Martin “The Martian” Fitzwater has muscled his way from being a promising prospect to a podium problem for athletes everyone expects to win. His journey has been full of ups and downs, but he finally started gaining traction in 2024 and shows no signs of slowing down.
Fitzwater’s dense legs, full chest, and barn door back keep improving with each show, and have quickly made him one of the most talked about bodybuilders in the current circuit.
It will be an understatement to say that Martin Fitzwater shocked everyone at the 2024 Mr. Olympia by finishing fourth in his rookie year against a stacked line-up, beating elite bodybuilders like Brandon Curry and William Bonac.
This result, combined with beating Classic Physique division stalwart Chris Bumstead at the 2024 EVLS Prague Pro, pushed Fitzwater into the upper echelons of pro bodybuilding.
This is Martin Fitzwater’s life story, diet, training regimen, and more.
Athlete Stats
Here is an overview of the elite athlete’s stats:
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| Full Name: Martin Fitzwater | |||
| Weight | Height | Age | Date of Birth |
| 255-265 lbs (115.7–120.2 kg) | 5’8’ (172 cm) | 28 years | January 06, 1997 |
| Nationality | Era | ||
| American | 2010 and 2020 | ||
Early Life
Fitzwater grew up in Wyoming. It is the kind of place where winter and altitude teach you resilience the long way.
Before becoming a bodybuilder, Fitzwater was a multi-sport thrower and football player, dotting the state record books and competing in collegiate track and field for the University of Wyoming. Shot put and discus throw gave him a foundation for explosive hip drive, high training volumes, and a tolerance for repetitive technical work.
He couldn’t have started his bodybuilding journey on a stronger footing.
Fitzwater spent time on construction crews to bankroll his earliest bodybuilding competitions. This blue-collar stretch hardened his routine and his appetite for unglamorous work, and now plays a crucial role in his training methodologies.
Key Career Moments
Fitzwater believes that his run-up to the pro card centers on two breakthroughs.
First, an identity shift from a powerful thrower to a complete physique athlete who could live in a deficit, pose under pressure, and peak on schedule.
Second, he moved his base to Texas, where he sought the mentorship and training of elite coaches that forced rapid improvements in his physique. Fitzwater credits Branch Warren with having had an immense impact on his career and physique.
The Branch Warren effect can be seen in how Fitzwater attacks legs, delts, and chest. Training in Texas also gives him partners who pull heavy, pose hard, and keep standards high.
IFBB Pro Career Takes Off
The Martian hit his stride in 2024 and won his first IFBB Pro Show in Detroit in April. He then pushed Open Division stalwart Nick Walker in New York one month later.
Fitzwater had a busy 2024 season and competed throughout the year in a bid to prove his potential to the world.
He took an early O qualification by winning the 2024 EVLS Prague Pro just over a month after competing at the Olympia. This allowed him a full year to prep for his next Olympia showdown.
Fitzwater stepped on a bodybuilding stage just once in 2025 at the Pittsburgh Pro, where he finished third behind Derek Lunsford and Nick Walker.
The bronze medal at the 2025 Pittsburgh Pro shouldn’t be considered a big setback. Lunsford and Walker are valuable barometers for top-tier competition, and they helped him gauge his physique before stepping on the Big O stage.
This strategy paid off big time as Fitzwater beat Walker to claim the fifth spot at the 2025 Olympia; The Mutant finished sixth.
Physique Breakdown
Let’s now talk about Fitzwater’s strengths that make him stand out from his competitors and the weak links that he has been working on fixing.
Front Poses
Fitzwater’s quad sweeps and adductor thickness make a strong first impression. His front view is one of the best in the industry right now. The chest sits fuller now than in the early seasons, and his shoulder roundness gives him the silhouette judge’s reward.
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He has also been working on his mid-section control and vacuums in quarter turns, which can help him hang later in comparison with athletes like Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford.
Side and Back
In the previous season, most of the criticism that Fitzwater got was for his side and back shots. Sure enough, he did not leave any stone unturned in trying to fix them.
His back thickness has stepped forward, especially through the spinal erectors and lower lats. However, sheer lat width is still the variable that could hurt his chances of breaking into the top three at the Olympia.
