Frank Zane was the standard of aesthetics, symmetry, and razor-sharp conditioning according to a large chunk of bodybuilding enthusiasts. Long before mass monsters dominated the stage, Zane carved out his legacy with the most sculpted, artistic physique the sport had ever seen.

Many forget that when Arnold Schwarzenegger came to America, it was Frank Zane who beat him on stage, one of the rare men to ever hand Arnold a loss. Even offstage, the two shared a mutual respect. Zane famously guided Arnold on the supplements to take when he was still new to the U.S. bodybuilding scene.

A three-time Mr. Olympia (1977–1979), Zane earned the nickname The Chemist not only for his degree in science but for his methodical approach to Bodybuilding.

Frank Zane’s Triceps Rule: “Follow the Pump”

Zane’s guiding principle is simple: train triceps right after chest. When the upper body is already pumped, the triceps respond better, stay fuller, and get hit with more intensity. His approach revolves around training triceps twice a week and ensuring every set produces a pump.

For example, he ends his chest session with the dumbbell pullover, an exercise that not only opens the ribcage and hits the serratus, but also targets the posterior head of the triceps, giving the arm that thick, rounded look from behind.

Zane also reminds lifters that triceps make up more arm size than biceps, so if bigger arms are the goal, triceps deserve the spotlight.

Below are the three core exercises he credits for building his iconic horseshoe triceps.

1. Close-Grip Bench Press

Zane performs close-grip bench presses on either a Smith machine or with a barbell, and it’s his main mass builder. He rarely does regular bench press anymore because he doesn’t chase bigger pecs; instead, he opts for close-grip pressing with slow negatives to overload the triceps.

How he performs it:

• 3 sets of 12, 10, and 8 reps
  
• Go heaviest on this movement
  
• Super-set every set with pressdowns
  
• Focus on strict, slow lowering to maximize triceps tension
  

Zane notes that sometimes he swaps this out for parallel dips on his dip machine. Dips hit the pecs and front delts too, but when he adds a resistance band to the lockout, the triceps become the star of the movement.

For added variety, he occasionally super-sets dumbbell kickbacks with dips or close-grip bench presses, keeping reps high at 12–15 to ensure a hard contraction and clean lockout.

2. Pressdowns

After the heavy compound movement, Zane uses pressdowns to isolate and burn out the triceps.

How he performs it:

• Super-set with close-grip bench press
  
• 3 sets: 12, 10, 8 reps
  
• Increase the weight in each set
  
• Hold each rep at lockout for 1 second
  
• Chase a burn by the end of every set
  

Between super-sets, he stretches his arms back and lightly tenses the triceps, an old-school trick he believes brings more blood into the muscle.

3. Overhead Dumbbell Extensions

Zane finishes the session with overhead extensions, either two-arm or one-arm, depending on the day. This is his key movement for building that deep, thick, long head that creates the classic triceps horseshoe.

How he performs it:

• 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps, increasing weight each set
  
• Lower the dumbbell as far down as possible for maximum long-head stretch
  
• Two-arm version is good; the one-arm is even better because you can stretch deeper
  
• Elbow positioning guides which head gets emphasized:
  

This final deep stretch ensures full horseshoe development and gives the triceps their dramatic, rounded appearance from every angle.

The physiques of the 70s remain iconic because they blended aesthetics with science, something Zane perfected better than anyone. His triceps routine isn’t flashy or complicated; it’s rather effective and well structured,

Which workout are you trying first? Let us know in the comments.

Written by

Amanjeet Singh

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu