Bill Starr’s Training

I was having a discussion with Rip about Bill Starr’s training, and
we both concluded that in all of his articles and books, Starr had
never written about his own training.

Bill Starr was one of
the few athletes who excelled in all three iron sports back in the
day. He was nationally ranked in the top five in Powerlifting and
Olympic Weightlifting. Although he dabbled in bodybuilding, he mostly
held disdain for the sport. This was the pre-Ronnie Coleman era, when
most bodybuilders looked strong but were not truly strong.

Starr’s bodybuilding
career began and ended with his second-place finish at the Mr. Middle
Atlantic Championships, where he was runner-up to Mr. Universe, Bill
March. Starr showed me a photo of him on the victory stand next to
March. His traps dwarfed the rest of his body, and his long ears
added to the lack of symmetry in his physique.

Training
with Bill Starr

I started training with
Bill Starr when I was 15 years old. We trained together in Maryland,
North Carolina, Texas, Colorado, California, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
and Hawaii. His basic workout was consistent wherever he went, and he
always trained at the same time. The longest streak of not missing a
workout was a remarkable 17 years. Starr never missed a session for
holidays, special occasions, or travel days. Starr was very scheduled
and only traveled on his rest day, which was Saturday. He referred to
it as his “slug day” – the only day he rested during the week.

The first day I worked
out with Bill Starr, he had me do heavy rack shrugs at the Bel Air
Athletic Club – 10 sets of five reps. After my final set, I asked
him what was next. Starr replied, “Go home and come back tomorrow.”
The next day, Starr had me do the same thing: 10 sets of 5 reps power
shrugs, but with 50 more pounds. This routine continued for two
weeks. My last set at the end of those two weeks was 405 lbs for 5
reps. Only then did Starr start coaching me.

He said he was hoping I would go away, but since I was still there,
he decided to coach me. For the next four months, I did whatever
Starr was doing. Coaching to Starr meant doing what he told you to
do. He rarely provided feedback, having taught himself how to lift
and figured things out independently until he met National Champion
Sid Henry, the last person to coach him.

Starr’s
Stubbornness

When I first started
training at York Barbell, I asked legendary Olympic Coach Dick
“Smitty” Smith if he had ever coached Bill Starr. He replied,
“Starr was uncoachable. Had he listened to anyone, he could have
been a world champion.” According to Smitty, Starr was one of the
strongest individuals he had ever seen. Smitty also coined the
nickname “Rockman” for Starr, joking that killing Starr would be
easy – just tell him he must breathe.

Starr reserved Mondays
for his heavy days. He would pick me up at my house on Monday at 3:30
to go train. During the drive, he drank a mason jar of coffee mixed
with milk and honey, which he called “Magic Bean.”

Monday (Heavy Day)

• Twists: 100
• Sit-Ups (Slant Board):
  100
• Back Squat: 5×5
  Maximum
• Bench Press: 5×5
• Halting Deadlifts: 5×5
• Seated Dumbbell Curls:
  2×15
• Pullovers: 2×15
• Leg Raises: 100

Tuesday

• Twists: 100
• Sit-Ups: 100
• Dumbbell Inclines: 5×6
  (Last set: 110 lbs)
• Power Snatch: 5×3
• Weighted Dips: 3×10
• Pull-Ups: 5×10
• Baby Cows (Calf Raises,
  Standing): 5×30 reps
• Leg Raises: 100

Wednesday

• Back Squat: 5×5
• Bench Press: 3×5, 3×1
  (Heavy)
• Good Mornings: 5 sets
• Dumbbell Presses: 3×10
• Leg Raises

Thursday (No Weights)

Friday

• Twists: 100
• Sit-Ups
• Squat: 5×10
• Bench Press: 5×5
• Shrugs: 5×5
• Straight Arm Barbell
  Pullovers: 3×15
• Seated Dumbbell Curls:
  3×15
• Leg Raises

Saturday

Sunday

Bill Starr had a unique, often witty, and sometimes insulting sense
of humor. Compliments were rare, and when he gave them, you knew you
had done something exceptional. Starr never tolerated cheating on
lifts, and you would only ask him once to judge the depth of your
squat.

