“Today They All Want Sponsorships”: 3X Mr. Olympia Frank Zane Once Highlighted Bodybuilders Now Aren’t Hardworking Unlike His Time

Frank Zane, with his aesthetics and symmetry, was in a genuine sense the perfect bodybuilder. The perfect balance of all the body parts made him look like a Greek God. During his time, every man and woman admired his classic physique.

Born in 1942, Frank Zane is an author and a retired professional bodybuilder. The three-time Mr. Olympia was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 1999. They counted Zane among the greatest bodybuilders in the history of bodybuilding.

Frank Zane had a full-time job while preparing for his pro debut

Zane was a mere 14 years old when he first started working out. It is said that Zane lived prone to violence. Hence, he wanted to build his body in order to defend himself. While training to become an accomplished bodybuilder, Zane used to work as a full-time teacher.

In an interview with JuicedMuscle.com in 2017, Zane revealed that when he claimed his first Mr. Olympia title, he was a teacher too. Frank said, “After I graduated college, I actually taught school for 13 years. It allowed me to train hard in the summers. Believe it or not, when I won the Olympia I was teaching full time.”

Read More: “It Is Not a Sport”: 3X Mr. Olympia Frank Zane Blatantly Rejected Talks About “Bodybuilding Getting Into the Olympic” in 2019

During Zane’s era, it wasn’t an uncommon practice for bodybuilders to have a side job. Most of the bodybuilders of that era had side jobs to help them fund their training and diet-related food. On that note, Zane commented on the difference between the bodybuilders then and the bodybuilders now. He said, “And today they all want sponsorships. What’s a sponsorship? We didn’t have that, we just had to work.”

What is a sponsorship?

To put it simply, sponsorship is the act of backing a person, event, or organization through cash or a kind. In return, the sponsor receives recognition through promotion. The entity that provides the support is the sponsor. Sponsorship works differently in different fields. Sponsorship may include monetary benefits like a cash prize for achieving a milestone or fixed remuneration; or provisional benefits, like products and services. Often, it includes both.

For sports, sponsorship deals work differently for different sports or athletes. For example, a swimmer might get sponsored by a brand that specializes in making swimming apparel, whereas a track and field might get one from an energy drink or shoe brand. Similarly, for bodybuilders, it can be through free supplements, articles of clothing, and/or memberships; or in the form of annual monetary packages. The deal structure depends on how lucrative the athlete is.

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