Lazar Angelov-legend
Lazar Angelov is the world's number one personal trainer, whose physique and work are unanimously recognized by the profession. Today, Angelov is not just a personal trainer, but a source of motivation for thousands of people.
Through his own life, Angelov showed the world that anything is possible if one has dreams and is willing to do everything and make sacrifices for them.
He shares his knowledge with millions through his own website and YouTube channel, providing the masses with the right knowledge. Angelov currently works as a model, participates in numerous commercials, music videos, and is one of the most sought-after trainers in Hollywood. According to Angelov himself, he achieved his results without the use of steroids, thanks to his self-developed training methods and strictly adhered diet.
I translated the interview with Angelov, combining three different interviews he gave. The original interviews can be found on Sympleshredded.com, unleashedbeasts.com, and maniacfittness.com.
– How did you get into the world of bodybuilding?
– When I was a child, I watched a lot of action movies, and I admired the superheroes in them with genuine awe. I wasn't interested in the plot, the explosions left me cold; I always waited for the parts where they fought, when physique dominated, or when they displayed serious physical performance on screen. I admired their physiques, and I genuinely respected how these people looked. At the time, I didn't know what insane work it entailed, I just knew I wanted to transform myself to look like that. Back then, Van Damme was my role model, but primarily Bruce Lee. From then on, nothing else mattered to me but achieving the physique they had.
I must have been 10 years old then, and in the mid-90s, there was no internet yet, information wasn't as easily accessible as it is today, no one around me was involved in bodybuilding, and since I was still a child, I couldn't really go near gyms. But none of that mattered. After school, in my free time, instead of studying, alongside basketball, I obsessively researched and looked for any information available about body shaping and bodybuilding.
With all my saved money, I bought two 5 kg dumbbells, a bench press, a bar, and two 10 kg plates. My ectomorphic body type made things even more difficult, and I didn't know it then, but I did a lot of aerobic training, so of course, it was impossible for me to gain any muscle mass. Looking back, I did some horribly stupid things. Diet as such didn't exist for me; I simply didn't consider it important, so I had a lot of room for improvement. No matter how much I trained, I didn't see significant progress. I became discouraged, and the anger I felt in my helplessness only grew, because there was no one to help me achieve my goal. My room was full of Bruce Lee posters, but every time I looked in the mirror, I saw the difference between my dreams and reality.
By then, I had been playing basketball competitively for years, and I loved every minute of it. After basketball, I would lift weights, and this went on for years until a professional team offered me a contract. During this period, I finally learned to train properly. Then, at 18, my knee gave out, and I had to stop playing basketball forever. This affected me quite a bit at the time, and it was a very difficult period in my life; I didn't know what to do next. That's when I joined the Bulgarian army, where I spent 1 year. In the army, I got everything I needed. Effective training methods, and it also strengthened me mentally. When I was discharged, I had to decide what to do next. My knee couldn't handle basketball, so I had no choice but to pursue fitness. My first step was to enroll in the National Sports Academy, where I officially received my personal trainer qualification. That's how it started…
– Transforming your body is difficult, and that's no big secret. How did you experience this? What was the hardest thing you had to face to achieve your goal? You're right, it's a tough, ruthless world where you can't bluff, because everything shows on your body. Both if you train hard, and if you only do it half-heartedly. Your body doesn't lie. For me, it was especially difficult, as I wasn't in a good financial situation. I worked two jobs to finance my diet. I spent $300 on meat alone back then, not to mention supplements. I worked as a personal trainer during the day and a security guard at night. It was hard because I never got enough rest, but I didn't care, this was necessary for my goals, so I accepted that I had to do it. Nothing could ever stand between me and my dreams, but if you truly want something, these shouldn't be obstacles or real problems, and you shouldn't perceive them as such. I worked 16 hours a day for years, but I didn't give a damn. What is your current training philosophy?
– I believe in heavy training; this leads to results, and I've always liked to train this way. But it's not a matter of love or belief. I train in a way and with methods that lead to the goal. I train 6 days a week, and on 2-3 of those days, twice a day, but there's one full rest day. For muscle building and body shaping, training with heavier weights and fewer sets is ideal. This is the only method that can achieve greater muscle density and muscle tone.
