Martin Fitzwater won the 2024 EVLS Prague Pro despite suffering from a painful mishap on stage. On November 18, 2024, he revealed that he popped muscle fibers during posing transitions and reflected on his latest victory.
It’s been non-stop action for bodybuilder Martin Fitzwater. He won the 2024 Detroit Pro to stamp his ticket to the Olympia. But before attempting the ‘Super Bowl of Bodybuilding,’ he tested himself against Nick Walker at the New York Pro. While he wasn’t able to earn gold, he gave ‘The Mutant’ a run for his money in second place.
Fitzwater shocked the world in his debut at the Mr. Olympia. His bursting fullness and conditioning paved the way for him to earn fourth place with Samson Dauda becoming the new champion. In pursuit of his qualification for 2025 Mr. Olympia, Fitzwater entered the EVLS Prague Pro show. In the end, he managed to defeat Chris Bumstead and Shaun Clarida, continuing his momentum in the IFBB Pro League.
Martin Fitzwater Talks Dealing With ‘Major Pain’ on Stage at 2024 EVLS Prague Pro, Reflects on Victory
According to ‘The Martian,’ he ‘popped a couple of fibers’ while transitioning from a back double biceps to a rear lat spread pose. He admits it frustrated him and caused him to sweat on stage.
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“About the second round of posing man, in the transition from the rear double to the rear lat spread when I locked my hamstring down it popped a couple of fibers. I had some major pain, a little cortisol drop. That’s why I started sweating. We knew. I got frustrated. I let it get in my head.”
He added that he was mentally shaken from the experience but his team motivated him to persevere to pick up the big win against Bumstead.
“You could clearly see it in the videos that I was just mentally shook. My team sat me down and told me to get my head out of my ass and make sure that we win this thing. And that’s exactly what we did.
We got better and we improved. We changed some posing to be able to work around it and we finished the job just like we were supposed to,” shared Martin Fitzwater.
Not only was Martin Fitzwater successful in Prague, but he became one of the few men to defeat Chris Bumstead on a Pro stage, who has since retired from competitive bodybuilding, leaving the door open for a new Classic Physique titleholder to emerge next year.
The future looks bright for Fitzwater — the fourth-best bodybuilder in the world. Having already qualified for the 2025 Mr. Olympia, it remains unclear if he’ll attempt another show on the horizon.