Bill Starr’s Midlife Muscle Builder

Advice from Bill Starr (and Myself) for the Midlife Bodybuilders and Lifters

     Last week, I overdid it.  I should know better.  Actually, I do know better.  But, like all former elite athletes I’ve ever met with decades of training under their lifting belts, there are workouts and weeks when I decide to do a little too much—train too heavy, do cardio that is 

way too intense—if nothing than to see if I can still handle it.  Kinda stupid, I know.  But I still do it.  And every time that I do this, reality comes crashing back down to earth and I know I need to settle into a kinder, gentler training routine.  How do I know I overdid it?  Because I hurt like hell in my joints and pretty much want to take a nap all day long instead of staring at this computer screen and writing the very thing that you’re now reading.

     If you’re in your 40s and 50s, and have trained for a considerable amount of time, you probably know what I’m writing about.  You’re not quite young but you’re not really “old” yet, either.  (Okay, let it be known that I’ve been called “old man” more than once in recent years, usually at the dojo where I train martial arts with men half my age or younger, but it doesn’t help that I have mostly gray hair and a silver beard.  Anyway…)  You may not be eligible for AARP membership or that senior citizen coffee discount at the local clown-mascot fast-food chain, but you also have joints that can no longer handle heavy, all-out training sessions and your testosterone has declined every year after reaching 30 and you started losing muscle every year after 35.  You don’t want to—nor do you need to—train like a 70-year-old with a hip replacement but you also can’t train like a bodybuilder or powerlifter in his 20s or early 30s.  What to do?

     In this article, I want to present some of Bill Starr’s advice for this lifting group, largely men between the ages of 45-55.  As Starr pointed out, most of the training advice in the magazines (and, now, he would have probably said the internet) is for much younger lifters or much older lifters.  Starr himself wrote largely for the younger group but also contributed a number of articles for lifters in their late 50s, 60s, and beyond.  Here, however, I will present his advice for the “midlife lifter,” along with some of my own observations as I am, myself, in this age group.

     Most of the advice here will apply to midlife lifters who have been training for years.  A lot of the problems seasoned lifters in this age group face are not faced by lifters in this age group who are new to lifting, mainly because of the ego.  And it’s toward the ego that I want to first look.  Ego, you ask?  Yes, ego.  I’ll let Starr take over on this front: “The group I’m addressing can still lift heavy without any dire consequences. And I learned long ago that someone who’s still able to move big numbers is going to do just that. In many instances, self-esteem is directly linked to how much weight one can lift in a certain exercise, generally the bench press. To lose that lift is to lose a large chunk of an ego.

     “Regardless of how physically gifted individuals may be, there will always come a time when they can no longer lift what they did previously. That’s a critical juncture in overall future health and well-being.

     “I don’t know for certain, but I’d hazard a guess that all lifters who have at some point elevated a considerable amount of iron fight the realization that they can no longer do so. It’s the nature of the competitive athlete. Some push on until they injure themselves so severely that they have to stop weight training altogether. That’s not good and will markedly influence the remainder of their lives.

     “There are also those who are so intent on being strong that they decide to use steroids to aid their cause. Steroids help, but only for a short time, and during the layoff strength plummets like an angry guillotine. That results in shorter layoffs from the drugs and increasing the doses for the next go-round. Just look at how many pro wrestlers and powerlifters have died in recent years while still in their 50s. I call it suicide by virtue of an enlarged ego. Drugs for older lifters are an invitation to disaster. They often cause things to grow that shouldn’t.

     “Some, when they discover that they can no longer be the best bencher or squatter in the gym, quit training completely. They simply cannot deal with handling only light poundages on exercises that they used to excel in or with being bested on their pet lifts by others in the facility. It’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face. It’s stupid, and there will be negative consequences.”

     If any of the above describes you, then the remainder of this article should be of help.

     First off, when should you start training in the manner that will be presented here? The answer is the same answer that I give to a lot of questions—and it usually annoys the questioner.  But the answer is it depends.  Some will need to start training in this manner in their late 30s or early 40s, usually because they began training at a young age and moved a lot of heavy iron during those years.  I’m in this camp.  I started training in martial arts when I was 10 and started lifting weights just a few years after that.  Although I was never a naturally big guy, I was very strong.  I was an elite powerlifter by the time I was in my late 20s, and by the time I was 38, I already had neck/back surgeries, along with several partial muscle tears, and couldn’t lift my hands overhead without reeling in pain.  Other guys can train hard and heavy into their 50s.  My Uncle Kirk is an example.  He still lifts damn heavy in his 70s (on occasion) and didn’t have to switch over to the kind of training presented here until he was in his mid 60s.  So, yeah, it depends.  Only you can answer the question, but just don’t be stupid.  If you know you need to train smarter, then do it.

     Some lifters have a hard time changing over to midlife training because of pride.  They’re accustomed to moving heavy iron in the gym and are accustomed, also, to folks seeing them move heavy poundages.  Here’s Starr’s advice: purchase some weights and some equipment—you don’t need a whole lot—and train at home.  Starr again: “There, no one will see how much weight is on the bar, and home training has many advantages. It gives you great freedom about when you can train, an important consideration for anyone who is extremely busy. You can work at your own pace and not have to be bothered about waiting for a station. You can experiment with new exercises and different set-and-rep formulas and pay closer attention to your form than when you’re in a crowded gym.

     “With a small amount of equipment you can do a wide range of exercises. Start with a power rack or squat rack. Add an adjustable bench where you can do flat, incline and upright presses and then a decent Olympic bar with as many plates as you can afford and a few dumbbells, and you’re in business.” 

     Okay, now on to the next question: How should you train?  First I’m going to give you Starr’s recommended routine, then I’ll give you some options that I personally suggest.

