THE COMEBACK OF VICTOR - Muscular Development №1 2009

MARTINEZ

PART 2

NEXT YEAR’S

VICTOR!

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VM: Come on, man; are you serious? I have worn those for some photo shoots, but not once in real life.

RH: OK, enough about how long your shorts are. Did it kill you to see Dexter win the Mr. Olympia when you have beaten him the last three times you competed against him, including two Olympias and

an Arnold?

VM: It was a mixed feeling. On one hand, yeah, it was great to see Dexter get it because he’s been knocking on that door a long time. But it also was tough because I knew that could have been me up there winning. It should have been me, if I hadn’t got hurt.

RH: Were you happy to see the

judges do the right thing and let the best man win? And at the same time, were you wondering why it didn’t work out that way for you back at last year’s Olympia when you had Jay beat fair-and-square?

VM: That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t know why they decid- ed on Dexter. Maybe they figured

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January 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com they would let Jay slide one time, but if he showed up looking bad again they would have to finally punish him and take his title away. I have no idea what goes on in the judges’ minds.

RH: Do you think Jay looked worse last year, or this year?

VM: Condition-wise, he was worse last year. But over- all, his physique looked a lot more beat-up and funky this year. Not only did I think Dexter had him beat easily, but Phil Heath should have beaten him, too. Probably even

Wolf and maybe Toney. But fourth, fourth was about where I would have had Jay this time.

RH: Do you think Dexter will be your biggest threat next year as the defending champion, or is it possible Phil Heath or Dennis Wolf could end up being the toughest guys to beat?

VM: I don’t underestimate anybody. Phil keeps getting better. Wolf didn’t look better this time, but I think that’s just because he messed up at the end. I had seen him guest pose earlier in the year and he had made improvements.

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I have beaten Dexter the last couple times we competed against each other, but he’s Mr. Olympia now. History shows that the man holding the title can show up a little off and still win.

RH: After that fiasco last year, you talked about how you thought you would probably need to bring the same package but with 5-10 percent more size to beat Jay with no questions asked. Now that a smaller guy has the title you want, do you still need that extra size?

VM: I probably wouldn’t need it to beat Dexter, but Heath and Wolf keep getting bigger and better. Dennis was 270, so he could be 280 or more next time. It’s not even about them. It’s about me being the best I can be. I know I can put on a little more mass and still maintain my lines and my shape and when I do, I will be that much tougher to beat.

RH: You are coming back to try for your second Arnold Classic win a few months from now. Is Dexter also doing that show? If so, what would it look like if the reign- ing Mr. Olympia got beat at the Arnold?

VM: I really doubt he will do it, but you never know. He might decide he wants that extra-big pay- check. If I beat him there, it would look bad for him and it would put me in a better position for the Olympia, that’s for sure.

RH: Let’s talk about your legs and how they are coming along. When did the injury hap- pen, and when did you return to training legs?

VM: The injury happened on January 15, and I didn’t start training legs again until May. That was very easy training and it’s been getting heavier and more intense a little bit at a time ever since then.

RH: What was the rehab process like? Did you work with a physical therapist? Did he or she have you doing any- thing unique to strengthen the knee again, something you did- n’t already do in the past?

VM: I started physical therapy three weeks after my surgery at a place called Star Rehab Center. The guy I have been working with is named Brian Gurney. He does a lot of manual bending and twisting, and in the early stages we did a lot of electrical muscle stimulation on the quadriceps, because it had atrophied so much. I was going three or four times every week, but now I only go once a week.

RH: Is there any pain in the knee at all? VM: Most of the time, no. If I go up some stairs too fast or something like that, I definitely feel it. It’s just sometimes I forget how careful I need to be. It doesn’t

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hurt when I train legs, but the knee will ache for a day or two after that workout.

RH: I guess that’s not a big deal; many guys who have been training heavy for a while have knees that ache. Size-wise, how does the injured leg com- pare to the other one these days?

