Who is Zane Watson?
Hamilton, Canada-based Zane Watson competes as a professional bodybuilder in the IFBB.
He won multiple expert contests around Canada and made it to the Mr. Olympia weekend stage.
Short Career of Zane Watson
Even though Zane Watson is a successful professional now, he claims that his upbringing was difficult. His father trained Zane every day as a professional bodybuilder but eventually developed a heroin addiction.
Sadly, Zane went down the same road, getting jailed for drug offenses and serving six months in jail.
After coming out, he reestablished contact with his father and pursued the 2014 Mr. Olympia, which he eventually won.
Body Measurements of Zane Watson
| Full Name: | Zane Watson |
| WEIGHT: | 205 – 215lbs (88.5 – 93.0kg) |
| ERA: | 2010 |
| PROFESSION: | IFBB Professional Bodybuilder |
| NATIONALITY: | Canadian |
| HEIGHT: | 5’7″ (170cm) |
Accomplishments
Competitions
- 2012 Canadian Nationals Heavyweight, 1st (pro card)
- 2013 Toronto pro 13th,
- 2014 Toronto pro, 1st
- 2014 Mr. Olympia, 16th
- 2014 Phoenix Pro, 6th
- 2015 Mr. Olympia fitness and performance weekend, 16th
- 2015 Europa Games, 6th
- 2016 Toronto Pro, 2nd
- 2017 Arnold Classic Ohio, 5th
Biography
The First Time I did Bodybuilding
In Hamilton, Ontario, Zane was raised. Although he claims to be unable to pinpoint the precise age at which he began exercising, he does recall spending his entire childhood watching his parents, who are both bodybuilders, compete in Canadian contests.
He thinks that as a result, it was inevitable that he would become interested in the sport. He observed his father work out at their home and was fixated on the effort he put into his workouts.
To add more weight to the leg press machine, his father would instruct him to sit on top of it. His father began training him when he was 15 years old and continues to do so today.
Building Up His Physique
His father’s assistance was really helpful. He constructed a gym in the family’s backyard and worked out there every day with Zane, pushing him to surpass his previous records.
Zane did this to develop a body that he thought would help him achieve his goals.
He started to think about registering for competitions, and his father accelerated the training regimen to give Zane the most proportionate figure imaginable.
Family Conflict
Even if things were going well in the gym, things at home weren’t always good. Although Zane’s father had a flourishing fitness center business, Zane claims that he also battled long-term drug addiction.
He lost one of his major gym chains as a result of this addiction, leaving him with a collection of smaller facilities. He ultimately sold these locations for much less than they were worth since he was short on cash.
Getting Arrested
Zane claims that this unfortunate sequence of events had a profound impact on him.
According to him, he “had a hard time finding himself” and ended up hanging out with the wrong crowd, using drugs, and behaving inappropriately.
He eventually got caught up in the drug trade and spent six months in jail at the age of 19. Zane claims that he “was hooked and in trouble” and “wasn’t training” at this time.
Prison To Competition
He had stopped using drugs when he was released from prison, and he had returned fully to his bodybuilding ways.
He got back in touch with his father, who was now in a better place, and they began focusing on Zane’s physical development.
They were shooting for the Canadian Nationals in 2012, so Zane had to qualify through a few minor competitions. In less than eight weeks, he prepared for the competition in Stratford (Ontario) by working hard and was quite confident in his talents.
He was able to take first place overall in this competition. At this point, he was quite enthusiastic and upbeat, and he carried those feelings into the provincial competition in Ontario.
Obtaining a Pro Card
He comfortably won the Ontario competition and earned a spot in the nationals. His father started to teach Zane more rigorously than ever at this point since he realized how much was on the line.
Zane remarked that his father’s preparation and planning for the event were “like a scientist.” Before the performance, he planned Zane’s entire year and established deadlines for the reducing and bulking stages.
Zane impressively won the 2012 Canadian Nationals as a result of his preparation, earning his pro card and starting a professional career.
The Olympia and The Nationals
When he finished 13th at the Toronto Professional in 2013, his professional career got off to a rocky start. Zane decided to work as hard as he possibly could to improve after receiving this poor placement.
He participated in the 2014 Toronto Pro and won the top prize. Being qualified to compete at the 2015 Mr. Olympia Weekend in addition to earning his first professional victory made this a major accomplishment for Zane.
