Bodybuilder Frank Zane's 64-year-old Body

Building the Dream Body - An interview with three-time Mr. Olympia Frank Zane, by Andrew Cohen

This is a very interesting and inspiring 2006 interview with Frank Zane about reaching the optimal physical, emotional, spiritual and mental condition as we age. There is some great 'food for thought' here.  Here are some intriguing quotes from Frank:

• "I'm 65...... I  just keep training to see how good I can get, and for how long. My goal now is to improve every year for at least the next five years. I don’t know what is possible, and I’m taking it one year at a time. I just know that it keeps getting harder and harder. I have to be more impeccable in my lifestyle. My diet has to be close to perfect. I get very sore from workouts, and it takes longer to recover. But that just means my body’s changing. I’m not trying to be like I was when I was at my peak at thirty-seven, but I’m curious to find out what’s possible."
• "People say to me, “You look good for your age.” But most people at sixty-five look like my father would look if he were still alive. And that’s not good enough for me. I want to look good for any age."
•  On training now versus when he was young, "It’s different. It was brand new then. I was seeing my body take shape for the first time, developing more and more, and then winning titles and becoming famous and all that. Now, it’s about holding on and achieving as much as I can. I’m really motivated by curiosity."

Comments:   After many years of cycling, I have recently switched to a focus on resistance training (bodybuilding).  I obviously did not start out with a Mr. Universe body, or a long history with training in the gym.  Nevertheless, I find Frank Zane's words to be very inspiring.  He is stretching the boundaries about what a person can achieve physically, mentally and spiritually as we age.  Zane views the physical, mental and spiritual to be intertwined.  I agree.  Is it hard to become motivated to train hard in your late 60s?  I have not found it hard at all.  Like Frank Zane, "I am curious to find out what's possible."  The fact that there are others who are also strongly motivated to excel physically at an advanced age is very empowering.