Heavy/Light/Medium Training: Getting Bigger

 

Heavy/Light/Medium Training
Part 6: Getting Bigger

Starr in his competitive days

A Sample Workout Program + Bill Starr’s Dietary Advice for Adding Bulk

     Bill Starr had some damn sagely advice for getting bigger.  Heck, I suppose all of his advice was sagely, for that matter.  So, in this, the 6^th part of our ongoing series on Starr’s H/L/M training, I’m going to present that advice to you, dear reader.

     We will cover both diet and training for getting bigger, because one won’t work without the other.

     Before we go any further, this essay, just like the ones that preceded it, builds upon the other installments.  So, for the simple sake of clarification alone, it would be a good idea to read the parts before continuing here.  Here are the links:

Part One – program design

Part Two – upper body pressing power

Part Three – building the squat

Part Four – back and pulling strength

Part Five – variations and advanced training

     If you don’t read any of those, and you’re not familiar with the nuances of Starr’s methodology, you may not understand everything that follows—though the dietary advice is good no matter what form of bulk-building you wish to undertake.

     We’ll cover the training first and diet second.

 

Bulk-building Workouts

     Starr’s system is often thought of as a great way to build tremendous strength, which it undoubtedly is, but it’s also very good for hypertrophy, something it doesn’t get enough credit for.  The primary reason for that is probably that it doesn’t look anything like the kind of programs used by almost all bodybuilders these days.  But there was a time in the not-too-distant past when the top bodybuilders in the world did use programs similar to Starr’s workouts.  In fact, before the advent of steroids, this kind of training was almost exactly the kind of training used by the best bodybuilders of the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s.  (If you want to know more about the training of old-school bodybuilders from those eras, check out my essay from last month “Real Bodybuilding the Old School Way.”)

     There have definitely been advancements in training, nutrition, and supplementation since those decades, but for natural bodybuilders, I think this form of lifting, or something very similar, is going to yield better results than the training currently utilized by most natural lifters.  If you look at the top natural bodybuilders today, you will find very few who can match the physiques of the natural lifters of the “Silver” or “Golden” eras of bodybuilding.

     Whereas multi-bodypart split training is great for steroid users, I believe that natural bodybuilders need to take advantage of more frequent training and full-body workouts.  H/L/M training fits that bill.

     When using the H/L/M system for the specific purpose of gaining mass, I believe it’s best to do fewer total exercises but more work on each movement that you do utilize.  In other words, stick with squats, a press variation, and a pull variation—and not much else—but work those exercises hard and for a fairly high amount of volume.

     Although this isn’t a popular notion, I believe that natural bodybuilders on average should do more not less.  Once again, however, this must be more work on only a few basic, compound movements.  Also, you can’t do this kind of training all the time, but when you focus on really working hard for 6 to 8 weeks, coupled with a large quantity of muscle-building food (which we’ll get around to shortly), then you will get very good results.

     If you’re new to H/L/M training, stick with the standard 5x5 as discussed in past essays, along with a couple of back-off sets of 8 reps.  If, however, you are more advanced, and you have the work capacity to handle it, do the “regular” 5x5 followed by 5 back-off sets of 8 reps, for a total of 10 sets on each lift.  Use that method for your squats and your pressing exercise, but not for your pulling movement.  For your pulls, do less reps but more sets, so that you are using between 8 to 10 sets of 3 to 5 reps.

     As it will help with packing on the mass, the other thing I would like you to do when attempting to gain weight is to make sure that you are doing some sort of loaded carry at the end of your heavy and medium day.  It can be farmer walks, stone or sandbag carries, sled drags, or heck, you can push your truck around the cul-de-sac while it’s in neutral, just make sure that your old lady (or old man) is inside of it steering.

     Here is what an example program might look like for bulk-building:

Monday – Heavy Day

Squats: 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by 5 straight sets of 8 reps.

Bench presses: 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by 5 straight sets of 8 reps.

Deadlifts: 10 sets of 3 reps.  Work up over 5 progressively heavier sets of 3 reps.  Stick with that weight for another 5 sets of 3 reps.

Barbell curls: 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps (no back-off sets)

Loaded carry of your choice: 1 or 2 sets

Wednesday – Light Day

Lunges: 5 sets of 5 reps (each leg).  Work up over 5 progressively heavier sets.  No back-off sets for the light day.

Military presses: 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by 5 straight sets of 8 reps.

Power snatches: 8 sets of 3 reps.  Same method as the deadlifts from your heavy day, but with 2 less “straight” sets at the end.

Friday – Medium Day

Front squats: 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by 5 straight sets of 8 reps.

Incline bench presses: 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by 5 straight sets of 8 reps.

Power cleans: 10 sets of 3 reps.  Same method as the deadlifts from the heavy day.

Alternate dumbbell curls: 5 sets of 5 reps (each arm)

Loaded carry of your choice: 1 or 2 sets

     You can add in a set or two of abdominal work if you want, though it’s not necessary, but refrain from adding any other work to the above program.  Also, make sure that you’re taking it easy and doing as little other activities as possible outside of the weight room.  But it still won’t work if you’re not eating enough calories and getting enough protein.  So, with that in mind, let’s discuss diet next.

