PETE SAMRA FITNESS
The Pete Samra Story..
At 11 years of age Pete Samra saw the World Famous bodybuilder (3
times Mr. Universe) Reg Park . Reg Park was the bodybuilder who also
inspired Arnold Schwarzennegger to become a champion. Reg
had been invited to do an exhibition at the school Pete Samra
was attending. Reg Park
who lived in South Africa, was the top bodybuilder in the world, and
a movie star who acted in Hercules movies. "That's how I want to
look one day" said the young Samra. Five and a half years later
he joined a gym . Pete’s
parents did not want anything to interfere with his school
work, so they refused to pay the monthly gym fees. This is when Pete
asked his uncle who was a bodybuilder, if he would help pay the
fees. His uncle Maroun
Hanna , wanted Pete to lift weights , so he promised to help pay the
gym fees. But there was one stipulation, one condition; that
Pete would have to adhere to. He would have to promise to work out
for 3 months. If he did not last three months, he would have to work
at his uncle's store on a Saturday to pay back the money. Pete won
the bet and years later his uncle, said "I knew if he lasted 90
days the bug would bite."
The bet paid off and the young Samra trained hard and long to change
his skinny body. In the first six months of training he went from
127lbs to 148lbs. In 4 short years of weight training, he weighed
208 lbs. A gain of 81 pounds of muscle.
Working out helped him to become strong. Pete participated in sports,
he played rugby, wrestled and his school work improved
dramatically. He graduated from high school and attended college. He
studied towards a Business degree as well as a doctorate in
naturopathy. One
morning while waiting for the bus, on his way to college, he saw a
man on his way to work driving a large Mercedes sedan wearing . "That's how I want to go to work for the rest
of my life" said Samra.
From the age of 17, he studied everything he could find in
connection to nutrition, physiology, anatomy and biology. He also
had a vision of owning a vitamin company.
Pete also had a vision at an early age . He wanted to become Mr.
America. He went from being a full time student to a part time
student . He got a job in sales, to earn money while he studied part
time. He saved enough money to go to America and train at the world
famous Gold's gym, located in Venice California.
.. In 1975 he arrived at the famous Gold's gym in Venice Ca.
."I'll never forget the first time I walked intot Gold's gym
"says Samra. "It was as if all the champions I read
about as a kid, jumped out of the pages of the
bodybuilding magazines ".
In 1975 he became the training partner of Welsh bodybuilder, Paul
Grant . Paul was a Mr. World and Mr. Universe champion. Pete entered
two contests that year: taking third place in the Mr. Muscle Beach,
and 2nd place in the Jr. Mr. Western America. In 1977 he became the
morning manager of the
original , world famous Gold's Gym in Venice California.He later
produced
first vitamin line for Gold’s gym. He continued training for
contests but in 1978 he was stopped from competing in competition,
when he was stabbed in a knife fight at the gym.
In 1980 , after a long layoff. Pete saw an advertisement for the
first 'Natural Mr. USA'
contest ( Natural = no use of steroids). After training and dieting
for 5 months he went to Independence Mo., where he won the
heavyweight division of the 'Natural
Mr. USA'. Three months later he went back to compete in the
Mid America Natural Championships , where he won the middleweight
division. Kansas City University , Medical department had developed
a blood test that was used to test for steroids.
Samra nutrition was started in 1979 on a shoe string budget and
became a major distributor of Samra's 60 health products to over 400
gyms, health food stores, sporting good stores and to 10 overseas
countries. He appeared on TV , radio and was featured in many
newspapers and magazines articles.His syndicated article
On Nutrition
that was reproduced in many magazines.
He later promoted contests for natural bodybuilders including a
wheel chair division . Samra traveled extensively holding seminars
all over the world. Expounding his natural approach to fitness and
promoted his well
known R.E.S.T.
System of training.
In the 1980’s Samra
said."I came to America to learn about fitness and bodybuilding.,
But now I'm teaching" His R. E. S.T. System of training is still
sought out today after almost 40 years. As a personal trainer he has
had tremendous success training his many hundreds of pupils. Many of
his pupils have won or placed in natural bodybuilding competions.
