Australia - Bodybuilding .com

Milos Sarcev is an elite nutritional adviser, personal trainer and IFBB pro bodybuilding veteran. He is considered by many to be one of the top trainers in the world.

Scroll down to view all of click on a link to jump:

• Best and Worst Food Choices
• Milos's Daily Diet
• Videos of Milos's seminar
• Milos Talks Training and Nutrition

In all food categories, some foods are better than others in terms of nutrient profiles and macronutrient compositions. As a pro bodybuilder, I recommend a diet based on whole foods with the addition of supplements to help you achieve your desired physique goals. With that said, within each category of whole foods, some are better than others depending on your needs and how your body responds to them. Try to choose from among the better options most of the time. Here are a few food categories and some of my picks for Best Bets and Worse Choices.

Vegetables

Best Bets

Asparagus, green and red peppers, broccoli, spinach and leafy greens.

Worse Choices

Corn and peas are somewhat starchy, and they should be eaten in moderation. Carrots provide good nutrients, but they are also high in starchy carbs. Eat these as frequently as desired, cooked or raw, but in moderate quantities.

Fruits

Best Bets

Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and oranges.

Worse Choices

Grapes, bananas and watermelon.

What they offer in nutrients or fiber doesn't offset the carbs these fruits contain.

Fruit juice. Virtually all fruit juices are high in sugar relative to their nutritional value and should be avoided.

Meat

Best Bets

Lean beef, skinless chicken breast and fish. Fish, regardless of whether it's lean or fatty, is an excellent bodybuilding choice because it contains healthy and necessary fats.

Worse Choices

Ground beef and dark-meat chicken with skin. These meats contain far more saturated fat than the lean counterparts listed in Best Bets.

Grains

Best Bets

Oatmeal, brown rice and whole-grain bread.

Worse Choices

White rice, pasta and white bread.

These carbs are mostly processed, and they are much lower in nutrients and fiber than the Best Bets.

© Weider Group

This is a typical day's eating plan for Milos Sarcev

·        Meal one: 15 egg whites plus three whole eggs, two to three cups of oatmeal

·        Meal two: protein shake

·        Meal three: turkey sandwich

·        Meal four: 300 g steak, 200 g rice

·        Meal five: protein shake plus one banana

·        Meal six: postworkout drink comprising 60 g whey isolate, 100 g dextrose, 5 g creatine, 5 g glutamine

·        Meal seven: 300 g fish plus steamed vegetables

·        Meal eight: pure protein drink

An extremely comprehensive video series of one of Milos Sarcev’s nutrition and training seminars:

The first time I noticed any major progress was when I increased my protein intake to 1.3 grams (g) per pound of my bodyweight and started dividing bodyparts -- training them on different days instead of all at once. I did chest, shoulders and triceps on day one and legs, back and biceps the following day. I would train six days straight and have Sunday off. Usually, I would do three different exercises for each muscle group, five sets each with reps in the range of six to 15. I did grow considerably, even though I was definitely overtraining. The problem is, how do you tell a teenager, "Listen, you can train less and you will grow more!" I have that same problem now when I am constructing a diet and training program for someone who wants to lose weight, and I am telling him or her, "You can eat more, train less and you'll lose weight faster!"

How do you think the average bodybuilder should train?

Anyone who trains seriously should definitely set some specific goals. Then they should analyze the best ways to achieve these goals through training and nutrition. In my opinion, anyone can achieve reasonable goals within three years. When I say that, I mean regardless of your present condition. If you dedicate yourself for the next 36 months, you could be a competitive bodybuilder at the amateur level. Add a couple more years and you could even be a top Olympia competitor.

How should you train?

Well, we are all individuals and you can bet that Arnold Schwarzenegger's program was completely different from Dorian Yates', yet both of those great bodybuilders achieved outstanding results. Do some research to understand how the body works and what works for you. Learn the difference between fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers and how to stimulate them. Learn about proper macronutrient ratios and when certain nutrients should be taken along with supplements, and then you will be in touch with your body. From that point on, listen to your body and remember that progress is what you want it to be. If you feel you are not progressing fast enough, try something else you have learned. Most important, listen to what everyone else has to say -- Ronnie Coleman, Dorian, your training partner, whoever. Think about it, and if it makes sense, try it.

Milos posing at the 1998 IFBB Finnish Grand Prix

Average bodybuilders train day in, day out for many years, yet they never seem to build muscle mass after that three-to-six-month initial gain. Why is this?

Initially, everybody will make some gains (just like I did, despite the overtraining) simply because any weightlifting training, even done incorrectly, will stimulate some muscle fibers in the formerly untrained body. However, to make continuous gains, you have to "train with your brain." Again, I would need a whole issue of FLEX to explain myself completely, but here are a few important points.

Say someone is weak in the chest area. I would first analyze to see if he needs more muscle size in the upper, middle or lower, or the inner or outer area of the chest. If the lower portion of the chest lacks size, I would choose isolation exercises for that particular bodypart. For example, I would have him do close-grip decline barbell presses for fast-twitch muscle fibers. Specific training that produces muscle hypertrophy would give him size and strength. He should use a heavy weight set with the maximum amount of weight he could handle, doing no less than five and no more than eight reps. He should do this exercise first in his routine to give the lagging part of the pecs top priority so it can catch up with the rest of his chest.