VM: It’s an inch smaller. I think when I started the rehab

it was about 4 inches smaller.

RH: Not to bag on Jay too much, but he won two Mr. Olympia titles with one leg much smaller than the other.

VM: Yeah, but I’m not going to count on getting that same break. I have to get the leg back up to match.

RH: Do you spend a lot more time warming up

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January 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com before a leg workout than you did before? Do you stretch them before or after? Are you having things like deep-tissue massage or ultrasound done on the leg?

VM: I always warmed up and stretched. I think 5 min- utes on a stationary bike is fine to warm up as long as you also take time to warm up with your exercises instead of

being stupid and jumping right into heavy weights. I have deep tissue done all the time. Brian Gurney does that, or John Pena. My training partner Jakob even knows how to do deep-tissue work. I never really felt ultrasound did much for me, so I don’t bother with that.

RH: Can you run me through the most recent workout you did for quads?

VM: Sure. I started off with leg extensions. I do the top three-quarters of the range of motion because it’s not safe for me to start from a full stretch.

RH: Personally, I don’t think it’s safe for anybody to start from that point.

VM: Maybe not. Then I did squats. After that I do a type of lunge called the “runner’s lunge.” You hold on to an over- head cable pulley for resistance. You have one foot in front of you on the ground, and the other behind you on a low box. You extend forward as far as you can and then kick off with the lead leg.

RH: That’s a new one. Did you invent that or something?

VM: No, I got that from my training partner, Jakob. Then I did step-ups and leg presses; that was it.

RH: How do the weights you use now in leg train- ing compare to what you were using last year at this

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time? Say, for squats?

VM: I am using 275 to 315 now, where before I would do 405 all the time.

RH: When you’re talking about muscle memory and rebuilding previ- ously existing muscle mass as in the case of your leg, do you think it’s necessary that you have to regain all the strength to get the size back? Or are there other ways to get it done?

VM: If you slow the reps down and really focus on working the muscle, less weight can feel like more. Plenty of guys have been able to maintain muscle without training as heavy as they used to, so you should also be able to rebuild muscle.

RH: I just read an interesting arti- cle my wife forwarded to me about how figure athletes train. The only reason I bring it up is because the author claims that walking lunges are about the most destructive exer- cise you can possibly do for your knees. They put a tremendous shear- ing force on the knee. How heavy did you used to go on those, and do you do them now?

VM: I hardly ever did walking lunges. Over the last couple years I’ve been doing step-ups, and I like those a lot better. I find them to be more effective.

RH: Do you step up onto a flat bench?

VM: No, the cushion of the bench makes your feet too unstable. Women can do that because they are only using bodyweight or not much weight. I try to go pretty heavy while holding a pair of dumbbells, and I step up onto a box. Not many guys have ever really tried step- ups, but they should. I bet a lot of them would switch from lunges to those.

RH: From the photos I saw in part one, it looks like your calves are actually better than before. Were you doing more for them while you couldn’t do much for legs?

VM: Yeah, because I figured the blood flow would help with the healing process for my knee. And I know my calves could be better, anyway. When I stood next to Jay, his calves blew mine away.

RH: Well, that’s not the case when you’re next to Dexter, but I digress. I know a main goal in your quad train-

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ing is to build more outer sweep. What exercises are you doing to achieve that?

VM: Once in a while, I do hack squats, but mainly I like doing leg presses with my feet together. That hits the outer part of the quad best for me.

RH: You just started phase one of your training program with Chad for the Arnold. What exactly are the goals in phase one, and what does it mean in terms of training and nutrition?

VM: The training stays the same, because I always train with high intensity. It’s mainly my diet that’s different. We increase the calories and I eat up a storm. The goal is to put on as much lean mass as possible. Phase one is only about five weeks long. If I ate like this much longer, I would turn into a butterball and they would be trying to throw me in the oven on Thanksgiving.

