Tag: Zane Watson

Bodybuilder Zane Watson Reportedly Arrested For Alleged Involvement In $32M Drug Bust

Bodybuilder Zane Watson is among the names listed in a report about a massive drug bust in Canada. IFBB pro Men’s 212 bodybuilder Zane Watson is one of among 21 people arrested in relation to a massive $32 million drug bust across several Ontario municipalities in Canada. Originally reported via In The Hammer, Watson is […]
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Zane Watson: I Can’t Be Perfect At Men’s 212 Weight

Zane Watson: I Can’t Be Perfect At Men’s 212 Weight

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Zane Watson looks to the future of his career and potentially moving up to the Men’s Open division.
One very interesting thing about Zane Watson is how completely candid and honest he is about his own bodybuilding physique and progress. He’s not a blunt controversial talker – but he will plainly talk about his own deficiencies vs his successes. For example, in our previous segment he was very open about life being more than just bodybuilding 24/7 – despite his desire to be a champion competitor. That’s rare for athletes looking to be the best.
So when it comes to his career in Men’s 212 – he is once again directly honest about his current situation. He is on the edge between divisions – unsure if he wants to go all in on Men’s Open or continue with Men’s 212. It all comes down to his weight. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Zane Watson explains how dropping down to 212 pounds hurts his physique – and his thoughts on moving up to Men’s Open.

As Zane Watson has aged, he’s found it harder to come in naturally under 212 pounds. This is required in order for him to compete in the Men’s 212 division. It’s natural for athletes in this category to bulk up and then cut down to make weight. But Watson is coming to the realization that he physically can’t bring his weight down without sacrificing the quality of his physique. On the other hand, he ideally would sit right at 225 pounds to pull of his perfect physique. This is also on the lighter side for Men’s Open – where athletes typically land around 250 pounds or higher.
“I’m in a really weird spot,” Zane Watson stats plainly in our interview. He continues:
“I don’t think I have more to accomplish in 212 just because I can’t be perfect at that weight. I’m 222 pounds with 5% body fat. And for me to pull 12 pounds from that, 10 pounds from that, it hurts my look.”
Ultimately, this strange spot doesn’t concern Zane Watson much. He’s looking ahead at the possibility of competing in Men’s Open. He’s applied for the Arnold Classic this year. This competition doesn’t hold the Men’s 212 event, so he would have to go Open regardless. For him, this can be a test to see how he holds up.

He knows at first he won’t place first. Again, he’s bluntly honest about this with himself. But he will still train like he can be a champion. Somehow he’s able to keep those two thoughts in his head at once. Not only that – but he’s also not too worried about being on the light side for Men’s Open.
Zane Watson thinks that if Men’s Open was only a weight contest, bodybuilders would simply step on a scale and the highest number wins. He looks to athletes like Dexter Jackson as examples of what can be accomplished regardless of trending size in the division.
Vlad Yudin counters by mentioning Shaun Clarida, a bodybuilder who for years struggled to find champion status in the Men’s 212 division. Finally, after never giving up, Clarida won the Men’s 212 Olympia in 2020. Perhaps there is still a future in Men’s 212 for Zane Watson as well.
Watson agrees that persistence can pay off. But he knows his body well. He’s convinced that his ideal weight hovers around 225 pounds rather than 212. Genetically, he simply can’t bring his best package below 212 pounds. He would rather bring a perfect physique at 225 pounds, despite being lighter on stage than most competitors, than go onto stage knowing his physique could be better.
You can watch Zane Watson go into full detail about Men’s 212 vs Men’s Open in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!