Most weekends he can be found somewhere expounding the
R .E . S. T system.
"It has helped so many people" says Samra." People over
train, they think that the more they do in the gym the quicker they
will get to their target" The idea is to group the muscle parts
that all work together, keep the blood in that area for quicker
gains and then rest those muscle for at least 72 hours before
working them again. If you are interested in learning more about the
R. E .S. T contact
us today
In 1986 he was the founding member of the aba with Denny Kakos and
Wally Boyko. The aba, INBA as it is now called can boast 50 nations
promoting natural bodybuilding contests. He
is an executive member of the INABA South Africa.
Samra has been inducted into
three Natural Bodybuilding hall of fame. He has received many
accommodations from mayors of different cities where his Samra anti –
drug team visited high schools. He has also received letter’s from
congress for his work against steroids and drugs.
THE REST SYSTEM OF TRAINING
Article by Dennis Weis
I was curious about the R.E.S.T. theories of Dr. Pete Samra, and how it helped natural [anabolic steroid free] bodybuilders develop to their full potential. I made arrangements with Pete for a one-on-one in person interview to discuss the R.E.S.T. System.
Back in the 90's thousands of body builders
across the country were extremely excited about a colorful character
in Southern California, known as Dr. Pete Samra. Although the
excitement at that time seemed to be at an all time high, it was
really nothing new to the man causing it. Ten years or so previous,
Pete Samra was creating another stir and that was in the world of
Drug Free Body Building competitions, where he won such prestigious
titles as "Natural Mr. U.S.A." and the "Mid-America" championship
honors.
Dr. Pete Samra of Redondo Beach, California was
a most familiar name and force on the west coast bodybuilding scene
due in part to his crusade against unnatural bodybuilding [anabolic
steroid induced] and his daring and practical seminars on the
R.E.S.T. System of Training. First, let's take a glimpse at his
astonishing background. Dr. Pete Samra was the President of Samra
Nutrition in Torrance, California and held degrees in Naturopathy
and Business; and most importantly, he specialized in sports
nutrition. He was obviously well known as a nutritionist to a
natural bodybuilders, athletes and celebrities worldwide. He also
lectured to large audiences and frequently appeared on television
and radio, where he spoke in detail about the R.E.S.T. System of
Training.
I was naturally curious about the R.E.S.T.
theories of Dr. Pete Samra, and how it helped natural [anabolic
steroid free] bodybuilders develop to their full potential. I made
arrangements with Pete for a one-on-one in person interview to
discuss the R.E.S.T. System of Training. Pete began his explanation
of the R.E.S.T. system by saying that it includes full mental and
spiritual development, emotional control and poise, intelligent
eating habits, bodybuilding: various physical outdoor activities,
and constructive positive thinking. It became immediately clear to
me that this international champion bodybuilder had developed a
holistic idea which urges the complete development of the person and
not becoming a narrow-minded faddist on some single phase of right
living.
Samra R.E.S.T. System Of Training
R = Relaxation, Rejuvenation, Rest,
Positive Mental Attitude
Pete says it is important for a bodybuilder to
have balance in his or her life. So many bodybuilders have little in
life outside the posing rostrum and the gym. Whenever he would begin
getting prepared for a contest or exhibition, the first thing he
would do was to get a vision of how he was going to look on the day
of the contest. It all starts with a thought. When he was preparing
for the 1980 Natural Mr. U.S.A. he would develop a 'positive mental
attitude.' He saw himself winning the trophy on contest day. He also
had some photos taken of himself and from this he would form a
vision in his mind how he would look after five months of hard
training.
He would take some 2 X 3 blank cards and write
on them "Pete Samra 1980 Natural Mr. U.S.A." One of these cards was
placed on the headboard of his bed so it would be the first thing he
would see in the morning and the last thing at night. Another card
was placed on the dashboard of his car so he could meditate on it
while he was driving.