For any bodybuilder, Mr. Olympia is tough competition, but Zane claims that his preparation went “smoothly.”
After winning in Toronto, he made very few changes to his diet or exercise, so he was completely prepared for the entire year.
Who knows what could happen if I bring my finest package and some of the top 212 pros don’t, he commented before the Olympia.
Although he was only able to finish in 16th place, he gained a ton from the experience and could build on it.
Persistence is essential in both life and bodybuilding. You’ll experience ups and downs, wins and losses, but if you persevere and work tirelessly to achieve your objective, you’ll succeed.
Training
Strong Intensity
The British bodybuilder Dorian Yates has long been a huge favorite of Zane’s. Dorian’s “high-intensity theory,” which proposes that muscles are built by unrelenting effort, is the basis of much of his father’s training philosophy.
While the intensity does not change, Zane claims that his movements do, strike his muscles at various angles and encourage new growth.
Zane prefers to follow a chest/biceps, legs, shoulders/triceps split when he works out four days a week.
Training for Off-Season Mass
Zane prefers to do 5 sets of 5 or 8 sets of 10 with the heaviest weights available as he performs his off-season regimen.
He claims that this is the most difficult regimen he has ever followed, and he only pushes himself to the maximum once a month in terms of weight lifted.
Zane has achieved a “comfortable body weight” of 240 pounds thanks to this regimen. He competes at 212 pounds, thus he can’t increase his weight in the off-season because he needs this for trimming.
Training Protocol
- Monday: Back
- Tuesday: Chest Calves And Biceps
- Wednesday: Biceps, Quads, And Triceps
- Thursday: Hamstrings And Back
- Friday: Triceps And Shoulders
Zane works out with his father four or five days a week. He does heavy rows and deadlifts on Monday with an emphasis on his back. He leaves to eat and comes back to the weights in the late afternoon to perform four or five back workouts.
For Zane, Tuesday is biceps, calves, and chest day. To push his muscles as hard as he can, he attempts to finish 4 workouts while adding supersets.
On Wednesday, he follows a similarly punishing routine, starting with one or two biceps exercises before moving on to the quads and triceps, pushing through each set to failure.
Zane starts to hurt his hamstrings on Thursday. He frequently performs stiff-legged deadlifts and mixes in heavy D-handle barbell rows or cable rows.
Zane concentrates on his arms on Friday. To work the muscle hard and increase tone, he chooses two unrelated tricep exercises and performs high rep sets.
He returns at night after this exhausting workout and starts to hammer his shoulders hard.
He frequently performs two rear delt exercises in supersets and particularly likes the seated side lateral and reverse pec deck butterfly motions. After that, he performs dumbbell exercises like the dumbbell press.
Nutrition
He Timed His Meals
Zane Watson makes it a point to eat at the same time each day during the on-season. He realizes that eating frequently is essential to providing his muscles with the nutrition they require, so he eats at 7, 10, 1, 4, 7, and 10 p.m.
Even during the off-season, he largely maintains the same timing. The only difference is that he is eating more carbohydrates during this time.
Off-season meal plan
- 7 am – 1½ cups of oatmeal with 8 egg whites mixed in milk and coffee.
- 10 am – 1 can of tuna with pineapple and a sandwich
- 1 pm – 2 cups of rice with steak and vegetables
- 2 pm – BCAA drink
- Post Workout Shake -50 grams of protein with waxy maize, green plus, and psyllium fiber
- Main Meal – steak or a rack of ribs, or a double bacon cheeseburger
Influences and Idols
Ben Pakulski, a Canadian IFBB professional bodybuilder and 2008 Mr. Canada champion, serves as an inspiration to Zane. He has worked out with him several times and enjoys reading about his scientific approach to bodybuilding.
He has also drawn a lot of knowledge from Dorian Yates, another idol. For Zane, Dorian’s high-intensity strategy has been incredibly successful.
How Can Zane Watson Teach Us Something?
Zane Watson has developed mental discipline through bodybuilding. He struggled as a child and ended up going down the wrong drug-using road.
Zane Watson cleaned up in jail and started working out with his father to become the best bodybuilder he could be since he didn’t want his drug use to damage his career.
He succeeded in qualifying for Mr. Olympia and demonstrated to the world that determination alone can propel one to the top.