From the Archives: A 2004 Conversation with Frank Zane — The Thinking Man’s Bodybuilder
Frank Zane’s name is etched into the golden era of bodybuilding. With three consecutive Mr. Olympia titles from 1977 to 1979, he redefined what a champion physique could look like — emphasizing symmetry, proportion, and the mind-muscle connection over sheer size.
By the time we spoke with him in 2004, Zane had long since stepped away from the competitive stage. But he hadn’t left the world of bodybuilding behind. He was working privately with select clients, quietly passing on decades of wisdom in training, focus, and discipline.
This interview captures Zane in that reflective phase — looking back on a legendary career while still shaping the future of the sport through one-on-one coaching. Two decades later, his insights remain as sharp and relevant as ever.
We’re excited to bring this piece out of our archives and share it online for the first time.
Frank Zane on Training, Longevity, and the Philosophy of Fitness
A rare 2004 interview with bodybuilding legend Frank Zane, offering insights into his personal training approach, recovery strategies, and evolving philosophy on fitness.
This is a professional bodybuilding career spanning just over two decades! In his 22-year competitive career, Frank won over 150 awards and was inducted into the Joe Weider Bodybuilding Hall of Fame in 1994. Frank Zane was named one of the top 10 worldwide legends of body building! And in 2003 he was awarded the Arnold Schwarzenegger Lifetime Achievement award for excellence in bodybuilding.
If you search 'Frank Zane' online today, you'll find a wealth of content spanning decades of his impact on bodybuilding and fitness. His legacy continues to inspire new generations of enthusiasts, and his insights are more accessible than ever. Frank Zane's influence on bodybuilding isn't just a thing of the past. Today, his legacy continues to inspire, and he remains an active presence in the fitness community. For more information on his training philosophy, courses, and products, visit his official website at https://frankzane.com
As Frank Zane's website puts it, 'Frank Zane can help you get in the absolute best shape of your life.' Whether you're just beginning your fitness journey or have years of experience, his proven training methods and timeless philosophy continue to inspire and guide bodybuilders at all levels.
In autumn 2004, we had the honor of being given an exclusive interview with fitness and bodybuilding legend Frank Zane. Here is our candid dialogue.
OnFitness Magazine: Can you give the readers of On Fitness a thumbnail sketch of your career in fitness and bodybuilding?
Frank Zane: I started training when I was 14 in 1956, just with some modest dumbbells in my basement and showed gains right away. Pretty soon I had muscles coming out all over the place. Then I discovered that there was such a thing as a bodybuilding competition and started aiming toward that. By the time I was 18, in 1960, I was entering contests. I grew up in Pennsylvania and won a bunch of contests around there. I went to college and began teaching school and continued competing. After winning many trophies and regional titles from 1960 through 1967, in 1968 I beat Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Mr. Universe competition. The next year I moved to California and continued teaching high school math, which I taught for a total of 13 years, eight in Venice California, three in Florida, one in New Jersey, one in Pennsylvania. I trained all year, but really hard in the summers, competing all the while. I earned a second Bachelor's degree in psychology and a life credential in teaching with a Master's degree in 1990. From 1969 through 1972 I won Mr. World, Mr. International, and Mr. Universe two more times. Then, in 1977 I took a sabbatical leave from teaching with the goal of winning Mr. Olympia, which I did that year. That is bodybuilding's highest medal. I hold the distinction of being the lightest guy to ever win it, at 5'9" weighing only 185 to 190 pounds. In a way, that is why people come to me for training because they can identify with my look rather than the bodybuilding look of today. I stopped competing in 1983 after 22 years straight. Now, I train people how to work out with weights.
OnFitness Magazine: Since your extremely successful competitive years, are you focusing on personal training?