 

Eat Big to Get Big

     “Step 1 (to gaining weight) is so basic, it’s often overlooked,” Starr said.  “In order to gain weight, you need to take in more calories than you burn off.  There’s no other method, regardless of what some of the nutritional companies tell you.  At first, the idea of eating great quantities and lots of all kinds of food might seem quite easy.  Almost everyone I know loves to eat.  Even big eaters are in for a surprise, however.  Eating lots for a few days is a lark.  Eating lots for a couple months is a horse of another color.  Here’s the kicker when it comes to gaining weight: you have to eat more than you burn off every single day.  No days off.  No exceptions.  If you’re looking to lose weight, you can cheat on your diet a day or two a week and still meet your goals, but if you’re looking to gain, you must religiously ingest lots and lots of calories every day.  I say ingest because many of the calories will be in liquid form.”

     Starr’s advice is just as sound today as when he wrote those words in the last century.  Now, before you say to yourself, “hmm, I don’t think Starr knows what he’s talking about; I can easily eat a lot of food every day for weeks on end,” understand that he wasn’t talking about eating junk food or fast food, but he was talking about eating real food.  You want to pack on the mass, not inches around your midsection.

     He also believed—as you probably figured unless you’ve had your head in the bodybuilding sand since you first took up the barbell—in consuming 5 to 6 meals spaced evenly throughout the day, and in never skipping breakfast.  When you open your eyes soon as you wake in the morning, you need to start eating right away.

     Starr also thought you should plan ahead so that you’re not rushing to look for something to eat first thing in the morning.  “Make a dozen hard-boiled eggs the night before.  Throw down two or three with some juice or milk and go on your merry way.  Or eat a bagel with some juice or milk.  Long before steroids or amino acids came on the scene, bodybuilders relied on hard-boiled eggs to maintain a positive nitrogen balance, eating them throughout the day.  I can recall travelling with Bill St. John after he won the Mr. USA, and he carried a sack of hard-boiled eggs with him.  Every few hours I’d hear him crack open a couple.  In the course of a day, he’d take in an additional 100 grams of protein plus valuable vitamins and minerals.”

     Speaking of protein, Starr believed that it was by far the most important of the three macronutrients for getting bigger.  And how much protein?  “A hard-training individual can utilize 2 grams of protein daily for each pound of bodyweight.  That was the guideline used be the East European lifters in the late 1960s.  It was so much higher than the American recommendations at the time that many people believed it was not only out of reach but risky as well.  Several of us­—Tommy Suggs and Bob Bednarski—at the York Barbell Company tried it, and we all got an immediate strength boost.  The problem, we learned, was not that we were getting too much protein but, rather, that it was difficult to eat enough to meet our requirements.”

     In order to meet those requirements, Starr recommended drinking a few protein milkshakes in between meals.  To do this, you don’t have to go out and buy an expensive protein powder or other protein supplements.  Here’s a recipe from Randall Strossen’s book “Super Squats” that you can make in the morning and then sip on all day:

Randal Strossen’s Basic Super Squat Protein Drink

4 cups milk

2 cups powdered milk

¼ cup brewer’s yeast

1 banana

2 tablespoons lecithin

1 tablespoon wheat germ oil

1 large scoop vanilla ice cream

This makes one all-day serving containing:

Calories: 1,890

Protein: 121 grams

Carbs: 209 grams

Fat: 76 grams

     How can you be sure that you’re consuming enough protein daily? “The very easiest way is to check your fingernails,” Starr said.  “They’re made of protein and will give you an accurate feedback.  If your nails are soft and brittle, then you’re coming up short.  They should be so strong that you can’t bend them without effort, and when you’re eating lots of protein they should grow rapidly.”  Same thing, I would add, with your hair.  Your hair should be healthy and grow quickly too.

     Now, what about the whole food that you need to be eating?  After all, you want to use protein shakes (and, possibly, other supplements) as additions to your meals, not in replacement of them.  In an essay last year, I gave this as a good grocery list for your meals.  Eat as much of the following as you want:

• Chicken
• Steak
• Fish (preferably tuna or salmon), canned or fresh, doesn’t matter
• Pork chops or pork loin
• Various cheeses
• Heavy cream (I mainly use this for smoothies, though it’s great for coffee, as well)
• Eggs (I eat a minimum of 6 eggs daily, sometimes with the above heavy cream if nothing else than to honor Vince Gironda.)
• Real butter (This means NO margarine or any other “buttery spread.”  The only ingredient should be, duh, butter—and maybe salt.)
• Salad kits (I personally think this is one of the best things you can get at the grocery store for ease of preparation, not to mention “tastiness.”  I throw some chicken on the grill, open up a Caesar salad kit, and I’m “good to go.”)
• Fruits (buy more berries than anything else—blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries are the correct choices, along with some occasionally “starchier” fruits such as apples, peaches, and bananas; lemons and limes are also good for adding to water, salads, and even your cooked meats)
• Fibrous vegetables (if it’s green, then it fits the bill here)
• Olive oil (Use this to coat almost any meat that you bake or grill; it’s also fantastic for salads or even as a “shot” to start your morning along with your heavy cream-filled coffee.)
• Lastly, of course, the “good” starches: oats, potatoes (the more varieties of colored spuds, the better), and rice (brown or white)

     Make sure that you calculate all of your calories and all of your other macronutrients to ensure that you’re getting enough food.  Your goal should be about 30 times your bodyweight in calories on a daily basis.

 

     In summary, if you’re looking to get big, make sure that you’re training hard, eating big, and getting plenty of rest outside of the gym.  Attack the weights and your diet with relentless dedication.  Getting big may not be easy but it’s definitely achievable.

 

 

 

Sources

“Getting Bigger, Part One,” by Bill Starr, from the August 1998 issue of Iron Man magazine

“Getting Bigger, Part Two,” by Bill Starr, from the September 1998 issue of Iron Man magazine