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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
“KING” RICHARD BRODEUR

Today’s inspiration is a man who, while athletic and well-conditioned, was never noted for his physique by any stretch of the imagination. It was a rare enough achievement for man to make it to the NHL at the height of 5′7″, and rarer still when reporters seemed to be continually attaching adjectives like “soft” or “pudgy” to his name.

So today’s inspiration is not so much about fitness or bodybuilding, but about having a winning mentality, playing your best when it really counts and seizing the opportunities life gives you on the rare occasions that they become available.

In 1981, Richard Brodeur was known around the NHL as a competent goaltender, playing for a perpetually bottom-dwelling team in the Vancouver Canucks. He had enjoyed relatively little fanfare in his NHL career to date, but by the spring of 1982…he had become (and would always remain) King Richard Brodeur.

Playing in a division where Brodeur had to constantly some of the best offensive teams in the NHL at the time, including the legendary Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers, the Vancouver Canucks (by contrast) scored the fourth-least goals in the 21-team league. So when the playoffs started against the Calgary Flames, expectations were not high.

But something happened. The small goalie in the Vancouver Canucks caught fire, and the Calgary Flames were swept in the best-of-five series. And in the next round, the Canucks disposed of the Los Angeles Kings, who were led by Hall-of-Famer and eventual 2nd-all-time career scorer Marcel Dionne. The reward for the team of journeymen and hard-working grinders? A matchup with Hall of Famer Denis Savard’s Chicago Blackhawks. Once again, Brodeur stood infinitely taller in the Vancouver nets than you would think his 5′7″ frame would permit. The Canucks not only disposed of the Blackhawks, but did so in a series that was arguably the subject of biased refereeing, so much so that Vancouver coach Roger Nielsen tied a white towel to a hockey stick and waved it in mock surrender. Such was the birth of “towel power” and a sporting tradition that has swept throughout arenas in North America.

On the back of this one man, a team of essential no-names had made its way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in the club’s history. Without a single present or future Hall-of-Famer on the team, the 1982 Vancouver Canucks were now facing off against quite possibly the greatest and most feared team in the history of hockey. The 1982 New York Islanders, at the height of their dynasty, featured no less than five players who would be inducted into the Hall of Fame upon their retirement.

On the eve of his fight with Apollo Creed in the film Rocky, Rocky Balboa says to his eventual wife: I can’t beat Creed… All I want to do is go the distance. Cause if that bell rings and I’m still standing, I’ll know I wasn’t just another bum from the neighborhood.

Against the 1982 Islanders, with Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier, Denis Potvin, Clark Gillies and – in the other net – Hall of Fame goaltender Billy Smith, the Canucks were grievously overmatched in every area…except in net. The Canucks lost the series, but not before winning the hearts of a city and hockey fans everywhere, and not before making a legend out of a man who had toiled in NHL obscurity but risen his game to its highest level when it mattered the most. Brodeur had gone the distance and he was not just another bum from the Vancouver Canucks. None of these Vancouver Canucks were bums and none of them ever would be again.

So the lesson to anyone in the fitness arena, whether pushing for the last rep on a personal-best set of weights, driving for the finish line in a marathon when the pack leader is still within reach, or bringing your best on-stage posing performance in a bodybuilding or fitness pre-judging… Watch for your moment and sieze it. You may become a king…

REBUILDING THE MACHINE…

Shoulders day. I am going to work these things until they are shoulders royalty.

TODAY: SHOULDERS
…5 COUNT UP, 5 COUNT DOWN

ARNOLD DUMBBELL PRESS (5 sets)
30 x 8
30 x 8
40 x 6
40 x 6
50 x 4 / 40 x 2 / 30 x 2 / 20 x 2

SHOULDER PRESS (MACHINE) (per arm) (5 sets)
50 x 8
60 x 6
60 x 6
70 x 4
80 x 4 / 60 x 1

LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISE (4 sets)
20 x 8
20 x 6
20 x 6
20 x 4

FORWARD DUMBBELL RAISE (4 sets)
15 x 7
15 x 6
15 x 7
20 x 3 / 15 x 3

TRAINING NOTES

Supersetted Forward and Lateral Dumbbell Raise. Today felt like a solid workout but not necessarily one for the ages. I’m still getting used to the sloooow tempo on the forward and lateral dumbbell raises.

Total Sets (Shoulders): 18

ASSOCIATED LINK OF THE DAY

In his years after hockey, among many other things, Richard Brodeur has gone on to become an artist. He has a website featuring his oil and canvas works.

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