Frank zane the workouts book pdf

Since the relationship between these four factors is multiplicative, you must do your best at each one to make maximum progress. The exercise factor is determined by your efficiency at weight training, stretching, and aerobics. This factor measures how hard you train and is usually given the most attention in people's bodybuilding programs. But by itself, exercise is catabolic. It doesn't build the body, it destroys it.

Exercise must be compensated with anabolic factors. The anabolic factors are rest and nutrition. Rest includes sleep and the energy conservation produced by the relaxation response which you can learn to evoke during the day; together they constitute how well you relax. Nutrition includes the quality and right amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fat you eat along with the amino acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants and essential fatty acids contained in these foods.

Taking food supplements is a good idea to insure you're getting the essential nutrients you need. The catabolic factor of exercise must be balanced with the anabolic factors of rest and nutrition in order to recuperate, develop muscle and lose fat. This balance is achieved with right attitude, which is manifested in your thoughts, speech and behavior and is reflected in the choices you make in your training, eating, and relaxing. Not only is it important to maximize your score in all areas of bodybuilding represented by this equation, it is essential to remember to practice to the best of your ability in all four areas of exercise, attitude, relaxation, and nutrition.

If you leave out a factor your score becomes zero and so does your progress. You might ask yourself at the end of every day if you did your best in each of these four areas.

Then give yourself a score ranging from 1. Suppose you rate a 1. Multiplying these four factors gives: 1.

Every 3 to 4 weeks out comes the camera to give me proof of my progress. What you see in this training manual is evidence of this practice. You'll be glad you did this later on and these records will become valuable. I've always preferred 9 am to 11 am depending on the season.

With the advent of digital cameras keeping record of progress becomes very easy. Keeping records of how you train and what you eat will give you the opportunity to compare this information to how you look.

Taking photographs is the best method. Two practices are important here. Digital photos can be stored on CDs and last forever. Looking in the mirror is not enough. This is called feedback which means knowledge of results. Mine have. You have someone take your photos in relaxed front. In bodybuilding it's important to learn to see yourself as others see your body.

Seeing how your body is improving is the best ongoing motivation you can have to sustain your training drive. Most people who train are only incidentally aware of their improvement. Outdoors is best when the sun is at a 45 to 60 degree angle with the horizon so there are no distinct shadows on the body. Their trousers may become loose around the waist. How well you are doing in your training progress will be reflected in how your body is changing.

The first is to keep a workout diary or journal where you write the exercises. Knowledge of Results Before you can change anything you must first become aware of it. Try to duplicate the lighting conditions each time so you can get accurate comparisons. I've done this in the past. But photos don't lie and they should become part of the archives of your progress.

Age 37 left and Age 41 right. They've dropped to the lowest level their sense of self esteem will allow and now is the time to do something about it.

You are motivated by your accomplishment. Being made aware of your progress is called success motivation. They don't like the way they look or feel. Getting in shape by summer is on their minds and the gym stays crowded during January.

Photos tell you this. This is called deficiency motivation. Now if the only reason people have to drive or motivate themselves is this new distain they have for their out of shape bodies. Before you can change anything you must first become aware of what needs to be altered.

Go to a commercial gym in December. If you don't. I've already explained how to become aware of your progress and that is by taking photographs over time and studying them. If you are not made fully aware of the progress you are making. And you want more. That's why there are progressive training programs in this book. But if you can only be motivated by how out of shape you let yourself become by giving up training after you lose interest due to lack of feedback. The body is always changing either for.

Your goal is to be somewhere else. It happens every year. And they don't like being this way. Go back in January and the gym is packed with people who have gained mounds and pounds of fat. Awareness is the key. You must do it. You will regress. You are driven into action because you don't like where you are. If you can become motivated to act only by how low you sink physically then you will train. It's your choice. You either choose consciously or your conditioning. Fatso has something on which to blame his out of shape condition.

Think the right thoughts and say the right words and you will perform the right actions to get you moving and keep you moving in the direction of your goal. Bodybuilders make this choice consciously. The average out of shape person is not like this. This training manual describes these right choices. Later I'll explain how what we think and what we say effect what we do. We don't have to let bad habits change us. Now since everyone is creating their bodies minute by minute.

The choice is made unconsciously. He doesn't realize that every choice he's ever made has contributed to the creation of his body as it is today. As I've continued to do this for the last 50 years I realize that this path I'm traveling in the direction of peak condition is the goal itself. Many people don't realize that they make the choice as to how their bodies develop over time. Age So choose a time that best works for you and stick to it. A word of caution. Bigger muscle groups are exercised first after abs.

Finally upper body is worked. Most people need to improve their midsections and by doing it first you pay more attention to this area and are sure not to neglect it. Your body is not ready for it yet. At the time this occurs you can do more. After you work abdominals. The sequence of upper body work is according to biggest muscles first: back. The atmosphere is more motivating because there are other people training there too.

All the necessary equipment is there. That's why it's more motivating to go to a well-equipped health studio. You might say that this is a program for someone out of shape. Here's the program: It's a good idea to start with abdominal exercise.

