Flex Australia – June-July 2017

46 FLEX|JUNE –JULY 2017

PREVIOUS SPREAD AND THIS PAGE: COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS

This past December, we
gotZaneonthephonefor
a question-and-answer
sessionthathadverylittleto
do with sets, reps, posing
or even his famed six-pack
abs.Rather,weaskedhim
what went through his head
when building his iconic
physiquebackinthe1960s
and1970s.Hisresponses
were every bit as insightful
as we’d hoped for. Enjoy
this exercise for your brain.

FLEX:Athletes talk a
lotabout“takingitone
gameatatime”or“one
practiceatatime”.Did
youapproachyour
trainingina“oneworkout
atatime”sortofway?
FRANK ZANE:No,
Ididn’t.Oneworkout
doesn’tleadtoanything.It’s
continuous workouts, and
howthatgoesdependson
my motivation. You’ve got
tohaveareasonfordoing
anykindofhardtraining.
That’s what it takes to get
in shape. It’s not just going to
the gym three times a week.
It’s more of a dedicated
thing, and the only way
youcangetthatmaximum
motivation,Ithink,isthrough
competing. That’s why I did
itforsolong,for23years.

Did you follow

astrict program?

Idideverythingon

schedule.Ikeptjournals

and I planned my peaking

outinadvance.Igenerally

allowed six months to get

into top shape. Some people

callitperiodisation,butIlike

torefertoitasseasonal

training because there are

four distinct emphases in

whatIdid.Myhardtraining

wasalwaysspringand

summer, peaking in the

autumn for competition.

After that, basically what

Iwoulddoisgointo

maintenance training and

just work weak points. That

lastedacoupleofmonths,

thenI’dcomebackinearly

spring and start building

strength. And then after

building my strength and

sizeuptothelevelIwanted

in the springtime, by about

JulyIwasalreadygoinginto

training for definition by

increasing intensity. Also,

my workout spacing was

closer together. I would be

training for a competition

threedaysinarowand

resting on the fourth day,

whereasbeforethatIwould

trainthreeoutoffivedays.

That’s pretty much how

Ididitallthetime.Andthen

afterIretiredmywhole

concept was basically to

workoutwithmyclients,

andIstilldothat.WhenI

don’thaveclients,atmyage

twoworkoutsperweekis

allIneedtostaylikethis.

Itrainupperbodyoneday

aweekandlegsanother

day and that’s it. Simple.

What about the micro

approach? How were

you approaching

individual workouts?

I’m not thinking about

anything when I’m in the gym.

I’mjustdoingitandgetting

agoodworkout.Asfaras

psyching myself up to get a

good workout, if that doesn’t

happenonitsown,thenI’m

notmotivatedandIdon’t

trainashard.Ittakescareof

itself.Idon’treallyhavetodo

anythingtopsychmyselfup

— ever. If I was training for

a competition, the mindset

automaticallyfellinplacethe

closerIgottothecontest.

Because I did it for so long.

BythetimeIwaswinning

Olympias, I had already

been training for so long.

No overnight sensation

here.Thatwasalwaysmy

approach — take your time

Frank Zane is

ageing like fine

wine. Still training

regularly, looking

great and

churning out books

(his most recent

one being91 Day

Wonder Body,

available at

frankzane.com),

he’s on our short

listforaninterview

when ultimate

wisdom is sought.

Third from

left, Zane

adopts his

trademark

“relaxed”

pose.