TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
MAX BAER

For today’s inspiration, we turn to a man who has actually been presented as a depraved villain in Hollywood. Heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer served as the heel to real-life hero Jimmy Braddock in Cinderella Man, with the focus on how Baer’s punches had killed one man (Frankie Campbell) in the ring and damaged another (Ernie Schaef) sufficiently that he was primed to die in the ring a few matches later against another opponent.

Baer was charged with manslaughter in Campbell’s death (and was acquitted) and was also banned from boxing for a year. Baer remained profoundly impacted by the death of Campbell and gave future winnings to Campbell’s family upon returning to the ring.

Though cast as the villain in Cinderella Man, Baer could easily have been cast as the hero in other plotlines that characterized his life and career. With Hitler’s Germany on the rise (but with WWII yet to engulf the world) in 1933, German favorite Max Schmeling squared off against Baer at Yankee Stadium. In a show of his Jewish heritage, Max Baer wore a highly visible Star of David on his boxing trunks, and beat Schmeling with a 10th-round referee stoppage. This earned Baer a great deal of esteem among those who opposed Hitler’s racial policies. This match also preceded the far more famous matches between Schmeling and Joe Louis.

Soon thereafter, Baer won the world heavyweight title by knocking out then-champion Primo Carnera, who at 275 pounds, had enjoyed an enormous weight advantage over Baer.

It should also be noted that, though Hitler used Max Schmeling as an athletic representative of his regime, it was later learned that Schmeling himself was not a supporter of the Nazi regime.

REBUILDING THE MACHINE…

Legs are still recovering from their recent blasting. Biceps were worked too much yesterday for a back workout. However, triceps are pretty much good to go, so I could make a chest or shoulders day out of it. While legs and back have been identified as my weak areas, I am also treating shoulders as a quasi-weak area, so it too will get a bit of extra work. It’s a shoulders day.

TODAY: SHOULDERS

ARNOLD PRESS (8 sets)
40 x 10
40 x 10
40 x 8
40 x 9
40 x 8
40 x 8
35 x 8
35 x 8

UPRIGHT BARBELL ROW (6 sets)
75 x 10
75 x 12
75 x 10
75 x 10
75 x 10
75 x 10

DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISES (5 sets)
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10 / 15 x 6 / 10 x 6 (drop set)

DUMBBELL INCLINE FULL-RANGE FORWARD RAISES (5 sets)
20 x 10
20 x 8
20 x 5
20 x 5
20 x 5 / 10 x 10 (drop set)

SHOULDER PRESS (MACHINE) (4 sets)
70 x 12
60 x 12
60 x 12
60 x 10

REAR DELT FLYES (HORIZONTAL GRIP) (PEC DECK)
145 x 10
145 x 10
145 x 10
145 x 10
145 x 10 / 115 x 8 / 85 x 8 (drop set)

TRAINING NOTES

Supersetted Dumbbell Lateral and Forward Raises (as usual)

Total Sets (Shoulders): 33

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