Quick Stats

Name:  Johnny Starr
Age:  23
Height:  1,84 m
Competition weight:  78 kg
Current weight:  81 kg
Current city:  Melbourne, Australia
Occupation:  Real Estate Agent

At what age did you start training consistently and how did you get into this lifestyle?

I started lifting at a very young age; when I was 14 and 9 months (the earliest you are allowed to starting working in Aus).  I saved up and bought my first bench press.

“I literally did incline and flat bench every night in my garage before I went to bed for months on end.”

I then joined a local gym with all my mates at 16 and have consistently been training ever since.

What do you love about it and what keeps you motivated?

I love looking back at older photos of myself and then realizing that even though I’m not the biggest or most shredded guy going around, I have still come a very long way from my early ectomorph days.  I was also nearly murdered in a stabbing incident which woke me up and made me realize that life is far too short to not achieve greatness.

What are your thoughts on competing?

I didn’t start training to compete and it has never really been something I have considered.  Though allot of people of recent have suggested it might be a path I should consider….

What are your future plans?

Growing up I lacked allot of guidance regarding nutrition and training, and also received some terrible advice from people whom I thought knew what they were talking about.  I wish I had someone like myself now when I was young who could show me how to do things properly rather than wasting my time in the gym.

“So my plans for the future are to help inspire, motivate and educate new lifters to be better in all aspects of life not only gym.”

Take us through an average day of yours:

I am currently in a “lean bulk mode” …so I will wake up, have my vitamins and BCAA’s and a bowl of oats.  Cook my eggs, drive to work eat 4-5 meals at work.  Then come home have another meal, then go train, come home again, prepare my meals for the next day…troll facebook and go to bed 😛

Give us a brief description of your philosophy on your diet.

Below is my current lean bulk diet:

Please note, I have never ever counted calories or macros.  I go by the way my body is looking.  For example, if I need to lean up I cut out most carbs.

• 6:45am – 10g BCAA’s/glutamine/creatine/2 slices watermelon – protein shake                                                                      Krill oil, Vitamin C, Inner Health Plus, Multi V
• 7:30 – Bowl of Oats with Berries (add 1 scoop protein and cinnamon).  8 Egg whites and 2 whole eggs scrambled.
• 10:00 – 100g sweet potatoes, ½ cup red kidney beans, Broccoli, can of tuna in spring water, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1:00pm – Same as above but change Tuna for lean meat (Kangaroo/Chicken Liver/Veal)
• 3:00 – Same as above (change meat)
• 4:30 – protein shake -WPI (I use ISO SENSATION 93)
• 6:00 – 200g chicken/lean meat, 100gram sweet potatoes/broccoli

Pre Workout – BCAA’s (I use XTEND)/creatine/vitargo
Intra workout – BCAA’s (XTEND)
Post workout – Immediately 2 big slices watermelon THEN PWI Protein shake with creatine

• 9:45 – 200g red meat, sweet potatoes/broccoli
• 11:30 – (before sleep) Casein protein shake, Glutamine, GABBA, ZMA

Are you a firm believer in using supplements?  If so what are your top 3 fundamental supplements which you use and which you would recommend?

I am lucky enough to have the support from AAA Supplements Knox, who in Melbourne are one of the biggest and best supplement stores.

I LOVE

• ISO SENSATION 93 CHOCOLATE PWI protein.  (I use every day); low carb, high protein, easy to digest.
• Xtend (especially during cardio, keeps me from going Catabolic)
• Creatine.  I always use this when I am trying to put on size as I feel it helps with strength and fluid retention in the muscles.

Give us a brief description of your philosophy on your training and on average how long do you workout for?

I tend not to do anything too fancy with my training.

“I usually train one body part a week and start my sessions with compound movements first as they recruit more muscle fibers”

and better cellular breakdown (rather than doing an isolation movement for 15 minutes and using 3-4 muscles).
I love to drop set and superset nearly every session, and every now and again I go very light weight and super high reps to mix it up.  Always trying to stimulate my body to grow and develop.

What’s your favorite form of cardio?

If it wasn’t for those dirty house beats I would hate cardio!  But my favorite form is simply walking at 5 – 6 km per hour on full incline on a treadmill.
I have never really done HIIT.

What would you say are the best exercises you can do to really achieve well developed arms?

As we all know, the triceps make up a large percentage of our arms, but I feel some times we focus too much on our biceps.

• Close grip bench press
• Perfect curls with some drop sets have helped me over the years.

Do you believe in the philosophy of having a positive mindset in all that you do and visualizing everything that you want to achieve?

I am a firm believer in this philosophy.  I like to visualize where I am going with my life and set myself short term and long term goals to work at.

“I advise anyone reading this to remove any negative people from their lives as they will only bring you down.”

This is something I have done recently and since then things have only spiraled upwards.

How do you measure your progress and how often?

I used to be stuck on “HOW MUCH I WEIGHED” and was too concerned with packing on the KG’s.  This was a rookie mistake and I went through a terrible stage of getting fat from trying to eat everything in sight.  Though I reached 90 kg I looked terrible.  I now sit at approximately 80 kg with fairly low body fat….In other words don’t worry about the scales.
I measure myself on how proportioned I look and usually how lean I can get 🙂

Favorite Fitness Models:

My biggest inspiration hands down would be Zyzz.  I trained for years then saw him and wanted to take it to the next level. (RIP).  I also love Greg Plitt, Jaco De Bruyn, Ulissesjr, David Morin and my good friend and up and coming fitness model Jad Darwish.

Which do you prefer and why.  Today’s bodybuilders like Jay Cutler and Phil Heath, or the smaller physiques like Frank Zane.

I think most people would agree that the bodybuilders of yesteryear looked much more appealing and realistic.  I have complete respect for today’s champions but would prefer to look like Zane in his peak because I feel it is more aesthetic and more achievable.

Favorite Quote:

“Don’t tell people you’re gonna do it, just get it done, it will speak for itself!” – Myself

Advice for someone wanting to change their lifestyle and achieve their ideal physique?

The best thing I ever did was seek advice from someone that was a professional.  In the space of 6 weeks I learnt more than I had learnt from 5 years of training.  Learn through other peoples mistakes instead of making your own.

Where can people get hold of you?

• Website: www.johnnystarr.com.au
• Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/jstarrofficial
• Email: johnny[at]johnnystarr.com.au

Photography By:

Ross Brownsdon | www.rossbrownsdon.com