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Skp LaCour’s Bodybuilding and Training Talk Radio Show: A Podcast Review

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When I began my journey into the world of bodybuilding I was quickly introduced to two resources: (1) Marc David's No Bull Bodybuilding; and (2) Skip La Cour's Bodybuilding and Training podcast. I am thankful for both of these resources as they have formed a solid foundation for my bodybuilding lifestyle. When I speak to other aspiring bodybuilders I tend to feel like a genius, but then I realize that I had this solid foundation that I built before starting and most people do not have that.

Skip La Cour's Mass Machine

The podcast recently (within the past year or so) took on the name Mass Machine because Skip opened up his own line of supplements under the “Mass Machine” name. His typical format is somewhat like a talk radio show. He has a topic that he discusses (in the episode I listened to most recently the topic was “How many exercises and sets of bench press for chest training is optimal?”).  

Skip provides a 24 hour hotline number to call for recording your questions. To me this is a brilliant idea. When I started listening to Skip I had questions, but his podcast was on the air on Sunday mornings and he took your questions live, so I was often unable to call in and get my questions answered. These days I could record them and eventually he will get to them.

Technology Used

Skip uses Blogtalkradio.com for hosting his podcast. I am not certain what technology he uses to actually record the podcast. However, he has some issues with clarity. I have trouble hearing him when my computer is at full volume. I feel he needs to address this issue in order to make this podcast something everyone should listen to.

Information Provided

Skip provides quality information in his podcasts. He is a 6 time National Champion bodybuilder and the knowledge he has shows. Skip speaks with great confidence and doesn't hesitate when answering questions. He has been a promoter of the Max-OT training program for many years. He has recorded DVDs about the Max-OT program.  The Max-OT program speaks to my philosophy of lifting (heavy weights, low reps and few sets) so I am a huge fan of the program. I have read the entire Max-OT documentation several times to gain a better understanding of building mass. I also own Skip's DVDs on the topic. It is an amazing program that I recommend (and will review another time).

If you want advice from a champion, this is the show to listen to. Skip says things in a way that makes them stick. I remember listening to him during a cardio session once almost 4 years ago. This guy calls in and says that he wants to lean out, but that he has trouble with his eating habits. Skip goes to work questioning the guy to gain an understanding  of his problem. When Skip collected all the information he felt he needed, he told the guy that for sure his eating was a problem. He then gave the guy some advice that I still give to people to this day. Skip told the guy he needs to eat a good clean breakfast, a good clean lunch and a good clean dinner along with 2 snacks placed in between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner. He needed to do that 5 days a week. On the weekends the guy was allowed to eat pizza and junk food. As long as Monday through Friday he ate clean Skip gave him the green light to eat however he wanted on the weekend. Skip then explained “You will make progress with this plan. You will then wonder what will happen if you eat clean 6 days a week and you will then try that. You will make even more progress. Soon you will be eating clean 7 days a week.” Skip's advice was spot on.

My Recommendation

I highly recommend this podcast. Skip La Cour is a no bullshit type of guy. At times I find him to be intimidating, but far less than Mark Rippetoe. Whereas Mark Rippetoe sometimes comes off as rude (he isn't) Skip never comes off rude, just extremely knowledgeable. He is so knowledgeable. 

Skip will teach you how to think. He will teach you how to motivate yourself. He doesn't just give you an answer and move on. The key here is that Skip teaches you. For instance, when answering the question in the podcast I talked about above, Skip discussed warming up and how it helps you maximize your lifts. It made me think. 

Definitely go and listen to Skip La Cour's podcast. You won't be sorry.

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Why Y3T was my training choice

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Why Y3T?

During my preparation for my second bodybuilding contest I knew that I would have to work hard to put on mass. Now I am a strong believer in trying and tweaking things that work for others. Yes, I said tweaking. I know that may upset some, but I will explain in the course of this article why I think tweaking is important and what, if anything, I tweaked in Y3T.

The Need Was There

I do not believe in coincidences. That is just something I am not a fan of. I believe that all things happen for a specific reason and that includes selecting a training program. As my first bodybuilding show approached I knew that I would have to change preparation coaches. While I love what my first coach did for me and I have the utmost respect for his programs, he is so successful that our arrangement was no longer working for me strictly (and I want this to be clear) from the perspective of the attention I needed. I am happy that he has become so successful, but at the same time I need the attention from my preparation coach because when I have questions that need fast answers I cannot afford to wait for those answers. 

