In the tough era of Arnold Schwarzenegger dominating the Bodybuilding world, followed by Italian bodybuilder Franco Columbo, Frank Zane carved out a name for himself by sticking to his basics and trusting his patience. Zane won the Olympia 3 consecutive times (1977-79), but it took years of hard work, sacrifice, and waiting in line behind the likes of other, bigger bodybuilders to earn his elusive title. Like most things in his life, Zane took up bodybuilding at the fresh age of 14 and never put the dumbbells down again. At age 76, he talked about how it came in handy in more ways than one, with one instance being to help out his brother. Let’s find out more.

Frank Zane sat down with Matthew Januszek for an episode of his ‘Escape Your Limits’ podcast in 2018. The episode was also uploaded to his YouTube channel ‘Escape Fitness’. It covered Zane’s life, his hobbies, other activities he likes to do, and mainly bodybuilding. In it, Zane also mentioned how his newfound love for bodybuilding helped him in fights to save his brother. Let’s dive further.

Frank Zane took up bodybuilding very early and it came in handy for his brother

Matthew Januszek starts the interview with this question to Zane, “Would you tell us a little bit about how you got into that line of sport and what was a bit of your background?” Januszek asked this question after a mandatory introduction of the great bodybuilder, where the fact that he once beat Schwarzenegger did not go unmentioned.

Frank Zane replied, “It seems like everything that I’ve stuck with in my life occurred at age 14, and bodybuilding was one of those things…… So I discovered bodybuilding and ended up with buying a set of dumbbells and working out in my basement and I saw muscle coming out in two weeks. Came in handy because I lived in a sort of tough area and my younger brother was always mouthing off and getting in fights and I would end up finishing him.”

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Zane and his brother were born and subsequently grew up in Kingston Borough, Luzerne County in Pennsylvania in the 1940s and 50s. It was a tough period in the States and one had to look out for their near ones. Zane’s bodybuilding skills provided comfort to his brother and later on being a professional, his entire family.

Frank Zane and his immense contribution to bodybuilding

Frank Zane is also one of the early pioneers to shift the focus towards shape and symmetry. He loved the sight of his muscles popping out at an early age but didn’t enter professional bodybuilding until he was 19. At 19, he made his Pro-debut as Mr. Pennsylvania in 1961. Zane’s reign, although for a short period, marked a big shift in bodybuilding. The focus changed from mass to aesthetics and someone even with a thin waistline like Zane’s, stood a chance to win the most elusive titles.

Zane had the 2nd thinnest waistline after Sergio Olivio, and his wide shoulders made for a perfect V-shaped taper. However, with the arrival of the likes of Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman, Body Mass became an important factor again but remained in sync with symmetry.

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He retired from professional bodybuilding in 1983 at age 41. Zane also mentioned some of the other activities he picked up at that age such as harmonica, yoga, archery, boy scouts, and meditation, in passing. He continues to perform them to date. What do you think of Frank Zane’s contribution to bodybuilding and how do you think it changed bodybuilding for the better?