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March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com RH: First off, I was very sad to hear that your father had passed away in early December. If I’m not mistaken, didn’t your mom pass away a couple years ago while you were getting ready for the Arnold Classic?
VM: No, it was three weeks before the ’06 Olympia,
when I got top three for the first time. That was a really tough one. She had been very sick with cancer and it was bad.
RH: I think a lot of us have unfortunately seen that happen. How about your dad— was he sick? I know he was fairly old.
It’s almost time for the most anticipated comeback in the annals of bodybuilding. Victor Martinez has kept his legions of fans on ice for over a year. His date with destiny at the 2008 Arnold Classic and again at the Mr. Olympia were deferred due to his knee injury, but at last the long wait is over. Soon we will all see just how well his recovery went, and whether or not he is able to regain his previous winning form— or perhaps even surpass it. No less than Ronnie Coleman himself predicted that Victor would be the man to carry on his Mr. Olympia legacy. Could it come to pass? The testing ground will surely be the Arnold Classic and Martinez seems poised to make short work of that presti- gious event. Even the recent death of his father in December won’t sway his determination, because Victor is truly a man on a mission to take what’s rightfully his.
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MDVM: He was 89 years old and he had a heart condition, but it was still pretty sudden. He went upstairs to go to sleep, and I guess his heart went right when he got into bed.
RH: My condolences. After you tore your pec a couple years ago, you came back and were able to win the Arnold Classic. Does that give you added confi- dence that you still have what it takes to beat the best guys out there?
VM: It was a partial tear and it happened before the ’06 Arnold.
RH: My times are way off, sorry. But still— did that past experience make it easier to know that you could still be your best once you healed up?
VM: I always knew it was in me. No injury
could stop me unless it was something really terrible, God forbid. I have the energy and the drive to overcome any obstacle, and I’ve had many. The knee injury was just another challenge.
RH: The big question on everyone’s mind is: What if Victor’s leg isn’t exactly as big as the other one? Let’s say for the sake of argument that maybe it will be a tiny bit smaller than the leg that wasn’t injured. Dorian won at least one Olympia with a torn biceps that he never had reattached. More recently, Jay Cutler won two Mr. O titles with one leg that was much smaller than the other. So why would it be such a huge deal, a make-or-break situ- ation, if your previously injured leg isn’t exactly the same as it used to be?
VM: That is a good question. As long as my physique flows and I show up in great condition, I don’t see why it would matter. But I have it in my head that I have to be just that much better than another guy does, to get the same reward. I’m not bitter or upset about it, I just see it like that’s the way it is, so I need to work harder and look better.
RH: Speaking of the Olympia, you were there and even hung around backstage with the guys. Was it weird being there and not competing? What was it like watching the show and wanting to be up there battling it out? I read a report in FLEX magazine that almost made it sound like you were fighting back tears the whole time.
VM: That was a little exaggerated. Honestly, I did go through a lot of emotions a month or two before the show, because that’s the time I normally would have been coming into the final stage of my prep. It’s always a very exciting time, and here I was doing nothing. But by the time I actually got to the show, I had come to terms and accepted that I was sitting this one out. It was still weird, but I wasn’t crying my eyes out or sitting around all sad and depressed.
RH: Like all the top guys, you have your army of fans and your army of haters. How do you appreciate the first group and not let the second group get to you?
VM: I appreciate them both. I look at haters sort of like mag- gots or cockroaches. Your first instinct is to just think the world would be better off without them, right? But every creature
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serves some purpose and they keep the whole sys- tem in balance. Personally, I love it when the haters doubt me and say I am finished in the sport. It just gives me more drive to prove them wrong. They also generate more publicity by talking about you all the time. Someone once said that when nobody is talk- ing about you anymore, that’s the time to worry. Haters are an important part of the industry. At least, it helps me to think about it that way.
RH: Do you think you make a great target
for a lot of haters out there because you represent what they really fear and are most jealous of, this smooth, good-looking inner-city minority guy with one of the best physiques in the world? You’ve also been known to do OK with the ladies. In other words, does all the extra jealousy inspire extra hate and shit-talking?
VM: I guess so. I mean, these are disgruntled, unhap- py people who are not satisfied with their own lives and get angry and jealous at anyone who they think is happy or successful. I can’t even begin to guess the issues that really drive these people and I do feel bad for them. If I could say one thing to them, it would be this: Stop wast-
www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009 ing your time and energy complaining and hat- ing. Use that energy to make your own life bet- ter and achieve some of your goals so you won’t be so miserable.
RH: Where will you train for the Arnold? What are the names of the gyms you go to now that you live in New Jersey?
VM: I’m not that far away, just a 15-minute drive over the bridge or through the tunnel. Let’s
see: 19thStreet Gym, Steel Gym, and on week-
ends I like to hit Bev and Steve’s Powerhouse on Long Island. Oh yeah, Star Fitness in the Bronx too.
RH: Did you say Planet Fitness? VM: No! I have never set foot in a Planet Fitness. I don’t like any of those places where the yoga and aerobics people look down on anyone that trains hard. All the places I train at are more welcoming to bodybuilders.
RH: Yeah, I think if you walked into a Planet Fitness they would probably try to drive a stake through your heart or shoot you with silver bullets. You’re working with Chad Nicholls again. What is it about his style of contest prep that you like?
VM: It’s very basic, nothing too crazy. Nothing against other nutritionists or their type of dieting, but it’s a more balanced approach that doesn’t go to extremes. He doesn’t have you doing 3 hours of cardio, which I personally think is for girls. Any male bodybuilder is gonna lose mus- cle doing that much cardio, in my opinion. If you have to do that much cardio, then you got too f*cking fat in the off-season. The way Chad has you do it is very gradual, so you are still able to function even at the end. I’m not saying you don’t suffer toward the last few weeks, but you’re not feeling like you’re about to die or any- thing like that. The last thing I really like about Chad is that he isn’t always up my ass.
