“Carried a Picture of Me in His Wallet”: How 3x Mr. Olympia, Frank Zane, Won Over His Disapproving Father Through Bodybuilding

Frank Zane is one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, and his aesthetically pleasing physique, which he credits to have inherited from his father, made him stand out from the rest of the bodybuilders, at that time. However, when he first decided to take up a career in bodybuilding, his father wasn’t in favor of the idea.

Frank Zane first came across the world of training and bodybuilding when he was merely 14 years old. Despite the lack of support from his father, Zane was determined to prove himself to those who thought he couldn’t do it. Gradually, he was successful in achieving both things.

How Zane’s father subtly showed his support

Not long ago, Frank Zane joined Lisa Alastuey on the 82nd episode of her YouTube podcast. The episode “Legendary Aesthetics and 3x Mr. Olympia (1977-1979) with Frank Zane” was previewed on 9th December 2022. In this episode, Zane shared different stories from different phases of his career.

Alastuey asked Zane what his parents thought about him choosing bodybuilding as a career. Zane revealed that while his mother was supportive of his choices, his father’s initial reaction was far from positive. However, as time passed and Zane started succeeding in what he did, his father slowly eased up to the idea.

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“My mother was always supportive of it, my father wasn’t. But then when I started winning things, he carried a picture of me in his wallet and showed people. So it turned out that he approved, you know, in a way that wasn’t public for me,” said “The Chemist”.

How did Frank Zane get into bodybuilding?

In this episode, Frank Zane relayed how it all began, the journey of being a bodybuilder. Zane found out about weight training during his early teenage years. As he started training, he saw instant progress and decided to stick with it. Later, he discovered that various physique contests take place. He wanted to participate in one, but the surrounding people looked down upon the aspiring teenager for dreaming big.

Frank Zane shared, “I discovered there is such a thing as physique contests. I remember I used to go to this private gym and from the big guy there, I bought my first pair of posing trunks. And he says Zane, you really need to get the body first and then get the trunk.” The zeal to prove to the person who, in a way, mocked him was too strong. It led to Zane training as hard as he could. “So I set out to prove him wrong, and I did because you know I wanted a lot of stuff,” he said.

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Frank Zane participated in his first bodybuilding competition at the age of 18. And the rest, as they say, is history.