A bodybuilding legend regarded as one of the best muscle-men in the sport's history has revealed the "secret formula" to his huge physique.
Golden-era bodybuilder Frank Zane trained alongside fellow greats including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbo and Lou Ferrigno at Gold's Gym in California and went on to become one of only three men to have ever beaten Arnold in competition. Nicknamed "The Chemist" because he had a Bachelor of Science, Frank balanced his impressive career with his career as a maths and chemistry teacher.
Despite working his regular job he was able to take home three Mr Olympia and Mr Universe titles. Frank retired from the sport back in 1983 but the former pro, now 81, is still pumping the iron and training other athletes.
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During a recent appearance on The Hyper Guy Motivational Podcast, Frank opened up about the workouts and diet that led to his hulky form. Revealing how often he'd workout while training for upcoming competitions, he told podcast host Martin Figueroa: "It was usually about two hours a day, an hour in the morning an hour in the afternoon, split routine."
But when pressed for more details about the "secret formula" to having "one of the most amazing physiques in the world" he revealed it was all in his "methodical" routine. "I followed a three-way split routine where I worked pulling muscles day one, legs day two and pushing muscles day three, rest day four and I just continued with that — worked very well for me," he said.
His science degree wasn't the only reason for Frank's nickname. He was also dubbed "The Chemist" because of his heavy use of supplements and told Martin they were "always important". He added: "I always supplemented my diet, I took protein supplements, vitamins, minerals, amino acid supplements the whole time."
As well as weight-lifting while training for competitions, Frank would make sure to get in a fair share of cardio. "Ideally I would run a mile and a half after workouts so I'd go to the high school track and run six laps and that's what worked the best for me," he recalled.
He also credits his long-running good health to some more alternative exercise. "I did meditation and also archery, I still do those today," he revealed.
But while his own bodybuilding career was vastly successful, Frank had one warning for other people hoping to follow in his footsteps. He said: "My advice is to have a backup plan.
"Don't count on making your living as a professional bodybuilder it's too crowded a field so have a backup plan. I mean I was a school teacher, I was a math teacher the whole time so I always had that as my backup plan."
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