Natural Muscle May 2015 | Page 28

BODYBUILDING Do You “Hope” to Enter a Bodybuilding Contest Someday? TIPS by Skip La Cour Six-Time National Bodybulding Champion and Success Coach skiplacour.com Do you hope to enter a bodybuilding contest someday? Really? Well, that’s awesome! Let me ask you a question, though: What the heck is your PLAN? You see, when it comes to taking on the rewarding yet demanding CHALLENGE of entering a bodybuilding contest, you must do a hell of a lot more than just “hope.” As very wise mentor told me many years ago, “Skip, hope is a WORTHLESS emotion. You need to always have a PLAN.” The First Step of Your Contest Diet Is Conditioning Your Metabolism To Run Faster and More Efficiently Over the years, I have received hundreds of emails from men who HOPED to enter a bodybuilding contest “someday.” I would estimate that less than 5 percent of those “someday guys” actually made it onto a contest stage. And, unfortunately, I would Dieting Correctly for Your Contest Is A Lot More Than In other words, you intentionally eat fewer calories than your body estimate that no more than half of that 5 percent considered the Just Cutting Your Calories and Not Eating Pizza will burn every day. It should go without saying that your diet is an extremely important It’s important to understand that, just because you refrain from contest again. part of contest preparation. The way you eat during your journey will eating delicious, non-healthy foods, you will not necessarily shed your “When I gain more size”; “In three years”; “When my work (or have the greatest impact--bar none--on the quality of the physique body fat and get shredded for a contest--no matter how long you cut school) schedule settles down”; and “When my legs catch up to you’ll ultimately present on stage. out those foods from your nutritional program. You must gradually and experience a positive one—and never entered another bodybuilding Here are the two definitions I use for the word “diet” as they refer the rest of my body” are some of the more common reasons why to your contest preparation nutritional program: they put off doing what THEY REALLY WANT TO DO. subtly “starve” yourself a little in order to drop your body fat levels. The first step of your contest diet is conditioning your metabolism One definition for the word “diet” is to eliminate (or drastically to run faster and more efficien K