Franco Colombo, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lee Haney. There are many names of professional athletes who are associated with the "Golden Era" of bodybuilding. However, there is one name that stands apart from the well-known giants. This name is Frank Zane. This athlete was unique in that he was not a huge giant, but managed to defeat recognized monsters of the time, such as the almost canonized Arnold Schwarzenegger. Today we’ll talk about how and why he managed this, as well as how he was able to become Mr. Olympia (professional world champion) IFBB three times. Do you want to know how “Men Physicist” Zane shook and defeated mass monsters? Then you will be interested in this article.
Recently, in bodybuilding there has been a tendency to search for more human competitive categories. An example of this is such nominations as Classic Bodybuilding, Men's Physicist and Fitness Bikini. I’m already silent that the federation is also preparing a Fitness Model category (which is even easier than physicist and bikini). In my opinion, this is the right decision, because it helps to further popularize bodybuilding among mere mortals. Heavy bodybuilders with unnaturally bloated bodies will not appeal to the average person, unlike, for example, a classic or a men's physicist, who look like ancient gods from Olympus.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that such positive trends in bodybuilding began to occur relatively recently. And until our time, for almost half a century, only more and more muscular athletes became champions....except for one exception. It was Frank Zane, aka “Mr. Symmetry,” who broke all the rules and became a three-time Mr. Olympia in a time when there were no such categories as Classic Bodybuilding or Men’s Physicist. With a competition weight of between 80 and 90 kg, Frank is the lightest professional champion in the history of the Mr. Olympia competition. In fact, at the time, Zane looked more like a modern Men's Physicist, rather than the traditional bodybuilders of the time. This athlete was the standard for so many people who were just starting their training in gyms. After all, not everyone wants to be a huge piece of shapeless meat. There are a lot of people who want to get an athletic, proportional and aesthetic body like Zane's. Today I want to talk about this man’s training and nutrition methods, so that you can take his experience into your arsenal.
Frank Zane and Bodybuilding
Frank Zane realized that bodybuilding was his sport after trying many others, including boxing and wrestling, because he felt his figure changing right before his eyes. At the age of eighteen he takes part in his first competitions. It must be said that Frank Zane has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and has two higher education degrees. He received many awards and took many honorable places in famous competitions: he was awarded three times as Mr. Olympia in 1977-1979, Mr. America and Mr. Universe , and in 1969 - Mr. World. In 1974, and in 1976, Frank was second in the popular top-level competition - "Mr. Olympia" (in the category up to 90 kg), as one of the most successful bodybuilders, he became a member of the Bodybuilders Hall of Fame in 1994. He is the third bodybuilder after the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger and the no less popular Steve Reeves. In addition, Frank Zane has been an active participant in television projects and a commentator on sports matches and programs since 1978.
In addition, over time, he developed a training program for those over sixty.
Together with his wife Christina, he opened a camp for athletes, where everyone can train and receive advice. Today Frank, despite his age, looks great and maintains his excellent athletic shape. As the bodybuilder himself says, all this is thanks to perseverance and discipline. He believes that if you constantly tell yourself that you are sick or tired, your body will behave accordingly: “Our body listens when we talk about it. What you say about your body is more important than what others, including judges, say.”
You can find Frank Zane's training program here
GODS OF AESTHETICS: FRANK ZANE. Like Men's Physicist Kachkov Shatal!
Interview continued
Why did you become vegan?
I've been into fitness for a while, but I couldn't have imagined the incredible levels a vegan, plant-based diet could take me to in terms of fitness and fitness. I had been doing extreme calisthenics (mass building training) for about a year and a half when two of my friends who were doing the same thing as me told me about the vegan lifestyle. Both of my friends have incredible strength and physique, so when I found out they were vegan, it caught my attention and I started researching. What struck me most about going vegan was that I felt like I needed to take my health to a whole new level. They explained the health benefits of veganism and helped me with healthy vegan eating when I first started. Within a few weeks, my energy had increased significantly and my muscle endurance and recovery rate had increased to incredible levels. I became stronger, faster and stopped feeling the fatigue and heaviness that I had after eating dairy and meat products.
What initially convinced me to go vegan was the health benefits; and the effect that veganism has had on the way my body looks and functions has only strengthened my beliefs. I then accepted other reasons for going vegan, such as the animal cruelty inherent in factory farming. It opened my eyes to the truth about the unjust killing of animals for food. It made me look back and think; All these years I didn't understand that animals deserve to live - we don't have to consume them to be healthy or strong. Then I realized that I wanted to be a vegan.
