Martin Ford: I can swing to 500 pounds, but what’s the point?

Martin Ford is a man of great talents: athlete, businessman and actor. In movies he is remembered for his roles as bad guys in “Untouchable 4”, “The Final Account”, “Kingsman 2: The Golden Ring”. And in Instagram, where he has more than 2 million followers, Ford is known as an outstanding bodybuilder. Although he has always been characterized by high growth, such an impressive size acquired far from immediately.

Martin was born and raised in the UK. In the early 2000s, when he was 18 years old, he began to play cricket professionally – he was going to build a sports career. But an unfortunate injury crossed all plans. Ford began a prolonged depression, during which he lost a lot of weight. It was then, to distract himself from sad thoughts, the future bodybuilder seriously got into fitness. Over the next 10-15 years, he tried everything from classical powerlifting to martial arts like Sambo. Now he is known not only in the UK, but all over the world for his outstanding physical data.

Now Ford is 37 years old, his height is 2.03 meters and his weight is about 145 kg, and this is not the biggest figure. As Martin himself told, he has moved away from his ultimate conditioning. His real passion has always been the movie, and now he pays all his attention to it: in 2018, Ford starred in 7 films, and recently signed a contract with HBO to shoot in the series The Nevers. All the free time from training and performing stunts, Martin, of course, devotes to his family. Together with his wife Sasha they raise two daughters.

We managed to meet the actor in Moscow and talk about his incredible transformation, his movie career and how important it is to keep balance in all areas of life.

Training: the only goal in the gym is to have fun

– Martin, how often do you usually work out? How many times a week?

– I try to do weights 3-4 times a week, at least during filming. And when they’re not, I add cardio and stretching exercises. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more aware of how important it is to recover from workouts. So now I go for massages 2-3 times a week, take ice baths, go to sauna, Jacuzzi, do yoga. When I was younger, recovery didn’t play such a big role, but now it is a priority for me. Therefore, when I have time, I try to devote it to rest from intensive loads.

I think for the first ten years I was driven only by passion. I achieved results because I was obsessed with fitness and training. But with such an approach – no matter if it’s to sport or anything else – if you constantly give your best, you’re bound to burn out.

And I’ve had that, I’ve burned out a few times just because I was trying too hard. Now I have a more conscious approach to sports. You have to realize that you train not for the sake of training, but for a specific result. I even have a motto: “If you can’t gain, don’t train”. In other words, if you’re practicing and you don’t see any progress, you’re probably training too much. In this situation, you need to take a step back and make sure your workouts are doing you good.

– Looking at your old photos, it’s impossible to believe it’s the same person. What inspired you to make such a drastic transformation?

– I don’t think there was anything specific or anyone. It just happened on its own. I was always a sporty kid, I liked to compete. At first, there was probably a need to compete. Why the gym? Probably because here you don’t have to rely on other people: you just go and train, everything depends only on you.

– Did you set a specific goal for yourself?

– I wanted to become a professional athlete, a cricketer. And then… I never wanted to be a bodybuilder. I just like weight training, I like the concept of challenging myself. So my only goal in the gym, after I stopped playing cricket, is just to have fun.

– But you obviously watch your proportions and weight. What do you pay more attention to in keeping fit?

– For me personally, nutrition plays a huge role because I’ve had a lot of problems with it. A year and a half ago I had to have surgery. Because of another operation I had as a child, I had a blockage in my intestines and had to remove a part of them. So now I’m very careful about what I eat. Not that I used to eat wrong, but after the operation I had to completely revise my diet. But I will not diminish the importance of training. Because without proper exercise, it is impossible to achieve results. For example, as an actor I need to be fast, strong, dynamic. That’s why I gave up classical bodybuilding in favor of complex and varied training. So both nutrition and sport are equally important to me.

– Many athletes come up with special rituals before training. Do you have any?

– I do. I generally like my routine and for me it’s about being involved. On the way to my workout, I put on special music in the car and think about what I’m going to do in the gym. I usually pick one exercise that I will pay special attention to and concentrate on it along the way. It’s like I’m mentally preparing myself for the exertion. I think many people underestimate the importance of psychological attitude in fitness. People come to the gym and fall out of the first 30 minutes of a workout because their minds are on something else.
In sports, I use the same approach I use in movies: I evoke emotions that will spur me on, that will help me. For example, if I need to get angry, I try to remember what it feels like to get really angry. Sometimes you need to lose your temper a little in the gym too, the main thing is to leave all the anger at the workout and not take it outside the gym.

– What exercises are in your top 5 favorites?

– It’s simple: barbell push and jerk, deadlift, army press, bench exercises, leg press.

– Once you and your wife even trained together. How did you come to such a “tandem”?

– We didn’t train together, I trained her myself. Sasha just wanted to try fitness, and I suggested she go to the gym. Since then we didn’t train together anymore (laughs).

Recovery: they told me to rest for four months, and I started training four weeks later

– After the surgery you must have had to temporarily give up your training and regimen. How did you cope with this restriction?