The third card was placed on his bathroom
mirror so he would see it while he shaved and brushed his teeth.
From this practice, he began to have a vision and then that vision
became a reality. Pete went on to say that the most important thing
a competing body builder needs to remember is to relax.
Take time off away from the gum. Go to the
beach, read books on other subjects other than bodybuilding and, as
well, play other sports and develop some new hobbies. Pete really
enjoys musicals and concerns and finds that going to the movies is
an excellent form of relaxation. He says it is important to forget
about your training after you leave the gym.
E = Eating
Proper nutrition is the major key in developing
a great physique. Never say DIET because the first three letters
spell DIE [Death]. It is important to have a proper eating plan and
it should be basically the same all year around. Bulking up by
eating junk food is a poor excuse for sloppy eating. Pete went on to
say that a competitive bodybuilder cannot afford to have dairy
products in his or her nutritional program.
For example, milk comes from a cow. The cow
secretes milk from the mammary gland, making it high in the female
hormone estrogen, so it makes no matter if you are blasting your
muscles with some tiger tough workouts you will have a thin, fatty
layer under your skin which will blur any former cuts or definition.
Also, some bodybuilders have a lactose intolerance to milk and this
most certainly can cause problems. He eliminates white sugar, flour,
salt, eggs and beef form his nutritional program.
The Samra Nutrition Plan
Morning:
1 Olympac *84* [time released vitamin/mineral
pack],
2 Stanabol Capsules [Gama Oryzonal which is derived from a Japanese
Rice Bran Oil],
2 Natural-Multi-Glandular caps [contains 5 glands necessary for
growth],
2 Chromium Picolinate Capsules,
2 Garlic Capsules and
20 drops of Smilax.
Breakfast:
Strawberry Banana Shake which consists of 10.5
oz. package of Mori-Nu Tofu, Silken/Soft, drained. One small peeled
banana and 1 cup [10 oz.] frozen sweetened strawberries, slightly
thawed including juice. In a blender or food processor, combine all
the ingredients until smooth. Mori-Nu Tofu is the best on the
market.
The Samra nutritional plan includes eating some
type of bran for breakfast (bran muffin) such as a bowl of oat bran
served with Mocha Mix Non Dairy.
Mid Morning:
A piece of fresh fruit, 3 Amino Complete
Capsules (a combination of 28 free form amino acids), 3 Desiccated
Argentinean Defatted Beef Liver 23 grain Tablets, 20 drops of cuts
(Echinacea) Herbal Fat Emulsifier.
Lunch:
Usually fish (not shell) or skinless chicken or
both with a salad and maybe some brown rice. Use cider vinegar and a
little safflower oil for the dressing. The safflower oil is needed
for the absorption of the fat soluble vitamins. Take more of the
supplements that were taken in the morning, i.e. Stanabol, Naturol
and Chromium Picolinate.
Afternoon Snack:
A piece of fresh fruit and 3 Amino Complete
Capsules and 3 Argentinean Defatted Beef Liver 23 Grain Tablets. One
hour prior to his workout, Pete will take 3 Power Plus Tablets
[contains Octacasonal, Bee Pollen, Bee Propalis] for an added
pre-energy boost. Sometimes he will take in some Samrabol [which is
a metabolic energy optimizer].
Dinner:
Dinner varies between fish, turkey, chicken or
Tofu, 2 portions of green vegetables, perhaps a green salad and
includes a salad dressing which he made himself of Cider Vinegar,
safflower oil and Italian herbs. Dinner is usually followed by a cup
of herb tea. Take your supplements [the same ones taken at
Mid-Morning] just prior to eating dinner.
During the day, snack on carrots, celery
sticks, jicama. These are life foods and give abundant energy.
S = Spiritual
Pete believes that a person cannot have a
balance in their life with just a good, healthy body and a sound
mind. Abide by the eternal truth that a peaceful, tranquil life must
originate from within, and this can only be accomplished by building
yourself up spiritually. Pete became a born again Christian in 1979.
