Frank Zane
Of all the sporting legends I grew up with the one who has had the most influence on my own training is the one and only Frank Zane. The quiet man of body building not only won the Mr. Olympia (The biggest title in the sport) for three consecutive years from 1977 to 1979 but is also without a doubt one of the most intelligent original thinkers that body building has ever seen. From early on in his career Zane realized that his genetics would not allow him to be the biggest body builder in the world so he cunningly came up with the idea of becoming the best proportioned body builder of his generation. This tactic along with transforming posing into an art form is what set him apart from his competitors and enabled him to become a dominant force in a sport that had far bigger rivals and is a great example of how original ideas can win in the face of adversity. Along with a great intellect Zane also possesses many other admirable qualities that all of us should try to emulate as he has shown these gifts have the capacity to overcome any obstacle put in the way of a persons aspirations if they are used as they should be. The Qualities that enabled Frank Zane to become a Legend
Frank began meditating as well as weight training when he was only 15 years old. For a youth of that age to follow such a path would be unusual now but back in the 50s it was unheard of. This unique concept which Zane believes was a major factor in his success is far more common now as we begin to understand the connection between the mind and body but this was spotted by Zane and capitalized on when most of his competitors thought he was simply eccentric. Attention to detail Imagine somebody who lives and breathes the goals they have set, who leaves nothing to chance and who has every possible angle covered and you will imagine Frank Zane. The scientific way he followed his diet plans, the reports he wrote about every single workout in his training journal and the practising of his posing routine until it resembled living art were all methodically worked out in a way that was way ahead of his competitors and his time. Commitment To live a life that revolves 100% around the things you strive for and requires personal sacrifice not just for weeks or months but for years needs a commitment that most of us can not compete with. Just imagine if you will, living a life that not only necessitates monitoring every single bit of food you eat and every rep and set of every training session you complete but also everything you think, feel and dream about, such was the commitment of Frank Zane.
Of all the qualities this legend displayed his amazing persistence above all else is what undoubtedly made him the champion he was. Not blessed with the best genetics for a career in body building he none the less trained fanatically for years whilst working as a teacher to support himself before he was rewarded with his first title. The same persistence was shown with his exercises to develop the less familiar muscles of the body which took him years of hard work before they showed the quality that separated him from his peers. It is not just one thing but the sum of all his great qualities that enabled Frank Zane to become such a prominent force in the sport he loved but was not ideally suited to. If a study of his life shows us anything it is that I dream can come true if you refuse to accept failure and persistently show commitment, attention to detail and intelligence. For me the most inspirational fact about this gtreat man is not the titles he won or the records he broke but the fact that he still trains religiously, sets goals to strive for and dreams to live for at the young age of 67. The quit, intelligent, trail blazer of body building is the model of a life well lived and anyone who lives as he has will not go far wrong. Find out more about how our online personal training can help you Here Good luck
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Facts on strength building
To build pure strength all bodyweight exercises have to be kept within the 1-6 repetition range.
Once you can do the required number of repetitions in an exercise change to a more demanding one
You can build strength and stay the same weight if that is your goal.
Strength training requires short workouts of no more than 30-45 minutes to be most effective.
Facts on muscle building
To build a combination of muscle and strength all exercises have to be kept within the 6-12 repetition range.
The best muscle building diet requires two grams of protein for every kilo of your bodyweight.
The quickest way to build muscle requires an increase in bodyweight.
Each muscle should be trained no more than once or a maximum of twice per week for best results.
Facts on abs building
Diet accounts for 80% of the success in building great abs.
You cannot spot reduce fat from any one area of your body or in other words you cannot pick and choose were to lose fat. It has to be done gradually throughout the whole body.
To lose weight eat 4 or 5 small meals a day with each meal containing protein. This keeps your metabolism high and stops your body going into starvation mode which is when it will store fat.
Do not lose more than 1 or 2 pound of weight per week.
The best three abs exercises are the dragon flag, full abs rollout and full hanging leg raise.
Sit ups and crunches are terrible fat burning exercises. You would have to do 1000 sit-ups every night for over 2 weeks to burn 1 pound of fat.
In one study on rats, one group was given all their food in one meal per day as opposed to the other group which had the same amount of food but in small meals throughout the day. The results showed that ones who ate all there food in one meal put on weight whilst the others did not.
Doing lots of cardio without muscle building will result in large muscle loss because your body will adapt to make the cardio easy by losing the heavy muscle. The result could be someone who has very little muscle but still carries some fat.
Exercises that are weight bearing like running and walking are better for burning calories than non weight bearing ones such as cross trainers and cycling.
Facts on flexibility
All workouts should begin with dynamic stretchinginvolving two sets of 10 to 15 repetitions of each movement used.
All workouts should end with a cool down of static passive stretching.
The quickest flexibility results are gained with isometric stretching.
Isometric stretching should be done towards the end of a workout and never more than 3-4 times per week.