Victor Martinez talks about living a year in a pandemic, if restrictions were effective or fair, and whether or not he trusts the new vaccines.
The past year was a complicated and hard time for many people during the pandemic. This is true for nearly all walks of life – including the world of bodybuilding. Gyms closed, the season was postponed with many events being cancelled, and numerous athletes had to drop out from big events due to getting sick. In the United States, the government’s direct actions and restrictions also affected bodybuilding. Now that we seem to be witnessing the light at the end of the tunnel – what decisions were worth it? In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Victor Martinez discusses his year of the pandemic and his thoughts on restrictions and the new vaccines.
With something as massively world-shifting as the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s expected that not everything could be handled perfectly. This was a virus that no one fully understood – with science rapidly trying to catch up to provide guidance for the public. That being said, now over a year into the pandemic, hindsight is providing a lot of reflection. This is not only for the scientists and governing bodies – but also the citizens and people.
Victor Martinez is a bodybuilder we interviewed just before the pandemic took grip of the world. Now over a year later, we were able to reconnect with him via video chat for a follow up interview. So of course we wanted to follow up and see how the past year had treated him – as a man and as a bodybuilder.
Victor Martinez considers himself fortunate during this time and acknowledges how many people financially and medically suffered during this unprecedented time. On top of that, the sport he loved suffered due to restrictions. Martinez admits that he doesn’t agree with all of the restrictions and rules set to combat the virus. He hates wearing the masks, though will do so to be considerate for others. He chooses to train in a gym that doesn’t require them.
Martinez goes on to explain that he’s not afraid to of the virus and is most concerned with doing his part to prevent it from getting worse. He believes that regardless of restrictions, masks, and so on – that many people would get infected either way. He’s fortunate enough to be young enough to not worry as much about massive health complications. He’s willing to take that calculated risk.
That being said, Victor Martinez doesn’t agree with the massive politicization of the virus. He can’t get behind those who believe the whole virus is fake or planned by the government. He also doesn’t think locking yourself inside for a year is the right way to handle it either.
Martinez makes it very clear that he has faith in the people to make informed decisions. That the government’s restrictions only induce panic or resistance and makes things worse. Martinez believes that the United States is a free country – and restrictions go against that creedo. In fact, he goes on to say, “I don’t trust government. period.” For this reason, he also revealed that he would not be getting the vaccine unless he absolutely had to for career reasons.
At the end of the day, this is just the opinion of one man – but might perhaps provide insight into the mindset of a bodybuilder during this complicated time. There had been many controversial headlines about gym owners refusing to close down with arguments falling on both sides. Perhaps there was no easy answer to truly account for everyone – but Victor Martinez’ reflection is a window into one particular part of the world in relation to the pandemic.
You can watch Victor Martinez go into full detail about the pandemic, restrictions, and vaccines in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above.