Frank Zane on Role Models
Frank Zane from Fabulously Fit Forever.
We tend to identify with role models who have the same physical characteristics, such as body type or structure, as we have. There is a certain amount of ‘narcissistic identification’ involved in the role modeling which takes place in idol acquisition.
It didn’t take me long after I began training to find my bodybuilding idol in Steve Reeves. Being rather thin myself, 145 pounds at 5 feet 9 inches, I could relate to Reeves‘ physique because he was proportionate, symmetrical, and not bulky. When Reeves starred in Hercules movies in 1959 during my senior year in high school, I became inspired to a new level and decided to enter physique competition the following year. At the end of my freshman year of college I won my first bodybuilding trophy at 18, placing 3rd in the Teenage Mr. America. My competitive career was under way. I began to build my identity as I built my body.
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