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Weight Training - Bodybuilding - Nutrition - Motivation

The Zane Experience 2002

Frank Zane and Stephen Lee

Rewind...

The year was 1970. I was 13. I had saved up 75 cents, my whole week's allowance, and with it I had just bought the October copy of Mr. America magazine. On the cover was this guy posing on a rock against the blue sky. He looked massive, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and symmetry and definition never seen before. Mr. Frank Zane has arrived. Wow! I want to look just like him when I grow up.

Fast forward to March 2002. Now 44, and I don't think I have achieved anything close to looking like Frank Zane yet. Over the years I lifted on and off but I found myself wishing I could be in a little better shape. Hmm... what to do? I wiped the dust off the barbell and plates, and took away the cloths that hung on the bench press. Then I start a program and vowed not to make excuses. Over the next couple of months I trained 3 times a week. People remarked that I had lost weight and looked leaner. I was encouraged.

Surfing the web I found Frank's website. He is still doing personal training in La Mesa, California. Great I thought... I would love to meet my idol.

A few phone calls and a two-day training session was arranged for early October. Through Frank I learned that Dave was hosting a BBQ in Las Vegas on the Mr. O weekend. Laree replied to my email and graciously invited me along. The timing couldn't have been better -- I was to meet Frank and Dave in the same month!

I arrived in San Diego on a hot Thursday afternoon in early October. Frank told me on the phone to check into the motel near his home which offered a discount under his corporation. As well, he provided helpful suggestions on nearby attractions for my family, restaurants, direction to his home, etc. I asked if I should do anything to prepare for my training session. He said, “No, just show up.”

"Who is this Frank Zane, Daddy?" my children asked. "A great champion bodybuilder," I replied.

I must admit the night before I was a bit nervous. I talked with my wife. What if he laughs at my build? Maybe he is used to training competitive caliber bodybuilders. What if he makes me scream in pain for three hours? I tossed and turned that night, and had a dream that I overslept and missed the session.

Frank lives in a modest home at a fabulous location, on top of a hill, over looking a valley in central La Mesa. I was greeted by Tyler, his dog. I opened the gate and gingerly walked through the yard.

"Come on in," I heard a voice. "I am just finishing an email."

There he was, in the flesh, three-time Mr. Olympia, looking great in his workout clothes.

"Hi Frank, I'm Steve. I have only waited 30 years to meet you."

He turned around and with a big smile, stuck out his hand and said, "Why did you wait so long?!"

He asked me a few questions, like how long I have been training, what are my goals, that type of thing. I have no idea what I replied because I was still in an euphoric state.

We discussed different routines. I said I just want something that I could do 45-60 minutes, 4 times per week. A workout for the body. Frank printed out a 2-day split program for me.

I glanced around and saw several guitars scattered around the room. Being an occasional player, I said, "Do you mind if I try this Dan Electro guitar?"

"Sure, go ahead." I played a few bars of blues and the next thing you know, Mr. Olympia had pulled out his harmonica, and in no time, we were jamming along. Frank is an excellent harmonica player, and I was very impressed by his soulful harmonica playing.

"Boy oh boy," I thought, "Here I am, jamming blues with Mr. Symmetry!!!" I would never dream this in my wildest dream.

Christine came downstairs with an effervescent smile and said "Hi." I remember her from a picture I had from long ago, showing Frank with a 6-foot-tall trophy with pretty Christine standing by in a polka dot bikini that was so popular in the late ‘60s. What a lovely couple.

Frank and Christine Zane

Once we started playing music, it was hard to stop. Frank showed me his extensive 600-harmonica collection, a fine selection of tube amplifiers and guitars, effect boxes and recording equipment. Our discussion suddenly turned to recording music, and I proceeded to sample his different guitars and effect boxes. I was like a kid in a candy store. I jokingly complained to Christine, "Hey, I paid money to learn about bodybuilding, and here we are jamming!"

Christine said "Frank, do muscles first, then music."

We went to his home gym. It was a room of reverence, with literally hundreds of framed magazine covers adorning the walls. They featuring Frank in his competitive years and others featuring Christine. "Hey Frank! I remember this magazine, and this one, and this one...."

There was no "pink noise" music, which I had read about earlier.

In terms of equipment Frank has all the pieces that would rival a commercial gym. There's a leg press machine, incline benches, chin up bars, leg blaster, triceps machine, adductor machine, Concept II rower, Airdyne cycle and many others.

The split program he suggested is as follows:

Day 1

Warm-up on treadmill.

Calves

Standing calf raises
Seated calf raises
Calf stretches

Thighs

Leg curl
Leg extensions
Leg presses
Squats (on Leg Blaster)

Abs

Incline leg raise
Crunches
1 arm cable crunch

Arms

Face down incline DB curl
Face down DB kickback
Preacher cable curl
Close grip bench press
Reverse BB curl
BB wrist curl
Stretches

Day 2

Warm up rowing machine and Airdyne machine.

