Abs like Angelov – Lazar Angelov’s Shred Training and Diet Plan

STOP! Before you bother reading this article, first ask yourself these three questions

1.Do you want to be a real life Hercules?

This is a serious question, you’ll have to buy new clothes to accommodate your newfound muscle mass and you’ll have to get used to being stared at in admiration by the public.

2.Do you want abs that look like they’ve been carved out of wood?

This is going to mean giving up the daily beers and gas station burritos..which will be difficult, because those things are delicious.

3.Do you want a neat little beard?

What man doesn’t?!

Well, with the guide below  we’re only gonna help you with questions  #1 and #2…

For the beard you will have to start putting Rogaine on your chin and start going to one of those hipster barbers or something. That’s not our deal. Our deal is helping you transform as best you can into a Lazar Aneglov clone!

Behold The “Angel of Aesthetics” Lazar Angelov

Angelov used to be a pro basketball player in Bulgaria. While the NBA it ain’t, that shows that Angelov had a solid background in sport and living the life of a professional athlete, so he already knew his s***t before getting into bodybuilding.

We’re talking dedication, commitment, planning and most importantly, discipline. (and a little bit of genetics we admit…. and some gear too) Today, regarding the factors you do have control over, like workout routines and diet, we will be sharing it all.

Lazar is also originally more ectomorphic than “endo” or “meso”, which is pretty motivating for all you taller skinny guys out there reading this. Before he started lifting he was a skinny dude like most of us.

According to his official website Lazar stands at exactly 6’0 tall and weighs on average 195 lbs, or 88kg, a perfect hard-gainer goal weight.

These weight stats are totally achievable in a natural way too through proper diet and exercise. The body-fat percentages though might be another story, but hey, that’s only a small portion of the puzzle.

Angelov is also known for having “some of the best abs in the world” as well as massive, sculpted deltoids and a body that screams classic old-school muscle. No artificially pumped up Jay-Cutler-looking-like-an-overfed-cow here. Just intense, shredded aesthetics.

If you want to get ripped like Angelov in 2017 then it’s time to get down to business. Below we’re going to talk about his training, diet, mindset, and approach to training. Read it, absorb it, and hit the iron.

Eat like Angelov: The “Abs of Hercules” Diet

Angelov started as a skinny ectomorph who struggled to gain mass.  Seriously, the dude played basketball in Eastern Europe.

Many IFBB pros we look up to couldn’t dream of competing on a professional level in a sport like basketball where hard-gainer, ectomorph type body types thrive.

Doing cardio for a living probably didn’t help with that either. When Angelov quit basketball, a year in the military sent him to “skinnyfat purgatory”.

This motivated Angelov to get his act together and take bodybuilding seriously, working two jobs day and night just to pay the bills and follow his goal. So no excuses about “not enough time”.

If you want to look like Hercules, you’d better work like him too.

If you need some killer intense workout footage to get pumped up check out Zhasni’s motivational videos, we think they’re the best.

Angelov follows a traditional “Bulk and Cut” strategy (the opposite of Zyzz or Jeff Seid, whose articles you can find here).

This means winter is time to eat big and lift heavy, taking body fat up to 12% if necessary to gain a few pounds of muscle mass.

Angelov says using this approach is the only way to get as close to his genetic potential without using anabolic steroids, which Angelov doesn’t (or so he says).

Whether Lazar is natty or not is an often debated subject within the bodybuilding world.

Physiques like his, Jeff Seids, Zyzz’s, Matt Ogus’s, they are all almost “too good” to be real. Still, it is possible. Read up on the current “Is Lazar Natty or on Roids” here.

Angelov also brings in higher levels of fat, saturated and unsaturated, to keep his testosterone levels high. That explains the beard. Cuts are usually low-carb to maintain muscle mass, and not ketogenic.

This guy’s diet plan seems a lot less about eating specific foods, but hitting certain macronutrient goals, especially for low-carb cutting.

It also looks like Angelov is more focused on this than on counting calories, which he doesn’t do in the bulking months.

Sample Diet Plan

Notes:
1-1.5g protein per lb of body weight
0.5g of fat per lb of body weight from natural sources for low-carb
500 Kcal calorie surplus for bulking
Eat carbs 2 hours before a workout and directly after for insulin spike
Adjust the portions to maintain a calorie surplus – this parts dependent on you

1. Oatmeal, Eggs, Grapefruit, Peanut Butter
2. Chicken with rice and broccoli
3. Tuna with Pasta and Avocado
4. Chicken and rice
5. Salmon salad
6. Cottage cheese and broccoli

What About Lazar’s Supplement Stack?

Apparently nothing super cutting edge in terms of what Lazar takes in addition to his food, at least according to an interview he did with Cut and Jacked.

