There isn’t a faster way to start a heated debate than naming someone the greatest of all time. Controversial athlete opinions are like nosy relatives or an embarrasing college photo — everyone’s got one. That’s why when we gave Frank Zane the GOAT title in our April 2015 issue, we knew we’d get some pushback, “What about Arnold and Phil Heath!?”
Well, now our choice is weighing in on the current group of bodybuilding standouts. Zane has been training with Arnold 2015 champ and 4-time IFBB physique winner Sadik Hadzovic. Needless to say, The Chemist was impressed.
“[Sadik] has a lot of great attributes I wish I had,” Zane says in the video. “I think he could have one of the best physiques of all time if he works at it for long enough.”
It all makes sense, if you want to be the best, you need to train with the best. Judging by that V-taper, we say Hadzovic is on the right track. In this behind-the-scenes video from Flex Magazine‘s photo shoot, Sadik takes his training to the next level with Zane.
If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions. 3x Mr. Olympia Frank Zane putting me through a grueling back workout–
The two just had to meet. Just look at the resemblance. Sadik Hadzovic, owner of arguably the most aesthetic male physique in the world after winning the men’s physique title at the 2015 Arnold Classic, and Frank Zane, the man who set the bar for aesthetics during a bodybuilding career that saw him win three consecutive Mr. Olympia titles from 1977–79. No doubt Zane, now 73, could teach Hadzovic a thing or two considering his perspective and reputable wisdom for all things developed, chiseled, and symmetrical. “What’s funny is, the past 10 years of my life, no matter what gym I went to, everyone has been comparing me to this guy Frank Zane,” says Hadzovic. “And I had no idea who he was. I literally thought that he was somebody my age who went to the same gym as me at different hours. Everyone kept telling me, ‘You look like Zane,’ and I’ve never even met this guy. I’m like, ‘What time does he train? Where’s he at?’ It wasn’t until a few years ago when I was on the Internet that I stumbled across some bodybuilding footage and saw Frank Zane. And I was like, ‘Holy crap, this guy is a former Mr. Olympia. That’s a f—ing compliment.’ And here I was thinking this guy was a normal dude.” Finally, this past summer, Hadzovic flew out to the San Diego area to visit Zane’s personal gym for an impromptu physique evaluation and accompanying training tutorial courtesy of his aesthetic predecessor—all captured by FLEX photographer Per Bernal. See the full online feature on Flexonline.com.