There is an advantage to being out of shape. Health studios are most crowded between the hours of 5 and 7 pm after work. The Full Body Routine In the beginning. But allow me to warn you. It's a beginner's routine. By working bigger muscle groups first you force blood to flow into the area and stimulate other adjacent body parts.

Training abs first in your program also serves as a warm up for the rest of the muscles in your body. As you continue to train consistently. You exercise your entire body in one session two or at most. This helps warm up the muscles and joints. Crunches With feet elevated. Do between 10 and 20 repetitions or up to 30 if you can. Do at least 10 to 20 repetitions or more. If you raise your shoulders up too far you will not be able to bring your hips up far enough.

This one works lower abs. This is your main upper abdominal exercise so practice and get the form right. Your neck will get stronger too. Seated Twist With a light pole less than 5 pounds on your shoulders. Don't force it. This one trims the sides: obliques and firms the intercostals muscles. Lunge Place your front foot on a bench about 12 inches high holding a light dumbbell in each hand and lunge as deep as possible so your knee stays behind your toes. Do 10 repetitions followed by 1 leg back stretch for 15 seconds.

Feel the pump in your frontal thigh muscles quadriceps. Keep your elbows as high as possible and slowly descend into the low position. Do 10 repetitions with each leg followed by 1 leg up stretch 15 seconds for your hamstrings. Then do calf stretch 15 seconds and walk around your gym for a few minutes.

You should feel a slight burning sensation at the end of the set. If you have none. Front pulldown Grasp the bar right where it bends with a thumbless grip and pull it down to touch your upper chest. Stand on a box.

Choose a weight that allows you to do 12 repetitions then follow immediately with 2 arm lat stretch 15 seconds. Do not pause there but let it go back slowly to the arms extended position. But with a lat machine you can adjust the weight and have more control over the range of motion of the exercise. Hint: Try not extending your arms as much as shown in the photos and you will keep the pump more in your lats and not so much in your shoulders.

Problem is that some people aren't strong enough to do wide grip chin ups. Do 10 to 12 reps this way and soon you'll be able to do full chin ups on your own. This is called a "slow negative" and will make the exercise more effective.

If you keep a neutral grip throughout the movement and don't lockout you'll feel the pump more in your upper pecs and not as much in the front deltoids. As you push the dumbbells upward rotating them into the finished position you transfer some of the effect to the front deltoids. CHEST 30 degree incline dumbbell press A low angle of 20 to 30 degrees using a neutral grip on the dumbbells your palms are facing each other will allow you to stretch deeply and work your pecs more.

Do 12 repetitions followed by doorway stretch for 15 seconds. This is a wonderful exercise for serratus where the lats attach to the ribcage ribcage. Exhale on the way up and stop when the dumbbell is right over your face. Getting a deep stretch downward is the most important part of this exercise. Many people don't do this exercise but I've done it ever since I've started weight training and that's why I had the world's best serratus. Do 12 repetitions. Do 12 repetitions followed by 2 arm lat stretch.

Let the bar stretch down close to the floor and keep your upper body parallel to the floor as much as possible during the exercise but it's OK if your upper body moves up and down slightly. Sit against a steep incline. Rotate hands outward as you press upward and keep rotating as you stop just short of lockout at the top. Problem is that if you lower the bar to arms completely straight you can put stress on the inner elbow. Do 12 repetitions followed by pronated arms back stretch for 15 seconds.

The biceps contract when you curl and also when you turn the wrist outward. Keep wrist straight while curling and tense the biceps at the top of the curl.

Begin to lower the bar slowly. Keeping your upper arms close to your head. Do 12 repetitions followed by arms back stretch 15 seconds. Any hand grippers are OK. Do one set of each exercise for the first two weeks. So you burn fat.

If you are going heavier on your second set. You have done a total of 14 exercises counting abdominal movements. When you use more weight on your second set.

This concludes your weight workout and now is a good time to do aerobic activity. Doing two sets of each exercise you should be able to finish this workout. So it's 12 reps on the first set. My favorites are walking at 3 to 4 miles per hour on a treadmill for 12 to 15 minutes or recumbent stationary bike for the same amount of time.

Add aerobic activity at the end of the workout and your should be in and out of the gym in less than an hour. It's best to do your cardio training at the end of your workout because your blood glucose levels are low and your body starts converting stored body fat to give you energy. You should feel a little soreness in parts of your body the next day. The weight you use should be heavy enough to do the suggested number of repetitions or maybe one or two more in good form. If it takes you 45 seconds to do each exercise.

Although you must pay strict attention to your form on weight training exercises. It's boring! Your body is on automatic since the movement is highly repetitive. Rest as long as necessary between sets until your breathing returns to near normal. Are some parts of your body more soar than others? If so. Pay attention to where you feel the soreness. It might even be an advantage to be a little spaced out when you are walking on a treadmill or pedaling a stationary bike going nowhere.

The sequence is stretch 15 seconds. Try to go a little heavier on the second set. After 2 to 4 weeks you should be ready to add a second set of each exercise. This means you get into better shape. Each workout causes a condition of "micro-trauma" in the muscles.