At the end of the interview when asked about what he’s taking, he simply lists the following:

• Whey protein (SY recommends [easyazon_link identifier=”B000QSTBNS” locale=”US” nf=”y” tag=”skinyoke-20″]Gold Standard[/easyazon_link] because of it’s quality and reputation)
• BCAA (For a complete pre-workout WITH BCAA’s checkout B-Nox. For just pure BCAA’s that taste great without creatine SY recommends [easyazon_link identifier=”B0196BEXZQ” locale=”US” nf=”y” tag=”skinyoke-20″]Amino Energy[/easyazon_link])
• Glutamine (actually not really required if you’re taking multipel servings of Gold Standard since it’s loaded with glutamine already)
• Arginine (Just buy the cheapest one at Wal-Mart.. there’s too many to count)
• N.O.Booster (SY prefers N.O booster in a complete pre-workout like Musclepharm Assault or BetanCourt B-Nox)
• Fish oil (Optimum Nutrition again makes a dope supplement at a super affordable price)
• Glucosamine (This is big if you’re doing a lot of squatting and lunging like you should.. protect them joints long run with a quality glucosamine/MSM supplement)

If you aren’t already taking these it can’t hurt to stock up, particularly if you’re not getting a horse-ton of fresh organic greens and fruits everyday.

Lift like a beast: Lazar’s Training Plan

Angelov is big on compound lifts that smash all muscle groups at once. As an ectomorph, heavy compounds give that dense look that make his body look so thick.

We’re looking at an intense, heavy 5 day split with 2 rest days at the weekend.

It goes without saying that you don’t go out and drink up the town and hit the local fast food joints. The plan isn’t as complex as someone like, say, Jeff Seid, who does an insane combination of supersets.

Angelov’s training regime looks more traditional, with standard sets and reps working on big muscle groups at once. Particular focus is on compounds and heavy, weighted ab workouts.

Check the ab parts especially – no thousands of sit ups here. Nearly everything goes heavy, and to absolute failure.

For cardio, Angelov goes traditional and light. He says that as an ectomorph, he doesn’t want to overdo the cardio or hit any HIIT training regimes. Angelov goes for 20 minutes, traditional cardio, usually outside, as and when.

This guy definitely seems all round the professional athlete. He’s not like another cut up Zyzz, who’s into juicing and says ‘cardio is boring’. He does his thing not just for the looks, but the fitness too. We’ve got to give respect to that.

1: Smash Chest / Destroy Abs

• Flat Bench 4×8
• Incline Bench 4×8
• Decline Bench 4×8
• Pullover 4×8 (These are an absolute money exercise, learn why and how to do pullovers)
• Hammer Press 3×8
• Dips 3x failure
• Weighted Sit Up 4x failure
• Hanging Leg Raise- 4x failure
• Side Bends 4x failure

2: Rip Back and Traps

• Bent Over Row 4×8
• Deadlift 4×8
• Pulldowns 4×8
• Pull Ups 4×8
• Cable Row 4×8
• Shrugs 6×10

3: Kill Delts/Forearms, Re-Destroy Abs

• Military Press Behind The Neck 3×8
• Machine Press 4×8
• Lateral Raises 4×8
• Weight Plate Front Raises 4×10
• Dumbbell Front Raises 4×8
• Reverse Pec Deck 4×10
• Reverse Fly’s (on incline bench) 4×8
• Weighted Sit Ups 4x failure
• Hanging Leg Raises 4x failure
• Side Bends 4x failure
• Side Crunches 4x failure
• Wrist Curl Behind Back 4x failure
• Reverse Wrist Curl Over Bench 4x failure

4: Hammer Triceps/Biceps

• Close Grip Bench Press 4×8
• Pushdowns 4×8
• EZ Bar Skull Crushers 4×10
• Cable Kickbacks 4×8
• EZ Bar Curls 4×8
• Wide Grip Curls 4×8
• Hammer Curls 4×8 (each hand)
• Concentration Curls 4×8

5: Break Legs Re-Re-Destroy Abs

• Squats 4×12
• Squat (to bench) 4×12
• Bulgarian Squat 4×12
• Quad Extensions 4×16
• Stiff Leg Deadlift 4×12
• Leg Curls 4×16
• Glute Kickbacks 4×20
• Calf Machine Raises 4×20
• Seated Calf Raises 4×20
• Leg Press Calf Raises 4×20
• Weighted Sit up 4x failure
• Air Bike 4x failure
• Side Bends 4x failure
• Barbell Twists 4x failure

Lazar’s Own Ab Workout Video:

Angelov Plan Summary

So there you have it. If you want to look like Angelov, and already have the face and beard down, then the recipe is above.

But the main ingredient? Dedication. Angelov says himself that most people feel like they’re giving 100%, but they’re far from it. This body comes at a cost.

In Angelov’s words “I have to give 100% all the time and if I start living like most people do I quickly get out of shape.”

The thing is, if you want to look like Angelov, you’ll go one of two ways.

You’ll either half-ass it and end up getting in good shape but no further, or you’ll give it everything, and get the money, women, and respect that Angelov gets now. 99% will take option number #1.

What About the Gear?

There’s no disputing, to get to Lazar’s level naturally you’d need to win the genetic lottery, like a 1 out of 1,000,000 chance… which pretty much means, gear is necessary to achieve this look.

This doesn’t mean you have to go balls to the wall and end up looking like an ox.

There are lighter anobolics that you don’t even have to inject, like SARMs for example (read our 6 week experiment), which can help you achieve the kind of results that make people ask themselves whether you’re natty or not.

Don’t obsess about gear though, that shit comes with time. First dial in your diet and workout plan. Then, as you spend endless hours in your local gym you’ll start to make progress.

You will also make friends…the kind of friends who can hook you up to the gear train if that’s the route you want to go.

Gear doesn’t come first. First is hard work and diet. Then once you’re form is 99% on point, you are at your true genetic limit naturally, only  then you look for other advantages.