Was it hard for you? If so, what was the hardest part and did it get easier over time?
Overall, it was not difficult, but there were some obstacles along the way. I was NOT a vegetarian, so I went vegan straight from eating meat. I was committed to eating healthy long before going vegan, so I didn't usually eat a lot of meat. It was easy for me to give up red meat, fish and dairy since I rarely ate them. It was a little more difficult with chicken, turkey and eggs. At first I was resistant to eating chicken or eggs. But over time, as my resolve grew stronger, I noticed that I liked the taste of this food less and less. Having a wide variety of vegan foods to choose from helps me a lot. This ensures that no matter what happens, I will always have healthy and delicious food nearby.
Amino acid intake by Frank Zane
Already in the 1970s, this athlete consumed a lot of amino acids, such as tryptophan and arginine. They have only become so popular in our time. In addition, he was fond of a low-carbohydrate diet, which is also very popular nowadays. He spent a lot of time trying to gain a certain weight before training, without exhausting himself with particularly intense and difficult exercises. Because of this approach, the athlete had many injuries that still make themselves felt to this day. There are 2 types of athletes: some want to get results in a short time and load themselves without thinking at all, while others act much smarter, although they have to spend a lot of time on it.
Body symmetry according to Frank Zane
The bodybuilder symmetry that some people talk about has nothing to do with real symmetry. In fact, there is no such thing as symmetry between the upper and lower parts of the body. In essence, this is not symmetry, but proportionality, and that is visual, since it is practically impossible to accurately determine these parameters, and no one has tried to do this. Massive athletes who pose standing appear proportional. But if the bodies of these athletes are divided into two parts vertically, then you can see that the right and left parts are not the same.
Frank Zane preferred to avoid poses that indicated symmetry of the right and left sides, although everyone said that the athlete's body was absolutely symmetrical. The athlete’s right and left sides were not the same, and therefore not symmetrical, as the athlete himself said. As a rule, he showed everyone his strengths without putting himself in a sideways pose. This is something he learned from Bill Pearl.
Everyone has problems if they try to assign a number to every part of their body. They don't even do this at tournaments. To carefully study parts of his body, the athlete took photographs. The fact that some people claim that the sizes of the neck, arms and calves should be the same is outright nonsense. In any case, the numbers don't matter, what matters is what people see. You need to be able to create the perfect illusion for others, and even more so for the judges.
Day 1
Back:
- Upper pulley to chest
- Sitting abdominal row
- Shrugs
- Pulldown of the upper block to the chest with a narrow parallel grip;
- Dumbbell row to waist
Biceps:
- Dumbbell Concentration Curls
- Scott Bench Curls
- Alternating biceps curls with dumbbells
Forearms:
- Reverse grip biceps curl (EZ bar)
- Barbell wrist curls
- Carpal trainer
Improving Nutrition for Muscle Growth
Advances in amino acids and antioxidants are of great value to bodybuilding. Frank Zane studied this constantly and was always up to date with the latest developments. Despite this, no major changes have occurred in this area. For many years, the athlete used a nutritional supplement based on egg white and whey protein. At the same time, sodium predominates in egg white and calcium is less, and in whey protein, on the contrary, calcium predominates. Be that as it may, these are the 2 most affordable and effective proteins that can serve as a quick meal replacement, especially when there is very little time.
Lack of any magic
Many people, when meeting, ask the athlete to create a special nutrition program for them. For some reason they thought that Frank Zane had some kind of special diet that allowed him to maintain his body in such amazing shape. All the magic lies in, as the athlete said, devoting enough time to your activity. The athlete has always shown people how to do things correctly, since the correct and sensible approach is crucial, especially if it is necessary to isolate a certain muscle group. Muscle development requires regular blood flow.
Despite his 75 years, Frank Zane still works on himself, although not as intensely as in his younger years. He no longer works on increasing the mass of his muscles, but on his endurance. To do this, he connects the expander to the load blocks, which helps to slowly increase the load.
Conclusion
In order to look like Frank Zane, you need to keep your carbohydrate intake under control; there should be less of them than proteins. There is also no need to corrode in the off-season, so that it is easier to achieve a drier form.
Choose a training program that suits you personally, when your muscles have time to recover, and at the same time, smaller muscle groups are worked out. The push-pull split is the most suitable type of training in Frank's opinion.