Back

Front pulldown
Close grip pulldown
1 arm row
1 arm DB lying side raise
pullover
rear delt raises

Shoulders

Front overhead press
25 degree DB press
Pec Deck
DB Fly

Abds

Hanging knee up
Crunches
Seated Twist

The workout was carried out at a brisk pace. Proper form was stressed on all exercises. Each exercise we did 2 sets of 10-12 reps. The length of the rep was discussed, how long to hold for peak contraction, the negative phase, etc. Rest between sets was about 45 to 60 seconds, spent stretching the muscles that we finished working. The emphasis was on getting a good pump from each exercise.

Frank at his age remains very strong. I am younger by 15 years and could bench 235 on a bad day, yet he was using approximately twice the poundage as I was using. This is a man who has 45 years of experience in bodybuilding. Yet watching him train, you'll swear he was attacking the weights with the enthusiasm of a teenager!

By this time I was sweating quite a bit and the water break was a welcome. We discussed the essence of each exercise. Just like Dave, when I asked him what is the secret -- he said there is no secret, just hard work and consistency.

Being a physician, I took the opportunity to ask him how he dealt with training injuries and his answer was rest, medical intervention if necessary, and when in the healing phase, modification of exercises and adaptation as the key until the injury is resolved. We discussed DMSO, various muscle rubs, relaxants and anti-inflammatories, etc.

Frank is a quiet person in my opinion, but once he got to know me, he was friendly and open, with lots of humor and laughter.

"So Frank, do you think I have any muscles?"

"Yeah it's all there." (laugh)

"Do you think I can get really big?"

"Well there is always hope.... Show me your biceps, Steve... oh... now flex it."

Dr. Stephen Lee at the Zane Experience

I also took the opportunity to ask him for stories he had on various bodybuilders we knew: the Mentzer brothers, Tom Platz, Frank Richards, Lee, Arnold, Dave and Winston Roberts, an IFBB judge who is a mutual friend.

Yes, we also talked about Weider. He said he did not learn bodybuilding from Joe Weider, but he learned posing from him.

With Arnold, he said Arnold had tremendous focus and a relentless desire to succeed. Also, some very interesting inside stories he shared with me on the Mentzers, Gold's gym and others.

By the way, he is one of only three people ever to defeat Arnold, the others being Sergio Oliva and a fellow by the name of Chet Yorton. In his biography Arnold tells how, after his defeat by Frank, he cried all night and vowed that he would never be beaten again. I opinionated that had Mr. Draper stayed competitive, the bodybuilding scene may have been very different.

Three hours flew by and Frank graciously extended another 45 minutes in lieu of our jam session.

The next day we met up again, training the Day 2 of my new program.

We discussed diets. Frank said he still eats egg yokes regularly. I gasped. Being a physician, I told him I am more cautious of cholesterol. I said that I would eat the first yolk and then discard the rest. We discussed hormone precursors, creatine, various supplements, amino acids, etc.

The intensity of the workout on the second day was the same. At one point, I looked over my shoulder to see him doing the cable rows, and I was so impressed by his dedication that I said to myself, just watching the man work out was worth the price of admission.

When we finished, he called Christine downstairs, and being ever so kind (probably like hundreds of other times), she played the photographer. Frank and Christine have been married over 35 years. My admiration goes to them. (I learned that her hobby now is in jewelry making and she belongs to various gem clubs in San Diego.) She snapped away.

Photos were taken. Frank offered to finish my roll of film. He said the best way to gauge your progress is to take pictures periodically. The afternoon sun was making me squint. I tried my hardest to pose, hoping for some definition.

We played a bit more music. Three hours flew by again. My time was up. I offered to take him out for lunch but he declined saying he said he had to take Christine downtown for a gem club meeting. We promised to meet up in Vegas. I shook hands with this three-time Mr. Olympia, and before I departed, he said he could see that I have some mass there and if I continued to work out hard I would look pretty good in a year. This from a three-time Mr. Olympia? Wow, music to my ears!

Frank and Dave are two of my biggest childhood idols. Meeting them together at the Draper IOL Vegas Bash, I finally fulfilled the dream of a lifetime. (I don't think I will ever play guitar with Jimi Hendrix, sing with John Lennon, or do martial arts with Bruce Lee -- that's for sure.)

The day after my Zane Experience, I took my family to Sea World. Every step I took I could feel the soreness in my legs, thighs and arms. I reflected quietly, "Thanks, Frank."

Stephen Lee
Nov 25, 2002

Frank's Dietary Gems:

1) Watch the carbohydrates. No booze.

2) Fresh fruits and steamed vegetables or salad daily.

3) Amino acid supplements each day, with fruit on an empty stomach. He recommended 150 - 200 grams of protein per day.

4) Protein drink could be mixed with Diet Snapple, adding frozen strawberry and flax seed oil.

5) Protein also from soft boiled eggs and cottage cheese.

6) Lunch or Dinner: lean beef, pork, chicken, turkey, fish, or organ meat (heart, liver) with vegetable.

To visit Frank’s website and check into your personal Zane Experience, click here

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