Prince Fielder is with a new team, looking to bounce back from a career-worst season and is just on the right side of 30 years old. Oh, and he's always been questioned about his husky frame, which has caused many to doubt how long he'll be a top player before his body breaks down.
This offseason, Fielder is doing his best to shed that stigma by following an intense MMA workout program.
In a special on ESPN, Fielder divulged his new workout plan, focusing more on boxing and combat than weight training.
βYears past I was lifting weights and lifting heavy, Iβm getting older, Iβm almost 30 now,β Fielder said on the special. βI have a fear of failure, for me Iβm working all that fear away. Our sport is a team sport, but my team canβt be in the box while Iβm hitting so for me I never want to let my team down or my teammates, Iβm eliminating fear.β
Roundabout way of saying, but you can tell Fielder is serious about taking care of his body. So far, he's been extremely durable and is baseball's current iron man, but the thought is that will change sooner rather than later if he doesn't drop some pounds.
βHe spoke to us about how committed he is to trying to stay in shape, stay athletic, stay nimble, and I think itβs something that heβs very focused about, heβs very aware of, and I think based on what we heard, we really didnβt have too much doubt that he was going to do whatever it took to stay on the field,β Rangers assistant general manager Thad Levine told 105.3 The Fan.