Frank Zane: I don't really do ongoing personal training. My goal is to give people what they need to know and let them do it on their own; more independently. The people I see are mainly men, but I do work with some women and couples as well, ages ranging from about 30 to 65, who have some bodybuilding experience. I would classify them as intermediate bodybuilders. I do get people who want to prepare for competition, and I teach them what to do, especially if they give me at least 4 to 8 weeks. I get people who want to move to the next level and are tired of spinning their wheels. I can cut through the dangerous misinformation and confusion and save them a lot of time.
OnFitness Magazine: Give us an example of what some of the dangerous information might be.
Frank Zane: All this heavy-duty high intensity training going to failure. Sooner or later, you're going to hurt yourself and an injury will stop you. If you look at a lot of the older bodybuilders, most of them have severe physical problems. Some of them are even crippled, in wheelchairs. These are guys my age! I've had my share of injuries. And they just compound as you get older. The problem is that young people think that they are immortal, and they want to win titles, so they'll make any sacrifice.
OnFitness Magazine: What modality of lifting did you use when bulking up and gearing up (shredding) for contests?
Frank Zane: In the 1970s there were no sophisticated machines, so it was mostly barbells and dumbbells, and it worked. As equipment evolved over the years, I used it. I documented every workout that I used over a 40-year period and in my latest book "Mind, Body, Spirit--Personal Training Diaries." There are over 180 different workouts that I did, arranged in order of difficulty so a person can follow them. I experimented a lot and used a lot of different methods of training. But, as I got older, I learned some important things. Number one, I learned not to bulk up but to keep my body weight around 5% off what I would compete at, because when you bulk up you just put on body fat that you have to take off and that's a waste of time. As I got older, I also started to incorporate more machines because machines are a bit safer. You don't have that wobble factor; it's not a balancing act like free weights. So, basically, I used whatever I could to get the effect I was after using both machines and free weights. My motto is, "if it hurts, don't do it." If I wanted to get muscular for a contest, I would train more and compact my workouts so I could do more work in less time; do more sets at higher reps; and above all, be on a stricter diet! I would also strictly watch my carbohydrate intake, which I always do anyway. I would watch my fat intake and take my supplements. I take a lot of amino acids in free form and supplement with my own formulated egg white protein powder. I take vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. It works. I have never been in a rush to get results over night, and I think that's a problem with a lot of people. They want results yesterday. They're impatient so they try all the shortcuts. If you want to do a good job, you should take your time and gain perspective on what you're doing.
OnFitness Magazine: Did you do much cardio when trying to slim down for contests? Why or why not?
Frank Zane: Actually, I never did a lot of cardiovascular work. I did enough, and still do, but I find that if you use the treadmill at the end of your workout, say for 12 minutes, your pulse is already elevated; your body is burning stored fat and giving you an aerobic effect.
OnFitness Magazine: Are you still lifting?
Frank Zane: I work out 3 to 5 times a week. I always work out to make improvements. Most of my workouts are with my clients. If I have a lot of clients, I train a lot. When my client load eases up, I train by myself or with some of my friends who come over. But I go by how I feel. If I'm sore or tired or hurt, I cut back a little. I have a three-day split routine, and I alternate the days. Each workout is about an hour.
OnFitness Magazine: What gave you the ideas for your posing i.e., the "Greek God Statue" and your "Ab Vacuum" look?
Frank Zane: They're just things that evolved over the years. Actually, Joe Weider was very influential at photo sessions before and after competitions and he was an expert at placement of the body and tensing all the muscles. And then in the movement from pose to pose, I was a natural because I had always been a very good dancer. Then in the early 70's Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, and I held posing clinics where we would practice posing together. Then after Arnold retired, we would go to him before the Mr. Olympia and ask for a critique of what we looked like. So, we relied on each other for feedback.
OnFitness Magazine: Did you ever do any work in television or movies?
Frank Zane: When I lived in Santa Monica, I did some. I went out for parts, and I did commercials, and I did some TV stuff.
OnFitness Magazine: What is your main focus when training your clients and what do you avoid when working with baby boomers compared to young guys?