By the way, I've noticed that most personal trainers do silly things, and they think they need to reinvent the wheel, and that this will make them special or that they've come up with a unique training method. This is nonsense and only harms their effectiveness. The technical execution of exercises is based on anatomical principles; there's not much to change there. And muscle stimulation is best achieved with heavy weights and low reps, like 5–8, but a maximum of 10 sets per exercise.
– Is this also true for women?
– Yes, but women are a completely different story. For them, the scale matters, and they measure results by the number of pounds lost. It's very difficult to make women understand that achieving a defined, shapely body requires muscles, which means an increase in mass, which is quality muscle mass, not fat. I start working with a woman, and she sees that after 1 month, she's 3 kilos heavier compared to her starting weight. No matter how much I tell her that this is how it goes, that it's a process for her shapely body, they don't understand it; they believe the scale. That's why it's very difficult to work with women. You know what's best for them, how they could achieve a truly sexy look, but for them, only the scale is the measure.
– What does one of your workouts look like?
– In my workouts, I never skip 3 exercises: squats, bench press, and deadlifts. These are included in all my training days, regardless of what I'm focusing on that day. I also always vary these, just as I never do the same chest exercise more than once within a month. Many people make the mistake of getting a training plan and sticking to it for months, or in worse cases, years.
– What does your current training plan look like? (under translation)
– What kind of cardio workouts do you do?
– I like to run, but I hate gym treadmills and never train there. I always run outdoors, no matter how cold it is. I usually run the same distances and try to run faster times within those distances. Then my other big favorite is 100-meter sprints with full effort, and 1 minute of walking for 4–6 km. Running long distances at a constant pace is forbidden for anyone who wants to gain muscle, and what's also very important is to try to minimize arm movement while running, as this can also cause muscle loss and expend too much energy. My cardio workouts don't last longer than 20 minutes, but these runs are very intense and in varying ranges of motion.
– Where do you want to develop further, what other goals do you have concerning your body?
– I'm constantly trying to increase both my mass and my strength, but after a certain point, it becomes very difficult to achieve even 1-2 pure muscle gains. By now, I've pretty much achieved what my body can yield. Once someone has reached their genetic maximum, it becomes very difficult to develop further naturally, without the use of steroids, and I don't use anything like that. For beginners, it's easier; there's very rapid and visible progress because the muscle is suddenly put under great stress, but after a certain amount of time, the body adapts to the load. At this point, you need to change your training strategy and constantly vary the training load.
– I'm currently on a pretty special cruising diet, not only to maintain my shape but also to continuously develop. My diet includes a lot of fat, both saturated and unsaturated. The reason for this is that this diet helps keep my testosterone levels high, which has a very positive effect on both my strength and muscle mass. In addition, I keep my carbohydrate intake low, but I want to clarify that this is not a ketogenic diet. I tried that too, but it had a very bad effect on me, and I lost a lot of muscle during that diet. Carbohydrate intake is important; you should never completely deprive your body of it.
Current diet:
Day A
- Meal: oatmeal, eggs, peanut butter, and grapefruit
2. Meal: rice, chicken, and broccoli
3. Meal: pasta, tuna, and avocado
4. Meal: rice, chicken
5. Meal: tuna and green salad
6. Meal: cottage cheese and broccoli
Day B
- Meal: oatmeal and 6 egg whites
- Meal: protein, rice, and chicken breast fillet
- Meal: protein and almonds
- Meal: rice and chicken breast fillet
- Meal: tuna and salad
- Meal: protein
– You said you don't use any steroids. What supplements do you use?
– Multivitamin, protein after waking up, after training, and before bed at night, BCAA, glutamine, and creatine.
– What was your greatest achievement and what are you most proud of?
– I motivate people; I couldn't achieve a greater result than that. That's what truly matters to me. I currently have contracts with Mutated Nation and Nike, and I've joined Nutri Supplements, which is the world's leading supplement company. All these together provide me with a secure livelihood, but the most important thing is to motivate people; that's what I truly live for.
– Where do you still draw your motivation from after all these years?
– From my fans and the people who follow and read me. But most of all, the people I work with personally give me strength; I see their progress and how their lives change as a result of the workouts. The other thing that motivates me and without which I cannot imagine my life is music. Before workouts, I always put on my headphones, and then I enter a completely different world where nothing matters but the workout.
– If you had to name 3 things that people can use to achieve their goals, what would they be?
– Patience – "Rome wasn't built in a day," proper diet and establishing a training routine, never give up.
