colintimberlake.comTell her it wasn’t you…

TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
DAVE BABYCH

Today’s Colin Timberlake Training Inspiration is a man who was ahead of his time in terms of strength training for professional hockey.

In an era before the benefits of intense strength training were universally applied in sports such as hockey and baseball, Dave Babych earned an edge over his competition in the NHL by being one of the strongest players in the entire league. In annual off-season competitions, he would invariably prove himself to be among the league’s most powerful players, and his level of intensity and conditioning allowed him to enjoy a career of great longevity.

Drafted 2nd overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 1980, Babych had been a junior hockey phenomenon. As a defenseman, he had scored 100 points in 56 games with Fort Saskatchewan in 1977-78. He was well over a point-a-game the next two seasons for Portland and cemented his place as a high draft pick with high expectations.

Babych did not disappoint, setting the Jets record for points in a season by a defenseman (74) in 1982-83 and also leading the team in assists (61). And the points record he broke? His own from the previous season (68) when he also set the record for goals by a defenseman (19).

Babych played in the 1983 and 1984 All-Star Games and led the Jets in playoff scoring when they won the first playoff series in franchise history. Babych would continue his strong play when it counted the most, as he was an integral part of the Vancouver Canucks’ 1994 run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Along with players such as Trevor Linden, Cliff Ronning, Kirk McLean, Pavel Bure, Tim Hunter and Geoff Courtnall, they would comprise the most successful corps in the team’s long history and come within a goal of winning the Cup itself.

Babych is also the only Canucks defenseman to ever record a hat trick and was always a fan favorite for his intensity on the ice and his pleasant demeanor off the ice, as well as a long resume of charity work.

When it was all said and done, Babych was among the NHL career leaders in games played (1195) and defenseman scoring (723). Adding 62 points in 114 playoff games, Babych retired as one of the best offensive defenseman to play the game. All the while, he was known as a defensively responsible player, due in no small part to his unparalleled physical strength. And he would surely have played longer, had he not put the team first and skated through the 1999 playoffs on a broken foot, further damaging it and prompting a retirement that came a few seasons too early.

As an unrelated side note, Babych also had the world’s best sense of humor about premature hair loss. Clinging to the last few hairs on top when the Canucks acquired cue ball Mark Messier in the mid-1990s, Babych said to reporters that at least he wasn’t the baldest guy on the team anymore.

HAMMERING THE ANVIL…

Back to a biceps maintenance day. Damn, the weight drops so much when I do my reps this slow. Kind of demotivating in a rookie way but really not that bad if you are dedicated to the process.

TODAY: BICEPS (5-1-5) and FOREARMS (5-1-5)

STANDING BARBELL CURLS (5 sets)
45 x 10
65 x 5
65 x 5
75 x 4
85 x 3

PREACHER DUMBBELL CURLS (5 sets)
20 x 6
25 x 6
25 x 6
30 x 5
40 x 3

SUSPENDED LEGS INCLINE TWISTING DUMBBELL CURLS (3 sets)
15 x 9
25 x 5
30 x 4

OVERHAND STANDING BARBELL CURLS (3 sets)
45 x 5
45 x 5
45 x 5

UNDERHAND FOREARM DUMBBELL CURLS (5 sets)
15 x 10
15 x 10
20 x 8
25 x 7
30 x 5

OVERHAND FOREARM DUMBBELL CURLS (5 sets)
15 x 5
15 x 5
15 x 5
15 x 5
15 x 4

HIGH-INTENSITY-INTERVAL-TRAINING (30 seconds 10 mph 5 incline / 30 seconds rest)
10 Rounds

TRAINING NOTES

Total Sets (Biceps): 16
Total Sets (Forearms): 10

Supersetted Underhand and Overhand Forearm Curls.

BACK TO Index of Inspirational Role Models for Training