(August 2023)
Jake Spitzack
Staff Writer
the urge to compete. One day last year, Burt marked his calendar for the International Pro Elite (IPE) Pro North American contest, held this past May in Bloomington, and began to train in secret, rather than at his regular gym in West St. Paul. Twenty weeks of a strict regimen – four weeks longer than his pre-retirement years – clearly paid off. He captured gold in the pro masters event and silver in the pro open bodybuilding event despite being older than most of the competitors. The gold winner in the latter event was 38, and in the IPE event, Burt took first place over the person who had won the event the previous four years.
“I call it muscle maturity from consistency and never really quitting,” said Burt, explaining his success. “I just kept with it [bodybuilding] through all the years…. I’m probably one of the longest standing bodybuilders, and I contribute that to being drug free.”
Burt retired in 2016 after taking bronze at a competition in New York. At that time, he felt his age may have been affecting his performance, but in the following years it became clear to him that he had to end his successful and storied career with a win. He said the recent IPE event was one of the most fun competitions he has ever been in and that preparing for it was like hopping back on a bike.
Burt began weightlifting at age 10 under his father’s guidance and entered his first bodybuilding competition at 18. He competed 37 times in the following 32 years and placed in the top five in all but one of those events. Some of his biggest wins include the 1999 Gopher State, 2003 Mr. Midwestern and 2003 Mr. Minnesota. In 2006, he took first at the Mr. Natural USA Overall and earned his professional status.
“I had gotten booked to guest pose at the Mr. Minnesota in 2007 and I thought it’d be cool to involve my dad in my choreographed routine,” said Burt. “The audience just went crazy because I had him in the front row and then he – at age 65 – ripped off his shirt and did some poses and copied my poses on stage…. I was really thankful for that opportunity because he started me in the sport years and years ago. Even though I wasn’t competing there it was my favorite time in my whole bodybuilding career.”
Burt’s father passed away later that year and one of his last wishes was that Larry compete on the pro circuit, which he went on to do for nine years before making his recent comeback. Competing at middleweight – 176 pounds – for most of his career, Burt said his motto is to train intensely, eat nutritiously and rest adequately. He also credits his faith as a source of strength.
“I’m passionate that the sport is mind, body and spirit,” said Burt. “I always give God all the glory and honor.” One way he brings his faith into bodybuilding is by performing his choreographed routines to Christian rock music.
Burt has witnessed the sport evolve over the years. Since his retirement, several new divisions have become commonplace at competitions across the country, including men’s physique and men’s classic physique. Likewise, the women’s bodybuilding division is now called women’s physique, and bikini and figure divisions were added. Each division has events for various age groups and specific metrics for scoring.
Judging is done by five officials who rate the athletes as they perform 12 mandatory poses on the stage, making a quarter turn between each pose. The high and low score for each athlete is discarded to help ensure fairness. In the past, entrants were required to perform a choreographed routine with music – as Burt did with his father in 2007 – but now that is optional. Burt, himself, began judging in 2000 and typically works three or four events per year.
“I tell the young lifters at the gym to stay away from anabolic steroids because it’ll cut your life short,” he said. “Some of the folks I competed with in the ’90s that used them have either passed away or have health issues today. I’ve been injury free and perfectly healthy my whole career.”
Burt’s biggest regret related to his sport is tanning for the last 40 years, both outside and in tanning beds. Last year he was diagnosed with skin cancer and had two spots removed from his leg. He said he used a spray tan the night before the recent IPE competition and that it worked well, so now he’s recommending that the younger generation do that instead. Teaching others is a passion for him. Each February since 2002 he has helped organize a free bodybuilding and fitness seminar in Bloomington. He said overtraining is a big problem for many, especially younger competitors, and that his biggest gains came when he cut back to working out just four times a week, concentrating on two different body areas per day.
Burt, who has spent his professional career in corporate security, has no plans to stop hitting the iron, although he’s considering retiring again after competing at the 2023 Pro Masters Worlds Championships held this October in Peoria, Ill. His first order of business is celebrating his recent victory – as well as his 34th anniversary with his wife – with a relaxing weekend and his signature cheat meal: “a nice hot, cheese pizza.”
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