Frank Zane Speaks on How He Got into Bodybuilding
The Fit Rockstar Show features some of the biggest names in bodybuilding, and host Isabelle Turell had an icon on one recent episode – three-time Mr. Olympia Frank Zane. Turell credited Zane as an inspiration for her to get into the sport over 20 years ago, and she wanted to hear how he got into the sport himself.
“I started thinking about competiing when I was 14,” Zane told her. “That was when I got into serious training, and I was living in Pennsylvania at the time. There wasn’t much going on in the physical fitness world back then.”
Zane began training in his basement until a health studio opened in his area. The career teacher was pursuing his bodybuilding goals while establishing his profession in education. Turell asked Zane about who was inspiring him back then like he, himself, has inspired so many others.
“I looked up to Steve Reeves in the magazines, and then Larry Scott,” he answered. “I got to meet both of them and was very impressed with them and their work ethic.”
One of Zane’s first shows was the Mr. Pennsylvania, and he encountered York Barbell founder Bob Hoffman, who offered Zane very high praise that gave him a lot of confidence.
“He said to me, ‘young man, if I had a physique like yours, I would walk around with my shirt off all the time.’ That was very inspiring to me to hear something like that.”