RH: A lot of people thought you looked damn- near perfect at the 2007 Mr. Olympia. Are you con- fident you can bring a package that’s even better than that next time? And realistically, is there any-

one out there you think can beat it?

VM: I’m not gonna sit here and talk shit like I can’t be beaten or that I’m the greatest. It’s a comeback and I’m dealing with this knee. Getting into my best shape will be a challenge. But I tore my pec a few years back and came back better than ever, so I know I have it in me. You’ll know when you see me at the Arnold how successful I was.

RH: Last question. I want to know if you saw the movie “Bigger, Stronger, Faster.” If so, were you upset at how they used you as an example to show how much bigger the pros of today are by compar- ing your height and weight to that of Arnold in his prime? He made mention of your previous legal problems involving steroids. And the worst thing was, my old co-worker Chris Bell shorted you by two inches and said you were only 5’7”!

VM: I never saw it, and I refuse to promote it in any way. I thought it was wrong to use me the way he did without even asking me and make me look bad like that. And for the record, I’m 5’9”. ■

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By Lee Priest, Photography by Per Bernal

Editor’s Note: You’ve read contest reviews before, and they are usually about as thrilling as the morning stock market reports for those of us who are financially retarded. That’s because the writer is typically choosing his words very carefully and is terrified of offending any of the athletes. We thought it might be interesting to give Lee Priest

the task of reviewing the top 10 as he saw them at this year’s Mr. Olympia via the web cast from his home in Australia. We knew he wouldn’t pull any punches and would speak his mind without reservation, and Lee did not disappoint.

So now they’ve got me doing fucking contest reports here in MD? This is the first time and maybe the last time, because I’m sure some of the guys will cry and moan about how cruel my assessments are. Well, too fucking bad, buddy. The fol- lowing comments are purely based on the physiques. If the guys can’t deal with that and choose to take it personally, that’s their problem. I’m not here to say how wonderful all the guys looked. Obviously they made it this far, so they are

CONFESSIONAL

DEXTER JACKSON

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January 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com all very good. But Steve asked me to call ‘em like I saw ‘em, so here was the top 10 in the eyes of The Priest.

1. Dexter Jackson

The commentators kept raving on and on about how Dexter was 4.7 pounds heavier than he was at the Arnold. If he was, I didn’t see it. Dexter looked the same to me as he always does. I don’t think he really gains all this size and bodyweight like he says he does. What hap- pens is that his condition varies a bit from show to show and he might be a little fuller or flatter. With such a small frame, little changes like that creates an illusion. But regardless, Dexter has excellent shape and symme- try, with a small waist and is always shredded. Even when he’s a tiny bit off he’s still usually in better shape than everyone else. I want to say well done to Dexter for winning the Mr. Olympia. I honestly never thought I would live to see the day when an aesthetic physique was rewarded instead of sheer bulk. This did give me new faith in the judges and shows me they really are willing to make the sport better by choosing the best physique up there instead of just the biggest or heaviest. And since I have beaten Dexter in the past (1999

Olympia, 2000 Night of Champions and Olympia, 2002 San Francisco Pro and GNC Show of Strength), maybe there is still hope for me!

2. Jay Cutler

Where do I begin? At the press conference on

Thursday, Jay announced to all of us that he was looking “his best ever.” A couple years ago Ronnie remarked in a backstage interview that Jay Cutler must be smoking crack if he thought he was going to beat him that year. If Jay honestly thought this was the best he ever looked, he has to be out of his mind. Dan Solomon must have his head so far up Cutler’s ass that he can taste what Jay just ate, because he was repeating that same bullshit over and over again as he commentated during the web- cast. First of all, Jay was not in shape on Friday night during the prejudging. The only thing on his physique that was ripped are his legs. Jay’s back was smooth and had folds of loose old-man skin hanging down at the bot-

In document Muscular Development №1 2009 (Page 93-105)