It's also a good compromise routine when you are traveling and don't have the time or energy to train hard. And your body heals itself past the point where it formerly was.

With this program you will be able to devote adequate attention to all parts of your body so everything gets exercised thoroughly. The workout becomes longer and longer and what you do near the end of your session gets neglected or deleted. If so continue. But you will eventually find that with a full body workout there is not enough time to do everything you need to do to continue to allow your body to make progress.

The full body routine can be used for a while if you are coming back to regular exercise after a layoff. You get in shape because your body accommodates or gets used to what you are doing. Negatives should always be slower than positives. Everyone knows it's easier to lower a weight than to lift it. Range of motion: Concentrate on moving the weight through the pathway where you feel a pump in the muscles you are working.

Doing cheating barbell curls can work your lower back and deltoids more than your biceps. Rhythm: Each repetition should be rhythmic. If all your positives are easy.

Elements of Good Form 1. So bodybuilders did fast negatives so they could lift more on the positive phase. Breathe: Inhale and exhale on each repetition. So use only enough weight to feel it directly in the muscle. This is due to gravity. Each exercise you perform in your routine is meant to isolate a specific area.

If you resist gravity by doing your negatives more slowly. Muscles only need so much weight to develop. Slower negatives keep the weight in the correct pathway more efficiently lessening the chance of injury.

If you lower your weights quickly you lose the muscle building effect of the negative. If you cheat and use loose form. The positive phase of a repetition should be done with enough force to bring the weight to the end of the range of movement you want on the exercise.

The better your form. Stretch between each set. Count each repetition to yourself. During the first few reps of a set. Slower negatives make lighter weights feel heavier. Doing faster negatives. The negative is the eccentric part of the movement where the muscle fibers stretch back to normal.

Using extremely heavy weights stresses joints. The positive or lifting part of an exercise has in the past been considered the most important part of an exercise movement. This did build muscle but. You'll get a better pump in your lats if you do pulldowns this way. You should inhale and exhale on every repetition.

You are not separate from what you do. A good example of this is the front pulldown. In order to isolate a muscle you are working sometimes it is necessary to do partial repetitions. Avoid this by always breathing freely. If you are using heavier weights that only allow a few positive reps I don't recommend it at this stage of the program your positives will naturally be slower because it's harder to push or pull the heavier weight.

Just breath freely and don't hold your breath. There is a tendency to hold your breath when lifting a heavy weight. I believe that since the body instinctively knows how to breath by itself. Since you are doing front pulldowns to work your lats. Pay attention to the sensations your body is feeling as you do each repetition in good form. One's attention is entirely on the performance of the exercise.

Each rep is rhythmic. Do your positives in a controlled explosive fashion. You should be able to get a pump on every exercise you perform in your workout. This means your negative will naturally be lighter and build less muscle. If you extend your arms fully. You need to learn to send massive blood flows into localized areas of the body to induce a sufficient catabolic state that when rested and repaired results in new muscular development.

Advanced martial artists know what I'm talking about. A pump is a swell feeling in your muscles. You can discern the muscle developing experience of a bodybuilder by the way he does his repetitions. If you catch yourself holding your breath. Pumping up your muscles and looking into the mirror at a new you is like looking into the future of your body. Be sure to stretch immediately after each and every set. Stretching Stretching between sets will double the effectiveness of your workout.

There is nothing wrong with this. When you are sore the next day after a workout do some stretching. Just don't do ballistic bouncing stretching because you can injure yourself with this.

It's hard to stretch too much. Be gentle and your flexibility will gradually improve. If I were to do this program I would do two sets of each exercise.

Also, there may be some exercises you cannot do, so skip these, or better yet substitute an equivalent movement. The more strict your form is and the better you do the exercises the more you will get from the program. After all, this is the core of how I trained to look like I did.

If you are in great shape already, start with Spring Training and go day by day right through to the end of the year, gradually working up to 3 sets on each exercise. If you are in really good shape I dare you to duplicate one of the more challenging workouts. You will, however, improve significantly and learn a great deal about what championship workouts are like. Doing the program will teach you how to keep a workout diary as there is room to write the results of each workout session along side it on the page.

There are variations of the three way split routine and great specialization workouts. Some interesting super sets and exercise arrangements can help stimulate lagging body part development. This exercise index is completely re-written with many new photos with emphasis on injury prevention and healing.

But I did and recorded everything so you can apply these workouts to your training. Some between workout days diet and philosophy is included and new photos have been added. If you want to workout from home check out Gymming at Home — Essential Equipment to get my recommendations for tools, equipment, and workout schedule for my YouTube workouts. Make sure you check out my treadmill reviews if you are interested in starting off your journey by walking or jogging the weight off.

I give you tips and guidelines to get the best results. After your workout, make sure you clean up. Want to make it easy? Do you want to become a personal trainer? Check out my how to become a personal trainer article where I give you advice, tips, and resources to get you started. Search Search for:. April 6, May 2, Fitness Adaptations. A major influence in my bodybuilding and coaching career was Frank Zane. Need a coach? Online bodybuilding coach My own contest prep guide for beginners on amazon: bodybuilding contest prep program.

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