He was a hardheaded,
relentless trainer with a dedication to consistency and intensity.
Whether you wanted his coaching or not, his methods produced results
– if you could endure them.

A
Vintage Bill Starr Moment at MAC Barbell

One of my fondest
memories of training with Bill Starr happened at MAC Barbell in Grand
Prairie, Texas. MAC (the Metro Athletic Club) was home to some of the
strongest powerlifters in the state.

It was a typical Monday
– hot and humid, with the Texas heat working overtime. About
three-quarters of the way through my session, Starr walked up to me
and said, “We’ve got to hurry up. The gang’s showing up at
5:30, and I want to be out of here before then.”

I was a little
disappointed – I had been looking forward to seeing some big lifts.
Still, Starr grabbed his gym bag, motioned for me to follow, and we
headed toward the door. The gym was mostly empty.

Just as we reached the
exit, the door swung open, and in walked the Marken brothers, Dennis
and Larry. Starr had told me stories about the Marken brothers from
Denton. Both were incredibly strong, each having squatted over 700
pounds. They immediately bombarded Starr with training questions. He
was cornered – there was no escaping now.

Next in was Clay
Patterson, a National and World Champion powerlifter. Clay was one of
the best 242-pounders in the world, with a total of over 2,100 pounds
between the squat, bench press, and deadlift.

The platforms quickly
started filling up.

What I always liked
about MAC Barbell was the old-school setup – each platform was
stacked with 45- and 100-pound plates. Change plates were rare and
had to be hunted down like buried treasure.

Clay asked Starr if
he’d judge their squats since he was already there. Starr was
staying with Clay at the time, and I figured he said yes out of pure
politeness. He pulled up a bench and sat quietly, watching the
lifters.

He didn’t say a word
until the bar hit 600 pounds. Once that weight was on the bar, Starr
agreed to start judging depth. The first lifter completed his squat
and looked over. Starr gave him a nod and said,
“Too high. I
wouldn’t have passed it.”

This continued for the
next ten lifters. One after another: 

“Too high.” 

“Wouldn’t
pass.” 

“Not low enough.”

It was as if the air
had been sucked out of the room. The gym grew eerily quiet. Clay’s
brother Doug Patterson – the owner of MAC Barbell – had been
watching the whole thing unfold. Just minutes before, the room had
been full of giants, chests puffed out, heads high, lats flared. Now,
those same giants looked like regular men deflated and grounded,
brought back down to Earth by a legend who expected more.

To be fair, I’d been
around powerlifters for a while. I could tell when a squat was to
depth, and of the ten Starr turned down, I’d say eight were solid
and two were borderline. Doug eventually called Starr into his
office and told him he was crushing the confidence of his lifters,
who were preparing for the Texas State Championships. Starr smiled
and said, “Mission accomplished.”

“Mission?” Doug
asked.

“My mission was to
make sure they never bother me again. I’m late for din-din.”

He grinned, and we
turned toward the door. Just as we were leaving, one of the lifters
shouted after him, “You can’t just leave without telling us what
to fix! Are we not going below parallel?”

Starr turned around,
walked up to the guy, grabbed him by the traps, and said, “Lose
weight – you’re too chubby.” This was classic Bill Starr.

Training
With Bill Starr at WFAC

The first time I
trained at Wichita Falls Athletic Club with Bill Starr was
unforgettable. Starr was already a living legend. Starr was staying
with Rip out at the ranch. Rip, a rising young powerlifter and recent
gym owner, had trained under Starr, and their mentor-student dynamic
was as strong as ever. Starr liked to joke that WFAC was the
second-biggest tourist attraction in Wichita Falls, right after the
Falls themselves. “The World’s Littlest Skyscraper,” (look it
up) he said, “comes in a distant third.”

