In the Ask Alessandro series, I field your questions on topics such as training, lifestyle, and fitness. If you would like to submit a question for a future post, please click here.
In this inaugural Ask Alessandro, I tackle some of the most frequently asked questions I have received over the years.
Question: How tall are you?
Answer: I’m 190 cm, around 6’2″ or 6’3″ tall.
Question: How much do you weigh?
Answer: The weight in my case is pretty flexible, as it can depend on the season and competitions. But I typically stay between 110-120 kg or 243-265 pounds.
Question: How tired are you of answering those two questions?
Answer: To be honest, about the weight, it’s OK as the weight can change. But every time people ask me about my height, I think my height doesn’t change a lot! 😅
Question: How did you get started in bodybuilding?
Answer: I started bodybuilding about 17 years ago. Before that, I did sports like running and the 100 meters, as well as some skiing with my family and football, which is popular in Italy. Then I went with a friend to the gym and started to have very fast progress, which ignited my passion for the sport. My main focus was bodybuilding after that.
Question: What’s your favorite body part to train?
Answer: I don’t really have a favorite part — I like to train every part of my body. If I had to choose one, maybe my back or legs.
Question: Do you have a least favorite part to train?
Answer: I don’t really have a least favorite part, either. I like to go out of my comfort zone, which means training the parts I might otherwise be less motivated to train.
Question: How much can you bench press?
Answer: From my point of view, this is more of an ego question. The better question isn’t how much can you lift, but how smart do you train. In my sport we are not powerlifting, we are not competing with each other to see who can lift the most weight. I am pretty strong and can bench press around 140-160 kg (308-352 pounds) for 8-10 reps, but I don’t try to maximize the weight for one rep as there is too high a chance for injury.
Question: What does your daily food intake look like in terms of macros?
Answer: It can be pretty flexible depending on whether I’m preparing for a competition. I usually stay around 450-750 grams of carbs per day, around 40 grams of protein for each meal, and 50-60 grams of fat in total.
Question: How much time per day do you spend preparing meals?
Answer: I can prepare 6 or 7 meals easily in an hour by being smart about the food prep. But it could take longer if I was following special recipes for each meal.
Question: What are your favorite supplements?
Answer: Supplements for me are very important, especially in the right moment. I love to have my post-workout with protein and carbs to help body recovery, along with essentials like multivitamins and Vitamin C, magnesium, the basic stuff.
Question: Do you try to stay lean year-round?
Answer: Yes. I always try to keep my body as lean as possible. Because if you put on fat, you then have to take it off. If you eat clean food and follow your diet and avoid having too much comfort or junk food, and you keep up with exercise, you stay lean. It’s still possible to have cheat meals, but you have to keep it in moderation.
Question: What is your favorite cheat meal?
Answer: Gelato, always. No question. 🍨🍨🍨
Question: Do you have a favorite flavor of gelato?
Answer: It’s not one. All the flavors.
Question: What’s the hardest part about preparing for a competition?
Answer: I think the mind. It’s a challenge to maintain consistency, motivation, and focus, while avoiding distractions. The mind starts to be tired when you’re in prep for a long time, not leaving the bubble of train/eat/sleep/repeat.
Question: How can someone balance training with their personal life and social commitments?
Answer: It’s about how you want to prioritize your time during the day. There are 24 hours in a day; if you work 8 hours a day, you can probably find an hour or two to spend in the gym. It’s easy to come up with excuses or be lazy or weak.
Question: What advice would you have for beginners starting out in this sport?
Answer: Just believe in yourself, and remember why you started, and why you chose this kind of lifestyle. Don’t let anyone stop or judge you.
Question: Do you have a favorite place to travel to?
Answer: I travel a lot – I live in the sky. In terms of mood and people, my favorite city right now is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Question: What music do you listen to when you work out?
Answer: Often techno music, but I sometimes mix it up. I like to listen to my own music, not the music in the gym.
Don’t forget to submit your own questions for future installments of Ask Alessandro!