How many hours per day do you train?
Between 2.5 to 3.5 hours, depends if I do event training or ordinary gym training like squatting, deadlifting.
How many days do you train per week?
3-4 times, but mostly I do 3 times a week, because regeneration is one of the most important points in strength sport
What does your training involve?
I train 3-4 times a week. An ordinary look includes a heavy deadlift/squat day with some extra work on the rest of the legs and biceps. The next day is for the events, I train about 3-5 events, but no overhead events or overhead press, because I have an extra day for that. After the events I do some work for my back and at the overhead press day I do some benchpress or incline benchpress. Most of the time I train heavily, but if I am burned out, I do some easy workouts for regeneration. So I train by feeling, no fixed routine of exercises, weights and reps.
What does your diet normally consist of?
My diet looks pretty simple. I try to eat really healthily most of the time, because a higher body fat isn't an advantage in strongman, because you need a lot of stamina for most of the events. So I eat a lot of wholemeal pasta and bread, rice, fat reduced milk, cheese and some other milk products, fat reduced turkey, ham, cereals, meat (beef and turkey), fish, fruits, vegetable etc. Sunday I have a diet free day, so I eat what I want so sometimes I go to McDonalds or Burger king, eat some cake etc. An ordinary day looks like 6 meals, 3 of them are protein shakes. Breakfast: For breakfast I eat some cereals with milk, eggs with bread or some bread with jam and low fat quark. Lunch At lunch I eat some meat or fish and potatoes, rice or pasta and to it some salad. Dinner: For dinner, I eat the same as for lunch or some cheese and turkey ham with bread. Between the meals I drink the protein shake and before I go to bed I drink the last protein shake or I eat some low fat quark with fruits.
What made you want to become a strongman?
I saw some competitions in television and it was really great to watch. All the big and strong guys, I thought I wanted to be like them.
How old were you when you started training and competing in strongman?
I started training at the age of 15 years. I did powerlifting and when I turned 19 years old I tried some strongman equipment like farmers walk, log lift, powerstairs etc. Everybody told me I was really good and I should give it a try. So I started at the Austrian nationals qualification and won it. At the nationals I did some stupid mistakes and was placed 5th overall. I showed some good performances - I loaded all stones from 265 to 400lbs but I never trained the stones. After that event the successful German strongman Heinz Ollesch contacted me and said he wanted to train me. Since that I am doing strongman and I really like it.
What is your greatest strongman achievement?
My greatest achievement in strongman was 2009. First was the invite to the big international contest at the FIBO 2009 in Germany. It was a qualification contest for the strongman champions league. Showed some good performances and beat Travis Ortmayer in 2 events and overall I finished in 2nd place. Travis won the competition. That was my stepping stone to international competitions. My first champions league contest I finished in a good 5th place and the second competition in finland was really great. The first day I led the field and set a new official world record at the cardeadlift for reps with 350 kg and 10 reps. Overall, I finished in 3rd place. The next great achievement was the winning of the austrian nationals by almost 10 points to the second place. Last but not least was the invite to the world's strongest man 2009.
How do you manage to balance work and training for strongman?
I am just working part-time, so I have a lot of time to rest and train.
What is the worst injury you have ever had?
Fortunately, I haven't had a big injury.
What are your plans after your strongman career?
I am studying and I hope I can find a good job with the education.
What has been your biggest disappointment whilst training as a strongman?
Not really the training itself, more the people around me. Of course, there are a lot who support me as much as they can, but there are also at least equal numbers who don't like the sport.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a strongman?
The most important thing is that the youngest athletes want too much in too short a time. Don't rush. Strongman is a sport where the most athletes get their strongest time in their early 30s. If you rush you will hurt yourself much more easily. So give yourself time and try improving year by year. The next important point is that you should train your weaknesses. A lot of athletes don't train their weaknesses, they just train the events they like but have to improve and be good at every event.
What is your favourite strongman event and why?
I love almost every event in strongman but my favourite exercises are the deadlift and grip events. My back is really strong and my grip too, so the events really suit me. I also like the Atlas Stones, I don't know why but for me it's one of the greatest events in strongman. If you explain to some people which kind of sport you are doing, nobody knows what you mean when you tell them you are deadlifting something but if you say you are lifting big stones, people always know what you mean.
What is you least favourite strongman event and why?
All overhead presses are not really my favourite events in strongman. Since last year I have improved a lot in overhead presses, but I am still weak compared to the other athletes. But I am working very hard on my weaknesses and I am on my way. I just need more time to getting the overhead power equal to the other events.
Which past strongman do you admire now & why?
