Martins Licis Aims to Drop 60 Pounds for 2023 Strongman Season

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Martins Licis has had a roller-coaster return to elite strongman competition. In 2019, he won the most coveted title in the sport: the World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest. However, he vacated the title due to injury — he did not defend the title in 2020 when Oleksii Novikov of Ukraine claimed the crown. Licis did not compete at the 2021 WSM. Instead, in 2021, he performed commentary alongside former BarBend editor Nick English as Tom Stoltman ascended the throne.
Licis returned to competition following his stem cell treatments in 2022 to remarkable success. He won the 2021 Rogue Invitational, the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic, and placed second in his return to the WSM — Stoltman defended the title, and a stumble by Novikov in the Atlas Stones dropped him into the bronze position in a tie on points with Licis.
On Nov. 10, 2022, Licis took to his YouTube channel to publish a video wherein he shared his intentions to lose 60 pounds for the upcoming 2023 strongman season. The goal of his weight loss is to improve his work capacity to post better results in medley and distance events that challenge each athlete’s cardio. Check it out below:

[Related: Trey Mitchell Recaps His Performance at the 2022 Rogue Strongman Invitational]
Licis asked his 203,000 YouTube subscribers to “keep [him] accountable” on his journey to go from his heaviest ever weight, 360 pounds, down to a “lean and mean” 300 pounds. While dropping weight, Licis intends to improve his strength in three events during the 2023 season: the log lift, the deadlift, and the Atlas Stones.
Increasing his strength in those three events isn’t some nondescript goal without a metric for success. In 2024, Licis will attempt to “set some records.” While he did not specify which records he would target in the video, several possibilities stand out with the highest potential.
The first is the American Log Lift record of 217.5 kilograms (478.5 pounds) held by Bobby Thompson. The log lift world record is 229 kilograms (504.8 pounds), scored by Chieck “Iron Biby” Sanou. While 11.5 kilograms does not seem like a drastic leap between those two lifts, the previous log lift world record was only one kilogram less than Iron Biby’s lift. Žydr?nas Savickas locked out 228 kilograms (502.7 pounds) overhead in 2015, and it took seven years for anyone to eclipse it by a single kilo.

[Related: 2022 Strongman Champions League Finals Results — Aivars Šmaukstelis Ascends the Throne]
Licis could set his sights on a bevy of deadlift records. The most obvious is the all-time world record of 501 kilograms (1,104.5 pounds) scored by Hafthor Bjo?rnsson on May 2, 2020, in an episode of World’s Ultimate Strongman (WUS) “Feats of Strength” series. Björnsson did not pull that lift in competition. Still, only Björnsson and Eddie Hall have successfully achieved the milestone 500-kilogram deadlift (Hall was the first human to accomplish the feat at the 2016 World Deadlift Championships).
Rather than going for the all-time record deadlift, Licis might test his hand at the Elephant Bar deadlift record of 472 kilograms (1,040.6) pounds, held by Björnsson since 2018. While there is only speculation at the time of this article’s publication as to which records Licis will ultimately target, his current goal is clear: drop weight, increase his work capacity, add strength to his big lifts, and crown those accomplishments with so edits to the record books.
Featured image: @martinslicis on Instagram

Martins Licis has had a roller-coaster return to elite strongman competition. In 2019, he won the most coveted title in the sport: the World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest. However, he vacated the title due to injury — he did not defend the title in 2020 when Oleksii Novikov of Ukraine claimed the crown. Licis did not compete at the 2021 WSM. Instead, in 2021, he performed commentary alongside former BarBend editor Nick English as Tom Stoltman ascended the throne.


Licis returned to competition following his stem cell treatments in 2022 to remarkable success. He won the 2021 Rogue Invitational, the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic, and placed second in his return to the WSM — Stoltman defended the title, and a stumble by Novikov in the Atlas Stones dropped him into the bronze position in a tie on points with Licis.


On Nov. 10, 2022, Licis took to his YouTube channel to publish a video wherein he shared his intentions to lose 60 pounds for the upcoming 2023 strongman season. The goal of his weight loss is to improve his work capacity to post better results in medley and distance events that challenge each athlete’s cardio. Check it out below:



[Related: Trey Mitchell Recaps His Performance at the 2022 Rogue Strongman Invitational]


Licis asked his 203,000 YouTube subscribers to “keep [him] accountable” on his journey to go from his heaviest ever weight, 360 pounds, down to a “lean and mean” 300 pounds. While dropping weight, Licis intends to improve his strength in three events during the 2023 season: the log lift, the deadlift, and the Atlas Stones.


Increasing his strength in those three events isn’t some nondescript goal without a metric for success. In 2024, Licis will attempt to “set some records.” While he did not specify which records he would target in the video, several possibilities stand out with the highest potential.


The first is the American Log Lift record of 217.5 kilograms (478.5 pounds) held by Bobby Thompson. The log lift world record is 229 kilograms (504.8 pounds), scored by Chieck “Iron Biby” Sanou. While 11.5 kilograms does not seem like a drastic leap between those two lifts, the previous log lift world record was only one kilogram less than Iron Biby’s lift. Žydr?nas Savickas locked out 228 kilograms (502.7 pounds) overhead in 2015, and it took seven years for anyone to eclipse it by a single kilo.



[Related: 2022 Strongman Champions League Finals Results — Aivars Šmaukstelis Ascends the Throne]


Licis could set his sights on a bevy of deadlift records. The most obvious is the all-time world record of 501 kilograms (1,104.5 pounds) scored by Hafthor Bjo?rnsson on May 2, 2020, in an episode of World’s Ultimate Strongman (WUS) “Feats of Strength” series. Björnsson did not pull that lift in competition. Still, only Björnsson and Eddie Hall have successfully achieved the milestone 500-kilogram deadlift (Hall was the first human to accomplish the feat at the 2016 World Deadlift Championships).


Rather than going for the all-time record deadlift, Licis might test his hand at the Elephant Bar deadlift record of 472 kilograms (1,040.6) pounds, held by Björnsson since 2018. While there is only speculation at the time of this article’s publication as to which records Licis will ultimately target, his current goal is clear: drop weight, increase his work capacity, add strength to his big lifts, and crown those accomplishments with so edits to the record books.


Featured image: @martinslicis on Instagram




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