đź’ŞBooks & Biceps 306

Charlie Ward's Unbeatable Feat, Video: Insane Shot Put Training, Classic Power Bars

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Boom! This is Books & Biceps #306!

Welcome to our hundreds of new readers and a special shout out to everyone who upgraded to a Premium Flex Membership this week! If an awesome B&B reader shared this with you, add your e-mail with the subscribe button below:

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. 

Today’s issue of Books & Biceps is brought to you by Public Rec, AKA, the pants so nice they’re advertising twice.

You guys REALLY liked these pants (or hated your old pants, or just needed new pants) because a TON of you clicked on last week’s ad and ordered some new slacks (as my grandfather used to say). That’s awesome. Keeps you looking stylish AND helps support Books & Biceps. So we’re running it back. Please click on this ad and check out the pants and B&B’s ad partners will be happy. Easy win for everyone and super simple way to support the newsletter:

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BOOKS

I only share my own books in this section once or twice a year, when I have a new one coming out OR there’s a special occasion. In this case, it’s the latter.

Wednesday night’s NBA Draft marked the 30th anniversary of a truly unprecedented event in sports - one that I am confident will NEVER happen again. Yeah, I know “never say never” but I’m going to say “never”.

What I’m talking about is Pick #26 in the 1994 NBA Draft, when a Heisman Trophy-winning, National Championship-winning college football quarterback was taken in the first round of the NBA draft - and he’d eventually be a starting point guard in the NBA Finals.

Of course, I’m referring to Florida State’s Charlie Ward.

Whenever discussions of the “greatest athletes” come up, people instantly bring up Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders… and there’s no argument against what those guys did… BUT, they were insane speed/strength guys who did not run their teams. They were exceptional football players who could hit and catch in baseball, no doubt…

But I’d argue that the football/hoops combo is harder to excel at in terms of being elite than the football/baseball combo…

And the clincher is that Charlie wasn’t just some monster tight end who destroyed people in football and then played power forward in hoops and grabbed tons of rebounds and got put backs… He wasn’t that at all.

He was a quarterback and point guard. The two most important positions on both teams!

In both cases, the team’s offense ran through him. He called the shots. He ran the plays. He had all the pressure. And he was incredible: Heisman Trophy & National Title in football / Elite Eight in March Madness in hoops.

I know I’m biased because I wrote Charlie’s biography and interviewed his entire family, high school, college and pro teammates for the book and we’ve become friends since, but my stance on Charlie hasn’t changed since I saw him play live for Florida State against Kansas at the Kickoff Classic in the Meadowlands in the early 1990s: Charlie is a once-in-several-generations athlete.

If you grew up in the 90s and want a deep dive on his life, you’ll love this book. If you are younger and are just learning of how incredible Charlie was, you will also love this book. Jeff Van Gundy. Tony Dungy. Warrick Dunn. Allan Houston. All endorsed it. Check it out here.

👉 You’re Invited: Premium Flex Members are currently finishing First Blood by David Morrell as our Big Read of the Month, with cool discussion about the book, movie and other awesome action novels in the B&B Community chat group. We’re in the middle of our Summer Blockbuster Reads theme and you’ll love it. You can join with this link.

BICEPS

Fun fact: I threw shot put in high school and I loved it. Sure, I weighed all of about 185 pounds back then, but for some reason my body was kinetically constructed to be able to throw the hell out of a shot.

I can’t explain it, but meet after meet in high school I’d go up against dudes 40 and 50 pounds heavier than me… offensive tackles and centers and heavyweight wrestlers… and I’d beat them.

And just to make sure I haven’t gone all Al Bundy and made up my own legend, I used the newspaper archives I have access to for book research and found this:

These are the results from the 1995 county championships when I was a high school junior in New Jersey. I took third place. The dude in first played for the Titans in the NFL.

Weird, I know. Anyway, I’ve always been fascinated with shot put training because it combines speed, quickness and sheer strength for giants. And this video shows an absurd training device I had to share: it’s a medicine ball with a dumbbell tied to it that hangs from the ceiling. Go to the 8-minute mark to check it out:

And if you’re not into shot put and are looking for a bare bones, 30-minute workout that will crush you, try this:

Simple Circuit: 1 ball + 1 bell supersets of 10 with 1 minute rest for 30 minutes

👉 REMINDER: Premium Flex Members are in the midst of our 30 Day: 100 push-ups daily for time challenge, with smart discussion about strategies, new personal bests and motivation in the B&B Community Teams chat group. You can join for 20% off with this link. 

QUICK FLEXES

Whenever I finish a book I celebrate the launch and buy myself an awesome card that represents the project. ONE RULE: I don’t buy the card until the book is done - it’s my own little reward to myself.

Starting with Macho, here’s a video thread of the cards I’ve bought for my recent books with Macho’s entrance music - this is super high production value so please enjoy:

You up for a little mid-90s meathead nostalgia?

Who remembers these sticks of cement? Click on the link to read some great comments… A lot of people have “fond” memories of trying to chew these haha:

Time 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:

1) Running sucks! But I make myself do it. Lately, 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) If you’ve ever wanted to join Audible, now’s the time! My Macho Man biography audio book is finally up for pre-order! If you already have Audible, you can order it here.

3) I know bench press, not stock bench marks. 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:

4) If you want to start your own newsletter, I can’t recommend Beehiiv enough (the platform I use to write Books & Biceps):

Thank you all for reading! Stay Strong! - Jon

BONUS: Check out these greatest hits:

1) This feature has been read by more than 10 MILLION PEOPLE:

2) This breakdown of iconic author Lee Child’s success was read by over 4 MILLION:

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

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Here’s a breakdown of the entire Premium Flex Membership:

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