Know the Answers to These 63 Questions Before You Enter a Bodybuilding Contest

[skiplacour]

You Must Know the Answers to These 63 Questions Before Entering a Bodybuilding Contest

No matter which set of training, dieting, or last week's drying-out strategies you use or from which "guru"--you MUST find out the answers to these questions BEFORE you even begin the contest preparation process. Doing this "homework" first--and then executing what you've learned--will give you the very best chance to look your very best on contest day.

By Skip La Cour
6-Time National Champion Bodybuilder
Success and Leadership Coach[/b]
www.SkipLaCour.com
www.ContestPrepSecrets.com
Skip La Cour's Mass Machine Nutrition



1. How does a person muster up the courage to enter his very first contest?

2. When does a person know that he is ready to enter a bodybuilding contest?

3. If I haven’t competed in a contest for a few years, will my contest preparation be affected?

4. How long does it take to prepare for a bodybuilding contest?

5. How does a person determine how many weeks out to start their contest preparation?

6. What are your suggestions if I just wanted to enter a contest? I’m not too concerned with how well I do.

7. How concerned should I be with my genetics as I prepare for a bodybuilding contest?

8. How much of an affect do my genetics have on building muscle as I prepare for a contest?

9. How much of an affect do my genetics have on getting lean as I prepare for a contest?

10. What is the best lighting at home to monitor your contest preparation progress?

11. If I think I’m behind schedule, should I quit or just keep on going until the end with my contest preparation?

12. What are the strategies I should be following in my “off-season” to make my contest preparation easier, more effective, and more efficient?

Click Here to Read Skip La Cour's Contest Preparation Blog

13. How is competition preparation affected with a person’s age? How are the strategies different for a person in their 20s, 30s, 40s, or even 50s?

14. What foods should I eat while I prepare for a contest?

15. How many calories should I be eating and how many calories should I be eating at each stage of my contest preparation?

16. How do you determine what is the best type of contest preparation diet to follow for you particular body type (endomorph, mesomorph, ectomorph, or a combination of two of them)?

17. Should I “bulk up” during the off-season to build more muscle and have more muscle at contest time?

18. What is the very best way to get really lean for a contest—and have the appearance of really full muscles at the same time while on stage?

19. How do I deal with my food cravings during my contest preparation and stay disciplined?

20. How do I make sure that I keep all of my muscle as I am dieting for a contest?

21. How do I get rid of that last bit of fat around my abdominals? Love handles? Glutes? Hamstrings?

22. What supplements are best to take while preparing for a contest?

23. When should I stop taking creatine (if at all) before my contest?

24. When should I stop using meal replacements as I prepare for my contest?

25. When should I start eliminating all the salt/sodium out of my diet when I am preparing for my contest?

26. When should I stop training with heavy weight as I prepare for my contest (If ever)?

27. When should I increase my repetitions per set as I prepare for my contest (if ever)?

Click Here to Read Skip La Cour's Contest Preparation Blog

28. My legs are far behind the rest of my body in terms of muscularity. What can I do to get them ready for a contest? Should I wait to enter a contest until after I bring them up to match my upper body?

29. How do I train my body during the last week before the contest?

30. When do I stop training with weights before my contest?

31. How many cardiovascular sessions should I do each week during my contest preparation?

32. Should I do more than one cardiovascular training session a day?

33. When should I start doing my cardiovascular training as I prepare for my contest?

34. Should I do high intensity; low intensity; or moderate intensity cardiovascular training sessions as I prepare for my contest?

35. What time of day should I do my cardiovascular training sessions?

36. How should I schedule my cardiovascular training around my weight training sessions?

37. Should I eat anything before my cardiovascular training session as I prepare for my contest?

38. If I eat before my cardiovascular training sessions, what should I eat and how much should I eat?

39. How do you know when to add more cardiovascular training and how much more to add?

Click Here to Read Skip La Cour's Contest Preparation Blog

40. What kind of cardiovascular training should I do to preserve the muscle mass on my legs and when should I do this cardiovascular training?

42. When do I stop doing cardiovascular training?

43. Should I hire a coach to help me with my posing routine?

44. What kind of music is best to use for my contest posing routine?

45. How do I present myself in the most confident manner on stage even when I’m nervous?

46. During the final, critical last week before a contest, EXACTLY WHAT do I consume; EXACTLY HOW MUCH do I consume; EXACTLY WHAT DAYS do I consume it (Types of food; amount of protein, amount of carbohydrates, amount of fat; amount of sodium; amount of water; amount of any other vitamins, potassium and other minerals, and supplements)?

47. What is the reason for carbohydrate loading and carbohydrate depleting before a contest? Is this an effective contest preparation strategy?

48. What type of natural diuretics (if any; if they are allowed) should I take before my contest and when should I start taking them (if ever)?

49. What do I eat on the day of the contest?

50. How much should I eat on the day of the contest?

51. How much water should I drink on the day of the contest?

52. What do I eat between the morning show and the night show? How much do I eat?

53. How much water should I drink between the morning show and the night show?

54. How do I maintain the “dryness, sharpness, and crispness” between the pre-judging and evening show?

55. How do I get my muscles to have full appearance on stage and not flatten out?

56. What the best thing to do to be vascular (visible veins all over the body) on stage during a contest?

57. How is my preparation affected when the pre-judging is on Friday night and the evening show is on Saturday night?

58. What should my strategy be for “pumping up” before I go on stage?

59. What role do “politics” play in how well a competitor places in a contest?

60. Are their connections that you should make with certain people before you enter a contest? If so, who are they? When do you make them? And how do you go about making them?

