Frank Zane is a famous American athlete. He won all major bodybuilding titles, including Mr. Universe, Mr. World and Mr. America. Today, Frank is one of the main examples of aesthetics in the history of world sports.
Early biography
Frank Zane was born on June 28, 1942 in Kingston, Pennsylvania. His father worked as an engineer, and his mother ran a household and raised children. The boy had a younger brother Adam, who in his childhood tried to imitate Frank in everything.
In elementary school, Zane showed great interest in literature and art. However, in adolescence, a magazine about muscle building accidentally fell into his hands. Already at the age of 14, he began to independently improve his body, following various instructions from the tabloid publications. Most often, the young man acted instinctively. For a long time, Frank did not have a personal trainer, so he had to draw up a training regimen on his own.
At the age of 17, the young man weighed almost 73 kilograms. He was in excellent physical shape, but this was not enough to participate in battles and competitions. However, at that time Zane had not yet thought about participating in mass tournaments. In 1964, he received a bachelor of science degree from Wilkes University and for several years taught natural sciences at colleges in Florida and California. For outstanding academic excellence, Frank was also awarded a master's degree in experimental psychology.
Years later, Zane admitted to reporters that at a young age he often faced personal problems. The views of his Protestant parents often set the family apart from the locals. At school and college, a guy was often bullied. And in order to somehow escape from his experiences, he went to the gym, where he was engaged in various simulators. Such training forced him to pull himself together and go forward, despite the difficulties.
Sports career
In the late 1960s, Frank began to professionally engage in bodybuilding. He quickly gained worldwide fame. The fact is that before Zane entered the big sport, not a single person paid attention to the aesthetics of the body. All bodybuilders tried to focus on their mass, and the external beauty never bothered them. The young man was motivated for long trainings by a personal tragedy - the sudden death of his father, who often consumed alcohol and cigarettes. Not wanting to repeat his fate, Frank decided to devote his life to sports.
The physique of Frank Zane was fundamentally different from the appearance of other athletes. He had a very thin waist, broad shoulders, majestic muscles of the arms, and legs puffed up. In 1977-1979, he won the honorary title "Mr. Olympia" three times. Around the same period, colleagues gave Zayn the nickname "Chemist" because of his Bachelor of Science degree. In addition, according to Frank himself, as a teenager, he took a lot of nutritional supplements to improve his physical condition.
Zane trained very well in the lightweight category. However, in 1980, the athlete’s mentor suggested that he try to compete with the heavyweights. Unfortunately, on the eve of the competition, the bodybuilder had a terrible accident and lost muscle mass. As a result, the winner of the competition was Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Frank Zane took the third podium position.
A few years later, Frank was lucky enough to defeat Schwarzenegger in the next bodybuilding competition. He became one of three men who were able to get ahead of the world famous athlete. Previously, only Chester Yorton and Sergio Oliva managed to overcome Arnold.
In general, Zane has been competing for over 20 years. In 1983, after winning the prestigious Mr. America title, he suddenly decided to end his sports career.
However, in 1985, along with his wife, Christina, the bodybuilder opened the Zane Haven company in Palm Springs. At the training center, they held individual sessions with Americans who would like to have a unique physique. In addition, the athlete founded the Zane Gallery in Laguna Beach, which to this day exhibits archival photographs of bodybuilders. In addition, Frank created his own website, where he sells his books on proper nutrition and the organization of the training process.
