Written by Ron Harris
02 August 2017

17samialhaddad-tampa

The Blacksmith is Coming for the 212 Tampa Pro Title!

Sami Al Haddad Needs This Win to Qualify for the Olympia

 

 

The upcoming Tampa Pro is the very last 212 event of the season before the Mr. Olympia. That means if an athlete hasn’t qualified yet, this is their last chance. That’s the spot Sami Al Haddad happens to be in right now. For almost anyone else in the 212 division, this would be a real gamble. For Sami, maybe not so much. Since earning his Pro card twice in 2011 by virtue of his Overall wins at both the Amateur Mr. Olympia (the same show Big Ramy turned Pro) and the highly prestigious IFBB World Amateur Championships, he’s had an impressive track record as a 212 Pro. Sami has 3 Pro wins to his credit, as well as being runner-up at 6 other events. Last year saw him win the Mozolani Pro in Slovakia for a second time, before missing his peak at the Olympia and sliding down to 14th place. With a powerful combination of mass, shape, symmetry, and condition, the man known as ‘The Blacksmith’ is certainly the odds-on favorite for the Tampa Pro 212. Let’s take a look back at his origins in the sport.

 

Where did this guy come from? Oh yeah, Bahrain

It's no secret that I wanted my good friend Jose Raymond to repeat his 2011 New York Pro 212 title in 2013. In the months leading up to the big showdown in Tribeca, the only man I saw possibly in his way was three-time 202 NY Pro and Olympia champ Kevin English; the hometown favorite. Little did I know his biggest threat, as well as Kevin's, was flying from almost 7,000 miles away in a country with a population of just over one million people. Jose had been mentioning Sami Al Haddad, four-time IFBB World Champion; in his interviews leading up to the contest as a dark horse that could shock us all. Whatever, I thought; mentally brushing him aside. First IFBB show? This guy is in for a rude awakening when he gets up there with Jose, Kevin, and company and gets his rookie ass handed to him. I've underestimated people many times before, but this may very well have been my crowning moment. When the 212 lineup took the stage, jaws dropped. Sami Al Haddad was no joke. In fact, he had a pretty fucking amazing physique. Wide, capped shoulders tapered down to a tiny waist. His pecs, delts, arms, and legs 'popped' with round shapes and deep cuts. Sami's back was a rugged assemblage of thick, cleanly delineated muscle groups. All in all, the man had the type of shape, lines, and proportions you expect to see in classical painting or sculpture, not on an actual human being. It was one of the most aesthetically pleasing physiques I have ever seen on a pro stage in the 21 years I have been attending IFBB events. In the end, he nearly won and in the minds of many; should have. Thanks to MD, I was able to talk to Sami Al Haddad and finally learn about this marvel from the Middle East.

 

A poor boy from Bahrain

Bahrain is a tiny group of islands in the Persian Gulf of the coast of Saudi Arabia, with a land mass only one-fifth that of our smallest state, Rhode Island. There is a lot of wealth in oil and international banking, but of course not all the citizens share in that. Sami's family certainly didn't. He was only child and his mother passed away when he was only 8, after which his father went to another country and left him in Bahrain to live with his cousins. "It was a constant battle to prove myself to them, and a constant struggle to earn money to put food on the table," he says of his childhood. Sami tried various sports including soccer, track, and swimming, but didn't excel in any of them. It was after a season of strength and conditioning in the weight room for soccer that it began to become obvious what sport he was meant to succeed in. "People were telling me that I looked like a bodybuilder," Sami says. Even though the training was purely geared toward strength, his superior genetics still responded with exceptional muscle growth. Just to try it out, he entered a local show in 1992 at the age of 18 and won. Here we are twenty years later, and Sami has never placed lower than third in nearly 25 contests. When I asked Sami where he learned about proper training and nutrition back in those early days, the answers surprised me. First, he ordered magazines from the USA, including MD, and studied English so he could read and comprehend them. "I still didn't get a lot of the slang terms though," he says. Once he felt he had a decent command of the language, he saved up his money for a phone card, headed to a pay phone, and called his idol for advice - none other than MD's own Shawn Ray! "He was so patient with me and so generous with his time and knowledge," Sami recalls almost two decades later. "When I finally met him years later at FIBO in Germany, I sincerely thanked him for those calls; and I was very humbled that he remembered me."

 

Why 'The Blacksmith?'

Sami's nickname is literally the translation of his last name, Al Haddad. It also happened to be his grandfather's profession. "He worked with steel, and as a bodybuilder I also work with iron and steel in the gym," he says. "One day someone called me that and I liked the sound of it, so ever since then people have called me The Blacksmith."