Frank Zane: My main focus is parsimony; getting maximum results from a minimum amount of work. It's a scientific principle. It is a judgment where you go in the direction of being conservative. You do less and see what happens, rather than doing more. Most people are over training. They're doing too much. They're not focused enough. They're doing their movements without rhythm and moving too fast. They're not stretching enough during their workouts. Everybody that comes here is like that, the same flaws. I work with them to develop good form in the exercises; that's the main thing. And I encourage them to come back because your form can always improve. The main thing I teach people to do is how to feel it in a specific area; how to send blood flow to the area they're working; to get a pump. That's what it's all about.
OnFitness Magazine: Have you ever tried Yoga or Pilates?
Frank Zane: Actually, when I started out, I did a lot of Hatha Yoga and studied a lot of the Eastern philosophies. When I got my Master's degree I researched alternate ways of evoking relaxation response. I came up with auditory and visual techniques, and kinesthetic technologies. That is why I am so interested in music. Using sound, I can take a person who is drowsy and help them to become more focused.
OnFitness Magazine: To date, what do you think is your greatest accomplishment in life?
Frank Zane: A successful marriage. In addition, of course, my Master's degree and three consecutive Mr. Olympia titles. I'm glad I did it, but that fades. My marriage is ongoing.
OnFitness Magazine: What is your opinion of the direction that fitness has been going in the United States over the past two decades?
Frank Zane: The awareness is definitely increasing. More and more people want to work out, but then you have more people overweight than ever, looking for a quick fix. That's evidence of the success of products that promise fast results. There is all this hype about losing weight while you sleep or about a piece of junk exercise equipment for $29.95. People are impatient. I think education is needed and it's just not there! In some schools, physical education is not even taught anymore. In the private sector, the fitness business is growing. Gym memberships are up, but there is a great deal of misinformation. So, in my humble attempt, I work with people, and I publish my "Building the Body" newsletter. It's all about training. It's a 32-page magazine that comes out four times a year. My wife and I publish it ourselves, independently.
OnFitness Magazine: Do you feel that the scientific community first dismissed weight training and bodybuilding as freakish but later learned from the bodybuilder?
Frank Zane: Definitely! We've seen a big turnaround in the last ten years. It was interesting how it happened. In the fifties when I started training everyone said, "Don't do it, you'll get muscle-bound." When I was a senior in high school, I was training pretty seriously and had a decent physique and my typing teacher told me, Zane, you'll never learn how to type because your fingers are muscle-bound. Not only did I learn how to type, I became the best typist in the class. That's just how it was. Nobody believed in weight training except for a handful of people. Then it became more popular. What put it over the top was the "Pumping Iron" movie in 1975. That brought public awareness, and it has grown since then. But I don't think mainstream bodybuilding has contributed much to its popularity because of the nature of the bodies that are being displayed. When I won Mr. Olympia, there were two classes: below 200 pounds and above 200 pounds. For the whole time period that I won, all the best guys were below 200 pounds. Now, there is no below 200-pound class, because there is nobody competing weighing under 200 pounds! There are guys 230 pounds; even guys 5'4" weighing 240 pounds! I think if it keeps going in the direction it has been, maybe you'll even have classes above and below 300 pounds in the future! Maybe it has to get worse before it gets better. I don't know if bodybuilding is ever going to change. It might just get more and more radical. Everything else has. Football players have gotten bigger, stronger, and faster. In bodybuilding it's the same way. They want bigger, bulkier, and freakier. And they want it overnight, so they go on this chemical trip and do it. It's not a good thing!
OnFitness Magazine: Do you have any specific dietary tips that would benefit athletes in general? What are your thoughts on protein consumption?
Frank Zane: I have a standard guideline that I try to follow and that is to get a gram of protein per pound of body weight daily, so for me that is about 180 grams of protein. I have a protein shake and two protein meals per day and five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. I don't eat a lot of fat, but about 25% of my calories come from this source. No fast foods. I don't eat soy. A lot of people are allergic to soy, and I am one of them. I don't use a lot of dairy products like milk or yogurt. I do eat cheese; mainly because as a teenager I overindulged in them. I used too much soy and drank too much milk, so now my body cannot tolerate them. That's the importance of a balanced diet.
