COVER STORY
and he was incredibly supportive. I think it was my new-found love for lifting that spurred me to want to achieve something incredible. I just knew a‘ normal’ life wasn’ t for me. I wanted more- much more. I wanted action.”
A modest Martyn started college again in his early 30s.“ Starting college again as a mature student was a strange experience because I was mixing with a bunch of 18 year-olds,” Martyn says.“ Sometimes that was hard for me, but I knew that if I really wanted to make it as an actor I’ d have to bite the bullet and learn in order to develop the skills required to become a success.
MARTYN’ S TYPICAL FILM SET WORKOUT REGIME
“ When I’ m on set, I tend to train two or three body parts per session, as sometimes I might only be able to get three sessions in a week,”
says Martyn.
WORKOUT 1
Chest and back Chest fly Dips Bent over row
Chest press Deadlift Pull-downs
Martyn performs 5 sets and 15-20 reps of each exercise and rests for a maximum of 60 seconds between sets. He incorporates drop sets and forced reps into his back and chest workouts.
Shoulders and arms Shoulder press Lateral raise French press Rope push-downs
Upright row Barbell curl Dumbbell curl
Martyn once again performs 5 sets and 15-20 reps of each exercise, resting for a maximum of 60 seconds between sets. Forced reps and drop sets also apply.
Legs and abs Leg press Leg extension Crunches Oblique twists
“ I’ d moulded my body into something really quite unique and a few years into my training I actually did begin to believe my dreams could come true. I wanted to be bigger, faster and stronger than any action star out there. I wanted to be the next BIG thing.
“ I’ ll always remember I was sitting watching TV one day when Scott called me and said there was a role that had opened up on a James Bond movie. He said he thought I’ d be perfect for it and asked if he could put me in touch with his agent. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a room auditioning alongside Dave Bautista!”
Squats Leg curl Reverse crunches
Martyn performs 5 sets of each exercise for 12-10 reps of his legs and abs exercises. He does mostly forced and drop sets during this workout.
Dave went on to land the role, but it wasn’ t the last time he and Martyn would meet.“ My agent was incredible from day one,” says Martyn.“ He landed me the part of‘ Koshmar’ in‘ Undisputed 4’, and set the ball rolling for me.“ Just twelve months later I joined Dave on the set of‘ Final Score’, I couldn’ t believe it!”
Martyn has enjoyed roles on a huge variety of high profile films, including‘ Kingsman 2’,‘ Viking Destiny’,‘ Kill Ben Lyk’ and‘ Robin Hood’. And it doesn’ t end there for the 6’ 7” superstar.“ I’ m currently working on a film with WWE studios starring Shawn Michaels and Becky Lynch,” he reveals.“ It’ s called‘ The Marine’ and I play a character called Oscar Hayes who is the brother of Maddy Hayes( played by Becky Lynch).”“ Oscar is a heavy handed Irish-man out to defend his father’ s name.”“ There are some awesome fight scenes and I’ m having a blast.”
Martyn says he enjoys being portrayed as the bad guy.“ Most of my roles have been a bad guy of some description,” he notes.“ I like this as in real life I’ m actually a gentle giant, so it really enables me to act and play something I’ m not.”
When questioned about training on set,‘ the man who can’ says he copes, but not with ease.“ Training is hard when I’ m on set,” Martyn admits.“ The priority when you’ re there is obviously filming, but it’ s really important I maintain my body mass in order to retain the stature required to portray the roles I am cast for.”
“ Because I lose weight easily, I have to try to eat whenever I can as I no longer have the luxury of training and eating all day.”“ Living out of a suitcase makes training very challenging.”“ I often ask fans if they know where the nearest gym is so I can just nip
14 MUSCLE & FITNESS / MARCH 2018