And featuring alongside with half man half beast Centuarsteve_ is Martin Baculinao, 148/165 Raw Elite Powerlifter from The Pack Barbell Club and IPL World Record Holder for the deadlift at the 148 Open Men Class with 255kg/562.18lbs. Let us take a closer look at the pizza fueled machine who believes that lifting form is everything. My questions will be in bold for easier reading.
Hi Martin, let us start with telling us where you are from and how old are you now as well as your current bodyweight as well as the federation you lift out of?
Born in Sacramento, California and grew up in Valencia, California currently 24 years old weighing in at 162.0lbs/73.48kg bodyweight, competing in both the 148lb/67kg and 165lb/75kg raw classes under the USPA federation.
Can you tell me what are your numbers for the most recent meet/best meet as well as your best gym lifts (all time as well as coming into the meet)?
I have done 3 meets and my current personal bests are all gym lifts consisting of a 425lb/193kg squat, a 275lb/125kg bench, and a 605lb/275kg deadlift. My meet personal bests are a 418.9lb/190kg squat, a 253.5lb/115kg bench, and a 562.2lb/255kg deadlift in the 148lb/67kg raw class.
At what age did you started powerlifting and how long have you been powerlifting for? What got you into powerlifting?
I started powerlifting at the age of 22, I have about 4 years lifting experience on and off because of work and school, previously did a bro split with no squats in my routine and I have been powerlifting for the past 2 years now. I got bored chasing aesthetics and wanted to be as strong as possible for my size and I’ve fallen in love ever since.
What is your favorite lift and how do you train for it?
The deadlift is by far my favorite lift; I get a rush every time I do it. As trivial as picking something heavy off the floor may seem, to me it represents raw primal strength and is one of the most satisfying things a person can do with their clothes on. I train the deadlift once or twice a week with a top set of 4-6 reps followed by undulating supplementary sets of a deadlift variation to address weaknesses.
What is your current training program/training philosophy? What were you doing before to get you to your current level and moving forward from here, what are your plans (this can be goals/numbers you want to hit on the platform etc.)
Leading up to my third meet I was doing a peaking program that we made, which seemed to be working well, but I bombed out (went 1/9) at the meet due to the water cut affecting my strength levels significantly. When I shifted from aesthetics to a strength building mindset I started out with Wendler 5/3/1 for about a year until I plateaued, then from there I was on madcow intermediate 5x5 the rest of the way. I’m a bit stubborn so I would repeat the same workout over and over again each week until I hit my sets and reps because I believe the body can and will eventually adapt. Not a very intuitive way of training, but it has gotten me this far and typically I believe that if I do miss reps it’s because of other factors affecting my training so I adjust those as well. As far goals I want to eventually get is to hit at least a 540lb/245kg squat, a 340lb/154kg bench, and 661lb/300kg deadlift at 165lb/75kg. Right now I’m about to start something completely different from my minimalistic barbaric style of training, heavy 5s and 3s every week, by transitioning to an autoregulated DUP program I created. Powerlifting has been a way to channel my frustrations with other aspects in life and like most others has become a perpetual excursion of self-improvement.
What are some of the toughest obstacles you faced as a lifter or in life (if you don't mind sharing) and how you overcome them? (These can be injury related or a lift that is stalling)
As far as lifting goes I had 2 injuries that were frustrating for me to deal with. A few cycles after Wendler 5/3/1 I injured my back when I tried to show off on the leg press and then I proceeded to pull a 335lb/152kg deadlift with a relaxed lumbar when I felt a pop in my lower back then immediate pain and weakness. That minor disc bulge destroyed my motivation at the time and left me unable to do any lower body for 3 months. Then a year later, 2 weeks out from what was supposed to be my first meet I disclocated my right elbow, chipped the coronoid process of my ulna, sprained my ulnar collateral ligament as well as both wrists from a basketball incident. I still tried to squat one armed the next day to no avail haha, but the injuries left me unable to deadlift or bench for 4 months. The way I had to overcome both of these setbacks was to figure out what my body could and could not do in order to minimize muscle atrophy and strength loss, and to strengthen the weaknesses I was still able; adapt and overcome.
Born in Sacramento, California and grew up in Valencia, California currently 24 years old weighing in at 162.0lbs/73.48kg bodyweight, competing in both the 148lb/67kg and 165lb/75kg raw classes under the USPA federation.
Can you tell me what are your numbers for the most recent meet/best meet as well as your best gym lifts (all time as well as coming into the meet)?
I have done 3 meets and my current personal bests are all gym lifts consisting of a 425lb/193kg squat, a 275lb/125kg bench, and a 605lb/275kg deadlift. My meet personal bests are a 418.9lb/190kg squat, a 253.5lb/115kg bench, and a 562.2lb/255kg deadlift in the 148lb/67kg raw class.
At what age did you started powerlifting and how long have you been powerlifting for? What got you into powerlifting?
I started powerlifting at the age of 22, I have about 4 years lifting experience on and off because of work and school, previously did a bro split with no squats in my routine and I have been powerlifting for the past 2 years now. I got bored chasing aesthetics and wanted to be as strong as possible for my size and I’ve fallen in love ever since.
What is your favorite lift and how do you train for it?
