I was a human skeleton when I came to the United States. . . But whats interesting to me is that because he arrives later to the U.S., in the 1950s, bodybuilding, weightlifting and powerlifting were already being separated, and Sammartino clearly went down the weightlifting and powerlifting route. He got me interested, even though at the time I weighed only 105 pounds, and I started lifting at the East Liberty YMCA in Pittsburgh. For example, on bench press, I dont go higher than maybe 215 for reps. For shoulder work I do 35-pound dumbbells for side laterals. He would work out with the University of Pittsburgh wrestling team, compete in bodybuilding shows, and, in 1959, he set a record with a 565 pound bench press. Even moreamazing than his rapid growth of muscularity was the growth of his bone structure. The weight lifting work out was as follows: (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), The bodyweight work out looked like this: (Tuesday, Thursday). As I sad, wrestling demands a different kind of power than weight training. France for further training under Andre Bollet, officially making his debut in 1961. . No Bench, No Problem: Build Bigger Pecs with Little to No Equipment. Thus his workouts were restricted to two or three days a week. But Im proud to say, too, that I was pretty good lifter on my own. When possible, these sessions in the gym lasted as long as five hours and it wanst a case where a good deal of the time was spent resting or batting the breeze with training mates. You mentioned training with Karl Norberg . . Brunos best one rep was 565, if he wasnt wrestling I know he would have been the first to do 600lbs(NO DRUGS, EVER) This all took place at the Mid- City Gym in 1968. Curl 3 x 6 5. Ever since he was a little kid, he's been really good at exercising. That is, I wrestle regularly and I train regularly as I can, and I feel the energy and effort expended on each doesn't affect the other. I used to make weekly trips to the doctor for vitamins, tonics, etc. With nearly 300 reviews and 82% 5 stars checkout Jailhouse Strong HERE. So two weeks out of the month Id be wrestling seven days a week, and the other two weeks Id do six nights a week. Your information has been successfully processed! 18.06.1987. He would bench with 330 for most reps and I would use 220 for my reps. The more he trained, the bigger he grew, and the bigger he got, the more his power increased. He exercised at a Young Men's Hebrew Association in Pittsburgh and went on to set a world record in 1959 by bench pressing 565 pounds, according to his WWE profile. But the war erupted, and it was not until 1949 that the Sammartinos were all reunited and in their adopted land. As far as the Olympic lifts are concerned, his best performance has been, as one might expect, in the two hands press. Welcome to the TribLIVE.com California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) landing page. You see, I cannot lock my elbows . Follow these fit women we're crushing on for inspiration, workout ideas, and motivation. Bench 3 x 6 4. When Sammartino returned to the WWE fold in 2013 in order to be inducted into the Hall of Fame by steroid-era poster boy Arnold Schwarzenegger, he did it more for personal satisfaction than the measly $5,000 payday. I use 400-425 pounds, so that explains why I do 6 sets of 3-4 reps. . Bruno Sammartino, Actor: WWF SmackDown!. His own survival points to the fact that young Sammartino inherited a marvelous constitution. I tried and discarded exercises I feel wouldn't help me in my quest for power and size. For weight lifting power, I'd say the Baillargeon brothers of Canada are the best I've seen. In private conversation, a well-established member of the Greek community in Pittsburgh told us that he trained alongside Bruno in a basement gym. Several local heavyweight pugilists suggested in public that the weightlifting giant was musclebound and implied that he couldnt do a thing with his muscles other than lifts weights. Over time, he felt that small increases in weight would mean big gains. Bench 3 x 64. My mother, a first-generation Southwestern Pennsylvanian, recalls fondly how Sammartino reminded her of her swarthy Slovak grandfather. The Legendary Bruno Sammartio It was such a thrill, and you could feel the power this coal mining man hadthats the power I saw in Bruno, too. 27.06.1987. In all we would do ten sets. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for WWE toy belt signed by 2013 HOF Bruno 'The living legend' Sammartino *PSA/DNA* at the best online prices at eBay! Battle Royal: Winner: Bruno Sammartino. As this stage of his career Bruno didnt bother with a rigid course schedule, preferring to vary his workout tu suit his mood and immediate goals. Steveson (heart) now training full-time at WWE. Then he reached 30..he looked and sounded like a locomotive..34.35.36.37.38- THIRTY-EIGHT repetitions with 330 pounds. So I was very pleased to work out there because I think I lifted as good and better than most. Sammartino continued in his physical culture training. I went first.and only because he was there pushing me on I was able to get out 24 reps with the 220. Karl and I trained together over that time, and I did my best bench press ever, 565 pounds. I was a victim of malnutrition, and even after we moved to this country I continued to be sickly and run down. Heck, I didnt know that there were different wrestling groups all around the country. Paul Anderson also tried to Haystack but failed! Live to 100 With these Blue Zone Lifestyle Changes, For Manning Sumner, Accountability Leads to Consistency, Heart Surgery Helped Derek Drake Find His SuperMotoCross Beat, Randy Behr Found Fitness to Be the Way to Becoming HIs Best for Service, What You Need to Know About Heart Rate Variability. Was this in Tampa? As a matter of fact, later this month I'm going for a two month tour of Europe and Australia, including a visit to my old home in Italy, and a private audience with the Pope. My recent best was a single rep with 500 pounds, at Mid-City Health Club, where I always train when I'm in New York City. Email articles to the editor: bobwhelan@naturalstrength.com. Big Bruno Sammartino, the amicable Pittsburgh giant, was born in Italy. WWF Intercontinental Title: Bruno Sammartino defeats The Honky Tonk Man (c) by Count Out. In his last outing, he wrestled as a tag partner with Hulk Hogan. 3. Isometric Handclasp (Forwards & Rear Flexion) x 2:00 min.5. Thank you for signing up. Squat 3 x 6 2. that in the past he used to drink large quantities of milk in an attempt to bulk up and gain weight rapidly, but he had cutted milk out completely because of the many article he has read denouncing the exccess cholersterol caused by consumption of animal fats. HE LEFT US LAST WEEK. Copyright 2023 JW Media, LLC, parent company of Muscle & Fitness. Privations and near starvation were Brunos lot during the terrible war years in the ravaged Italian hills. Then he got a break and wrestled for the Canadian Heavyweight Championship, which he won. In response, Sammartino decided to develop his body through wrestling and weightlifting. And Bulgarian powerlifter Miroslav Barnyashev, who wrestles as Rusev and whose vicious feud with Cena recalled the Ivan Koloff/Bruno Sammartino battles of yore and whose star has been rising again since the advent of his Rusev Day gimmick, is something of a dead ringer for Sammartino at 6-feet tall and 280 hirsutepounds. Well, bench pressing and squatting, of course, are exercises that bodybuilders and everybody does, so I was pretty good at those. When five football teammates tried to jump Bruno, wrestling legend, the Iron Sheik, came out from the showers and the two old timers cleaned house. Sammartino is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. The strength you need for wrestling is a different type of strength than what you need for power training, different in the fact that it is more timing, coordination and balance. Shop the movie and fan merch. TRAINING WITH A LEGEND Bruno Sammartino, Posted on NaturalStrength.com on November 29, 1999. Bruno Sammartino is to professional wrestling what Babe Ruth is to baseball.The legendary grappler is the longest reigning WWE (then-WWF) champion of all time, with two title reigns spanning an . Because I had reached the top, and I felt like I could provide my family with a better living than I had growing up. Most of his training, then as in the future, was done in the well-equipped weight room at the East Liberty Y.M.H.A. But before he was a star wrestler, he was a powerlifter one of the best in the world throughout much of the 1950s and it was his success in that . The coach there offered him a scholarship, but Bruno turned it down in order an apprecntice carpenter for a number of years. Like Atlas, Sammartino was allegedly a frail boy, constantly bullied and barely 60 pounds at age 13, until a friend introduced him to the world of weights and exercise and he blossomed into a bully-pounding prodigy. Due to the hardships he endured in Italy because of German occupation when he came to the USA he was very thin and spoke very little English. I barely survived. So yeah, I worked out very hard and heavy, but I always used to try and take a couple hours