Staying at Rip’s was
just as entertaining as training at the gym. Most mornings kicked off
with a battle of wits between Rip and Starr over coffee. It was
spirited, relentless, and highly caffeinated. Rip made the best
coffee in North Texas, and the only thing more vicious than their
verbal sparring was the real stuffed piranha that sat on the kitchen
table – a gift to Starr from Dr. Craig Whitehead.

But WFAC wasn’t about
show. It was a place to train. I was prepping for Nationals, and the
gym had everything a serious lifter could want. That day, Starr had
finished his squats and was warming up for the bench press. I had
just wrapped up my snatch work when he asked me for a lift-off on a
top set – 315 pounds for five reps.

Now, Starr benched with
military discipline. Every rep paused on the chest, elbows tucked,
bar path vertical. He had no patience for sloppy lifting. If you
bounced the bar off your chest or bridged your hips, and he was
spotting, he’d yank the bar back into the rack mid-lift, no
warning.

He had little love for
modern trends. CrossFit, for example? “They can’t even put their
shoes on without cheating,” he once muttered. I asked what he
thought of kipping pull-ups. His answer: “They’re not pull-ups.”

Starr wasn’t just a
technician – he was also a master prankster. I’d been the target
of more than a few of his stunts over the years, so I saw this bench
press set as my chance for some playful revenge.

He ground out the
fourth rep – a real grinder – and I leaned in, full of
encouragement: “You got this! One more!” He went for it. The bar
came down, paused on his chest… and didn’t move.

“Take it!” he
barked. He was cooked.

That’s when I sprang
the trap. I grabbed the bar with a close grip and began lifting…
very slowly. An inch at a time.
“You got this, Starr!” I
said, cheerfully. “Push!”

His eyes glassed over.
His arms trembled. “Take it! Take it now!”

I just kept coaxing,
drawing it out, savoring the moment. Then I made a fatal mistake. I
looked up – scanning the room looking for Rip. I wanted a witness
to this perfect payback. But the second I turned my head, the bar
suddenly got very heavy. I looked back down, and Starr was gone.

Now I was the one
stuck, holding 315lbs. a foot away from my body, arms straining,
fingers trapped tight against the bench. I panicked. “Starr! Are
you going to help me?”

He just grinned and
walked away. “You got this.”

I was trapped. With
everything I had left, I managed to tilt the bar, sending plates
crashing everywhere.
The gym shook. The bar whipped violently
onto the bench. The plates slid off one side, sending the bar
whipping to the floor with the crashing of weights. So yes, I got my
revenge. And Starr got the last laugh. That day, I learned two
things:

1. Never prank Bill
Starr.

2. If you do, make sure
you’re way stronger and more cunning than he is – or at least
faster.

I always saw training
with Bill Starr as both an honor and an adventure. He was a legend in
the iron game, a man whose presence in any weight room instantly
raised the bar, literally and figuratively.

Starr didn’t just
teach me how to lift heavy weights. He shared his vast knowledge, his
uncompromising standards, and introduced me to a network of
incredible people – including Rip. Training with him opened doors
for me across the country. Wherever I went, just saying I had been
coached by Bill Starr earned me instant respect.

He was universally
liked, deeply respected, and admired by everyone who mattered in
strength training. I’ll never forget the day I told Louie Simmons,
of Westside Barbell fame, that Bill had passed. Louie – one of the
toughest men in the sport – broke down and cried for five straight
minutes. When Louie finally composed himself, he said: “This is the
saddest day of my life. The world just lost a giant of a man, and I
lost a good friend.”

Louie was right.

Bill Starr’s Best
Lifts

• Back Squat: 595 lb
• Bench Press: 445 lb
• Deadlift: 705 lb
• Clean: 445 lb
• Press: 365 lb
• Snatch/Split: 320 lb

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