I really like a lot of the old strongman legends. For example, John Pall Sigmarsson for his great performances on the field and his shows after doing great at an event. Really a showman. The strongman sport needs more like him. Also, I like bill kazmaier, because he is a powerful and strong person. His raw power was unbeatable and just awesome. If you do strongman, you have to know about these athletes. I really look up to my trainer and friend Heinz Ollesch. He was a really good strongman but he was and is down to earth and he is still doing a lot for the sport in Germany and Austria. He helps and supports each athlete as much as he can and organises a lot of competitions in Germany. He supports me as much as he can and that means a lot to me.
Which current strongman do you admire now & why?
I admire Travis Ortmayer for his great performances. I think he is doing the events really smart. He has a good technique in each event and is of course also a really powerful man. He is always helping each other in competitions and telling how it's best to do the event. Same for Mikhael Koklyaev - he is the new John Pall Sigmarrson I think because he is always doing some great shows after his performances on the field. Always smiling and funny and helping each other. I think all the strongmen are really nice to each other because strongman is like a big brotherhood.
How do you prepare yourself for major events?
I prepare myself for major events with a lot of event training. Normally, I do twice a week event training and once a week heavy deadlifts, squats and incline benchpress. Training the events as much as possible is the best thing you can do, I think. I also try to improve my stamina, because at most competitions you need a lot of it. Best thing for stamina for me is doing the farmer's walk with just 100-125 kg in each hand and try to go 100 metres or training medleys with kegs and sand sacks.
What is your favourite other sporting event?
I like a lot of sports. I always watch boxing on television. I really enjoy american football and the big event of the sport - superbowl.
What do you do to relax? Do you have any hobbies?
My hobbies are swimming, playing computer, watching DVD's or just laying in bed and relaxing. Relaxing is very important in the sport, so I do light swimming, go to the sauna and do some light training.
Given your size, what's the funniest thing that's ever happened to you?
I damaged a chair by sitting down in the middle of a posh restaurant. The whole restaurant was looking at me and laughing.
Do you have any nicknames? If so, what's the story behind your nickname.
Everybody calls me 'Deadlift Kid', because I am really strong in deadlift and I lifted 400kg when I was 20 years old.
What would be your favourite type of holiday and destination?
I would really like to see the USA. I want to see something of the states and do a sightseeing trip but I also like holidays at sea and a big buffet.
What is your favourite film?
I really like the Rocky collection, but also a lot of new movies. I prefer action and horror movies.
What car do you drive now and what car would you like to drive?
I drive a little Skoda car with 55 hp, the Skoda Felicia. I am really happy with that car, because a car for me is something to get me from a to b, so I don't like and need an expensive car. I would really enjoy a little bigger car than mine because if I drive to a competition, there is just room for one more person because the rest of it is full of bags.
What personal achievement are you most proud of?
I am most proud of my matriculation and hopefully of my final degree in a few years.
Who is your biggest threat for 2009 and why?
I think everybody is really strong at the wsm so they are all threats to me.
If you could saint a sports person who would it be?
I really don't know, perhaps a person who did a lot for the sport and made it more public, but I can't really name one.
General stats:
Bench press max weight: Raw 210 kg - equipped 250 kg
Squat max: Raw 300kg, - equipped 380 kg
Dead lift max: Raw 400 kg - equipped 410 kg
Biographical information
I was born in Kufstein, Tirol in austria on 27th November 1987. My whole life I have been doing sport. At the age of 10 years I started kickboxing, but I always wanted to be bigger and stronger. I won some national competitions in Austria. About 2 years later I started boxing to improve my kickboxing skills and again 2 years later I hadn't time for the fixed trainings time, because of school. So I trained in the gym at the boxing centre and I really liked to train with the weights. My dad bought me some equipment and I trained at home for a year and then I didn't have enough weights so I started to train in the gym. After a few workouts I met a good powerlifter in Austria and he showed me deadlifting and squatting and since then I put on weights at the barbell train by train. After 5 months of training and with at 15 years of age, I was able to deadlift 200kg. At 16 years old I started competing and set one record after another. Over the years I have set over 40 new national records, broke my own recorods again and again. At 19 years old, I started strongman, my first competition was the qualifier for the austrian nationals which I won. In my first year in strongman I was 5th place at the Austrian nationals. The next year I improved a lot and got 3rd place at the Austrian nationals. In winter we have also have some national competition which is called austrian winter gian, which I won that year. The next year was 2009 and started like the end of the last - successful. I was 2nd behind Travis Ortmayer at the strongman fibo classic 2009 which was also a qualifying for the international strongman champions league. I was very happy about that result, also because I beat Travis Ortmayer in 2 events. Two weeks later I got an invite to the champions league in Serbia - my second great international start and result. I won the event cardeadlift for reps and got 5th place overall. Because of that great achievement I was invited to the next champions league final in finland, where I led on the first day and set a new official world record in the cardeadlift for reps with 350kg adn 10 reps. Overall, I got 3rd place, so it's a very great result for me. Because of these performances I am 3rd place overall in the Strongman Champions League and got the invite to The World's Strongest Man 2009.
Website: www.wildauer-martin.at |
