You are reading Books & Biceps #283!

Welcome to all the new sophisticated meatheads joining us this week.

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If you’re a new subscriber or missed my yearly book round-up, “The 15 Most Memorable Books I Read in 2023”, you can read it here.

Before we get to today’s B&B, I have to give a huge “THANK YOU” to everyone who made the Books & Biceps and Flex Factory store launch a massive success last week.

You can read about why I launched the store here, but the sheer number of orders has been incredible. Gives me a ton of pride that so many in our crew want to rep our gear out in the world.

So far, the #1 bestseller by far is this sweet, faded gray Books & Biceps tee, followed by the official Flex Factory Meathead Mug:

But we sold plenty of Flex Factory Little Punch tees, Books & Biceps mugs, water bottles, hoodies and more. You can get your gear at the link below.

Use promo code ‘BICEPS’ to get 20% off:

BOOKS

Roll the Dice by Charles Bukowski

We don’t talk about poetry too much here in B&B, but as you know, we aren’t just meatheads; we’re sophisticated meatheads, which means we dabble in reading all sorts of literature.

In this case, I wanted to share a widely underrated poem when it comes to motivation, creativity and getting after it.

In the world of hustle culture and “crushing it”, Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech is a crowd favorite. I even referenced it in the profile the New Yorker wrote about us. However, there’s another poem that I love that offers the same message in a slightly different way with an edgier tone.

It’s called Roll the Dice by Charles Bukowski. If you’re a Bukowski fan already, then you’re likely familiar with this. If not, I get it. There aren’t too many writers like Bukowski and he’s rarely taught in high school or college. In fact, I didn’t discover him until my mid-20s when my good buddy Seth handed me a dog-eared paperback of Ham on Rye and said I’d dig him. He was right.

Ham on Rye is probably Bukowski’s most famous novel, though he wrote a bunch, in addition to short stories and a massive amount of poetry. He’s raw, gritty, funny, observational and sharp. Also, he’s not for everyone.

If you’ve been lacking motivation lately, or just needed a kick in the ass to start that new project, idea, book, or whatever it is that gnaws at you late at night, read this and then get started:

Roll the Dice by Charles Bukowski

if you’re going to try, go all the way.
otherwise, don’t even start.

if you’re going to try, go all the way.

this could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.

go all the way. it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days. it could mean freezing on a park bench. it could mean jail, it could mean derision, mockery, isolation.

isolation is the gift, all the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. and you’ll do it despite rejection and the worst odds and it will be better than anything else you can imagine.

if you’re going to try, go all the way. there is no other feeling like that.

you will be alone with the gods and the nights will flame with fire.

do it, do it, do it. do it.

all the way. all the way.

you will ride life straight to perfect laughter, it’s the only good fight there is.

There is also an awesome reading of this poem on YouTube that is guaranteed to fire you up. The guy reading it kinda sounds like Darth Vader.

BICEPS

King Iso is a jacked rapper who recently released a song that may become the official Flex Factory anthem one day.

Not only is the beat strong, it’s specifically about his love for lifting weights and includes lyrics like this:

Walk up in here with my guns out
Flexing like I got a check
Pushing weight for that money, no drug house
You already know what I rep
Some say that I'm crazy 'cause I love the way the weights sound when it shake and it rattle
We don't call this going to the gym (What we call it?)
We call this here training for battle

A rap song about no sleeves, banging weights and going to battle??? Done. I’m in. Here’s another great verse:

If you ain't got the motivation, better search for it
It's a war outside, you'll get hurt for it
You know we call gains, getting money
So you know what that mean, gotta work for it
Gotta punch that clock, hit time
Gotta kick it high gear and go grind
'Cause if you ain't taking care of your body
Then it's gon' die with your mind

Phenomenal, right? Here’s a link to the song on YouTube, but you can get it on Apple or wherever. Big shout out to my buddy and longtime B&B reader, SWAT team member and fellow 40+ meathead Eric, for turning me on to this one. It’s impossible to listen to this song when you hit the gym and not want to bench press a Ford F-150 with one arm.

QUICK FLEXES

Since the theme of this issue is motivation, the next time you’re feeling tired or you don’t feel like pushing through a workout, think of Lynne Cox, one of the toughest human beings alive, who survived swimming 1 full mile in the Antarctic Ocean in a regular bathing suit. She battled glaciers, orcas, undercurrents, hypothermia and more. You have to read this:

We’re less than 3 months away from the release of my Macho Man Randy Savage biography and I am PUMPED. You guys are gonna love this. You can pre-order it here (if you do, send me a screenshot of the order and I’ll send you a sweet Macho hologram of the cover).

During research I uncovered this gem, Ken Jennings doing an “Oooohh yeahhh” live on Jeopardy! after Macho was a question:

Don’t forget about our Meathead Agreement

In the gym there is an unspoken agreement that if a fellow dude needs a spot you jump in and help, one meathead to another.

If you enjoy reading this newsletter every week, let’s spot each other.

Let’s consider my writing and sending each issue of Books & Biceps my spotting you the best books, interviews and meathead content around.

Your spot to me is that you share this issue with ONE person who you think would like it.

That’s the deal. I spot you. You spot me. Just like the gym. Thanks!

Here’s your personal sharing link to get free stuff for every share:

STRONG LINKS:

1) Is freelance writing one of your New Year’s resolutions? Have you always wanted to learn how to write for your favorite publications, blogs or magazines? My Freelance Fortune Course has you covered. Everything I’ve learned in 20 years of writing for the world’s biggest publications like: The New York Times, GQ, Men’s Health, Yahoo! Sports and more.

2) Readers always ask me what supplements I take or what pre-workouts and protein powder I use. I’ve been using the same brand since they launched about a decade ago: Jym Supplements. I’ve known the owner and founder for fifteen years and it’s the best tasting, highest quality stuff around. Try my favorite pre-workout (Blue Arctic Freeze) and protein powder (S’mores) here.

Thank you all for reading.

Have a great weekend! - Jon

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PPS: Hey Gus! Thanks for reading the whole thing, buddy! No skimming!