Bradley Martyn is an American bodybuilder, physique competitor, and social media celebrity. If that wasn’t enough, he is also an entrepreneur and the owner of “Zoo Culture” gym, lifestyle & fitness apparel brand “Rawear,” and “Origin Supplements.”
At the time of publishing this article, Martyn has close to seven million followers across his social media accounts — four million followers on Instagram and three million subscribers on YouTube.
He is arguably one of the strongest social media fitness stars. He came into the limelight due to his insane strength feats — including jumping out of a swimming pool while waist-deep, squatting 315 pounds on a hoverboard, and bench pressing with two girls hanging on either side of the barbell.
Martyn’s Instagram lifting posts are a result of his brute muscle and core strength, balance, and stability. Scrolling through his feed will leave you amazed and could pump you up for your next workout. However, do not get ahead of yourself. Copying Martyn’s stunts in the gym can — and will most probably — lead to injury. Ideally, each of his training videos should begin with a disclaimer about the risks involved.
Bradley Martyn Stats
- Name: Bradley Martyn
- Height: 6’3″
- Weight: 235-245 pounds
- Birthdate: May 22, 1989
- Birthplace: San Francisco, CA
- Accolades:
- 2013 NPC Phil Heath Classic — First Place
- 2011 NPC Southern California Championships — First Place
Unhappy with his skinny physique, Bradley Martyn started working out at the age of 15. Thanks to his grit, determination, and good genetics, it wasn’t long before Bradley started seeing results. He stepped on a bodybuilding stage for the first time in 2011 at the NPC Southern California Championships, where he won the title.
Bradley Martyn Diet Program
While he was actively competing, Bradley followed an intermittent fasting diet. The most common intermittent fasting method involves fasting for 16-hour every day and eating in an eight-hour window.
But why intermittent fasting, you ask?
Research suggests that an IF diet can increase your natural human growth hormone (HGH) levels and improve insulin sensitivity, which can help in building muscle mass and shedding excess body fat. An IF diet can also help in muscle recovery after workouts. (1)(2)(3)
However, now that Martyn does not compete anymore, he has moved to a more conventional dieting routine where he eats 3-4 meals every day.
Martyn is a six-foot-three, 245-pound mass monster. You do not put on size like him on a calorie deficit diet. He follows a high-protein and carb diet plan consisting of nutrient-dense whole foods to maintain the same shape throughout the year.
“It’s really simple. Eat enough calories to grow and make sure you’re in a calorie surplus. Once you do that, then find the macro ratio of protein, carbs, and fats that works for you to meet your caloric goal.” — Bradley Martyn
Diet Principles
Martyn swears by the following dieting principles:
1. Eat Clean, Whole Foods
Ever since hanging his competition briefs, Bradley Martyn has switched to a more relaxed style of dieting. He focuses on meeting his daily macro goals through high-quality whole foods and does not bother weighing his food anymore.
Check Out: Macronutrient Calculator: Count Your Macros Easily
2. Fats are Your Friends
Most fitness rookies make the mistake of blaming the macro “fats” for their body fat. Eliminating fats is one of the first things they do after switching to a lean muscle-building program. However, fat is necessary for keeping your body healthy and functioning optimally.
Bradley Martyn is a fan of fatty meats because they keep him satiated for longer.
3. Listen To Your Body
Martyn recommends following a personalized diet and making adjustments to it based on your progress. If you find yourself starving during the day, you should probably be eating more.
On the other hand, if you feel you have put on excess weight, you should cut down your calorie consumption. Finding the perfect calorie and macronutrient structure might require some trial and error, but it will be worth it in the long run.
4. Love Your Cheat Days
If his Instagram photos are to be believed, Martyn enjoys his cheat days. He believes that rewarding yourself with a cheat meal satisfies your cravings and gives you a carb rush, which helps ignite new muscle and strength gains.
However, as insane as his cheat meals might look, he keeps a mental note of the calories and macros he is consuming and never overshoots his daily calorie intake goal.
Check Out: How Many Calories To Eat Per Day Calculator
5. Switch Things Up
According to Bradley, he gets easily bored. To avoid that from happening to his diet program, he switches up his protein and vegetables every week. For example, he’ll cycle through beef, chicken, bison, and salmon over the course of a month.