The deadlift is by far my favorite lift; I get a rush every time I do it. As trivial as picking something heavy off the floor may seem, to me it represents raw primal strength and is one of the most satisfying things a person can do with their clothes on. I train the deadlift once or twice a week with a top set of 4-6 reps followed by undulating supplementary sets of a deadlift variation to address weaknesses.
What is your current training program/training philosophy? What were you doing before to get you to your current level and moving forward from here, what are your plans (this can be goals/numbers you want to hit on the platform etc.)
Leading up to my third meet I was doing a peaking program that we made, which seemed to be working well, but I bombed out (went 1/9) at the meet due to the water cut affecting my strength levels significantly. When I shifted from aesthetics to a strength building mindset I started out with Wendler 5/3/1 for about a year until I plateaued, then from there I was on madcow intermediate 5x5 the rest of the way. I’m a bit stubborn so I would repeat the same workout over and over again each week until I hit my sets and reps because I believe the body can and will eventually adapt. Not a very intuitive way of training, but it has gotten me this far and typically I believe that if I do miss reps it’s because of other factors affecting my training so I adjust those as well. As far goals I want to eventually get is to hit at least a 540lb/245kg squat, a 340lb/154kg bench, and 661lb/300kg deadlift at 165lb/75kg. Right now I’m about to start something completely different from my minimalistic barbaric style of training, heavy 5s and 3s every week, by transitioning to an autoregulated DUP program I created. Powerlifting has been a way to channel my frustrations with other aspects in life and like most others has become a perpetual excursion of self-improvement.
What are some of the toughest obstacles you faced as a lifter or in life (if you don't mind sharing) and how you overcome them? (These can be injury related or a lift that is stalling)
As far as lifting goes I had 2 injuries that were frustrating for me to deal with. A few cycles after Wendler 5/3/1 I injured my back when I tried to show off on the leg press and then I proceeded to pull a 335lb/152kg deadlift with a relaxed lumbar when I felt a pop in my lower back then immediate pain and weakness. That minor disc bulge destroyed my motivation at the time and left me unable to do any lower body for 3 months. Then a year later, 2 weeks out from what was supposed to be my first meet I disclocated my right elbow, chipped the coronoid process of my ulna, sprained my ulnar collateral ligament as well as both wrists from a basketball incident. I still tried to squat one armed the next day to no avail haha, but the injuries left me unable to deadlift or bench for 4 months. The way I had to overcome both of these setbacks was to figure out what my body could and could not do in order to minimize muscle atrophy and strength loss, and to strengthen the weaknesses I was still able; adapt and overcome.
What are some advice you would give to your younger self should you be able to go back in time/ to other lifters out there?
Form, form, form, and more form. I wasted almost a year having to unlearn all my bad habits because I was too stubborn and too ego driven when I first started trying to progress as fast as possible even with abysmal form. I have a disc bulge in my L4/L5, and occasional sciatica because of this. Get the form down first and the gains will come. Also if progress slows or stalls take a look at other factors that may be affecting your training quality for example, nutrition, sleep, stress, etc. Lastly, the easiest way to get stronger is to put on mass—simply put mass moves mass. If I could go back I would have told younger Martin to start bulking earlier, but don’t dreamer bulk—bulk slow to minimize fat gain.
Hobbies/life outside of gym? (other commitments because we all know that we are not in the gym 24/7 or are we? LOL)
Lifting = life bruh.. kidding, semi-kidding… aside from lifting I work and volunteer at a physical therapy clinical (prepping my application for physical therapy school) and am a combat medic in the U.S. Army Reserve. I play piano, video games, basketball, snowboard, and live an overall active lifestyle. I also drink on occasion, but if I’m preparing for a meet I will go abstinent from alcohol and hone a majority of my focus on my training. (reported to his lovely gf for not including her, notsrs. Martin is currently under curfew set by his gf.)
Form, form, form, and more form. I wasted almost a year having to unlearn all my bad habits because I was too stubborn and too ego driven when I first started trying to progress as fast as possible even with abysmal form. I have a disc bulge in my L4/L5, and occasional sciatica because of this. Get the form down first and the gains will come. Also if progress slows or stalls take a look at other factors that may be affecting your training quality for example, nutrition, sleep, stress, etc. Lastly, the easiest way to get stronger is to put on mass—simply put mass moves mass. If I could go back I would have told younger Martin to start bulking earlier, but don’t dreamer bulk—bulk slow to minimize fat gain.
Hobbies/life outside of gym? (other commitments because we all know that we are not in the gym 24/7 or are we? LOL)
Lifting = life bruh.. kidding, semi-kidding… aside from lifting I work and volunteer at a physical therapy clinical (prepping my application for physical therapy school) and am a combat medic in the U.S. Army Reserve. I play piano, video games, basketball, snowboard, and live an overall active lifestyle. I also drink on occasion, but if I’m preparing for a meet I will go abstinent from alcohol and hone a majority of my focus on my training. (reported to his lovely gf for not including her, notsrs. Martin is currently under curfew set by his gf.)
Be sure to follow Martin and the rest of his pack on Instagram: @monkeymartin_ (note there is a _ behind the n, what is with all these "_" lol)
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