Execution of the exercise itself is crucial. Full range of motion and proper form are imperative. An exercise such as bench presses, for example, is most effective if the elbows are moved in (toward the body), so the triceps get more involved. If the rib cage isn't expanded during the eccentric and concentric parts of motion, the front delts get more involved. A close grip emphasizes the inner chest, a wide grip the outer chest. Lowering the barbell to the neck recruits upper fibers of the chest; lowering to the lower sternum involves the lower chest. You must know exactly what your specific goal is and how you want to accomplish it.

Is it necessary to train heavy in order to build muscle mass, and what is your opinion of weights versus machines?

Yes, heavy weights that can be lifted for five to 10 repetitions (which means an 11th rep would be absolutely impossible) greatly stimulate the fast-twitch muscle fibers that are responsible for size.

Let me be philosophical for a moment, which will either bore you to tears or interest you greatly. How many people would agree with me that using, for example, a good bench-press machine and failing on the sixth rep would stimulate and create more growth in the chest muscle fibers than using a free-weight barbell bench-press exercise and failing on the same sixth rep? If you fail on the sixth rep of a barbell bench-press exercise, there is a very good possibility that your stabilizing and neutralizing secondary muscles, namely deltoids and triceps, have failed before your primary ones -- the chest muscles. Therefore, your chest muscle fibers would not receive maximum stimulation. On the other hand, machines are designed to isolate particular bodyparts and to exclude involvement of supporting muscle groups (as much as possible). So, if we fail on the sixth rep doing a machine chest press, it's more than likely that the chest is going to be the first muscle group to fail. Being a gym owner, I can also tell you that I see huge guys training exclusively on machines.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying machines are better than free weights, I'm just giving another perspective that some people may not have considered. However, keep in mind that training with free weights is imperative for beginners because free-weight movements include all supporting muscle groups and build a more complete physique.

How are you training at the moment?

My routine is one bodypart per day, four exercises for each muscle group. The first exercise is for the fast-twitch muscle fibers. I do three specific warm-up sets of superslow eccentric contractions with a pause at the bottom and slow concentric contractions with an extra squeeze at the top of the movement. For main sets, I perform only five or six repetitions. For my first working set, I choose a weight that I can lift for only six repetitions.

I take as much time as I need to completely recover before I attempt my second set. Many people make a mistake and try to be more intense by shortening their rest time between sets. Handling maximum weight places a tremendous stress upon the nervous system, which takes longer to recover than muscles do.

After completing the three sets, I choose a second exercise to stimulate the fast-twitch muscle fibers, but I try to change the angle and recruit different portions of the same muscle. This time, I go for three sets of eight reps. After this, I focus on the slow-twitch muscle fibers of the same muscle and do two more exercises with two or three sets using numerous advanced techniques I've learned from Joe Weider. Peak contraction and continuous tension training principles are my favorites for those slow-twitch fibers, and I do 10-30 repetitions per set. I apply this to every bodypart. Monday is chest, Tuesday is back, Wednesday is shoulders, Thursday is quads, Friday is arms, and Saturday is hamstrings and calves. Sunday, I rest.

How long should you rest between sets?

Rest periods should be shorter (45-60 seconds) if you train with lighter weights for slow-twitch fibers. But if we do all-out sets for six reps for squats, we'll be busy for the next two minutes receiving CPR, so it wouldn't be a great idea to jump into the next set too quickly. Take three to five minutes between sets for fast-twitch fiber exercises.

How about basic nutrition?

Nutrition is equally as significant as training. Your postworkout meal is the most important of the day and has to be precise. During training, a bodybuilder depletes his glucose stores, which, if continued, causes microtears and amino acid loss. To replenish glycogen stores and amino acids, take nutritional action immediately after a workout. Drink 50 g of whey isolate, 50-70 g of dextrose or glucose, 3 g of creatine and 205 g of glutamine 10 minutes after your training session. If you simply finish a workout and drive home without the postworkout cocktail, you have lost a golden opportunity to create anabolism and grow.

Can you describe a typical day's eatinq in the offseason?

I am a bodybuilder every day of the year, and I don't diet only when I am close to a show. During the offseason, we have precious time to put on some muscle and not enough of that time to really "go on vacation" and eat what we like. However, we can be a little more relaxed and not really limit our caloric intake, so I always make sure I have enough protein. In my case, that is 500 g a day in equal increments, spread over eight meals so I'm eating 60-65 g of protein every three hours. This ensures that at any time during the day I have amino acids available in my body. I keep my fat intake low (usually below 60 g), and besides hidden fats in chicken, beef and fish, I take in essential fatty acids only through flaxseed oil, chia seeds and essential fatty acid capsules. My carbohydrate intake is dependent upon my amount of physical activities. I eat more starchy carbohydrates prior to the period of the day when I am going to be active, simple carbs in the form of glucose powder immediately after my training, an d fibrous carbs when I'm not going to be active.

Who has helped you most in your bodybuilding career?

If John Brown had not made a guest posing appearance in 1983 in Yugoslavia, I probably wouldn't have chosen a career as a bodybuilder. His physique and performance inspired me to become a bodybuilder. I am definitely grateful to him. We are now very good friends and see each other daily in my gym. Of course, the people that helped me most are my family, my wife and close friends. Joe Weider, personally, and several people from his organization had great influence on me. Peter McGoug. is a true gentleman and honestly cares about all of us. He gives a helping hand every time we need something. In addition, I would like to thank you [Chris Lund] for all the wonderful photos and encouragement you have given to me during my career.