OnFitness Magazine: Are there certain exercises that you have found indispensable?
Frank Zane: There are at least a dozen, one or two for each body part. For example, for my thighs I would always do some kind of a full leg movement, a leg press or even better, a squat. I have a device called the leg blaster that I have been marketing for 13 years. It's a way to squat without a bar on my back. My hands are free, and I can put the effect all on my thighs.
OnFitness Magazine: During your competitive season, how did you stay focused?
Frank Zane: I had a goal, getting on stage and performing, so I knew I had to look good. That meant a lot to me, and I wanted to win so I did everything humanly possible to do it. I am a very focused person and have a high degree of concentration. I can block things out and when I lock on to something it gets all my attention.
OnFitness Magazine: Tell us about drug free body building.
Frank Zane: I think it is a good idea if it can be enforced. Not everyone knows how to train without steroids. In 1988, they banded drugs from the Mr. Olympia competition. It was not that no one used them they still did, but much less than before. And that year everyone looked worse than ever before. People who paid $250 for front row seats were disappointed because when they pay that much, they want to see freaky muscle. So, that was the end of that.
OnFitness Magazine: What is your goal for the future?
Frank Zane: I have a long-term physical goal, and that is for every year to reach a relative peak, usually sometime in the autumn and that means I am in my best shape for that year at that time. And I try to tie it in with some physical event. This year it is to make an exercise video, so I want to be in good muscular condition.
OnFitness Magazine: Many of the readers of On Fitness are personal trainers. What is the best advice you can give them?
Frank Zane: The best thing I could say is don't think that everybody is just like you. That is the biggest problem I find with trainers. They push their clients too hard. They train them like they would train. I think what a trainer really needs to know is what their clients need and what they are capable of doing. Trainers need experience with people at a lot of different fitness levels and age categories, because people can get hurt. When I retired from competition in 1983 and wanted to start working with people, I purposely took three months off training and got out of shape so I could empathize with somebody who was trying to get back in shape. As you get older it gets easier to empathize because you can't do as much yourself. Your best trainers are the ones who have a vast range of experience and are older. Although there are some exceptions, I don't think young people in their 20's have enough experience to be that effective. They come from theory. I have worked with over 3,000 people one-on-one, and I've learned a lot from it. The parsimony principle is the one to use. Don't overdo it.
OnFitness Magazine: Of all the people that you have trained, what experiences have been the best?
Frank Zane: People who make radical changes that I didn't really think were possible for them. I have a kind of healthy skepticism. I don't really expect much from people and that way I'm not disappointed. Sometimes I see people and because of their attitude I don't feel much is going to happen. Then I see them a year later and they are completely transformed. Turns out they followed my advice after all.
Frank Zane: Vital Stats
Speaking of victories, take a closer look at the man himself ... his vital stats
Name: Frank Zane
Location: California, USA
Born: June 28, 1942
Height: 5'9"
Off Season Weight: 195 lbs. Competition Weight: 185-190 lbs.
His victories
1979 Olympia IFBB, Overall Winner
1978 Olympia IFBB, Overall Winner
1977 Olympia IFBB, Overall Winner
1972 Universe Pro - NABBA, Overall Winner 1970 Universe NABBA, Overall Winner 1969 Mr. World IFBB, Overall Winner
1968 Universe IFBB, Overall Winner, (over Schwarzenegger) 1968 Mr. International Overall Winner
1968 Mr. America IFBB, Overall Winner
Conclusion
Frank Zane’s insights from this 2004 interview remain just as relevant today as they were two decades ago. His approach to training, recovery, and the mental side of fitness continues to influence generations of athletes, coaches, and enthusiasts alike. As both a champion bodybuilder and thoughtful educator, Zane exemplifies the idea that true fitness is a lifelong pursuit — built on intention, discipline, and self-awareness.