He also does not approve of this type of training, such as CrossFit, because such training creates increased stress on the cardiovascular system. Naturally, training should be hard, but you shouldn’t die in it. You need to approach any training wisely, then the results will be visible very quickly.
What is stretching
According to the athlete, when working out one part of the body, it is necessary to perform up to 10 different stretches for this muscle group between approaches. The duration of each stretch is about 20 seconds, no more. After each approach, the athlete rests a little, allowing the heart rate to decrease. Stretching provides this opportunity because you can relax while stretching. Thus, a lot of time is saved, while the body tone is maintained at the desired level.
The work started must be completed
Often people lose motivation due to the fact that no one controls their actions. This cycle is as follows: when they overeat at Thanksgiving, from mid-December to mid-January, they become motivated to lose weight. They begin to train intensively until the month of March, when it becomes much more comfortable outside. During this period, they leave the gyms and move to the street, but at the same time they do not get real, much less expected, results.
Some people start training because of their shortcomings, but this motivation lasts for a very short time. Therefore, such people are always dissatisfied with something and begin to move in the opposite direction. They lose their shape. Therefore, the only way out for them is to become motivated in order to achieve at least some results.
Training program
Monday
- 30 outputs by force
- 100 regular push-ups
- Incline Dumbbell Press - 4 sets of 10 reps
- Dumbbell bench press - 4 sets of 10 reps
- 5 sets of 20 reps of dips
- 200 regular push-ups
- 50 push-ups with hands above feet
- 50 close grip push-ups
- 50 push-ups with legs higher than arms
- 15 minutes of high-intensity interval training (HIIT)
- 15 leg raises - 3 sets
Tuesday
- 30 outputs by force
- 100 overhand grip pull-ups
- 4 sets of 10 reps dumbbell rows
- 4 sets of 10 reps of pullovers
- 50 pull-ups with underhand grip
- 50 pull-ups with overhand grip
- 10 outputs by force
- 15 minutes HIIT
- 15 crunches - 15 side crunches
- 15 leg raises - 3 sets
Wednesday
- 100 push-ups
- 4 sets of 10 reps standing dumbbell press
- 4 sets of 10 reps of standing dumbbell lateral raises
- 4 sets of 10 reps of bent over dumbbell lateral raises
- 100 crunches
- 50 crossovers
- 50 intense crunches
- 2 minutes of scissors (3 sets)
- 60 seconds crunch hold
- 15 crunches - 15 side crunches
- 15 leg raises - 3 sets
- Handstand training until you drop
- 15 minutes HIIT
Thursday
- 30 outputs by force
- 50 pull-ups with underhand grip
- Barbell curls on a bench - 4 sets of 10 reps
- Dumbbell hammer curls - 4 sets of 10 reps
- Reverse grip hammer curls - 4 sets of 10 reps
- 100 dips
- 100 push-ups
- 4 sets of 10 reps of overhead extensions
- 4 sets of 10 reps of triceps extensions on the block with a reverse grip
- 20 slow pull-ups
- 20 slow dips
- 15 minutes HIIT
Friday
- 4 sets of dumbbell squats
- 4 sets of 20 yard lunges
- 100 squats
- 4 sets of 10 reps of pistols
- 4 sets of 10 reps of straight-legged deadlifts
- 4 sets of 10 reps standing calf raises
- 4 sets of 10 reps seated calf raises
- 100 standing calf raises
- 15 minutes HIIT
Saturday
- 100 crunches
- 8 100m sprints
- 100 pull-ups
- 100 push-ups
- 100 dips
- 30 outputs by force
- 50 crossovers
- 50 intense crunches
- 2 minutes prone scissors (3 sets)
- 60 second crunch hold (3 sets)
Sunday
- rest
How Frank Zane trains now
Frank Zane practiced a triple distribution, which corresponded to: the first day was working the upper body, the second day was working the legs, and the third was push-ups. The exercises are performed according to the following scheme: approach, rest, approach, approach, rest. He never trained his upper body 2 days in a row because it wears out his shoulder muscles. Excessive loads have a bad effect on an athlete, especially after a sports career, and when an athlete is young, he practically does not feel it.
His memories of Arnold Schwarzenegger
When the Mr. Olympia tournament took place in 1980, Arnold posed with only one side, ignoring the requests of the judges. In the end, they agreed that Arnold would pose exactly the way he wanted. As a result, he won. Therefore, the winners are those people who can make their own decisions.
Olympia 1983 Frank Zane
Igor December 28, 2010