61. How many competitors in drug-free; drug-tested, natural contests are actually taking steroids and other drugs?

62. What are the rules concerning past drug usage for competitors?

63. What kind of drug testing is done at natural contests?

Click Here to Read Skip La Cour's Contest Preparation Blog

[Sean15782]

The message I am getting here is that we should read Skip La Cour's Contest Preperation Blog.

[Agostage]

Yeah, I was a little confused here too.

[slothguy]

Yeah, I was a little confused here too.

Hi Skip. Thank you for all the great information. I was just wondering, you know, by chance, if you have a Contest Preparation Blog? And how would I go about finding that Contest Preparation Blog? It would be a good idea to let everyone know things like this. Thanks!

[skiplacour]

Hi Skip. Thank you for all the great information. I was just wondering, you know, by chance, if you have a Contest Preparation Blog? And how would I go about finding that Contest Preparation Blog? It would be a good idea to let everyone know things like this. Thanks!

LOL

These are "most often asked" questions about competing that were sent to me from many competitors over the years. I gathered, organized, and posted them.

I read these boards and, as you know, there are dozens and dozens of opinions a what's the "right" approach to every phase of competing.

Many bodybuilders get so much conflicting information that they get confused, frustrated, and overwhelmed. So frustrated, they never enter their first show.

Some people don't even know what they need to know. They just have some "wish" to compete some day.

The purpose of this list is for everyone who is interested in competing to make sure they know the answers as soon into the contest preparation process as possible--instead of finding out they don't know what to do later when it's too late.

It will make your journey a lot easier--and a lot less stressful. You'll reduce your chances of wasting all of your hard work and embarrassing yourself. We've all seen "those guys" on stage, haven't we?

Get the answers from whoever/whatever you think is the best source for you--but just get the answers.

And, of courses, I want you to go to my blog.

[JohnBrowne]

Strong spam advertising.

[Zachary533]

Strong spam advertising.

To be honest, if somebody's gone to the trouble of collecting data and formatting them into questions like Skip has-

1.It saves people of this forum a lot of hassle having to answer common questions.

2. For people who compete for the first time and don't have access to professional trainers in their area, small price to pay to not have to trial and error stuff for weeks, months, or even years.

bump.

[IrishPilot]

A lot of those seem like questions you wouldnt know the answer to until experiencing your first prep and show. Neat read though!

[skiplacour]

A lot of those seem like questions you wouldnt know the answer to until experiencing your first prep and show. Neat read though!

Here's how you can get the most out of this list:

1. Do your best to come up with your best answers. Make sure you always have a reason WHY you think the way you do. "Because that's what I heard (or read)" isn't good enough. At least know the reasoning. Don't worry about being "right" or "wrong" at first. You'll drive yourself crazy.

2. Do your research finding out answers and reasons for those questions you do NOT know.

3. Find someone who you trust and has the contest experience you don't have. I suggest aligning yourself with a WINNER--instead of someone who just offers a lot of theories and their analysis of "science." Winners are RESULTS DRIVEN--not process driven. They find a way to get the job done--and that's one of those intangible character qualities that transcend far above accumulating more knowledge. Process-Driven people are satisfied with inferior results because, if they feel they have the right approach, they are satisfied. They think they've done everything they could. WINNERS find a way to WIN.

Get that WINNER's strategies and way of thinking to ALL of those questions.

Now, you have a blueprint.

It's true that only experience will let you know if your blueprint is effective. As with any plan in any area of life, you'll more than likely need to make adjustments.

With this list, at least you'll have the "big picture" right from the start.

[skiplacour]

To be honest, if somebody's gone to the trouble of collecting data and formatting them into questions like Skip has-

1.It saves people of this forum a lot of hassle having to answer common questions.

2. For people who compete for the first time and don't have access to professional trainers in their area, small price to pay to not have to trial and error stuff for weeks, months, or even years.

bump.

Zachary..

Great insight on your part.

It should be obvious how much time, effort, and experience it took to create that list and format it in an organized manner. Years of frustration can be saved--if someone knew what to do with this information.

Someone who is smart would just copy this list--and then go about finding the answers.

Like I said in the post, it doesn't matter who you get the answers from--just get them.

If I was an ambitious competitive bodybuilder, I would take each question, one-by-one, and start a new thread in this contest preparation section. I'd see what answers everyone else here had to offer.

I'm doing a Weekly Audio Answer in the my IFBB Section thread. I take the time to answer and post it in a mp3 audio file. Each week, the winner gets a free audio seminar course. Check it out--and ask some questions!

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...699061&page=71

[skiplacour]

Contest Preparation Strategies - Questions and Answers

Free Live Call-in Telephone Session

Conducted by Skip La Cour
Six-Time National Champion Bodybuilder
Success/Leadership Coach

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

9 pm (Eastern)

6 pm (Pacific)

* This Question and Answer Session will be limited to the first 100 people who sign up.

* Make sure that you enter your correct email address or you will not get the access information you need.

* This Question and Answer Session will be LIVE and your only chance to hear it.

Click here now to sign up for this free session.

[OliFs]

Success/leadership coach? Oh really, where did you get your degree, Harvard?