The Fall and Rise of Britain's Prodigal Powerlifter

Photo: shotslikesumo

Whatever your taste in formula, Dots, Wilks, Glossbrenner, even IPF GL points, Tom Martin is the UK's number one in the men's raw division.  For a long time he had the biggest total as well, no easy feat - the two do not usually go together.  Time marches on though and that last accolade has slid a little - he's down to 6th place now, the only man in the top ten not a super heavy weight.  But still he maintains the top spot on formula, a position he has held since 2015.

He started his career in the IPF in single-ply and broke the 83kg equipped deadlift record at 345kg at only 23 years old.  This became the longest standing world record in IPF history and stood for over 7 years.  On leaving the IPF in 2015, Tom competed domestically for a couple of years in GPC-GB and BPU, getting to grips with squatting in knee wraps, before travelling out to Australia for Pro Raw X in 2018.   Although he had a fairly bad day, only getting his openers in each lift, a 947.5kg total was still easily enough to win and he brought home a trophy nearly as big as himself.

2018 was definitely his year and he went on to win the WPC Europeans and then Boss of Bosses V in quick succession, actually making it down to the 100kg class for both and, in the latter, becoming the first and only British man to break through 600 dots raw.  Later the same year, he hit a 1000kg total at his home competition on his second pull but then had a faultless 405kg deadlift turned down by two of the referees which would have put him back on top spot by total.

2019 hit hard though when a quad injury flared up during warm up for Pro Raw XI and he had to withdraw.   He did manage to hit a 410kg competition PB shortly afterwards in a local deadlift only competition but it was a long year of rehab to get back into shape to get back under a squat bar.

2020 delivered a crushing blow a little earlier for Tom than for the rest of us.  He flew out to Florida in February to compete at the Hybrid Showdown II meet only to suffer a freak elbow injury on his second squat.   He had suffered an avulsion fracture, the triceps tendon having pulled away a piece of the bone.  This was devastating and affected him badly on all three lifts.

2020 was a write off for most people and, in a lot of places, 2021 wasn't much better.  However, 2022 came around and still there was no sight of Britain's top raw lifter, still holding his place at the top of the rankings.

But then, stirrings on his training account on instagram - rehab going well.  Belt squats, then SSB, then Duffalo bar.  Some bench videos.  Some deadlift.  And so he started to gather momentum, carefully and slowly adding weight to the bar.  Patiently progressing and pausing and progressing again.  He set a careful, modest plan and stuck to it and scheduled a local meet for January 2023.

And so, on a cold Saturday at Nottingham Strong, Tom Martin took to the platform for the first time in nearly three years.  It was a small, friendly meet with a supportive crowd who were delighted to see a legend make his return.  Tom elected to squat in knee sleeves, not wraps, and smoked 275kg for his opener.  He took a comfortable 300kg for his second and left it there, his plan achieved.

Bench was the hardest lift to recover and months and years of rehab had gone into getting that elbow to straighten and lock out once again.  Tom hit his plan with his second press of 190kg.  He tried for 195kg but it didn't quite go.  Still on track though.

Deadlifts swung around and Tom was finally able to bring his superpower into play.  One of only three men in the UK to deadlift over 400kg, (and more than 40kg lighter on bodyweight than either of the others), Tom opened light with 320kg and the bar left the floor with such speed, for a moment it looked like he would clean it!  350kg for his second was nearly as fast and the tension built as he asked for 370kg for the last lift of the competition.  It snapped to lockout and the crowd roared their approval.  Britain's deadlift king was back on his throne.  860kg total for 513.48 dots and the long climb up the sleeved rankings had begun.

Twelve weeks rolled around and he was back at the same venue with the same plan.  Just do a little more than last time.  305kg opening squat was fast! But then, disaster. At the bottom of the 320kg squat, he tore his quad, the VMO this time. He fell to the floor, unable to move his leg and his day was over.  Truly, if it wasn't for bad luck, he would have no luck at all.

If anything, injury has given Tom an unparalleled opportunity to perfect his rehab skills and he was back under the bar pretty quickly, loading up again and wondering if he could recover fast enough to compete at the BPU British.  We have 6 weeks to wait to find out if he will but one thing is for sure, there's no stopping Britain's prodigal powerlifter.