Zane Watson: The Most Inspirational Bodybuilders Currently Competing

Zane Watson: The Most Inspirational Bodybuilders Currently Competing

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Zane Watson talks about his future plans and the current bodybuilders that most inspire him.
Legends never die – which is why most athletes will list bodybuilding greats such as Ronnie Coleman, Dorian Yates, and Lee Haney in their list of most influential bodybuilders. It’s for good reason. But as these athletes recede further into the past, new athletes rise up to inspire a new generation. Zane Watson is a relatively young bodybuilder in his 30s and finds himself inspired by the rising current crop of athletes succeeding today. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Zane Watson lists his picks for the most influential bodybuilders currently competing today.
Zane Watson is looking at a three year plan to success in pro bodybuilding. He’s been competing already for some time now but last year’s pandemic put a halt to his original plans. Now he’s looking to compete in the Arnold Classic 2021 this September. He’s had a routine memorized in his head that he’s excited to finally share with the world. He hopes this will be the first step towards further success and, hopefully, a future Olympia title.
We asked Zane Watson which bodybuilders inspired him most and helped influence his physique and posing routines. He had previously spoke with us about his original influences from past eras – but which bodybuilders currently competing excited him most and affected his approach?
Watson stated that he has multiple influences depending on which area of bodybuilding you are focusing on. For example, John Meadows is a big inspiration. He may no longer compete but now he trains athletes – including current Men’s 212 champion Shaun Clarida. Watson believes that Meadows’ training principles are legendary and have helped shape him into the bodybuilder he is today.

When it comes to pure physiques, he believes that Keone Pearson is a future Men’s 212 Olympia champion in the making. He believes that Pearson has one of the best physiques currently on stage in all of bodybuilding. He uses that as a beacon or goal to reach towards in his own physique.
Zane Watson also has a deep love of posing. He is most inspired at the moment by Terrence Ruffin’s posing routines. He believes that he will also become an Olympia champion in the Classic Physique division one day. Watson is a rare younger bodybuilder who believes posing is equally important as physiques. Without pitch perfect posing – the entire physique wouldn’t come together for the judges to see.
Athletes like Keone Pearson and Terrence Ruffin have been gaining heat for the past few years now. It makes sense that Zane Watson sees inspiration in them as well as motivation to rival them on stage with his own physique. Perhaps Watson will be the next guard of athlete to catch attention alongside these two bodybuilders. Watson’s New York Pro showing in 2018 caught a lot of attention. If he can earn a victory in the next step up such as the Arnold Classic – it can upgrade his status even further. We can’t wait to see his three year plan come to fruition.
You can watch Zane Watson’s full comments about his future plans and his inspirations in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!

Zane Watson: “2020 Was The Best Judged Olympia I’ve Ever Watched”

Zane Watson: “2020 Was The Best Judged Olympia I’ve Ever Watched”

Zane Watson talks about the results of the Mr. Olympia 2020 compared to previous years. When it comes to bodybuilding, especially the Mr. Olympia, everyone has their own opinion of who should have won. When enough people agree and speak up about it – that can create genuine controversy. Victor Martinez vs Jay Cutler at…

Zane Watson: How To Properly Train To Failure In Bodybuilding

Zane Watson: How To Properly Train To Failure In Bodybuilding

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Zane Watson answers: Is training to failure necessary for bodybuilding success?
In bodybuilding, training to failure is a tactic that requires a lifter to lift reps until they can no longer put up weight. Rather than hit a specific number of reps, the reps continue until the body part can’t physically perform no matter how hard you try. But how necessary is this tactic to succeed as a pro bodybuilder? In our latest GI Exclusive, Zane Watson discusses the misconceptions about training to failure and how to perform the tactic properly.
When discussing bodybuilding tips and workout guides, aspiring bodybuilders always want to know the trick to optimize training. How many sets? How many reps per set? Should you do high weight and low volume or lower weight with higher volume. There are arguments on all sides of these different questions. Ultimately, this is all window dressing. What is most important is that you exhaust your muscle and hit all the right areas of the muscle for full growth.
This is easier said than done and the reason so many different strategies exist. They are an effort to get the lifter to full exhaust their muscles, hit all the right spots, and commit to full range of motion. For Zane Watson, his training tactics were inspired by Dorian Yates and then later by Ben Pakulski. This made him favor training until failure during his training sessions.
But is training to failure necessary? In Zane Watson’s humble opinion, he believes it is a key part towards bodybuilding success. There are arguments that feeling sore after a workout isn’t required for building muscle. Watson respectfully disagrees. He thinks that for full growth in a way that bodybuilders are seeking – feeling sore is key to knowing you push your muscles deep.