Martin Fitzwater – Championships and Accomplishments
2025
- 2025 Mr. Olympia – 5th Place
- 2025 Pittsburgh Pro – 3rd Place
2024
- 2024 EVLS Prague Pro – 1st Place
- 2024 Mr. Olympia – 4th Place
- 2024 New York Pro – 2nd Place
- 2024 Detroit Pro – 1st Place
2022
- 2022 Arnold Classic UK – 4th Place
- 2022 Texas Pro – 2nd Place
2021
- 2021 Legion Sports Fest Pro – 5th Place
- 2021 Texas Pro – 4th Place
2020
- 2020 NPC North American Championships – 1st Place
2019
- 2019 NPC North American Championships – 2nd Place
- 2019 NPC USA Championships – 5th Place
- 2019 NPC Colorado State Championships – 1st Place
2018
- 2018 NPC Junior Nationals – 4th Place
- 2018 NPC Junior USA Championships – 2nd Place
- 2018 NPC Northern Colorado Championships – 1st Place
2017
- 2017 NPC Colorado State Championships – 1st Place
*Source: NPC News Online
Martin Fitzwater Workout Program
Fitzwater trains with fellow IFBB bodybuilder Brett Wilkins, and they are known for pushing themselves hard in the gym. They follow a six-day-a-week split to ensure they hit each muscle group with ample volume.
I spent over five hours watching several of Fitzwater’s training videos and reading multiple articles to design the following program.
Day 1: Chest + Delts
Fitzwater opens his weekly workout routine with a chest and delts workout. The Wyoming native begins his workouts with a pre-exhaustion exercise so he doesn’t have to lift that heavy during the compound movements for optimal muscle fiber activation.
He doesn’t stick to a fixed number of sets but varies them depending on how each exercise feels. For example, if he feels a deep mind-muscle connection during the incline Smith bench, he might do an additional set to maximize target muscle stimulation and subsequent adaptations.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Pec-deck flye | 3–4 | 12–15 | 60–90s |
| Incline Smith bench | 3–4 | 6–10 | 2–3 min |
| Seated chest press (machine) | 3 | 8–12 | 2 min |
| Cable crossover | 3 | 12–15 | 60–90s |
| Cable lateral raise | 3 | 12–15 | 60s |
| Lying cable lateral raise | 2–3 | 12–15 | 60s |
Day 2: Back
Fitzwater is working on adding depth and thickness to his back, and so his workouts are heavy on the rows. He finishes the workout with rear delt flyes to fry his posterior deltoids and achieve that coveted 3D aesthetic.
The Martian employs controlled rep tempos and 1.5 rep rowing to extend the time under tension and unlock his maximum muscle-building potential.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Wide-grip lat pulldown | 3–4 | 8–12 | 90s |
| Unilateral chest-supported row | 3 | 8–12 | 90s |
| Chest-supported row (two-arm) | 3 | 8–12 | 90s |
| High row (machine) | 3 | 8–12 | 90s |
| Wide row (machine) | 2–3 | 10–12 | 75–90s |
| Rear-delt flye (machine) | 3 | 12–15 | 60–75s |
Day 3: Hamstrings focus
Although Fitzwater loves going full-send in every workout, he also involves science-based techniques to maximize his gains. After completing 10 to 12 reps of standing leg curls, he performs lengthened partials to ignite new muscle growth. (1)
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Standing leg curl (single-leg) | 2 top | 10–12 to failure, incl. partials | 90s |
| Adductor machine | 2 | 12–15 | 60–75s |
| Lying leg curl | 3 | 10–12 | 90s |
| Seated leg curl | 3 | 10–15 | 90s |
| Romanian deadlift | 3 | 8–10 | 2–3 min |
| Single-leg press | 3 | 10–12 | 2 min |
Day 4: Shoulders
The Martian’s deltoid workouts include targeted work to build round, boulder shoulders. He hits his rear delts again to add size and thickness to this relatively smaller muscle group.