T = Training
Sample Samra Program # 1
Monday, Wednesday & Friday
On this particular exercise program, Pete
trains all the muscle groups each and every workout. He is able to
do this because he uses light to medium poundages [the poundages
used are substantial enough to require maximum effort on each set
completed. Careful attention is given to maintaining proper
technique performance at all times], and he only does 4 sets per
exercise. The repetition scheme used with exercises in this program
and #2, as well, will vary from a high of 15 down to 10 reps.
To clarify this a bit further, he will begin
his program where the volume [estimated total reps properly
completed] is high and the intensity [estimated average poundage
used per set] is low by doing each and every set for 15 repetitions.
He does this for 2-3 weeks, then he decreases the repetition scheme
dramatically, to where he is only doing 10 per set. This is done for
2-3 weeks also. This practice shocks his body into greater
adaptation [increases in size, power and strength, etc.]. After
these two cycles are completed, he will increase the rep scheme back
up to 15 again, while going with related but different exercises for
all of the various muscle groups.
These exercises will slightly change the
muscular involvement through an altered stance, grip, bar placement
or speed of movement. It is variation such as this which help Pete
avoid the overtraining stage [stage #3 of the General Adaptation
Syndrome]. The following workout should only take 50-70 minutes to
complete and 90 minutes tops. This is the maximum amount of time he
will train in any given workout to achieve what he terms POSITIVE
MUSCLE GROWTH.
The exercises are performed in the order in
which they are listed. You may be wondering why Pete does not follow
the rationale behind the tried-and-true rules of working form the
largest muscle groups to the smallest [or from the center of the
body outward]. A quick glance at the first four exercises would seem
to indicate that he is, in fact, doing this, but it is only being
done as a priority measure to gain more muscular size in the thighs
and calf muscles. He then jumps right into some tricep work after he
has completed his leg training.
Normally, after training the legs, back
training might come next, and triceps work most always comes after
chest and shoulder work. Pete feels that most standard exercise
programs are inflexible where legs, chest, back exercises and the
like always come first. This practice does, in fact, follow working
from the center of the body outward, but the problem with this
sequence is that those muscles which may be the least responsive to
training are habitually worked later on in the exercise program
cannot be attacked with the same intensity as those at the beginning
of the program due to dramatic decreases of glycogen and
testosterone in the blood. So, with this thought in mind, Pete will
most always bomb the least responsible [success of determining this
is through instinctive training] muscle groups early on in his
program.
Exercise Program #1 Is As Follows:
Leg Extensions
Hack Machine Squats
Leg Curls
Seated Calf Raise
Standing Calf Raise
Tricep Push Downs
Lying Triceps Extensions
Peck Deck Contractions
Dumbbell Press Overhead
Dumbbell Laterals *
Barbell Military Press
Lat Machine Pulldowns
Barbell Bent Over Rowing
Barbell Curls
Seated Dumbbell Curls [use Iron Tear Drops]
Ab Work [50-100 reps per set are done here and
in 15-20 minutes.
* [these are done with the Iron Tear Drops,
which due to the low weight mass and off-set center of gravity,
there are no lockouts or resting points at either end of the rep.
This really promotes blazing muscularity in Pete's delts.
Sample Samra Program # 2
Monday & Thursday
Chest - 3 exercises 12 sets
Shoulders - 3 exercises 19 sets
Triceps - 3 exercises 16 sets
Pete works all these muscle groups together on
the same days as part of the famous push/pull system of training,
which, in this case, is the push day. When bombing the chest, Pete
will use exercises such as the pec dec, incline dumbbell flyes and
presses. He seeks to have more upper pectoral exercise involvement
than lower pectorals. Deltoid exercises consist of dumbbell Laterals
and bent over laterals and the standing barbell press.
Only 20% of his total deltoid training time
will be for the front (anterior) potion and 40% for the lateral
(medial or side) aspect, and 40% for the posterior (rear) delt head.
