Martin Fitzwater is the youngest man in Men's Open bodybuilding's top tier — and the fastest riser in it. "The Martian" placed fourth at the Mr. Olympia as a rookie in 2024, fifth in 2025, and owns back-to-back EVLS Prague Pro titles, the second of them won by beating former Mr. Olympia Samson Dauda head to head.
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He is 29 years old, 5'8", and somewhere between 240 and 265 pounds depending on the season. The people around him are not modest about the ceiling: his coach, Stefan Kienzl, has said flatly, "I stay by that word, Martin will win the Olympia."
This guide covers his training style, the documented sessions behind it, his 5,000-calorie prep diet, and his run at the 2026 Mr. Olympia (September 24-27, Las Vegas).
Training Philosophy
Fitzwater is a constant-tension trainer. His sessions lean on machines and cables over free weights, and he's explicit about why:
"I would definitely pick cables over dumbbells, just because of the constant tension factor."
The other signatures from his filmed sessions: pre-exhausting with isolation work before compounds, long holds in the stretched position — his lat work with training partner Brett Wilkin emphasizes three-second holds — and a willingness to go absurdly high-rep where it serves the muscle, like leg extensions for three sets of fifty with the weight climbing each set.
He came up powerlifting in Wyoming, studied kinesiology, and worked construction before going all-in on bodybuilding around 2020. The nickname has nothing to do with his physique: he trained in a Marvin the Martian T-shirt, fans ran with it, and he sealed it with an alien tattoo.
He spent part of summer 2025 in Europe with Kienzl rebuilding his pec training around stricter cues and biomechanics — the kind of technical refinement that separates a top-five Olympia physique from a crowd-pleaser.
Documented Training Week
Fitzwater hasn't published an official day-by-day split; his filmed sessions confirm the pairings below, with each muscle typically hit once a week and the order shuffled often.
| Day | Focus | Documented Movements |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Chest + Side Delts | Pec deck, Smith incline, cable laterals |
| Day 2 | Back (Lat Focus) | Pulldowns, rows, 3-second holds |
| Day 3 | Legs (Hamstring Focus) | Curls, machine RDL, hip thrust |
| Day 4 | Arms | Cable-dominant isolation |
| Day 5 | Legs (Quad Focus) | Extensions, pressing patterns |
| Days 6-7 | Rest / rotate | Split shuffles week to week |
Chest and Delts
His filmed chest-and-delts session from 2025 prep shows the pre-exhaust pattern clearly: the pec deck comes first, before any pressing.
| Exercise | Style | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pec-Deck Fly | Pre-exhaust | Isolation before pressing |
| Incline Smith Press | Working sets | Upper-chest focus |
| Machine Chest Press | Constant tension | Controlled tempo |
| Cable Crossover | High effort | Stretch and squeeze |
| Unilateral Cable Lateral Raise | Strict | Per arm |
| Lying Cable Lateral Raise | Finisher | "Probably my favorite lateral delt movement" |
Hamstring Day
The hamstring session he filmed with Brett Wilkin eight weeks out from the 2025 Olympia is a masterclass in curl variety — three different curl machines before a single hinge is loaded.
| Exercise | Style | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Adductor Machine | Warm-up | Opens the hips first |
| Standing Single-Leg Curl | Top set + intensifier | Documented at 100 lb per leg |
| Lying Leg Curl | Working sets | Second curl pattern |
| Seated Leg Curl | 2 sets | Third curl angle |
| High-Stance Leg Press | Working sets | Hamstring-biased foot position |
| Machine RDL | Controlled | Loaded stretch |
| Hip Thrust Machine | Finisher | Glute drive |
Diet
Fitzwater's documented prep diet from seven weeks out ran roughly 5,000 calories across six meals — enormous for a cut, which tells you how fast his engine runs. The staples are a bodybuilder's breakfast-cereal fever dream: cream-of-rice waffles with egg whites, whey shakes with cornflakes and Fairlife milk, rice cakes by the sleeve, and 99% lean ground turkey with white rice on repeat.
His January 2026 Arnold prep day was fully documented at 4,276 calories across seven meals. Off-season, the intake climbs far higher.
"If you want to be a good bodybuilder, learn how to cook and enjoy the food."
Whey isolate anchors every documented day of eating, usually two to three servings. His sponsor situation is in flux after a rough spring, so no current partnership is listed here.
The Spring, and the Stakes
2026 tested him. After a fourth-place Arnold Classic finish in March, he refused Nick Walker's handshake on stage, clashed with fans online, and lost his supplement sponsors inside a week. He owned it publicly — "What happened last weekend was out of character, and I take full responsibility" — and later summed the period up without spin: "I slipped, fell on my face in March. Had one of the worst months of my life."
Then he confirmed his Olympia entry and went back to work. He is qualified via the Prague win, the physique keeps improving, and at 29 he is playing a longer game than anyone else in the top six.
"It was the most cool, calm, and composed I've ever been on stage. I also know the physique I'm bringing now is something very, very dangerous."
Where he lands against Lunsford, Jacked, Walker, and Dauda in September is one of the show's most interesting questions — the full field is in our Mr. Olympia 2026 preview.
Explore Similar Routines
- Nick Walker's Workout Routine
- Derek Lunsford's Workout Routine
- Samson Dauda's Workout Routine
- Andrew Jacked's Workout Routine
- Mr. Olympia 2026: The Full Preview
Not everyone has two hours a day for an Olympia split. If time is your constraint, EMS training condenses a full-body strength stimulus into a 20 minute session.
Fitzwater's documented preps are carb engines — cream-of-rice waffles, rice cakes by the sleeve, cornflakes in shakes — held together by whey isolate two to three times a day. His stated rule covers the rest: learn how to cook and enjoy the food.