He often pre-exhausts the target muscles with isolation exercises and then moves to compound pressing lifts and uses rest-pause or cluster set techniques to take his gains to the next level.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Cable lateral raise | 3–4 | 12–15 | 60s |
| Seated dumbbell or machine shoulder press | 3–4 | 8–12 | 2 min |
| Lying cable lateral raise/cross | 3 | 12–15 | 60–75s |
| Rear-delt machine flye | 3 | 12–15 | 60–75s |
Day 5: Quads focus
Fitzwater trains his quads after resting his lower body for 48 hours. This ensures they are optimally recovered, and he can push himself to the limit again.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Adductor machine | 2–3 | 12–15 | 60–75s |
| Leg extension | 3–4 | 12–15 | 60–90s |
| Hip press or hack squat | 3–4 | 8–12 | 2–3 min |
| Unilateral leg press | 3 | 10–12 | 2 min |
| Unilateral leg extension | 2–3 | 12–15 | 60–75s |
Day 6: Arms
Arms are not an afterthought for the Martian. He recognizes the importance of jacked arms in poses like the front and back double biceps and side chest. His arm workouts comprise a monster 10 sets.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Cross-cable triceps extension | 3 | 10–12 | 60–75s |
| Rope triceps pushdown | 3 | 10–12 | 60–75s |
| Spreader-bar pushdown | 2–3 | 10–12 | 60–75s |
| Single-arm cable curl | 3 | 10–12 | 60–75s |
| Nautilus high curl | 3 | 8–12 | 75–90s |
| Incline DB curl | 3 | 10–12 | 75–90s |
| Machine dips | 2–3 | 8–12 | 90s |
| Overhead cable extension superset kickback | 2 supersets | 12–15 each | 60–75s |
| EZ-bar curl | 3 | 8–12 | 90s |
| Reverse EZ-bar curl | 2 | 12–15 | 60–75s |
Martin Fitzwater Diet Plan
Like any other elite bodybuilder, Fitzwater’s diet changes throughout the year depending on the season. He eats around 5,000 calories in the off-season but switches to a more moderate 4,000-calorie diet during the late prep to shed the excess body weight and improve his muscle conditioning.
I have listed his cutting diet below, which involves eating 6-7 meals daily while prioritizing tapering carbs outside the work window and limiting fat intake.
| Meal | Foods | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
| 1 | Egg whites, oats or cream of rice, berries | 45–50 g | 70–90 g | 3–5 g |
| 2 | Chicken, rice, and vegetables | 45–50 g | 70–90 g | 5 g |
| 3 | Pre-workout: chicken or turkey, rice or cream of rice | 40–45 g | 70–90 g | 3–5 g |
| 4 | Intra 20–25 g carbs + electrolytes | 0 g | 20–25 g | 0 g |
| 5 | Post chicken and rice or potatoes | 45–50 g | 70–100 g | 3–5 g |
| 6 | Shake, cream of rice, and small nut butter | 45–50 g | 60–80 g | 8–12 g |
| 7 | Lean fish or chicken, vegetables, and a small potato | 45–50 g | 30–50 g | 5–8 g |
Fitzwater’s Diet Tips
Besides sticking to this diet religiously, he recommends the following things:
- Keep your fat intake low before training to improve carb and lean protein digestion.
- Include a simple carb drink like dextrose during your intense training sessions to ensure you have enough fuel to get through the workout.
- Always end a workout with a high-carb plus lean protein meal while limiting fat intake to speed up your recovery.
Big Contest Potential
Bodybuilding experts believe that if Fitzwater can improve his back width, control his midsection, and stay crisp through late comparisons as he nails peak dryness twice in the same weekend, he can threaten for the top three at any show, given how judges have rewarded balanced mass with hard legs in recent years.
If we compare him to the other athletes, he matches well against athletes who lead with leg sweeps and delt width rather than absolute lat span. However, his waist control can win him the silhouette battle against athletes with bulging bellies.
Against complete champions like Lunsford, Choopan, or Samson Dauda, he must out-condition to separate himself from this pack.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How tall is Martin Fitzwater?
He stands 5 ft 8 in.
What does Fitzwater weigh on stage and in the offseason?
Reports suggest that he weighs roughly 190 to 260 pounds across phases. He weighed around 240 pounds in his recent shows.
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References:
- Wolf M, Androulakis Korakakis P, Piñero A, Mohan AE, Hermann T, Augustin F, Sapuppo M, Lin B, Coleman M, Burke R, Nippard J, Swinton PA, Schoenfeld BJ. Lengthened partial repetitions elicit similar muscular adaptations as full range of motion repetitions during resistance training in trained individuals. PeerJ. 2025 Feb 12;13:e18904. doi: 10.7717/peerj.18904. PMID: 39959841; PMCID: PMC11829627.
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