Bodybuilder Sadik Hadzovic Shares 4,000 Calorie Meal Plan for Competition Prep
How many calories do bodybuilders eat in a day to maintain their physique? About 4,000. At least, that's what five-time Pro Physique and Arnold Classic champion Sadik Hadzovic does.
Hadzovic is returning to the Classic Physique division after a lengthy hiatus. He shared his diet in a YouTube video explaining the uptick in calories. His most recent Olympia appearance was in 2017, where he ranked seventh in Classic Physique, despite qualifying and withdrawing from Men’s Physique Olympia in 2022.
He had his sights set on qualifying for the 2024 Olympia, but fell just short and announced his Classic Physique division return back in August.
So, what, exactly, goes into those 4,000 calories? For his first meal of the day, Hadzovic starts with a calorie-dense breakfast that doesn't sit heavy in his stomach.
After much trial and error, he settled on cream of rice. Admittedly, not the most sexy breakfast—but flavors always help. He enjoys a bowl of peanut butter cup-flavored cream of rice for his pre-workout meal with 40 grams of protein powder and 120 grams of banana.
After crushing his workout, it's time for carbohydrate-dense meal number two. Hadzovic puts together a bowl with 300 grams of white rice, 200 grams of chicken, and 100 grams of blueberries. He tops it off with some sweet Thai chili sauce and pink sea salt.
"Salt is crucial for pump. If you want better contractions in the gym and a better pump, you're gonna need more sodium," he says.
For his third meal of the day, Hadzovic cooks up 200 grams of lean ground beef served with 250 grams of potato and 50 grams of avocado. Red meat is loaded with natural creatine, which benefits strength, recovery, and performance. Potatoes offer a great white rice alternative.
Meal number four consists of either white fish, chicken, or turkey breast. Hadzovic doesn't want to court stagnancy by only eating chicken and rice, so he switches up his protein sources. For the meal featured in this video, he opted for 200 grams of white fish with 300 grams of jasmine rice.
Hadzovic gets one cheat and one refeed meal each week. For this week's refeed meal, he hit up local hibachi and sushi restaurant and ordered chicken hibachi with steak, veggies, shrimp, salmon sashimi, a bowl of white rice, and a salad.
"Dieting can be tedious," he says. "So make sure you find a place you can rely on when you don't feel like cooking and want to get out of the house,"
