Since I was a teen I remember idolising pictures of guys like Arnold and Frank Zane. While Arnold was always this goliath, Frank was a guy who looked not only magnificent shape, but had this perfect symmetry. He was definitely not top heavy or lower heavy, his abs were popping and he looked athletic. It was always a child hood dream to get to either meet or get to talk to Frank. I was stoked when I reached out to his publicist Julie and we were able to set a time for Frank to do the Vision Board Podcast.

 

To give you back ground on Frank, he is a legend of the body building world. His distinguished resume includes being a 3 times winner of Mr Olympia, 3 times winner of Mr Universe and also a winner of Mr America. To put things in perspective, he is one of only 3 people to ever defeat Arnold Schwarzenegger.

 

To listen to the entire interview use the player below.

Here are my key takeaways:

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THE BODY BUILDING EQUATION

 

Frank has come up with his own body building equation around his LEARN principals. What he has seen with his experience is people tending to focus only on one or two areas and not training at their optimum level which is a combination of the 5. After being a school teacher for 13 years and competitor for 23 years his goal at this stage of life is teaching what he has learnt to the masses. He believes what you learn about yourself is directly related to the effort you put into exercise. The LEARN principals allows him to effectively structure the workouts. LEARN STANDS FOR:

 

L – LEARN (Feedback, Photos, Expert Critique)

E – EXERCISE (Weights, Aerobics, Stretching, Posing)

A – ATTITUDE (Thought, Speech, Action, Motivation)

R – RELAX (Rest, Sleep, Meditation)

N – NUTRITION (Macronutrients – Protein, Fats, Carbs & Micronutrients – Supplements)

 

Have a look at your own workout plans now, does it lack in any of the essential principals of LEARN?

 

 

THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS PERSEVERANCE

 

Frank’s secret to success is perseverance. The will to stick with it despite the injuries and ups and downs across the journey. Frank is still training into his 70’s and has now trained for over 60 years. He continues to learn and teach others what he has learnt. The key is to continue to do what you love, it doesn’t matter how old you get, keep on doing it.

 

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FOCUS ON YOURSELF

 

Frank also believes a key to his success was a total focus on himself. He didn’t worry about what everyone else was doing only on himself. What Frank would do would act like no one else was there,

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"I'm not there to make friends” 

 

Frank would often hire a place in Palm Springs for training camp for his competition. This solitude meant full focus on him and perform his LEARN principals.

 

 

CONTROL THE MIND WITH MEDITATION

 

For all the physical preparation another important lesson was the brilliant to be mentally sound. Frank liked to control this area with meditation which also included the float tank. Meditation gave him continuality, helped clear his mind and turn on the creative juices. He would meditate for an hour, even today he uses it for his writing, training and daily life.

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Big takeaway, for all your physical training are you also doing some mental training?

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FUEL YOUR BODY CORRECTLY

 

With the new craze of “flexible dieting” or “if it fits your macros” doing its round across the world (particularly on Instagram) I put the question to Frank about this new trend and the most efficient way to fuel your body. He used the example of his 2003 Thunderbird which required premium fuel. One day he switched to regular and has had problems every since. Frank believes for the optimum results you want good food and supplements.

 

“Your body is a temple, why eat junk food”. The program Frank followed during his competition days consisted of 1 gram of protein for every pound of body weiht. Carbs on the first 3 days of the week would be half his protein consumption (0.5g) and then on the fourth day he would equal his carbs to protein. Total fat consumption was 20-25%"

 

It was a privileged to interview the great man it’s not every day you get access to a 3 time Mr Olympia and Mr Universe winner.  Frank was full of passion and wisdom and there was more than 5 take away points so please take the opportunity to listen to the entire episode.  

 

 

The interview brought a lot of practical tips to help guide you to upgrade or take your health and lifestyle to the next level.

 

Be sure to continue to follow Frank on his journey, if you’re serious about taking your posing & competitive routine to the next level I think you should check out Frank Zane's Posing Clinic & Training Seminar. It’s limited to 12 individuals on a 1st come/1st Serve basis. Go to www.FrankZane.com/Seminars to grab secure your spot.

 

ONLINE - http://www.frankzane.com/

FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/therealfrankzane/

INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/officialfrankzane/

TWITTER - https://twitter.com/frank_zane

YOU TUBE - https://www.youtube.com/user/FrankZane0001

 

Let me know what you think of the interview at tristan@talkingwithtk.com

 

If you’re into your health and fitness please go back and catch up with our interviews with the likes of Joe DeFranco, Charles Poliquin, Dr John Berardi, AJ Roberts, Zach Even-Esh, Jason Ferruggia and many many more.

 

Enjoy

 

TK