You are more likely to quit your diet and training program if they start feeling like a chore. Changing things up helps you avoid a mental rut and keeps you motivated every week.
Bradley Martyn Diet Program
Martyn likes to keep it simple when it comes to his diet program. Unlike most other fitness athletes, the social media star usually eats only three meals a day. Here is what is diet plan looks like:
Meal 1 (Breakfast)
- Salmon
- Eggs
- Whole Wheat Toast
Meal 2 (Lunch)
- Bison Burger
- Flat Steak
Meal 3 (Dinner)
- Fish
- Quinoa
- Green Salad
Note: Martyn is not a fan of weekly food prep. It is one of the reasons he has invested in the meal delivery company Trifecta. He orders from the Trifecta A La Carte menu for total macro control.
Foods To Eat
Martyn makes an effort to eat clean and gets most of his calories from organic and whole foods. You’ll usually find these food items in his grocery cart:
- Salmon
- Beef
- Bison
- Chicken
- Vegetables
- Greek Yogurt
- Berries
- Bananas
- Almond Butter
- Whole Eggs
- Whey Protein
- Quinoa
Foods To Avoid
While following the Bradley Martyn transformation program, you should steer clear of the following food items:
- Junk Food
- Refined Sugar
- Processed Foods
- GMO Foods
- Chemicals
- Artificial Additives
- Hydrogenated Oils
Bradley Martyn Workout Program
The Instagram sensation is a hybrid powerlifter and bodybuilder. While Martyn is famous for his insane lifting stunts, he doesn’t usually go super heavy in his routine workouts.
He prefers to train with moderate weights. He claims that he usually leans towards a weight that is 75-80% of his 1RM (one-rep max). Bradley Martyn generally performs 4-5 sets of 8-15 reps each exercise.
“I typically lean towards a weight that is 75-80% of my max and focus on the total amount of reps, not necessarily a rep range. Beat the books!” — Bradley Martyn
Training Principles
The workout principles Martyn relies on to meet his goals include:
1. Go Heavy or Go Home
Even 70-80% of Martyn’s 1RM is a significant amount of weight. You hardly ever see him lifting light weights.
Don’t get us wrong. We are not asking you to compete with Martyn, but at the same time, you should not use this as an excuse to remain in your comfort zone. If you want to see progress, you need to push yourself to lift heavier, perform more reps, or use advanced training techniques to achieve more time under tension.
2. Keep Your Workout Intensity High
Martyn performs 8-12 reps of every exercise to maximize muscle hypertrophy. He also makes it a point to wrap up his workouts within an hour.
Bradley Martyn follows a high-volume training regimen. You’ll be performing at least 20 sets in every workout. To ensure you don’t spend a lifetime inside the weight room, you should not rest for more than 60 seconds between sets.
3. Think on Your Feet
The fitness YouTuber doesn’t follow the same workout routine every day. He might even change his training split depending on how he is feeling on a particular day.
Martyn incorporates both isolation (single-joint) and compound (multi-joint) lifts in his workouts. However, he might switch to a powerlifting routine on some days.
“I didn’t build muscle or “get huge” for any reason other than I love lifting weights, and I wanted to be better at it.” — Bradley Martyn
4. Not a Fan of Core Training
Although Bradley Martyn routinely performs awe-inspiring feats in the gym that requires a core of steel, he is not a fan of core training. You’ll hardly ever see him perform crunches or planks.
Bradley’s washboard abs are a result of low body fat percentage and heavy compound lifts that engage your core and stabilizers.
5. Leave Your Ego at the Door
Many people make the mistake of labeling Martyn’s strength feats in the gym as ego lifting.
No matter how heavy Martyn lifts, you’ll never see him put himself at risk of injury by disregarding his form. He maintains a full range of motion while performing his exercises and focuses on contracting his muscles with every rep.
Training Split
Martyn follows a five-day training split. He uses the last two days of the week to allow his muscles time to recover.
