Featured Athlete: Italian bodybuilding star – Alex Zuccaro.
Evolutionofbodybuilding.net continues with its series of Featured Athletes. The latest athlete to be featured is Italian bodybuilding star, Alex Zuccaro.
Alex is one of the most experienced bodybuilders in the world. Having the opportunity to turn pro within the Pro League and IFBB Elite Pro on numerous occasions, Alex decided to remain an amateur and compete in the world’s most prestigious events.
Born on 20 December 1975, Alex was introduced to sports at a very young age. Between the age of 8 to 15, Alex practiced martial arts. In 1989, Alex started training with weights for the first time.
After five years of training, Alex competed at the IFBB Junior World Championships in Slovakia and placed second in the 70kg category.
Alex continued to compete with the IFBB in a career that has spanned over 30 years.
Dominating the Italian championships, Alex won the Italian title as a Junior, Senior and Master competitor.
The number of victories that Alex has accumulated during his bodybuilding career is mind-blowing, a number that will be very difficult to match.
In over 30 years of competing, Alex has 62 victories to his name, which include 14 international gold medals, 8 overall titles, 4 IFBB Pro Cards, 15 silver medals, and 4 bronze medals.
Alex is also the first Italian bodybuilder to win the Arnold Classic Amateur in Ohio. Alex also has numerous victories at the Amateur Olympia, Arnold Classic Europe, European Championships, and World Master Championships.
Diet and Training
Alex explained that his training shifts from high volume to high intensity. Alex believes that no training routine can be effective for a long period of time.
For volume training, Alex uses a classic six-day push-and-pull routine. The first three workouts with low reps and the other three days with higher reps. Alex prefers this routine during pre-contest.
During his off-season, Alex trains 3-4 days with high-intensity workouts, which include drop-sets, super sets, and on the other days he includes cardio, with the main goal of keeping his cardiovascular system healthy. Three months before an event, Alex does not include cardio in his training routine.
Alex believes in the Time Under Tension (TUT) parameters, and recovery time between sets. He believes that the number of repetitions is not as important as the amount of weight, how long the muscle is under tension, and finally, the amount of time the muscle is rested between sets.
During his off-season, Alex does not increase his calories. He believes that to have a long career in bodybuilding, it’s important to not go over the limit. Overdoing it in food and other matters, will only put your health at risk, and shorten your career as a competitive bodybuilder.
In his off-season, rather than gaining weight, Alex explains that he goes down in weight. He eats much less and shifts his concentration to his business and other matters outside of bodybuilding.
When shifting from off-season to contest prep, Alex explains that the quantity of food changes, but the quality of food remains the same.
Four to five months before a competition, Alex increases his calorie intake, to increase his weight and to give him the energy to train 6 days per week.
Alex emphasizes that extreme diets are not part of his routine. He never eliminates carbohydrates, and he does not go over 2 grams of protein per kg of body weight.
Alex combines essential amino acids with his meals. His regular pre-contest diet consists of fish, red meat, and whole eggs. Omega 3 fats are a big part of his diet, and he also includes butter for butyric end propionate acids, and finally extra virgin oil.
Alex emphasizes that he knows his limits, and he is realistic when it comes to the sport of bodybuilding. This is one of the main reasons he decided to remain an amateur and become one of the best Italian amateur bodybuilders in the history of the sport.
Every bodybuilder has a favorite cheat meal, and when we asked what his favorite cheat meal is, Alex replied “I’m Italian, it has to be pizza.”
Hobbies
When he is not dominating the sport of bodybuilding, Alex enjoys developing a range of his own sports supplements.
In the past 23 years, Alex has developed six supplement brands, of which the most famous is Namedsport.
In 2022, Alex founded the brand Z-Labs Research and launched a new line of supplements for bodybuilding and endurance.
Alex is also a promoter of various sports events.
Evolutionofbodybuilding.net would like to thank Alex Zuccaro, and we wish him the best for his upcoming bodybuilding events, and his future business projects.
