keep you elbows tucked in close to your torso throughout the movement. Your arms should almost be brushing up against your sides.

Good work.

Train Hard. Think Big.

thanks Skip! i always try and keep my arms closed to my body, i dont know if its because its side way but i will try and get one from the front and/or back.

by the way i have listened to the nutrition podcast from dr drew and it was really good! thanks for that!

[ffarob]

How do you mentally prepare for squats right before going through the motion and keep good form? Do you have any reminders you give yourself before you start the set? For example, I've heard some guys even say that they tell themselves to "show their crotch" when squatting as a reminder to spread and engage the hips or to imagine that they're sitting back onto a chair.

[mferrandi]

Hi Skip, I've been doing great with Max OT, but unfortunately I kinda hurt my lower back muscles while doing stiff leg deadlifts, and I've been sore for quite some time, maybe 2 or 3 weeks, and I've been forced to take some days off which is difficult. What should I do? What do you recommend? I'm thinking of getting me some ben gay or icey pack for my lower back today. I'm thinking of definitely training tomorrow no matter what

[benchtochest]

Hey Skip!

What kind of peak week would you recomend for someone trying to peak for an event?

I know there are different approaches to this (ie norton has his own, del monte has a different way of doing it also etc) but I was wondering which would work best for a natty and which you would recomend me doing?

[skiplacour]

How do you mentally prepare for squats right before going through the motion and keep good form? Do you have any reminders you give yourself before you start the set? For example, I've heard some guys even say that they tell themselves to "show their crotch" when squatting as a reminder to spread and engage the hips or to imagine that they're sitting back onto a chair.

Hi ffarob....

As a bodybuilder striving to stimulate the targeted muscle group t stimulate muscle growth, I look at Squats just like do every other exercise. I'm not a powerlifter who competes.

I don't get overly worked up about them like a lot of people do.

Hey...if Squats are your thing and you are really passionate about the exercise--that's awesome. Go for it.

But many people get intimidated with Squats almost to the point that they fear them. That's not good. You'll psyche yourself out and into an injury.

Many people make Squats so complicated in their minds they avoid them altogether. That's not good either.

So, that's probably the biggest takeaway I can share with my experience.

As far as what I say to myself before every Squat.....

"Eyes up. Chin up. Keep your lower back arched and tight. Keep your back back. Lower your butt--and Squat with your LEGS."

That's about it.

Train Hard. Think Big.

[skiplacour]

Hi Skip, I've been doing great with Max OT, but unfortunately I kinda hurt my lower back muscles while doing stiff leg deadlifts, and I've been sore for quite some time, maybe 2 or 3 weeks, and I've been forced to take some days off which is difficult. What should I do? What do you recommend? I'm thinking of getting me some ben gay or icey pack for my lower back today. I'm thinking of definitely training tomorrow no matter what

Hi mferrandi.

I'm sorry to hear about your injury.

That sucks when you are on a roll.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard a person suffering injuries just like you training Max-OT.....

....well, you know the saying.

I would have no idea what to recommend because I don't what injury you suffered or its severity.

Muscle tear, strained muscle, slip disc, etc., etc.

Be careful. You don't want to set yourself back even further.

Best of luck with that.

Train Hard. Think Big.

[skiplacour]

Hey Skip!

What kind of peak week would you recomend for someone trying to peak for an event?

I know there are different approaches to this (ie norton has his own, del monte has a different way of doing it also etc) but I was wondering which would work best for a natty and which you would recommend me doing?

Hi benchtochest.

What you do during the last week is set up by what you do for weeks and even months ahead of time.

Anyone who just give you last week advice like it just a "simple plug in" no matter what you've been doing isn't providing the best information.

So, there isn't a generic "best way."

Train Hard. Think Big.

[atw1552]

Hey Skip, how have you been? I am joining your FB challenge I saw recently. Looks like it starts Monday.

[skiplacour]

Hey Skip, how have you been? I am joining your FB challenge I saw recently. Looks like it starts Monday.

What's up, atw1552.

How have you been?

I'm not have a "challenge" on my ******** Page. I am just having anyone who want to join in, follow the Mass Machine Training routines I outlined, and ask questions.

It should be interesting.

Train Hard. Think Big.

[skiplacour]

BRAND NEW PODCAST!

Podcast #44 - May 15, 2013

Nutrition Podcast I Want You To Hear; Join In On Mass Machine Training On My ******** Page

Click Here to listen and/or download this week's podcast.



Click here to listen to Lyle McDonald on the Dr. Drew Podcast (and take a look at his books).

Click here to like and favor my ******** Page to follow along for 10 weeks of Mass Machine Training.

Send me your FEEDBACK about this episode at skip@massmachinenutrition.com




LIMITED TIME OFFER on Bodybuilding.com

Buy Skip La Cour’s Mass Machine Nutrition MM1000 Micronized Creatine
and Get MM60EFL Energy & Fat Loss Capsules FREE!
($21.99 Value – Yours Free)


Click here to order here on Bodybuilding.com.

[mferrandi]

Hi mferrandi.

I'm sorry to hear about your injury.

That sucks when you are on a roll.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard a person suffering injuries just like you training Max-OT.....

....well, you know the saying.

I would have no idea what to recommend because I don't what injury you suffered or its severity.

Muscle tear, strained muscle, slip disc, etc., etc.

Be careful. You don't want to set yourself back even further.

Best of luck with that.

Train Hard. Think Big.

Yes that's good honest advise and I really appreciate it, yeah it's just muscular, muscle sprain or something, today is feeling better, but i'll do chest and abs today, maybe take the day off tomorrow, depending on how I feel. Ty for your advise Skip it means a lot

[skiplacour]

Mass Machine Nutrition MM300 BCAA SUPREME



Click here to order Mass Machine Nutrition MM300 BCAA SUPREME here on Bodybuilding.com.

[shishtox]

thanks Skip for your time and answer, i'll keep doing what i'm doing then, as long as it feels right, and serves my needs, and i'm sure that if i ever hit a wall on my goals i can always Count on your advice.