nap afterward just to recoup and rest up. During his childhood in the small Italian mountain town of Pizzoferrato in the Abruzzi region of Italy, Bruno Sammartino heard stories about how the streets in the United States were paved with gold. In all we would do ten sets. Bruno was known for some unorthodox methods. ! I think the endurance work, the high reps with heavy weight, helps me more than anything else with the wrestling. Before I turned pro as a wrestler I competed in both Olympic lifting and powerlifting. During his childhood in a small Italian mountain town, Bruno Sammartino heard stories about how the streets in the United States were paved with gold. No, Im 77, and my weight is not 275 anymore. Inno Supps Complete Gut Health Stack: Doctor Approved 3-Step Process for UFC and Project Rock Team Up For BSR 3 Shoe Collaboration. Arguably the greatest wrestling champion of all time. If you believe you have been sent to this page by accident, you can delete your TribLIVE.com cookies and proceed to the site. by Joe Wuebben Born: October 6, 1935 Height: 5'10" Weight: 275 pounds (when he was a pro wrestler) Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA Sammartino, an Italian immigrant who ruled the WWE throughout the 1960s and 1970s, died Wednesday at the age of 82. Does modern bodybuilding make you sick? . Here's a man who was 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 392 on the scales, yet is as quick and agile as any man. On one occasion, a 51 year old Sammartino was taunted by a CFL football player. Although naturally big and strong, hed be surpassed by the next generation of steroid-enhanced superstars, losing his WWE title for good to Superstar Billy Graham and then temporarily losing his place in WWE history as a Hulk Hogan-led wave of bodybuilder bodies deluged the industry in the1980s. He writes about the extreme sides of fitness, the weirder sides of MMA and pro wrestling, and the unorthodox lifestyles of professional athletes. Curl 3 x 65. Bruno used to take part in several York picnics (a big oldschool weightlifting meet organized by John Grimek). by tfurman | Dec 15, 2011 | Blog | 0 comments. . So I power walk. "One of the finest men I knew, in life and in business," WWE chairman Vince McMahon said . The only exercise I did with Bruno was the bench press, which was also his favorite movement. Sammartinos training, which could be observed at various YMCAs and other community centers throughout Pittsburgh when the future champion wasnt making the rounds as an apprentice carpenter, consisted of performing the three principal powerlifts (squat, deadlift and bench press); the strict shoulder press; and Olympic weight lifts such as the snatch and clean and jerk. Upright Row 3 x 67. WWF House Show - House Show @ Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. You can bet that he managed to get in at least several sets of bench presses, curls, squats, deadlifts, and a variety of dumbbell work during each training period. Sammartinos physique, then, was the most critical component of his performance, a body that told a story even more impressive than the moves and holds he deployed. The first time I competed was in the 123-pound class. Brunos personal habits were moderate and he kept a good body builders diet. Skip to main content . Isometric Calf Hold x 2:00 min. Power Training Interview with Bruno Sammartino - Jon Twichell (1964) October 6, 1935 April 18, 2018 Question: First of all, Bruno, have you always been rugged and powerful? Click here if you wish to opt out and view the full site. Q: How did you get started in weight training? There was plenty of truth to what Sammartino was saying, but also an element of sour grapes: He had once been the top dog, the man with the unbreakable bear hug, but his top spot (and legend) had been passed to juiced-up behemoths Graham and Hogan, then to ever-tauter performers in the mold of Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton and todays many other CrossFit-looking (and doing) superstars. Q: That's quite a routine, Bruno. We would try to get in benching three times per week. All rights reserved. First in that routine is bench presses. what do you do for a routine now? Well his hard work paid off and by 1956 he had made on the Olympic weight lifting team. My family, living in Italy during World War 2, suffered greatly. We assume no liability for the information provided in NaturalStrength articles. The story of Bruno Sammartino is the story of the American dream. Question: First of all, Bruno, have you always been rugged and powerful? 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