Tricep exercises consist of lying e-z curl barbell extensions,
tricep kickbacks. Pete works for a 50/50 balance of training time
for the long and inner head, and only 30% for the outer (lateral)
aspect of tricep work. The next exercise session is dedicated to so
called pushing exercises with abs and calves included as neutral
muscle groups.
Tuesday & Friday
Thighs - 4 exercises 12 sets
Calves - 3 exercises 9 sets
Back - 4 exercises 12 sets
Biceps - 3 exercises 9 sets
Abs - 5 exercises 10 sets
The exercises listed for the thighs consist of
the 3 listed in program #1 and additionally the Sissy Squat. Seventy
percent of training time should be for the thigh biceps (hamstrings)
and 30% for the quads or front thighs. Calf exercises are the same
as in program #1 with the addition of Donkey Calf Raises. The
training time is a 50/50 deal between the soleus (slow twitch) and
the gastrocnemius (fast twitch) muscles. Back exercises encompass
all the exercises in program #1 and a 33 1/3% ratio of training time
between the upper, mid and lower back.
Bicep exercises include any two of the three
listed in program #1 and additionally, 30-degree angle preacher
bench curls. Training time for upper and lower aspects of the biceps
is 50/50. Ab exercises are rotated every training day, making sure
that 50% effort targets the lower abs while the remaining 50% of the
training time and exercises should target the upper abdominals. For
cardiovascular/respiratory work, Pete will do an aerobic workout for
approximately 12-15 minutes, 4 days a week after his regular
workouts with the weights. He says this is the best way to improve
your heart, loose fat, and get ripped. He has many exercise options
from which to choose. He will, at times, use a Lifecycle, job, power
walk, skip rope, roller skate or 10-speed bicycle.
The above outlined push/pull program [#2]
resets the muscles for at least 48 hours before they are trained
again, and this is one of the secrets of the SAMRA R.E.S.T. System
for promoting the ultimate in POSITIVE MUSCLE GROWTH. Pete realizes
that there are some real stubborn hard gainers out there and he says
that some slight modifications may be necessary for both programs #1
and #2. On program, you may have to reduce the number of sets you
are doing per exercise from four to no more than 2-3.
With regard to program #2, you may want to back
your sets off to where you are only doing between 8-10 and in some
extreme cases, this may even go as low as 5-7 sets per muscle group.
Training frequency can be a problem in both programs which can stop
the acceleration of your size and strength curve. In program #1,
train only on Monday and Friday and in program #2, utilize the
every-other-day split system where there is one day of rest between
each push and pull workout and always total rest on the weekends.
Follow program #1 for 4-6 weeks, then #2.
Watching Pete Samra train, it is apparent that
he does every exercise just a little bit different in order to "work
for the feel of the muscle and discovering the muscular pathways".
He will do little things like a twist of the wrist, pulling back the
shoulders, raising the weight either a bit forward or backward,
holding the bar momentarily at the sticking point. These are all
done to force the muscles to do more work. These are not exaggerated
body movements in an attempt to gain a mechanical advantage, which
by doing so will decrease the maximum tension in the muscle he is
attacking. As well, Pete always makes sure that his repetitions are
done slowly and deliberately [rather than quick and snappy] to avoid
placing undue or unusual stress on the joints.
The supplements listed in the SAMRA NUTRITION
PLAN mentioned earlier in the article are just a few of his famous
formulas which have been available on the public market for the past
25 years. If you are a natural bodybuilder who is trying to put your
body into an anabolic state [a state of growth or building] without
the use of anabolic steroids, then the Samra Natural Bodybuilding
Program will be of special interest to you.
The Samra R.E.S.T. System of Training had a
dramatic impact on the bodybuilding world and still does so to this
day. I think it is safe to say that he will be honored in the years
ahead by the subtle compliment of imitation. You will find many
systems discovering his R.E.S.T. principles and calling it their
own. It is unlikely, however, that the world of bodybuilding will
ever be rocked by as unusual a man as Dr. Pete Samra "Mr.
Nutrition!"