Boom! This is Books & Biceps #312!

Welcome to our hundreds of new readers and a special shout out to everyone who joined our Premium Flex Reading Community this week! By the time you read this newsletter next Friday we’ll likely have crossed 15K readers. That’s insane! I remember when I sent this to just 15. Ha!

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BOOKS

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

Ever since I read and recommended Project Hail Mary in Books & Biceps a few years ago I’ve made a concerted effort to mix science fiction titles into my reading. After having not read much (or any, really) sci-fi, I loved Hail Mary and wondered what amazing books in that genre I’d missed over the years.

Because this B&B community is so awesome, I got dozens of recommendations almost instantly on science fiction books dudes said I had to read… So many of them looked awesome, but a few stood out because in a couple cases a half-dozen readers or more recommended the same book.

I bought a few and have been diving into one every three or four months or so to mix up the biographies, historical non-fiction and other stories I’m drawn to. I recommended Red Mars in Issue #301 and this month I’ve started reading a book recommended by longtime B&B Reader (and Premium Flex Member) Brendan C. who runs an awesome blog and newsletter dedicated to sports book reviews, which you should definitely check out here.

This book, Mickey7, is my favorite kind of sci-fi because the main character isn’t some geeky science genius or odd alien or a ‘being’ from another dimension. He’s just a dude in the future who racked up an insane gambling debt and had to take perhaps the shittiest job in the universe on a space exploration vessel to a new planet.

Mickey7’s got a great self-deprecating sense of humor, is clever and has a healthy dose of heart and sarcasm to tie his personality together…

The job? He’s an Expendable, meaning, he’s immortal, in a way.

In the far off future society of this book, humanity has figured out how to “grow” new versions of you in a tank. What happens is you constantly upload your thoughts and if you die, they simply download everything up to the moment you die into this new genetically identical body of yours…

When the book opens, Mickey is on his 7th iteration as a front-line explorer/worst jobs ever guy, meaning, he’s expected to get hurt or die regularly. He is given the most dangerous tasks because he’s the only Expendable they’ve got.

He feels pain and remorse and regret and everything you and I feel… BUT, he knows if he dies he’ll be back tomorrow. Not him, exactly, but an exact copy.

Fascinating, right? Of course there is a planet to explore and a shady best friend and a girlfriend who has the expected issues with dating a guy (from Mickey3 on) who keeps dying and reappearing. And there’s an overarching plot about the planet itself. I’m about 50% through and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

If you’re looking to switch your reading up (or you already love sci-fi) try Mickey7.

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BICEPS

I’ve always hated training legs, but my kick is so weak in swimming right now I don’t have a choice. No way I’m setting butterfly records just using my arms… I shared a brutal dry land leg workout in our last issue here that is great for overall stamina and power.

For strength, there’s no getting around deadlifts, which I’ve always done every other week but which I’m now moving into a higher rotation.

My goal isn’t to go full tree trunk legs, but I do want to gain some power for my flip turns and starts.

I’m starting with higher reps (12-15) and sets of 3 to 5, and whenever I need deadlift motivation I go to this 1972 video of the legendary Franco Columbu, deadlifting 700 pounds 3 times (set to Italian restaurant music haha) weighing about 185 pounds:

QUICK FLEXES

I took this beautiful shot of the sunrise over our 50M long course pool this past Sunday morning before our practice:

We did a really tough distance workout (not my specialty).

600 warm-up (200 free, 200 kick, 200 pull) THEN:

400, 400, 200 easy, 100 sprint

For 3 Rounds!

(NOTE: I only finished 2 haha!)

Did you know I wrote the only book that ranks every single president athletically?

Zero politics. Just sports.

I even came up with a Billy Beane Moneyball-style ranking system that is completely objective. This book was featured in the New York Post and I even flew to NYC to be a guest on a live taping of CBS: This Morning to talk about it.

If you’ve always wondered what kind of athlete Abe Lincoln was (an undefeated street fighter), how strong George Washington was (maybe the strongest man in the Continental Army) and who had the best fastball, jump shot and upper cut, this is your book. ORDER IT HERE.

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Thank you all for reading! Stay Strong! - Jon

BONUS:

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

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