You are reading Books & Biceps #292

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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.

I’ve been on Spring Break skiing in Colorado this week so this is a travel and ice themed issue. Also, when we ski as a family I take the dad position in the back for two reasons:

1) So I can pick up the kids/wife/skis when they fall

2) So I can take spectacular photos like this:

BOOKS

In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides

Every year when we go skiing I grab a book about snow, adventure, survival, ice, the arctic or all of the above. Last year I read Endurance, which quickly became one of my favorite and most recommended books ever - an absolutely remarkable story of survival against all odds.

Remember, I live in Florida, so when I’m in the mountains these are just about the only 5 days of the year I’ll be remotely cold, so I like to go all in and immerse myself in the feeling.

This year I picked up Hampton Sides’s book, In the Kingdom of Ice. This book showed up on a bunch of “best stories of survival” type lists along with Endurance and The Wager, so I saved it for this year.

This true story is about a North Pole expedition in 1879 that plummets into hell - if hell was 1,000 miles north of Siberia stuck in a ship with no supplies and only the scantest chance at survival.

The descriptions of snow blindness will leave you squinting. The levels of desperation will keep you up at night. Plus, you’ll learn about George De Long, a 200 pound Naval Academy graduate who became what Arctic scientists called a “pagophile” - a creature that is happiest in the ice.

Dressed head to toe in furs and wearing sealskin boots every day, here’s how he describes his vessel in a letter to his wife, who he barely saw for four years:

“We have taken on twelve dogs for sleds and we are now really worth looking at. The ship is black with dirt and coal dust, dogs packed away among the coal, sheep tied up forward and beef hanging right and left with fish here and there. We are really in a good state to go anywhere.”

Sounds fun!

Plus, we’ve got polar bears, the arctic circle and depths of cold and hunger you can’t imagine. It’s astonishing what humans can overcome under the worst conditions in the most remote, icy, barren place on earth.

This one will stick with you.

BICEPS

People don’t come to ski lodges to lift. I get that. You’re out on the mountain all day and the last thing you want to do after skiing for 7 or 8 hours is hit the gym. Skiing is exhausting - especially when you’re picking your kids up from falls and pushing them along trails and helping them out of deep snow half the time.

BUT, meatheads gotta meathead so every other day I hit the gym for a half hour before lounging in the hot tub, relaxing and taking a nap before dinner.

There’s no need to hit legs, obviously, so even in the most bare bones setting (our lodge’s gym was an old cable set-up and a small dumbbell set), this is the full upper body routine that is my staple. I aim for weights and rep ranges that don’t leave me dead since I’m on the slopes all day.

The goal is high-ish reps to hit your whole upper body quickly and efficiently.

CHEST SUPERSET:

4 × 25 push-ups

4 × 15 cable flys (or DBs if you have them)

BACK SUPERSET:

4 × 12 pull-ups

4 × 12 standing cable rows

SHOULDERS SUPERSET:

4 × 12 standing DB press (or cables)

4 × 12 upright rows (cable flat bar or DBs)

BONUS - ARMS SUPERSET:

4 × 12 Cable Biceps Curls (or DBs)

4 × 12 Cable Triceps Press Down (or DB kickbacks)

1 set of 21s to failure

DONE. This should take 30 minutes depending on how fast you move. Hits everything with minimal equipment. Holds you over until you get back to your home Flex Factory.

QUICK FLEXES

After a hiatus that was far too long, 2x NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas will be making his long-overdue return to the NBA next week with the Phoenix Suns. I worked with Isaiah on Hoops Heist: Seattle, the Sonics, and How a Stolen Team’s Legacy Gave Rise to the NBA’s Secret Empire, so I’m biased because IT’s a great dude.

Either way, in honor of his comeback, enjoy this behind-the-scenes story of his most legendary high school game (one of the greatest in Seattle history):

Witness a World Record! I cut the highest elevation Macho Man book promo of ALL TIME. 11,444 FEET.

It’s called:

The Cream of the Crop… At the Mountain Top. WATCH:

We are officially LESS THAN TWO WEEKS away from the release of my Macho Man biography on April 2nd.

Do you want to be part of literary history? Do you want to help the Books & Biceps crew make Macho Man a #1 best seller? You can!

Pre-orders in publishing are a huge deal, so if you read this newsletter most weeks, if you’ve ever watched wrestling, grew up a fan of the Macho Man or love biographies on wholly unique American success stories, then I’d love it if you’d give this book a shot.

I 100% guarantee you’ll enjoy it if you’re reading this.

If you grab a copy today, I will PERSONALLY send you a signed book plate and sweet hologram sticker of the cover. Just reply to this email with a screen shot of your order and your address. Thanks!

How to Honor 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) I only run twice a week. I run a 5k every Sunday and run sprints or a short 1-2 mile jog during the week. But I’ve become interested in learning about the mechanics of running, prepping for races and more. This newsletter, The Rundown shares unique stories as well as stretches, nutrition tips and even cool upcoming races you might be interested in. You can join here.

2) 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.

3) I know squats, not stocks. I know the QB option, not trading options. I could make more bad analogies, but I won’t. What I will do is share the link to the Bullseye Trades email written every week by world-famous 20-year trading veteran Jeff Bishop. If you’re into getting daily hot stock ideas and learning options trading strategies, this email is for you. Subscribe here.

4) 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 and have a phenomenal weekend!

And don’t forget to buy Macho Man! - Jon

PS: Want to Sponsor this newsletter in April?

If you’d like to reach our awesome sophisticated meathead community of over 12,000 readers, respond to this e-mail today!

PPS: You still reading Gus and Mallory? Thanks for getting through the whole thing! No skimming!

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