"Perfection” is a big word to throw around, and often it depends on the eye of the beholder—but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any solid contenders for perfection, at least when it comes to the physique.
Look up “sculpted” in a dictionary, and you will see a picture of Lazar Angelov. The owner of some of the best abs in the world, the bodybuilder has amassed a massive social media following where he inspires everyone to work for their athletic goals.
And if you think that you’ll never be able to get to his level, consider that he’s a natural bodybuilder. Genetics will always come into play at the level he’s working at, but it’s his consistency, hard work, and finetuning that have gotten him to where he is.
Before becoming the bodybuilder he is today, Angelov played professional basketball for 10 years, joining the national team of Bulgaria at the age of 16. A couple of years later, he would go on to join the army where he discovered bodybuilding.
Over the next few years, he would work as a guard at night while working as a personal trainer throughout the day. Since 2006 he’s been participating in various bodybuilding competitions, consistently placing in the top three every time.
This hustle paid off for him, and now he’s one of the most recognized fitness models in the world.
With someone who’s achieved such an aesthetic without the use of steroids, you already know that there’s a lot of thought that goes into his training. And while the routine below will generally break things down for you when it comes to training, the key is going to be taking Angelov’s workout lessons to heart and implementing them into your own routine.
Saying that, Angelov’s training is pretty cut and dry. He’s always sticking to the basic principles of bodybuilding and its respective exercises rather than switching things up. While some try to implement a wide variety of movements throughout their training, Angelov opts instead to make small changes while sticking to the basic principles.
These “basic principles” tend to relate to high-volume training sessions, at least when it comes to bodybuilding. With lower weights and more reps and sets, you’re able to get a bigger pump and grow your muscle mass. This is opposed to strength training which focuses on lower rep ranges (around 5) and heavy weights.
However, Angelov does prefer to go heavy—or as heavy as one can go with doing upwards of 20 reps. This focus on going heavy also cuts across his bulking and cutting phases, which is partially due to his body type and ability to retain muscle mass.
Seeing as how muscle mass retention is the name of the game for Angelov, he has to pay special attention to how he includes cardio into his training. This will obviously change depending on whether he’s going through a cutting or a bulking phase since more cardio will help to get his body fat percentage down to the lower single digits.
However, he does try to limit his cardio and the types of cardio in order to prevent losing as much muscle as possible. For example, he runs the same distance every cardio session while also trying to beat his previous time. Taking a page from high-intensity interval training (HIIT), he’ll sometimes run 100 meters as fast as he can and take one minute at a slower pace before sprinting again.
With how his abs are chiseled, it’s no surprise that HIIT has an important place in his routine. As opposed to other forms of cardio that are more steady-state, consistent, and lengthier, HIIT does a better job of burning away fat while also keeping more muscle intact.
Angelov takes this to the next level by also avoiding some forms of HIIT that necessitate the arms—jump roping, for example. Although it can be a good form of HIIT, the fact that it uses your arms means that it’s going to be bad for retaining your muscles in this area.
For Angelov, running and just using your legs is the way to go. And even done this way, you don’t want to push too much cardio into your routine—at least if you’re working out at the level that Angelov is.
Bulking and cutting refers to “seasons” that bodybuilders go through: usually during the winter, you’ll eat more food in general while also lifting heavier. This will allow your body to grow muscle quicker, but you’ll also be putting on some body fat.
During cutting season—usually in the warmer months—is when you pull back on the food, introduce more cardio, and try to cut down the body fat to show off what you’ve been working on all winter.
It’s no surprise that Angelov does this routine as well, usually maxing out in the bulking stage at around 10 to 12% and dropping to the low single digits during his cuts. During his bulks, he’ll emphasize heavier weights, but as we saw above, he tries to maintain a heavier load throughout his entire training. His bulking and cutting diets have also evolved as he’s progressed as a bodybuilder.
For example, he’s begun adding more fat to his bulking diet than he has in the past. This includes both saturated and unsaturated fats. His reasoning behind this is that fat helps to raise and maintain levels of testosterone, the hormone essential for building more muscle mass and gaining strength.
On the other hand, his cutting diet has seen a shift from full keto to a low-carb diet. The difference is basically in how many carbs he eats, with keto diets allowing for very small amounts only.
Once again, this is done in order to preserve muscle mass. Keto diets can cut into your gains, and by allowing more carbs into one’s diet, you’re able to keep more of the muscle you’ve packed on.
Most of the time Angelov is either doing a low-carb diet or a carb cycling diet, which isn’t a surprise considering his washboard abs. It’s important to note that for beginners (or even anyone who’s not at the level that Angelov is at), the gains should come much easier.
