Martins Licis has used time in quarantine to do critical rehab on the persistent injuries he’s faced.
Strongman Martins Licis had a disappointing showing at the 2020 Arnold Strongman Classic earlier this year. A former World’s Strongest Man and widely considered to be a top level contender in all strongman events, Licis finished third at an event where, in the prime of his condition, he could easily have finished first. However, Licis later revealed that he was struggling with some serious injuries he had sustained while training, which comes as no surprise to any fans of strength sports — lifting this much weight all the time can lead to strains and ruptures that would terrify even the most disaffected fan. However, Martins Licis has been taking advantage of all the free workout time in quarantine to rehab his injuries, and it looks like he’s making serious progress! Check out the video he shared with fans on Instagram earlier this week below.
“Over the last month, I’ve pulled way back on heavy lifting, and have been working with @squat_university on rehabilitating my left knee and right hamstring. My strength has gone down a bit, and it’s 100% worth it,” Licis captioned the post. “The plan is, over the next month and a half, to build back my control and work capacity with this weight (as long as it’s 100% pain free) and to slowly start increasing weight after that.”
It’s wonderful to see Licis sharing his rehab journey with fans. Rehab is an ugly but often inevitable part of any strength sport, and the truth is, most of us will sustain a gym-related injury in our lifetimes. This can be an especially frustrating situation for pros like Licis who pride themselves on pushing past their limits and making huge gains. The truth is, successful rehab requires the opposite mindset — you have to listen to your body and take baby steps until you’re built back up to where you were. Clearly, Licis is taking the time to do just that.
The fact that he is even able to do a suspended squat with so much weight is a testament to his willpower as a competitor. Even injured, he is better than the best at what he does. It’s nowhere near where he was at pre-injury, but like he acknowledged in the caption, rehab is a long process that doesn’t happen overnight. Like bodybuilding, your progress and success with rehabilitating an injury depend on your commitment to doing it every day and taking small, incremental steps to make changes. Licis is not the first pro strongman to sustain injuries like these, and he’s not likely to be the last. We hope Martins Licis is able to make a full recovery at his home gym, so that when the time comes for him to be back on the stage, we can all enjoy him in his peak physical condition!
*All images and media courtesy of Instagram.
