At his peak, Frank Zane had perhaps the best abs in bodybuilding. His world-renowned midsection and mastery over the stomach vacuum technique helped Zane bag an Olympia three-peat in 1977, ’78, and ’79.
Zane may have won a fourth time in 1980, but Arnold Schwarzenegger came calling. Zane would ultimately place third at the “O” that year, regarded as one of the most controversial in the sport’s history.
Zane reportedly trained his abs daily, and sometimes with rep counts up into the thousands, according to bodybuilding historian and BarBend expert Dr. Conor Heffernan. Let’s take a look at “the Chemist’s” ab workout and see if it can stand up to the relentless marches of time and science.
(We’re going to tell you if it’s still worth doing.)
Frank Zane’s Ab Workout, Explained
“I worked abs every day,” Zane reportedly once wrote on his own website; the page has since been pulled down. “Before a [bodybuilding contest], I’d move that up to 1,000 reps a day.”
One thousand reps of anything is an insane number, never mind as an ab workout. Sure, tens of thousands of daily steps are par for the course for most active folk, but surely that sort of volume doesn’t work for your abdominal muscles, right?
Here’s a sample of one of Zane’s ab workouts, according to content creator SPASE who ws taught the workout by Zane himself:
Sit-Up: 4 x 25
Hanging Leg Raise: 4 x 25
Standing Twist: 4 x 25
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The workout above totals 300 reps — a far cry from the purported 1,000 daily quota. Here’s Zane on Tumblr in 2016, describing an alternate and higher-volume ab workout protocol:
Frank Zane’s Ab Workouts vs. Bodybuilding Science
In 2022, Zane wrote an excerpt on his personal blog about his ab workouts and core training philosophy. He again went to bat for his 1,000-rep number, among other offerings:
To get great abs I gradually increase the total amount of reps I do over time, eventually going as high as 1,000 reps per day.
Zane’s recommendation falls way outside contemporary recommendations for resistance training volume, which generally regard 12 to 20 working sets per week as an ideal range. (1)
You could hit 1,000 reps if you did 20 sets of 50 crunches, sure, but that sounds kind of absurd (and awful). Does that make Zane wrong? Not necessarily, but let’s take a look at some of Zane’s other ab workout claims.
“The central issue about abdominal training is these muscles respond best when you work them through a short range of motion.”
Zane certainly has the anecdotal evidence to back up this statement, but a growing body of clinical research is illustrating that muscles undergo more hypertrophy when fully lengthened under load, not contracted. (2)
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“Emphasis is on the contraction phase of the exercise, not on the stretching portion which actually contracts the spinal erectors of the lower back.”
This statement is technically correct but is not sensible advice. Your lower back and abdominals perform opposing functions; spinal extension and flexion, respectively.
The lower back muscles do not shorten against resistance during a flexion exercise like a crunch or sit-up, at least not in a way that stimulates hypertrophy.
This is a bit like saying biceps curls “accidentally” grow your triceps because your ‘tris contract and shorten when you lower a dumbbell curl.
“More ab work along with increased cardio and stricter dieting gives me the small, muscular waistline I want.”
Zane is on the money. A calorie deficit, created via higher physical activity, restricted food intakes, or both, facilitates fat loss.
“One thing you should never do is hold weight on your forehead or behind your neck when doing crunches. This could cause the upper abs to thicken resulting in a protruding upper waistline.”
This statement doesn’t hold water. Where you hold the weight during a crunch doesn’t change which part of your abs do the work, it only shortens or lengthens the moment arm of the exercise, making the same weight feel easier or harder.
Muscle shape is determined by genetics, (3) so if you’re predisposed to a “protruding upper waistline,” any ab workout that generates hypertrophy will eventually create that outcome — doubly so if you have a naturally pronounced rib cage.
Frank Zane’s Ab Workouts: Accidentally Genius?
Most of Zane’s claims don’t gel with modern exercise science, however there is one aspect worth touching on. In May, BarBend discussed the spot fat reduction phenomenon with the research experts over at Stronger by Science after they covered the topic on their podcast.
While conventional wisdom indicates spot fat reduction isn’t possible, some studies have shown that high-rep ab workouts have the potential to influence localized fat loss. (4)
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Zane’s ultra-high-rep ab workouts may have some merit after all. That said, most folks don’t have the time to dedicate to 1,000 crunches each and every day. Luckily, you can get comparable results by following a reasonable, progressive ab workout. Here are a few of BarBend‘s favorites:
Wait. What About the Stomach Vacuum?
If there’s anything Zane was famous for, it’s his stomach vacuum. The vacuum is more contortionism than core training; it’s a body manipulation technique that pulls the abdominal cavity inward, creating a hollow appearance.
Classic Physique bodybuilders like five-time winner Chris Bumstead are required to perform vacuums on stage — they can thank Zane for that, at least in part.
Vacuums won’t grow or strengthen your rectus abdominis muscle, but they do have some applicability in physical therapy settings as a treatment for back pain. (5)
[Related: 10 Bodybuilders With Some of the Most Chiseled Abs in the Sport’s History]
Zane believed practicing the vacuum daily helps with abdominal tone. Not tone as in definition, but maintaining a semi-flexed state at rest, which may help the waist appear tighter and improve the coveted v-taper look.
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References
Baz-Valle E, Balsalobre-Fernández C, Alix-Fages C, Santos-Concejero J. A Systematic Review of The Effects of Different Resistance Training Volumes on Muscle Hypertrophy. J Hum Kinet. 2022 Feb 10;81:199-210. doi: 10.2478/hukin-2022-0017. PMID: 35291645; PMCID: PMC8884877.
Pedrosa, G. F., Lima, F. V., Schoenfeld, B. J., Lacerda, L. T., Simões, M. G., Pereira, M. R., Diniz, R. C. R., & Chagas, M. H. (2022). Partial range of motion training elicits favorable improvements in muscular adaptations when carried out at long muscle lengths. European journal of sport science, 22(8), 1250–1260.
Brand T, Butler-Browne G, Füchtbauer EM, Renkawitz-Pohl R, Brand-Saberi B. EMBO Workshop Report: Molecular genetics of muscle development and neuromuscular diseases Kloster Irsee, Germany, September 26-October 1, 1999. EMBO J. 2000 May 2;19(9):1935-41. doi: 10.1093/emboj/19.9.1935. PMID: 10790360; PMCID: PMC305694.
Brobakken, M. F., Krogsaeter, I., Helgerud, J., Wang, E., & Hoff, J. (2023). Abdominal aerobic endurance exercise reveals spot reduction exists: A randomized controlled trial. Physiological reports, 11(22), e15853.
Saiklang, P., Puntumetakul, R., & Chatprem, T. (2022). The Effect of Core Stabilization Exercise with the Abdominal Drawing-in Maneuver Technique on Stature Change during Prolonged Sitting in Sedentary Workers with Chronic Low Back Pain. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(3), 1904.
Featured Image: @therealfrankzane / Instagram
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