Power training will give you basic strength, which is a prerequisite for wrestling, but the two are not really related. His inspiration and role model was John Grimek. Whenever I finished a workout with him I felt that my pecs were going to burst, it was great. . He is as enthusiastic about power training as I am, and at one time several years ago I found myself in San Francisco for three months, wrestling only one or two nights a week. I feel you have to set up a routine that suits you personally and what you want from your weight training, not follow every new exercise or routine that comes out. Q: What were your bests in Olympic lifting? I had hip replacement, and the doctors tell me I can walk as fast as I want, but Im not allowed to run. by Joe Wuebben Born: October 6, 1935 Height: 5'10" Weight: 275 pounds (when he was a pro wrestler) Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA You did 3 sets of 6 repetitions on all of your exercises. At age 22, he turned to professional wrestling. Bruno employedheavy poundages in all of his movements. Sammartino was the longest reigning champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation, holding the title from 1963 to 1971, and again from 1973 to 1977. . Over time, the small increases in weight would add up to BIG GAINS! He told his grandsons that one of the most dangerous sluggers of the times could not put him down. I tried and discarded exercises I feel wouldn't help me in my quest for power and size. 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. His story resonates with many of us who dealt with or deal with being skinny, thin or out of shape and have to deal with being bullied. Youre in great shape.Three days a week I do roadwork. We did the pyramid system. "Bruno Sammartino proved that hard work can overcome even the most difficult of circumstances. 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. By early 1957 he weighed 285lb. The first step was not an easy one for him because he was still unknown and could not get the big money bouts. Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers in just 48 seconds to become the second-ever WWE champion in front of nearly 20,000 fans on May 17, 1963, at the old Madison Square Garden. He held the title until . He had a gym in Wexford, Pennsylvania, just down the road from where I grew up. Answer: Far from it! Your email address will not be published. On Tuesday and Thursday, you do bodyweight work. 1963 1971 during those years he not only wrestled in the United States and Canada, but places such as South Africa, India, Japan, Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania, Europe and China. 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. Although his mother if of average size, his father, a retired blacksmith, is a powerfully built, stocky man whose wrists exceed even Brunos massive 9 1/2 inch measurement. Well, bench pressing and squatting, of course, are exercises that bodybuilders and everybody does, so I was pretty good at those. (Note: It's worth doing some digging to find just how "weight lifting strong" these brothers were!). Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino [1] (October 6, 1935 - April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). This jQuery slider was created with the free, Copyright 2017 TomFurman.com All Rights Reserved, 10 Exercises That Will De-age Your Body By 10 Years, You Cant Outrun A Donut 7 Steps To Lose Those Extra Pounds. 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. I would wrestle six nights a week, and there were times when I would wrestle every other Sunday at the Maple Leaf Garden in Toronto. Then he was on his way. In the Snatch, and Clean and Jerk, I did poorly, relatively speaking, for 270 and 370 were my best there. Bench 3 x 64. as I find this type of training helps my wrestling. He writes about the extreme sides of fitness, the weirder sides of MMA and pro wrestling, and the unorthodox lifestyles of professional athletes. Bruno Sammartino is one of the defining legends from WWE history. Unlike too many of the present day strongmen who specialize in the so-called odd lifts, Bruno is not afraid to show what he can do in public in open competition. If you keep getting redirected to this page, please enable cookies. Later, he would workout regularly with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, and Dave Draper. Jeff King: An update on a Bodybuilding Legend, Consent Management Platform by Real Cookie Banner. Starch, too, was out as much as possible. Then I just do some Curls and Laterals to keep my arms and shoulders in the pink. I use bench presses as the cornerstone of my training, doing 10-12 sets. I barely survived. 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. . bodybuilding training will not give you the strength you need for the mat . 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. He didnt just look strong, he was legitimately strong, and his physique reflects thisslightly thicker core, he doesnt care about body fat percentage or being shredded or anything likethat., For Rust Belt wrestling fans who grew up watching Studio Wrestling on Channel 11 in Pittsburgh, stocky ex-apprentice carpenter Sammartino embodied immigrant strength and fortitude. The men who didnt, such as lumbering 1920s footballer Wayne Munn and tan, ripped 1950s heel Nature Boy Buddy Rogers, were always in danger of being quickly pinned by an unscrupulous foe who wouldnt follow the script (in the case of Munn, this actually happened). Hindu Pushups 2 x 1003. Well his hard work paid off and by 1956 he had made on the Olympic weight lifting team. To that end, before Sammartino, most of the top champions (Lou Thesz, Danny Hodge and Pat OConnor) had to have legitimate competitive wrestling chops to defend their belts. He has entered and won a number of power lift contests. Before I turned pro as a wrestler I competed in both Olympic lifting and powerlifting. Sammartino, upset that his short, stocky and decidedly non-bodybuilder-looking son hadnt received a push in the WWE during these changing times and himself largely finished as a main-event performer after finishing red-hot feuds with traitorous trainee Zbyszko and top heel Roddy Piper, soon found himself on the outside looking. During the 1960s, his suggested training was as follows: But Sammartino was also a liminal stage of champion, a squat beer barrel of a competitor straddling the line between carnival-strongman-cum-powerlifter and bodybuilder. 1. 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. Watch the Trailer. We would try to get in benching three times per week. . I really enjoyed weight training and soon started entering Olympic lifting and power lifting contests. Youve accomplished a ton in your career, from wrestling to lifting to even dabbling in bodybuilding. . He wanted to keep his strength up but also most important to him was his endurance in the ring. Then use the below tag system for more articles Mr. Berg, With respect to direct lat work, you will neither find it in the detailed 1982 article by Ron Fernando, disclosing, I was there, front row at the USF SunDome in Tampa covering the contest for The Tampa Tribune when Jeff, Dave was 7 years my elder and my teen years weightlifting idol. Email articles to the editor: bobwhelan@, "If you ain't got the progression buddy, Saint Christopher ain't got the time. At one time Bruno considered taking a fling at professional boxing. 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. Before Hulk Hogan could be the face of the company during its national expansion, before Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock could lead The Attitude Era, and before John Cena or Roman Reigns were even born, Sammartino was a two-time WWE Champion who had cumulatively held the strap for over 11 years (as a fun fact, Cena was born . You should write for Natural Strength! First in that routine is bench presses. WWE is saddened to learn that WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino passed away at age 82.. He walked a great deal, which he believed improved his endurance. If you believe you have been sent to this page by accident, you can delete your TribLIVE.com cookies and proceed to the site. Then I finish off with an endurance set . If you disable cookies, this site will not work properly. at a height of 6, 1 and a body weight of about 280 pounds. . You are seeing this page to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 ("CCPA") and other California privacy laws. At age 62, "Big Bill" shares his wisdom to dominate one of the ultimate strength marks. I would do 8 , usually 3-5 reps, and work up to a maximum of 650 every workout. A: In the wrestling world, I'd say Gorilla Monsoon. Old-School Ass Kicker Bruno Sammartino Extended Interview This legendary professional wrestler held the world title for a record 11+ years straight in the 1960s and '70s. Inno Supps Complete Gut Health Stack: Doctor Approved 3-Step Process for UFC and Project Rock Team Up For BSR 3 Shoe Collaboration. NaturalStrength.com is an online think-tank, dedicated to truthful drug-free strength training information, (weight training, weightlifting, olympic lifting, powerlifting, strongman (competitive), bodybuilding, physical culture & iron game). 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