Q&A by Milos Sarcev IFBB Professional Bodybuilder

Milos, I’m a very big fan of Bill Pearl and I was wondering how he was able to build his physique since he doesn’t eat meat. I’m sure he must have eaten fish and eggs, but there are important nutrients in meat which you don’t get from eggs and fish. Also, I would think that he didn’t have the luxury of protein powders as (I’m sure the first came out in the mid 70′s, I think Mike Katz was on the front of the tub). Chris Dickerson was another vegetarian, who was trained by Bill Pearl, but was this because of advice Bill Pearl Gave him?I was just wondering if you had any insight to what his diet was like and if you know of any other vegetarian Bodybuilders?

I know that Andreas Chaling was vegetarian as well. He is an IFBB professional from Sweden. I am not familiar what kind of diet Bill Pearl was on and still is, but he looked phenomenal and still does. I would assume that without protein powders and without meats he probably consumed fish, eggs and/or dairy products for their protein content. I will ask Bill personally next time I see him.

Milos, in the battle for the Mr Olympia 1999 video, you performed hanging leg raise and you said it’s the best abs exercise. I tried this exercise but I don’t really feel my abs. Any advice?

YES, my advice is – you always have to squeeze your muscles (in this instance – abs) AS HARD AS YOU CAN. Every rep is MAXIMAL contraction – not just raising your legs. You have to feel that you are pulling from abs and NOT from the hip flexors.

If you need to – you can bend your knees and do it that way (which isolates abs more and puts less stress on hip flexors) but having the legs STRAIGHT – would stretch your abs much more (due to laws of gravity, especially if you have heavy legs). Anyways – this is the greatest exercise to make deep abs.

Would there be any benefit to drinking distilled water instead of regular? I was thinking with as much as I drink per day (1-1.5 gallons) there could be a lot of contaminates floating around. I use a Brita filter but I don’t think I get near the purity of distilled. I’ve heard that distilled water provides a kind of “leaching” effect for pulling rejected minerals and other toxins from your system. Anyone heard of this?

I agree with Lee Haney who always claimed that distilled water is “dead water”! Sodium free spring water is my choice, and recommendation!

My question is in regards to a post workout mixture. I can get pure dextrose and maltodextrin, so i’m just looking for a guide as to what would be ideal for certain bodyweights. What is your recommendation for 150 to 170 lbs, 170 to 200 lbs, and 200 to 250 lbs?

I would suggest you to take about 1 gram of dextrose every day.That way you would stay the same size and I would hopefully manage to beat you in the contest!

Just kidding, as you know. My recommendation is really about intensity of the workout that you just finished and estimation of how much glycogen you possibly lost during that training. Body weight as also a factor, but not that big in my book. I have seen you “smaller guys” train just as intense and heavy! So, I would suggest 75 – 150 grams of dextrose after the workout (depending on body part trained, intensity, length, quality, total load, etc).

Remember, it is not only glycogen repletion you want to accomplish, you want to create anabolic environment and produce hypertrophy – using strong anabolic/storage action of insulin and ALL the necessary nutrients to accomplish that task (so make sure you have enough amino acids in your blood stream as well, add everything you want to store into your muscles – like :: whey protein, BCAA, Glutamine, free form aminos, creatine :: ).

Milos Sarcev is currently an International Nutrition, Strength, and Conditioning Consultant, and Gym Owner. He is also a Fitness Model, IFBB Professional Bodybuilder and certified fitness trainer, certified in Hormone Replacement Therapy, Nutrition and Anti-Aging Principals. Milos also contributes to Weider Publications and is an editorial contributor Member of Flex Advisory Board. Milos has appeared in numerous television programs and commercials, as well as on many book and magazine covers around the world. Milos also has assisted many other professional bodybuilders and fitness competitors to achieve their top level of competition including Monica Brant – Miss Fitness Olympia Champion!