Armed with this knowledge I knew I would have to pay money for the new coach. The previous coach and I had an arrangement where I provided technical services in exchange for my contest preparation. This new situation meant I would not be able to afford someone to also train me, so I chose to pay for the part I know the least about–contest preparation. I would basically be on my own for the training part.

There is No Such Thing as a Coincidence

I began doing a little bit of research on the newer programs for mass building. I came across many good suggestions, but one seemed very interesting to me and I stuck it in Pearltrees for future review–Y3T. The weekend of my second bodybuilding show I was attending a soccer tournament for my youngest daughter. As I awaited one of the games I flipped through Flex magazine. No less than two times I read about Y3T in that magazine. One was in a question and answer column by Neil Hill (creator of Y3T) and one was in an article about Flex Lewis (one of my favorite bodybuilders and a client of Neil Hill). I was inspired to do more research.

After my Memorial Day contest I sat down at my computer and searched on Y3T. I discovered that Bodybuilding.com would be doing a 9 week video program lead by Neil Hill and Flex Lewis all about the Y3T program. It would teach how to execute the 3 cycles of the Y3T program. It came complete with the exercises to do and the correct volume to use. That was all I needed. I knew that this was the program for me. After all, there are no such things as coincidences.

Mass Building Principles of Y3T

The Y3T program focuses on building mass by hitting all muscle fibers in a variety of ways. It is a 3 week cycle that uses a body part split for the training. It emphasizes controlled movements, but heavy weights. It stresses that in order to grow you must push your muscles to the brink.

The first week involves heavy training at lower repetitions. Each set is taken to complete failure. The muscle is squeezed tightly on every repetition. Good form is followed throughout the entire workout. It is all about taking the muscles to places they haven't been before.

The second week sees a change in the number of repetitions. The rep range broadens, which means the weight decreases slightly. The movements are slowed down, but the focused squeezing remains. 

The third week is where everything goes crazy. Many different training principles are introduced. Neil Hill is a big believer in both rest-pause and drop sets. He is trying his best to totally obliterate the muscles during the workout. As one example, during the leg training I was doing sets of 50 repetitions on some exercises. It was an amazing experience–that coming from someone who simply loves intense training principles.

Tweaks to Y3T

As a big believer in the Experiment of One, I began the Y3T program stating that I would not modify the actual program itself at all. I wanted to see how well my body would respond to this type of training. Changing things would nullify the validity of any results I got either way. However, being in the off-season and wanting to keep the fat at a minimum, I immediately noticed that there was no cardio training prescribed for the entire 9 weeks. That wasn't going to fly. In addition, I did not see any abdominal training and that is an area I want to improve upon–my abdominals.

Cardio Training

As a result, I decided to introduce cardio into my weight training workouts. I had been doing 30 minutes of cardio after every weight training session during my contest preparation. That gave me such great results that I wanted to include those into the Y3T program. After examining all the workouts I realized that I would not be able to do cardio on the quads and hamstrings day, but could pull it off on every other day. 

After much thought about an approach, I decided to cycle my cardio. Each day of Y3T involves 2 muscle groups. To keep things interesting, I do the first muscle group's weight training and then I do 10 minutes of HIIT cardio. When that is complete, I do the second muscle group's weight training and then finish off with 20 minutes of HIIT cardio. This gives me a total of 30 minutes of HIIT cardio. On the next weight training day I simply go straight through the weight training and then stick 30 minutes of steady state cardio at the end of the training. I rotate back and forth like this on weight training days that don't involve my quads and hamstrings. I then add one more day of cardio on a rest day (probably the biggest change to the program). That gives me 4 days of cardio every week.

Abdominal Training

As for my abdominal training, I spread that out every other day. I like training my abs every other day because it keeps me consistent. 

Y3T – Strict or Modified – It Works

Over the first 2 weeks of my Y3T program I have seen some pretty impressive results. My back has responded the most favorably to the training. My arms have grown about 1/4″ in the 2 weeks as well. My shoulders are getting more mass. My legs look tighter and more full.

The fact is that you can follow this program as is or you can make the small modifications that I made. Either way, it is an awesome program and one I highly recommend to anyone looking to gain some mass.

Training Log

You can follow my detailed training diaries at the Body By Turks website, where I am guest blogging on a regular basis. 

Tried Y3T? Interested in discussing Y3T? Leave a comment below!