When you’re performing at the peak of your genetics, it’s much more difficult to eke out any extra gains. For someone who’s newer to working out, beginner gains will come relatively faster and easier. The key is consistency and progressive overload.
The Lazar Angelic training routine is one you would expect—no big surprises here. Following a conventional bodybuilding formula of very high volume and lower weights, this regime is sure to pump up your muscles and get you the gains you’ve been looking for.
But as always, ensure that you’re properly stretching before each session. This will not only help you avoid injuries, but it’ll also help to get your blood pumping to your muscles which will help your training even more; leaving no gains left on the table.
But while you’ll be gassing out your muscles enough, you also need to be sure you’re resting. The routine below is set up over five days, outlined as such:
This gives you two days to rest, but that doesn’t mean you should be slacking. For example, Angelov incorporates abs workouts into his routine every day—even on his off days. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to give your muscles some rest.
Keeping a poor sleep schedule is the surest way to stunt your gains, regardless of how hard you work and how well you eat. You’ll also want to ease into things if you’re coming at this as a beginner.
The routine outlined below is better suited for intermediate or advanced lifters, so beginners might want to opt for a more basic training schedule. Or at least with very light weights to get used to the movements.
Nevertheless, you can expect gains if you tackle this with consistency and a lot of hard work. Support your exercise with the right diet, rest, and a bulking/cutting cycle, and you’ll be well on your way to chiseled status.
Without further ado, here is the Angelov workout routine.
Day One: Chest and Abs
Day Two: Back and Traps
Day Three: Delts, Forearms, and Abs
Day Four: Triceps and Biceps
Day Five: Legs and Abs
As we mentioned when talking about bulking and cutting, Angelov follows a low-carb diet plan.
This is a popular method since it forces your body to dip into fat stores in order to produce energy.
Carbs are your main source of energy, so if they run out your body begins burning fat for fuel. As you can imagine, this is extremely helpful when trying to get cut.
Otherwise, you want to be eating fresh, whole foods that are packed with nutrients. You can’t get a body like Angelov’s by keeping poor eating habits. Here’s a sample of what Angelov might eat from day to day:
Angelov has achieved a god-like figure without the use of any steroids, but that doesn’t mean he’s not supporting his aesthetic with other supplements. Supplementing doesn’t have to be complicated, and there’s a lot of good products out there that are safe to use.
Although a beginner might not find too much use in them because of the newbie gains they’ll be experiencing, anyone seriously sticking to lifting should definitely be using some basic supplements.
Whey protein comes from the liquid part of milk that comes out during the cheese-making process. The water floating on top of a yogurt container, for example, contains whey in it.
Protein is literally the building block of muscles and absolutely essential for other various functions in the human body. If you’re looking to pack on some pounds, you’re going to need protein, and whey is an excellent source of it.
The proteins in whey specifically are extremely high quality for the human body. Containing essential amino acids such as leucine and cysteine, they provide a foundation for your body to develop tendons, skin, organs, hormones, enzymes, various molecules—and last but not least, your muscles.
Cysteine in particular has been shown to be one of the most growth-promoting amino acids, also described as anabolic. This makes whey a must-have for anyone wanting to follow the path of Angelov.
If you’re looking to get yoked and cut, creatine is another supplement that’s sure to turbocharge your progress. Although some have argued that creatine can have harmful effects, it still remains one of the best-studied and safest supplements one can take to boost their performance.
Creatine is already found naturally in your muscle cells. It’s a substance that aids in energy production during heavy exertion, such as lifting or high-intensity movements. Being similar to amino acids, your natural creatine level depends on things such as meat intake, muscle mass, testosterone level, and exercise routine.
This supplement helps you develop more muscle mass by increasing your workload during gym sessions. Being able to put more volume onto your muscles means that they’ll develop bigger and faster. In much the same way, creatine can also be good for cutting body fat down.
Along with this, creatine can:
All in all, creatine is very useful for getting you the gains you need.
Putting these ingredients all together will put you on the path to an Angelov physique. Washboard abs, sculpted everything—but it doesn’t come without a lot of hard work. The training routine is important, but it’s even more important to follow the lessons that he uses in his own training.
If you want to keep your muscle mass, cardio is important but you can’t overdo it. It’s also important to go heavy while sticking to bodybuilding basics. It’s good to challenge your body in new ways, but consistency is even more important.
By including proper cutting and bulking seasons through your training, you’ll be able to constantly develop your strength and muscle mass. While the gains will come harder the more you grow, you’ll have built up a solid foundation of routine and diet by then.
Angelov has gotten to this point with years of hard work, consistency, and fine-tuning. There is no reason you can’t achieve what he has with the same mindset and grit.