- Monday: Chest
- Tuesday: Back
- Wednesday: Shoulders
- Thursday: Legs
- Friday: Arms
- Saturday: Rest
- Sunday: Rest
Bradley Martyn Training Plan
Here is what the fitness YouTuber’s training regimen looks like:
Day One: Chest
- Barbell bench press: 4 sets of 12 reps
- Incline dumbbell press: 4 sets of 12 reps
- Machine chest press: 4 sets of 12 reps
- Weighted dips: 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Weighted push-up: 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Day Two: Back
- Deadlift: 4 sets of 8-10 reps
- Wide-grip lat pulldown: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
- Dumbbell row: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
- Bent-over barbell row: 4 sets of 15-20 reps
- Pull-up: 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Day Three: Shoulders
- Seated dumbbell press: 5 sets of 10-15 reps
- Straight bar front raise: 5 sets of 10-15 reps
- Dumbbell lateral raise: 5 sets of 20-25 reps
- Cable pull: 5 sets of 15-20 reps
- Barbell shrug: 5 sets of 10-15 reps
Day Four: Legs
- Barbell squat: 5 sets of 8-10 reps
- Front rack lunge: 5 sets of 10-12 reps
- Leg extension: 5 sets of 12-15 reps
- Dumbbell lunge: 5 sets of 12-15 reps
Day Five: Arms
- Close-grip barbell bench press: 4 sets of 8-10 reps
- Biceps curls with resistance bands: 4 sets to failure
- Seated cable curl: 4 sets of 10-12 reps x 4 sets
- Seated overhead triceps extension: 5 sets of 8-12 reps
- Standing barbell curl: 5 sets of 5-10 reps
- Triceps press: To failure
Day Six: Rest
Day Seven: Rest
Supplements
Bradley Martyn understands the importance of supplements in a fitness routine. It is one of the reasons why he owns a supplement company. This is what his supplement stack looks like:
1. Whey Protein: It is no secret that whey protein supplements are the bodybuilding industry’s darling. Protein is the most important macronutrient if your goal is to build muscle. It helps build muscle mass and strength and aids in fat loss.
2. Creatine: Creatine is one of the most researched sports supplements. It can help you put on muscle mass and build strength in a short period. You could choose between a loading and maintenance phase while using creatine.
3. BCAA: Help increase muscle growth, decrease DOMS, reduce exercise fatigue, and prevent muscle wasting. BCAAs are a must-have if you are an advanced lifter and your workouts last more than half an hour.
4. Pre-Workout: A pre-workout supplement can help delay fatigue and improve focus and muscle pumps. You should take a pre-workout supplement at least 30 minutes before a workout.
5. Fat Burner: Since Bradley Martyn is not big on cardio, he uses a fat burner supplement to keep his metabolic rate high throughout the day. It ensures that he is not storing excess body fat.
Other Training and Diet Program:
- Henry Cavill Superman Workout and Diet Program
- Wolverine Workout Program – Get Ripped Like Hugh Jackman in 8 Weeks
- Bane Workout Program – Get Stronger Than Your Favourite Superhero
Wrapping Up
If you are an intermediate or advanced lifter, the Bradley Martyn diet and training program can help you take your gains to the next level. It consists of an easy-to-follow diet and workout regimen you can stick to for the long term.
Martyn’s training program consists of basic lifts. If you want to achieve your transformation goal, make sure you give the workouts all you have got. Best of luck!
References
- Ho KY, Veldhuis JD, Johnson ML, Furlanetto R, Evans WS, Alberti KG, Thorner MO. Fasting enhances growth hormone secretion and amplifies the complex rhythms of growth hormone secretion in man. J Clin Invest. 1988 Apr;81(4):968-75. doi: 10.1172/JCI113450. PMID: 3127426; PMCID: PMC329619.
- Heilbronn LK, Smith SR, Martin CK, Anton SD, Ravussin E. Alternate-day fasting in nonobese subjects: effects on body weight, body composition, and energy metabolism. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jan;81(1):69-73. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/81.1.69. PMID: 15640462.
- Kim I, Lemasters JJ. Mitochondrial degradation by autophagy (mitophagy) in GFP-LC3 transgenic hepatocytes during nutrient deprivation. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2011 Feb;300(2):C308-17. doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.00056.2010. Epub 2010 Nov 24. PMID: 21106691; PMCID: PMC3043636.
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