IronMan, Vol 23, No 2, Page 8, December 1963
AFTER his victory in the 1958 Mr. America contest, Tom did very little training. As a matter of fact, it amounted to little more than once or twice a month. He had been attending school to obtain a degree in Physical Education, but the lure of good weekly pay cheques from Vic Tanny Studios rapidly changed his mind. Tom went to work for Tanny's in New York but this was rather short lived as Uncle Sam demanded his time in the Service from February 1959 until August of that year. At this time he once again joined the Tanny organization in the personnel department. A short time later he gave up his position with Tanny's and took a job selling insurance at which he did quite well, but his heart was in the gym business and when an opportunity arrived to go to work for John Terlazzo at his studio in New York, Tom accepted. During his stay with Terlazzo, Tom was approached by Harry Schwartz, a former bodybuilder from California, who was connected with the Tanny organization. Harry informed Tom that there was an opening in Toronto, Canada if he was interested. Tom was interested and shortly thereafter Tom arrived in Toronto to manage one of the Tanny studios.
Now about this time, while visiting with his long time friend, Joe Abbenda, Tom was strongly urged to train for the upcoming Mr. Universe contest in England. It had been almost five years since Tom had done any serious training of any kind, and he was more than a little hesitant to even consider such a project. However, when Joe informed him that he had never seen Tom in such horrible shape, that did the trick, and in January 1963 he began serious training once again.
His workouts in the early stages were, of course, of a mild nature, but he quickly gained momentum and in a short time was again in full swing and here and there the old Tom Sansone began to take shape. Muscles began to reappear where they had once been, and before many weeks had passed he began to take the former image that was Mr. America.
As contest time approached Tom had increased his bodyweight and his barbell activities to the point where he was training twice daily. In the mornings he worked legs and chest and in the evening the remainder. This he did religiously three times a week.
Here is a brief outline of the routine he used in training for the Mr. Universe contest:
Monday - Wednesday - Friday (morning)
Full squats with 400 to 450, doing six sets of 10 reps.
Calf raises (on calf machine) 250-300 six sets of 15 reps.
Bench press, 375 four sets of six reps.
Front chins fifteen sets with no weights and these done in sets of five
with a change of hand spacing for each set.
Lat pull-downs to the neck, done on the lat
machine with 150 to 200 lbs, six sets of ten reps.
Monday - Wednesday. Friday (evening)
Dumbbell curls (incline) 80 lbs., 3 sets of 8 reps.
Dumbbell curls (flat bench) 80 lbs., 3 sets, 8 reps.
Triceps push-downs (lat machine) 150 lbs., 3 sets 8 reps.
Triceps French press, 175 lbs., 3 sets 8 reps.
The above is roughly the routine Tom followed in his training for the contest. There may have been minor changes here and there as there are in all routines.
He watched his diet closely, being very particular to eat good protein foods and a bare minimum of fats. He always ate four meals a day and these mostly consisted of meat and vegetables. He also eats a considerable amount of eggs and two quarts of skim milk daily.
For the contest Tom weighed 212 lbs., and had exceptional cuts. Every inch of this muscular specimen was cut to perfection so that in spite of his 212 lbs., he appeared exceedingly muscular.
His measurements for the show were as follows: Height 5'11"; weight 212 lbs.; neck 17½"; chest 52"; waist 31½"; biceps 19½"; thigh 26½"; calf 17 3/8".
Tom is married and the father of two children. He is happily employed with the Tanny organization in Toronto, and Toronto is happy to have a man of Tom's stature. I don't mean this strictly in a physical sense, but also as a matter of principle. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy and I, for one, would like to take my hat off to Tom Sansone, Mr. Universe for 1963.
- Tome Sansone has one of the most outstanding physiques of our time and, in addition to winning the Mr. America title in 1958, he has now, after a lapse of over 5 years, won the highest title any man can win the physique world - Mr. Universe. Another story about Tom appears in Vol. 18 No 2. Iron Man.
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