Who was Zyzz?
Zyzz was a Russian-Australian bodybuilder and fitness influencer who was active on YouTube, Instagram and other social platforms. His real name was Aziz Sergeyevich Shavershian. He was born on 24th March 1989 and died on 5th August 2011. He was known for posting fitness-related content on his social media.
Early life and education of Zyzz
Aziz was born in Moskow, where he grew up alongside his older brother and parents. His mother, Maiane Iboian, was a cardiologist, and his brother was an internet personality as well. When Aziz was just 4 years old, his parents decided to move with their whole family to Australia, Eastwood. Since his parents raised him a catholic, Aziz remained acting religious his whole life. Once he graduated from high school, Aziz signed up at Marist College Eastwood, which was a men-only private Roman catholic school. When he died, Aziz was just weeks away from graduation. He was set to obtain a bachelor’s degree in business and commerce.
Zyzz before fame
Even though he often ran outside and ate like a usual teenage boy, Aziz couldn’t gain any weight when he was at school. He got used to being the skinny kid, even though it ate him alive. Of course, he tried to change his diet with the hope of improvement. But no matter the kind or the amount of food he ate, Aziz didn’t even gain fat, much less muscle. While he tried changing his diet many times, Aziz lacked the motivation to start training. He was happy with his low-effort lifestyle as well as the amount of free time. What finally changed Aziz’s mind about going to the gym was his brother, who was a bodybuilder at the time.
Fitness journey of Zyzz
Once he set his mind to it, there was no stopping Aziz from achieving his goal. Every time he wanted to quit, he remembered how angry he was at people, always telling him to eat something. He hated hearing how skinny he was from total strangers and was sure to never go back. Since his brother was a bodybuilder himself, Aziz had a considerable advantage. Any time he needed help with some exercise or a machine, his brother would help him and explain everything necessary. At the time he began training, Aziz saw just one goal in front of himself: impressing girls and other people. He just wanted to change the way people looked at him by changing his body. But once he succeeded at that, Aziz found another goal to chase. In the end, Aziz was just training for the joy of achieving a goal and staying true to his life journey.
Zyzz aesthetics
Once he was more comfortable in his body, Aziz decided to share his story on the internet. He created an account on Instagram and his own YouTube channel in 2007. Aziz loved posting videos of him training in the gym or talking about his favourite foods. Since he appeared on social media, his fans noticed how much did he change. Of course, Aziz mainly changed physically, but people especially admired his change of confidence. From a young skinny boy who didn’t like his body image, Aziz changed into a confident, muscular man.
What proved his newly gained confidence was the fact that Aziz found a job as a stripper with a few occasional modelling gigs. With every photo he posted, Aziz looked leaner and more muscular than before. Since his body changed so much in such a short time, Aziz became a role model for many young men trying to change their appearance. He became so popular that, at one point, Aziz’s body type became the norm for a fit male body. The Zyzz aesthetic became the goal for everyone training in the gym.
Zyzz – the character
Once he started to look like a typical handsome bodybuilder, Aziz noticed that there were a lot of prejudices about people like him. Guys regularly visiting the gym, together called gym bros, were often seen as overconfident douchebags. At some point in his online career, Aziz noticed that some people looked at him the same way. Instead of fighting it, Aziz played into it, presenting himself like an overconfident asshole, always posing and complimenting his own physique. Since he wanted to distinguish himself from this image, he began calling that persona Zyzz.
The combination of trolling, his heightened confidence and his muscular body gained Aziz a massive following on all social platforms. A big part of Zyzz was making fun of those overly aggressive guys in the gym, who are most likely on steroids. After some time, these people seemed to gain even more confidence when they began threatening Aziz to beat him up. In 2011, Aziz revealed that he was getting too many threats and that he planned to quit being Zyzz. He realised what influence he had and wanted to use it for good instead just for fun.
Zyzz pose
The people who watched Aziz’s videos and looked at his photos knew that he liked to flex his muscles. But instead of making the same poses from bodybuilding competitions, Aziz came up with one just for him. His pose looked more victorious and epic than the others, and most importantly, it was something new and exciting. In order to do the pose, you had to stand with young legs apart at shoulder length. Then you had to bend your knees a little while keeping your back straight. Then you would raise one hand above your eye level while your other hand is flexed at the shoulder level.
Once Aziz came up with the pose, he couldn’t use it enough. During his YouTube videos, there would always be one moment when Aziz used the Zyzz pose. Since he had so many followers, the Zyzz pose became popular in the gym culture within a moment. At first, it was copied by Aziz’s fans, and later, it got into every gym in Australia. The pose became so popular that, at one point, it became a meme, which only gym people knew the origin of. Even over 10 years after Aziz’s death, the Zyzz pose is still popular and is done by many people.
Death of Zyzz
Even though he reported that he had quit being Zyzz, Aziz’s fans didn’t get it. On every show and event, Aziz was approached by approximately 500 people who wanted him to act like Zyzz and pose for photos with a crazy face. Aziz was getting tired and exhausted from it to the point that he asked YouTube to delete his most popular videos. After some time, Aziz came up with a strategy to change his online appearance and to share a better message than during his Zyzz era. Before changing his social media, Aziz decided to go on a holiday to Thailand, where he would ease his mind.
Aziz was meant to come back from his holiday on 5th August 2011, but his family didn’t hear from him. Just as they were about to call the police, they received the tragic news: Aziz had died. While relaxing in a sauna, Aziz suffered a heart attack and was transported to the nearest hospital. Unfortunately, the doctors weren’t able to save his life as he already had a weak heart. After his death, the doctors found out that Aziz suffered from an undiagnosed heart condition which had shortened his life.
Did Zyzz use steroids?
While everyone was shocked by Aziz’s sudden death, people wanted to know what caused it. Even though he had an underlying heart condition, people couldn’t believe that it was the only reason Aziz died so young. After all, he was just 22. Although he was always told to be clean and natural, some people were suspicious that Aziz took steroids to improve his body image. But since steroids have a huge impact on heart health and Aziz was really muscular, the suspicions became louder. In addition to that, Aziz’s brother was once arrested for possession of anabolic steroids and, after Aziz’s death, pleaded guilty. Although it was never confirmed for sure, many sources suggested that Aziz was using steroids and that they likely worsened his condition.
The legacy of Zyzz
During the year of 2011, Aziz’s death was the sixth most searched topic in Australia. To put in perspective how many people mourned him, Aziz was searched as many times as the Prime minister of Australia. Once he could overcome his sadness and function again, Aziz’s brother released a 20-minute-long video on YouTube called The Legacy. In the video, he showed videos and photos of the beautiful life of Aziz, his little brother. Even though he passed away, Aziz kept inspiring people all around the world to take care of themselves and to be true to themselves. To pay respect to Aziz, his social media accounts were all deleted.
Interesting facts about Zyzz
- He died in 2011 when he was just 22 years old
- His zodiac sign was Aries.
- His height was 6’1’’ or 185 cm.
- His weight was 90 kilograms or 210 lbs.
- He was born in Russia but lived in Australia most of his life.
- He attended Marist College Eastwood, a private Roman catholic school.
- He became popular for sharing gym-related photos and videos on social media.
- He was the creator of the Zyzz pose and the meme.
- His body type was called Zyzz aesthetic.
- He was suspected of using anabolic steroids alongside his brother.
- He died while on holiday in Thailand. On 5th August 2011, he suffered a heart attack while in the sauna.