 

Why it pays - literally - to remain an amateur in the Middle East

I've touched on the subject before, but many Americans don't understand why it's common for amateurs from some countries, mainly in the Arab world, to earn their pro cards yet retain their amateur status. It makes no sense for them, since the ultimate goal for many US bodybuilders is that elusive pro card, even though it guarantees nothing in terms of income. Being a top amateur in some countries though, can be the ticket to financial stability for the first time in a man's life. It was for Sami, who joined his national team at 19 when he began representing Bahrain in international competition - and winning. For a while, he had to work in jobs like hotel security, personal training, and even served in the military. But eventually he was competing and winning at such a high level that the last job he had, a government position with the General Organization for Youth. The best amateur bodybuilders in the Middle East all have similar jobs, and they are all on what is best described as a permanent paid vacation from that job, enabling them to focus on training, eating, and resting to win. Until Sami was kind enough to share some of the bonuses he has received, I didn't understand why he hadn't accepted his pro card years ago. "There is an incentive system in place with the government that rewards you with cash and gifts if you win," he explained. "I've been given cars before, and for the Amateur Olympia I was given a new home in a very nice area." The cash bonuses alone average $15-20,000 per show, which is far more than most pro shows even pay for first place. For taking third place at the New York Pro 212 for example, he earned $2,000. Eventually though, Sami felt he had done all he could as an amateur and wanted to instead represent Bahrain as their first IFBB Pro. Luckily, the leader of his nation, King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa; closely follows his career. The King agreed that it was time to move on to the next level, and generously offered to continue sponsoring him as they had done throughout his amateur career.

   

Off-season training split*

Day one:                       Legs

Day two:                       Chest

Day three:                     Back

Day four:                      Delts

Day five:                       Arms

*Weekends are usually off days.

 

Pre-contest training split

                         AM                               PM

Day one:           Chest                            Triceps and abs

Day two:           Quads                          Hamstrings and biceps

Day three:         Back                             Shoulders

Day four:          Off, repeat

 

Contest History

1993 IFBB Asian Amateur Championships                                  Junior Heavyweight winner

1994 IFBB Asian Amateur Championships                                  Junior Heavyweight winner

1996 IFBB Asian Amateur Championships                                  3rd, Light-middleweight

1997 IFBB Asian Amateur Championships                                  Light-middleweight, DQ

1998 IFBB Asian Amateur Championships                                  Light-middleweight, DQ

2003 IFBB Asian Amateur Championships                                  2nd, Middleweights

2003 IFBB Asian Games                                                            2nd, Middleweights

2005 Musclemania                                                                     Professional winner

2006 PDI Night of Champions (NYC)                                          Third place

2006 PDI Night of Champion Britain                                           Second place

2007 Pro Battle of Giants                                                           Winner

2007 PDI French Night of Champions                                         Second place

2008 Pro Battle of Giants                                                           Winner

2009 IFBB Asian Amateur Championships                                 Heavyweight winner

2009 IFBB World Amateur Championships                                  Light-Heavyweight winner

2010 IFBB Arnold Amateur                                                         2nd, Heavyweights

2010 IFBB Asian Amateur Championships                                  Heavyweight and Overall

2010 IFBB World Amateur Championships                                  Light-Heavyweight winner

2011 IFBB Arnold Amateur Championships                                 3rd, Light-Heavyweights

2011 IFBB Amateur Olympia                                                      Light-Heavyweight and Overall

2011 IFBB World Amateur Championships                                  Light-Heavyweight and Overall

2012 IFBB New York Pro                                                           Second place 212

2012 IFBB British Grand Prix                                                      Second place 212

2012 IFBB Prague Pro                                                               Second place 212

2013 IFBB New York Pro                                                           Second place 212

2013 IFBB Prague Pro                                                               Second place 212

2013 IFBB Mr. Olympia 212                                                        Sixth place

2014 IFBB UK Bodypower Pro                                                   212 Winner

2014 IFBB Korean Grand Prix                                                     Fourth place 212

2014 IFBB Mozolani Pro                                                            212 Winner

2014 IFBB Mr. Olympia 212                                                        Seventh place

2015 IFBB Europa Dallas                                                           Second place 212

2016 IFBB Mozolani Pro                                                            212 winner

2016 IFBB Mr. Olympia 212                                                        Fourteenth place

 

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE ON THE MD FORUM

 

 

FOLLOW MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT ON:

FACEBOOK: MuscularDevelopment Magazine

TWITTER: @MuscularDevelop

INSTAGRAM: @MuscularDevelopment

YOUTUBE: http://bit.ly/2fvHgnZ