– Actually, I rushed things too much and went back to training early. I was advised to rest for about four months and I started training after four weeks. Of course, that’s not a good thing. But anyone who loves fitness as much as I do will understand.You can’t just take six months off – you try to get back as soon as possible.

For the first 3-4 weeks after surgery, I didn’t rush into action, but only because I felt too bad. I remember I couldn’t even get out of bed, so training was out of the question. I tried to distract myself somehow. I have two small children, and they coped with it perfectly. Plus I spent more time on business – I run several businesses. In general, I redirected my energy and time in another direction.

– How did you get back to working out?

– Of course, I couldn’t immediately return to my usual workouts. I started training on the machines and tried not to overload myself: no heavy weights, no excessive repetitions, just basic loads. A level for beginners, I would say. In general, I tried to listen to my body. It is better to train and recover little by little than to lie idle.

– Did what happened somehow affect your attitude to life in general?

– I don’t think so. I’ve always kept a certain balance. Even before the surgery I looked at things sensibly, down-to-earth and prioritized my family.

– What’s your priority now?

– I’m a very family-oriented person. And although I love movies and fitness, if forced to choose, I would choose family. Family always comes first for me.

Movie: fitness is what made me an actor

– Moving away from the topic of recovery, let’s talk about movies. Why did you decide to become an actor?

– I have always dreamed of acting in movies. To date, I have already played in several movies, and recently signed a contract to shoot in the American series The Nevers from HBO. In general, I definitely see myself in the movie industry. And I became an actor thanks to fitness, it gave me great opportunities. Now all my training is role-oriented.

– Did you have to train additionally for any roles?

– Honestly, I have to for all of them, one way or the other. Each role requires a special approach to the training process. For example, for the last movie in which I starred, I needed army training and a lot of MMA-style training. But there are also roles where I just have to be huge, as in “Vikings”, for example. In such cases, I pay more attention to classical powerlifting and bodybuilding.

– And who would you like to play in the future?

– I’m just now negotiating a movie in which I want to play a badass gangster. It’s always fun. In general, while I do not want – and I do not need – to retreat from his image. I like to play bad guys, it’s interesting. I would just like to play a character who is a little more involved in the story emotionally, not just killing everyone left and right. So now I’m trying to move in that direction and I’m thinking carefully about every next role. I want to establish myself in the industry as a true professional, not a one role actor.

– How do you manage to combine your movie career and sports? After all, both require a lot of time.

– The movie takes a lot of time when the shooting process is going on. But when everything is ready, you are free as a bird. Of course it’s very hard to train during filming. This summer we shot a movie, and every working day started at 6 am and ended at 7-8 pm. Of course, I try to find a balance and plan everything carefully. If you organize your time properly, you’ll get everything done.

Everyday life: I don’t like public transportation, I feel in a vise

– Don’t such a huge size hinder you in real life, for example, in public transportation?

– Very much! Every time I sit down somewhere, I feel like I’m in a vise. Everything feels too cramped and small. I’m a bit smaller now, but when I was at my maximum weight… Anyway, it’s not that I don’t like public transportation – I just prefer to drive (laughs).

– At one time you wanted to gain the maximum possible weight. Have you given up that idea now?

– Yes, once I was just huge, and it was great then. But now I realize how important it is to know the measure. Of course, I can swing up to 500 pounds (about 226 kg – note “Championship”), but what’s the point if I can not move normally and play in the movies?

So I changed my approach. Now I’m trying to find a balance where I’m big enough but still able to fight, do stunts and do everything that’s required on set. I’ve seen the health issues that can arise from critically large mass, and honestly, my past goal was pretty selfish and even dangerous in the long run. It’s great that I was once so big, but now it’s time to think about myself and move on to healthier workouts.

– You have written many times in your Instagram about how you should always set a specific goal and go for it. Do you have such a goal now? What is it?

– My goal is Hollywood: no more, no less. I want to play in movies. And that’s my benchmark for the next 5-10 years. I’ve already invested so much in it: both effort and time. Finally, it has started to yield results: two big projects that I’ve been working on for the last couple of years will be announced soon. And I think everyone who follows my story understands how much this means to me.

– And lastly, a blitz! Life for sport or sport for life?

– Sport for life. You always have to remember that fitness is something you do for fun, not because you “have to”.

– Cheatmil or a day without a workout?
– I’m not a big fan of the cheatmil, but in this case I’ll choose it because I wouldn’t want to miss a workout.

– Cardio or powerlifting?

– Powerlifting.

– Workout with music or in silence?

– Music. I usually train to some heavy rock metal, but in general anything loud and aggressive will do. I like songs by Disturbed, Sandman by Metallica and stuff like that.

– Books or movies?

– Movies.

Martin has played harsh Russian characters in them several times – to match his image. But he came to Russia for the first time only now – at the international forum of healthy lifestyle and sports SN PRO. Tomorrow, November 9, he will perform at the opening of the festival, after which everyone will be able to talk to him and take pictures. And most importantly – to get the charge of energy that we also caught.

You can see the detailed program of events on the official website of SN PRO, so you will definitely not miss the chance to meet Ford and see the result of long and hard training.