Training to failure guarantees a workout that will make you feel sore afterwards. It’s a tactic he favors. Of course, there is a difference between physically training to failure and mentally training to failure. Some bodybuilders, especially those new to training, mentally block themselves of how far they actually push while their muscles are under pressure. This is the same reason why blindly following a certain set/rep structure can fail.
Part of the skill behind being a successful bodybuilder is knowing your body’s true limits. Knowing when you are truly exhausting your muscle vs just mentally unable to handle the stress and pain of moving past that wall. For Zane Watson, training to true failure rather than focusing on reps is a helpful way to push to the next level. It’s his biggest tip for bodybuilders to push past plateaus.
You can watch Zane Watson talk in more detail about training to failure, his bodybuilding inspirations, more in our latest GI Exclusive interview above!

Zane Watson: Bodybuilding Doesn’t Have To Be 24/7 And 365 Days A Year

Zane Watson: Bodybuilding Doesn’t Have To Be 24/7 And 365 Days A Year

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Pro Bodybuilder Zane Watson explains why he’s not afraid to call bodybuilding a hobby.
Zane Watson is a Men’s 212 Pro Bodybuilder who takes his job as a competitor seriously. That being said, he has stated in the past that he considers bodybuilding a hobby. This can have negative connotations in a professional sport. The word hobby implies something less serious and certainly less competitive. This is a far cry from the mantras we hear from professional athletes. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Zane Watson explains why he calls bodybuilding a hobby and why it doesn’t need to be a 365 days a year obsession.

Often when speaking with pro bodybuilders, or any pro athlete for that matter, you hear certain advice. One major point often made is this – if you want to be successful in a professional sport, you have to make it your life. That means sacrificing other things in order to try and become the greatest.
This is a far cry from our conversation with pro bodybuilder Zane Watson. He wants to send a message out to aspiring bodybuilders – pro bodybuilding does not have to be the only thing in your life. But don’t be fooled. That doesn’t mean Watson is a bodybuilder who doesn’t take his sport and craft seriously. He simply wants the world to know – you can have more than one joy in your life and still succeed as a pro bodybuilder.
In our new interview with Zane Watson, we probe this idea a bit further. People can often take Watson’s words as not being serious enough about his success in the sport. Zane Watson argues that life is never really about putting all your eggs in one basket. Watson has a career, he’s an entrepreneur, and he has a family. In fact, a big part part of what brings him joy in bodybuilding is having his family by his side.
The truth of the matter is, Zane Watson has more than one thing that fulfills him in his life. He believes he can succeed as a pro bodybuilder without throwing those other things away. But he also doesn’t want people to accuse him of being lazy. When he dedicates himself to a show date – he will “disappear” for three to four months during his contest prep. He has a competitive spirit in him and he wants to win.

That being said, Zane Watson reiterates one final time, “eat, sleep, breathe bodybuilding 365 days a year is not something that I live by.” There is never one right way to do something and find success. Yes, some will live 24/7 bodybuilding and fully succeed – whether that’s through winning Mr. Olympia or building a following for lucrative sponsorship opportunities. But there are also workhorse bodybuilders who find success while also making time for other things in life.
There’s a fine line between passion and obsession. Each person needs to decide what ultimately works for them. But the key is to be honest. When reflecting on your life – decide what you really want and the “why” behind doing it.
You can watch Zane Watson go into full detail about his relationship with pro bodybuilding in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!