The Dominican dominator: how Victor Martinez added 16 pounds of beef to win the Night of Champions and establish himself as a fast-rising star

Flex, Oct, 2003 by Shawn Perine

As soon as competitor #10 strode onstage at the 2003 Night Of Champions, the fat lady had, for all intents and purposes, sung. It was evident to the vast majority of those assembled at Manhattan's City Center that late May afternoon. It was evident to a good many of his 41 competitors. Moreover, it was evident to Victor Martinez himself.

Upon bursting onto the national bodybuilding scene by winning the heavyweight class at the 2000 Junior USA and taking the overall at the 2000 Nationals, Martinez established himself as having one of the most complete and well-proportioned physiques in the business. His flowing lines and chiseled mass gave him the appearance of being--to use a well-worn expression--"something Michelangelo carved out of stone." But there was a knock on the New Yorker (via Dominican Republic) that he lacked the size to do any real damage in the pro ranks. At 5'9" and 222 pounds, the man was far from small. After all, he had been competing in the heavyweight division as an amateur. But the consensus was that if this David planned oh doing battle with the Goliaths of the IFBB, he was going to need heavier artillery than his trusty slingshot.

Fast forward three years and 16 pounds of shredded beef later. After several modestly successful attempts to make waves within the pro ranks, a new and improved Victor Martinez stepped onstage before a raucous City Center crowd. Ready to do serious battle with some of the sport's top heavyweights, this time he brought out the big guns, not to mention big pecs, big delts and a very big back to boot. He had somehow--to the amazement and glee of the decidedly partisan audience--managed to transform himself into one of the very giants he had set out to slay.

Callout after callout, Martinez was placed in line next to modern-day leviathans with names such as King Kamali, Craig Titus and Art Atwood--men who routinely compete at a bodyweight on the far side of 250. For example, Atwood claimed a competitive weight of 277 pounds that day. Yet at 238 pounds, the Dominican Dominator more than held his own. In fact, when it came time to hit the mandatory poses, he seemed to expand even further, each muscle group swelling to its fullest, with the notable exception of his waist. Waspishly small and etched in a mosaic of crisscross and checkerboard patterns, Martinez's midsection was as tight as ever, maybe tighter, and served as a crystalline-sharp focal point from which his more massive bodyparts radiated. In an era of bodybuilding when gaining mass for the sake of mass has become de rigueur, Victor Martinez did the unthinkable. He carefully placed new muscle on his physique in such a way as to not only make himself a bigger bodybuilder, but a better bodybuilder.

MAN ON TOP Victor's Gym is a serious place. Not serious as in solemn, for with its red- and blue-toned equipment, golden walls and ever-present soundtrack of dance music, it's anything but. However, it does exude a sense of purpose that would become obvious to even an uninitiated gymgoer upon entering its hangarlike ground floor. Each piece of equipment is of the highest quality and has been carefully handpicked to serve a specific need. Machines are organized according to the purpose they serve and none are crowded or crammed against a wall. There are plenty of big mirrors for making progress inspections. Yes, Victor's Gym is a serious place, but no more serious than its namesake.

As I arrive at 105 Sherman Avenue in the Inwood section of New York City a few days after the NOC, Martinez is conducting a meeting with someone who appears to be a salesman. The gym is barely six months old and still under construction. I guessed it wouldn't be the last of such meetings on this day. As the visitor makes his pitch, the fledgling gym owner periodically diverts his eyes from the collateral laid out before him to the celestial mural being painted on the wall near the juice bar. It's an expertly rendered image of Jupiter, Martinez's favorite planet, from the perspective of one of its many moons.

Just then, the workman installing the new exterior sign pops his head through the front doorway with a question. Without missing a beat, Martinez answers the question, politely wraps up his meeting and turns around to welcome me to his gym. I didn't think he'd even noticed me entering, but Victor Martinez is on top of things like that.

At 29, Martinez has managed to get on top of a lot of things in his life, such as successfully raising two sons, opening a gym and becoming a champion bodybuilder. None of it was easy. He never had anything handed to him. More often than not, he had to persevere through numerous pitfalls and mistakes before reaping the rewards of his labor. Maybe this is why he is a serious man. Or maybe it was an inherent seriousness that got him over his hurdles in the first place. Either way, my reason for taking a half-hour ride on the A train was to find out just how Martinez managed to pack so much serious muscle onto his frame.