RH: Excuse me?
VM: I mean he’s not calling me every 20 min- utes to make sure I ate what I was supposed to or did my cardio. He trusts me to do the things I need to do. I’ve had other guys who were blow- ing up my phone all day and night and it just annoyed me.
RH: With so many other big-name prep guys out there like Hany, Dave Palumbo, and Joe McNeil, do you ever stop and think about trying one of them just to see how it would work out?
VM: I thought about Hany or Joe, but I’m happy with Chad. We work well together and I am satisfied with how he brings me into shows.
RH: In years past, your condition was a
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hit-or-miss thing. Sometimes you would look really good, and other times— not so great. What did you eventually figure out about your body and what it needs that allowed you to finally be more consis- tent with your condition?
VM: What I was just talking about with extremes? I found out my body doesn’t react well to anything too extreme. A more moderate approach with the diet works better. I also found that by eating cleaner in the off-season and not getting too out of shape in the first place, it wasn’t such a struggle to get in shape when the time came.
RH: Another vital part of your team is Victor Munoz, your trainer for the last 10 years. Do you think you could possibly push yourself as hard as Victor Munoz pushes you in the gym?
VM: Yeah, it’s not about that. I always push myself hard. My motivation comes from inside. I actually enjoy tortur- ing myself and seeing how much pain I can take before I quit. Victor is great at coming up with new ideas and new routines. That’s important when you train all the time, because it’s easy to just do the same things all the time. My training partner Jakob is also good for dreaming up new ways to pulverize the muscles.
RH: There is also a rumor going around that you might be training with Charles Glass sometime soon. Is there any truth to that?
VM: There is. I actually went out there this past summer and trained with him once. I got a whole new feeling in the muscle than what I was used to. Charles has worked with the best in the business, so it’s an honor to train with him. I will go out there for a week at a time every few months. I wish I could train with him more consistently, but we’re on opposite ends of the country.
RH: I just talked to Kai, and he wants to go out there a lot more often than that.
VM: Huh— does he have a relative working for the air- lines or something? That would get pretty pricey real fast.
RH: I would think so. I know you’re hungry for this win, but so are a few other guys. Kai and Branch both had to skip the Olympia due to injuries,
so you have to assume both are going to bring their ‘A’ game to you.
VM: Good, I hope they do! I want to win in a good line- up. Nothing takes the wind out of your sails more than hearing, yeah, he won, but it was a weak show and nobody looked too good. We are all rested up and hungry to win, so it will be a great show.
RH: What are the chances Dexter will compete? I know he’s not hurting for money these days, but he’s also the type to cash in whenever he sees a big paycheck up for grabs. Do you think he’ll be up there trying to win the Arnold in a few weeks?
VM: I seriously doubt it. It would be pretty risky for him. If he lost to me, it would not look good for him at the Olympia.
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RH: Heath is out of the Arnold. Do you think he would have given you any real trouble in Columbus? And now that he’s taking the time off to grow and improve for the Olympia, does that make him a bigger threat for the title in Vegas than he would have been without the time off?
VM: Probably, yeah. He keeps getting better and it’s because he takes all this time off to improve. He’s a young guy and still has plenty of shows left in him, so skipping one here and there isn’t a big deal. The Mr. Olympia is the title he wants, so it makes sense for him to focus on that now that he’s been third place.
RH: What about Dennis Wolf? He’s another guy out of the Arnold. If he had looked the same as at the O but with a lot more fullness, would he have been a problem for you? If not, what does he still need before he would be a problem?
VM: He’s not quite there yet. Dennis still needs to fill in his lower lats and maybe bring his calves up a little too. I don’t doubt that he is going to be great one day soon, but that day is still a little ways off.
RH: How does your desire to win this contest compare to past
shows? Has it already had an impact on how hard you’ve been training, or how strict you have been eating?
VM: I always train hard and diet the way I’m supposed to, but I have to say I am definitely hungrier to win this than anything else I have prepared for. I have never as a pro missed an entire year like I did in 2008. I almost won the Olympia; then when I was really on a roll I got hurt. I feel like I have a lot of missed time to make up for. The Arnold is a key show for me. I want to do what Dexter did in ’08 for this coming year: win the Arnold and then become Mr. O. And I know it won’t be handed to me on a silver platter. I’m gonna have to look that much better than all the other guys to convince the judges that I am the only possible choice for first place in both shows.
RH: Not that you ever trained recklessly, but knowing what’s at stake and the toll an injury can take on your career, do you train differently now than you did a few years ago?
VM: I’ve always trained carefully. Maybe it’s time to set the record straight about my knee injury. I hurt that knee way back in high school playing foot- ball, and I have had a partially torn patellar tendon ever since. That knee had been giving me pain on and off for years and years. At some points it would swell up and get so inflamed that I couldn’t even train legs. I couldn’t even train legs leading up to the 2005 New York Pro, and only worked them for the last five weeks before the Olympia that year. For the 2006 Mr. O I was only able to train legs for the last seven weeks. If I hadn’t been very careful and used strict form, the tendon would have gone a long, long time ago. It was just a matter of time, and it went when it did. Now that it’s been fixed, I don’t need to keep worrying about when it will finally give out. Nothing can stop me now.
Ron Harris is the author of “Real Bodybuilding— Muscle Truth from 25 Years in the Trenches,” available at www.ronharrismuscle.com.
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