Bill Starr’s Midlife Muscle Builder

Monday
Back squats 3 x 20
Bench presses 3 x 20
Deadlifts 3 x 20
Chins 3 x as many as you can do
Calf raises 3 x 30*

*If you don’t have the benefit of a calf machine, three sets of as many as you can do.

Wednesday
Lunges 3 x 20
Good mornings 3 x 20
Standing or seated presses 3 x 20
Straight-arm pullovers 2 x 40
Dumbbell curls 3 x 40

Friday
Back squats 3 x 20
Incline presses 3 x 20
Bent-over rows Alternating with shrugs 3 x 20
Calf raises 3 x 30
Dips 3 x 30

     You may notice that, via exercise selection, this is still, essentially, a heavy/light/medium program.  Here are some of Starr’s tips for using this routine:

• If your schedule permits, slip in another session, but three will get the job done.

• If you haven’t been training for a while, just do one set of each exercise for the first week. Then increase to two sets the second week and move on to three once you feel you’re able to recover from two sets. Most figure the move to higher reps will be a walk in the park. It isn’t. In truth, it can be extremely demanding—and should be if you want to achieve results. You can use the first set as a warmup; it doesn’t have to be that tough. Load more weight on the bar or select a heavier dumbbell for the second set. It should work you. The third set should be hard, and the final five reps should tax you. If you could have done another half dozen reps, you need to use more weight.

• Learning exactly how much weight to use on the various exercises will take some trial and error. That’s all right. There’s no reason to be in a hurry.

• You may want to try using this routine on just one primary exercise to see how it feels and stay with your regular set-and-rep formula on your other lifts. Let’s say fives and threes are working well for your back and leg exercises, but your shoulders and elbows are sending signals that the lower reps are hurting more than helping. Use three sets of 20s on all your upper-body exercises, and stay with the fives and threes for your squats, high pulls, deadlifts, bent-over rows, and shrugs.

• If you’re able to do dynamic movements, you can include such lifts as power cleans, high pulls and power shrugs. If not, stick with the static exercises. They’ll serve your purpose just as well.

• Prior to each session do an exercise for your abs, lower back and shoulders, such as a set of situps or crunches to max, a set of back hypers or reverse back hypers for 50 to 100 high reps, and one set of front raises with dumbbells for 40 to 50 reps. The warmups will ensure that your older body is ready for the workload ahead.

• The entire workout can be done in an hour and 15 minutes. If you lean into the third sets, you’ll find that the muscles worked will be just a tad sore the following day. That’s what you want. A sore muscle is a good muscle.

     Now for some of my own thoughts.  I love Starr, and I think you absolutely can’t go wrong with his program above or his advice on how to utilize it, but there are other options for the midlife lifter.  I also think Starr would have agreed with that statement.  Let’s look at some of these alternatives.

     When I suggest a program like Starr’s, or some of the other high-rep options I’ve offered over the years, for the midlife lifter, I typically receive one pushback over anything else.  The middle-of-life lifter wants to know if there is a program he can still use that utilizes heavy training.  Maybe.  It really does depend on whether or not one’s body can still handle the heavier poundages, but if there is a program, it’s most likely some form of easy strength.  Even though you still train heavy with an easy strength program, your overall workload is quite low.  In fact, Starr’s program above has a much higher workload than anything you would use easy strength-wise.  So, if you still want to attempt to lift heavy, start with something such as my 30-Rep Program.

     One mistake that most older lifters make is that they try to still train heavy and hard but just take more time off between workouts.  Now, to some extent, this isn’t always a bad idea.  If you are in your 30s, for instance, and you have yet to experience too much pain or too many nagging injuries but you have been training for years, then you might want to begin by taking a few more rest days here and there.  But it’s important to do this before the injuries start to add up.  If you’ve already experienced a lot of pain and still haven’t made changes to your program, taking this approach will often not help.  Instead, the extra rest often fools the lifter into thinking he can handle more work and, so, he ends up training even harder (or heavier) during his workouts and ends up in worse condition than before.  If you can train more frequently, then you should.  You just have to be intelligent about the programming.  You may not be able to outlift younger trainees but you can outtrain them.  Older lifters often have a better work capacity than their much younger counterparts.  Take advantage of that by training smarter not harder but less often.

     You may do well with a program that uses rep ranges in between 5s (or less) and the 20s of Starr’s routine.  Instead of doing 3 sets of 20 reps on your lifts, try 5 to 6 sets of 10-12 reps.  As an example, you could select a weight where you could get roughly 20 reps for one all-out set and do 5 sets of 10 reps with that weight.  That’s still 50 reps with a weight that’s tough for 20.  But, since none of the sets are approaching failure, your older body can handle the workload.  You can take this approach and apply it to full-body workouts 3 times per week or you could split your body in half—still doing the same amount of exercises—and train 6 days per week.  Of course, you need to have the time to make it to the gym 6 days per week—and this is one area where having a home gym helps—but shorter, more frequent workouts can be quite effective.

     When you are finished with your workout, or on your off days, be sure to add some easy cardio.  As you age, this becomes more and more important.  You want to keep your cardiovascular system in good condition.  Starr always recommended an hour workout followed by an hour walk.  Don’t worry, there’s no need to run or even jog—in fact, those are often too hard on the older lifter’s joints, particularly his knees.  Walking is really all you need.  If you can’t fit in an hour, then 30 minutes of walking 5 to 6 days a week is a good option.

     If you’re an older lifter, and you realize that it might be time to start making some changes to your training, give Starr’s program or one of my suggestions a try.  More muscle, better conditioning, and a well-balanced physique can be achieved at any age.

Sources

Starr’s workout program and all of his quotes are from the article “Midlife Muscle” from the May, 2010 issue of IronMan magazine.