Hail to the Dinosaurs!
We're a day late, but it's time to wish
Bruno Sammartino a very happy birthday.
Bruno turned 80 yesterday -- and based on
his most recent photos, he's still a very
impressive physical speciman.
For his age, he's one of the most muscular
and most massive men in the world -- and
he's undoubtedly one of the strongest 80
year olds in the world. Maybe the
strongest.
That's the result of a lifetime of strength
training.
Bruno Sammartino was an honest to
goodness, real life, rags to riches story.
He was born in Abbruzi, Italy back in 1935.
During World War Two, the family had to
hide in the hills to escape the Nazis. They
lived in a cave, and as you might imagine,
there was hardly anything to eat. They
often ate grass for dinner because that
was all they could find.
When the War ended, the family immigrated
to the United States. They ended up in a
tough neighborhood in Pittsburgh.
For young Bruno, that was better than living
in the cave -- but not much better. He was
terribly thin and painfully weak as a result
of the years of malnutrition during the War.
At age 14, he weighed 95 pounds.
That's not good when you're an immigrant
kid living in a tough part of town.
So Bruno started lifting weights.
Later, as he grew stronger, he began wrestling.
The training program worked.
At age 21, he weighed 265 pounds, with 20
inch arms and a 56 inch chest. He could bench
press 565 pounds -- which was a World record
back then.
He went into professional wrestling, and in
short order he won the WWWF Heavyweight
Championship of the World. He held the title
for many years.
In 1961, Bruno wrote a short course called
"The Bruno Course of Bodybuilding."
I saw an ad for it in a wrestling magazine
when I was 11 years old, and promptly
mailed in my two bucks to buy the little
monster. It was a good little course,
and I still have it.
Bruno recommended short workouts focusing
on the basic exercises: squats, bench presses,
curls, etc. Three or four sets of six reps on
each. Training with weights three times per
week. Doing some simple bodyweight exercises
on two other days.
Nothing earth-shattering -- but it worked.
He even touched on the mental aspect of training.
"Have confidence in yourself!" he wrote.
"Concentrate on the fact that you are going to
succeed and make the gains in physique and
strength that you want. Again I repeat --
never, never get discouraged."
"The reason I made my sensational gains and
went from 95 pounds at age 14 to 265 pounds
at age 21 . . . was that I concentrated on making
my goal. I stuck it out and actually that is my
secret!"
Many years later, I sent some of my own books
to Bruno. He sent me an autographed photo with
a handwritten note.
It says:
"To Brooks Kubik,
Wishing you the best of health, best wishes
always, and keep pushing that weight.
Yours in strength,
Bruno Sammartino"
Yep. He signed off by saying "Yours in strength."
Now I guess you know where that comes from.
Happy Birthday, Bruno! And thanks for showing
us what strong at age 80 looks like!
As always, thanks for reading and have a
great day. If you train today, make it a good
one.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. The way to be strong at age 80 is to start
training and keep it up -- and to train the right
way. Gray Hair and Black Iron will teach you how
to train for lifelong strength and health:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses -- and links
to my e-books on Kindle -- are right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Start today, and
make strength training a regular part of your
life." -- Brooks Kubik
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