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Average Guy’s Guide to Supplements

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As an average guy who started training about 6 years ago, I have done a lot of research into supplementation. Most of the current bodybuilding magazines are just one big advertisement for supplement companies. They all want you to believe that their supplement is the magic bullet you’ve been looking for. The supplement industry is huge as a result. Everyone wants to take a pill and have muscles grow miraculously or have fat drop off instantly. It is an attractive marketing campaign to people looking to get into shape.

I am currently putting the finishing touches on “The Average Guy’s Guide to Supplements” that will blow the doors off all of the supplement myths you’ve heard. I take a look at every single supplement I’ve ever taken and give you a rating scale (1 to 5 Average Guys) to let you know whether the supplement is worth the money or not. I also give you the best place to buy the supplement (ie. the place with the lowest price and best service). This guide will save you a ton of money and I will be offering it for the very low introductory price of $9.99.

Here are some of the things I will tell you:

  • What is the supplement used for?
  • How much does it typically cost?
  • How are you supposed to administer it?
  • Does it really work?

All of this is coming from an average guy who isn’t paid anything by the supplement companies. Translation: you can trust what I have to say. I am not here to sell you on a particular supplement. Instead, I want to educate you on what works so that you can save money in the long run.

If this sounds even remotely interesting to you, give me your personal information in the form below. I will not ever sell your information to anyone. I will simply use this to keep you informed of this and other products coming from Fitness Expose in the near future.

You can’t afford to keep throwing money away on expensive supplements that don’t work. You can trust an average guy like me to give you no BS advice on supplements and that’s exactly what “The Average Guy’s Guide to Supplements” is all about. Sign up to the right for more information. As a bonus, you will get my free 5 part eCourse on getting into great shape.

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My Idea of Great Music for Lifting

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I find that the music I listen to changes the intensity I train with. I react differently to different types of music. For weight training I really like hard and heavy music. People generally don’t believe me when they hear about the music I listen to. The following is an actual playlist on my iPhone’s Spotify account that I use to train with major intensity.

Metal Workout Mix

All Consuming Fire – War of Ages

The Fallen – War of Ages

Stand Your Ground – War of Ages

Duality – Slipknot

Psychosocial – Slipknot

Sulfur – Slipknot

Gematria [The Killing Name] – Slipknot

Disasterpiece – Slipknot

Surfacing – Slipknot

A Message to the Unknown – Bless the Fall

In Division – Underoath

I Would Do Anything – Killswitch Engage

Rusted Embrace – Killswitch Engage

Re-Education – Rise Against

Shattering the Skies Above – Trivium

Master of Puppets – Trivium

These songs just get me completely pumped up. You can get to this playlist on the web. Don’t forget one of the more important tools for your training—music. While it isn’t a piece of equipment, it is definitely a training tool. This past Sunday I was listening to the above playlist when training. During my cardio session I was thinking about cutting cardio a little short when suddenly the playlist repeated from the top. I got to “Stand Your Ground” by War of Ages and knew I had to finish the cardio session in its entirety. I got through it with extra energy to spare.

Thus, my advice is to remember your music the next time you hit the gym.

What music do you like to listen to when you train?

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Why Would a Gym Disrespect a Bodybuilder?

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If you watch The Biggest Loser you've no doubt seen the commercials for Planet Fitness. What I cannot understand is why a gym would ever disrespect a bodybuilder. It honestly makes very little sense to me. If I owned a gym I'd practically beg bodybuilders to come in and represent me. People join gyms so that they can look like these guys. Why show them such disrespect?

Planet Fitness has some funny commercials (see below), but their theme is the same. They do not want big bodybuilders as part of their gym. They prefer to make fun of bodybuilders. Their most famous commercial has a bodybuilder type saying “I pick things up and put them down” over and over again until he is chased out of the back of the gym. However, the message is very clear–they don't want bodybuilders at their gym. They seem to take the stance that bodybuilders are stupid.

Check out this super funny commercial for Planet Fitness featuring IFBB Pro Jerome Ferguson:

[pro-player width='530′ height='253′ type='video']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sxhYkL7Cyg[/pro-player]

I love this commercial because, to me, this is Jerome poking fun right back at Planet Fitness. He is obviously in better shape than the guy watching him from behind. He looks awesome!

If you have a fitness center horror story tell me about it in the comments below.

Yes, Planet Fitness is the same gym that doesn't allow grunting during workouts. They have so many rules to follow that it will make your head spin.

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