Boom! This is Books & Biceps #319!

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BOOKS

How to Live an Extraordinary Life by Anthony Pompliano

I love this project for so many reasons.

First, the guy who wrote it, Anthony Pompliano, AKA, Pomp, is awesome. He’s got 1.6M followers on Twitter, another million plus on YouTube and his podcast is one of the best and most interesting out there, with big time, A-list guests and the occasional meathead like yours truly (you can listen to our episode here).

Pomp is also a friend and an early Books & Biceps supporter and reader who has consistently been generous with me when it comes to his time and brainstorming how to make B&B and the Premium Flex community the best there is.

The second reason I love this book is because it’s one of those ideas you hear as an author and think, “damn, I should have thought of that.” And I mean this in the best way possible….

This book is composed of 65 letters that Pomp wrote to his kids on how to live an extraordinary life. His kids are both young now, so while they won’t be reading it for a bit, the idea of putting what you’ve learned down on paper for your kids is a good one. We should all do it, frankly.

In the intro, Pomp writes: “I am proud of everything I have accomplished in my professional life, but the most important thing to me is ensuring that my children are prepared to be happy, productive citizens in the world.”

If you’re a parent reading this, you likely feel the same way.

This book is a compilation of things Pomp has learned across a variety of fields throughout his life: love, discipline, maturity, business, work ethic, friendship and on and on. Most importantly, this isn’t a book of answers. It’s a book of ideas. Of lessons. Of thoughts you can take with you and adapt to your own experiences.

My favorite essays so far are titled:

Have a Bias for Action

Two Crappy Pages Per Day

Compete, Don’t Complain.

This is the kind of book you buy and can leave on your nightstand or coffee table to flip through regularly. Plenty of the topics are conversation pieces as well.

In fact, I just had my kids read the chapter titled, “Clear Thinking Can’t Happen in a Messy Room”.

I’m confident if you buy this book, it’ll do the most important thing a book can do: it’ll make you think. Grab your copy here.

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BICEPS

I recently had this debate with my son, and it’s a debate I’ve had a version of with my meathead buddies too many times to count:

How much could Captain America bench?

Remember, the super soldier serum enhanced his body to the maximum of human performance, which of course was then pushed to its limits… But that’s the point of the discussion: there are limits.

In the movies, we don’t get too many training scenes, but in this one Cap demolishes several hundred pound bags of sand with ease:

It’s hard to extrapolate how that translates to bench press, but my first guess would be in the 800 pound range, which would put Steve Rogers, who weighs like 220, in pretty impressive territory.

But of course, he’s a super hero, so we should easily bump that 800 up to 1,000 pounds. Sounds insane, right?

Wellllll….. I found this rare frame from a comic that actually has Rogers bench pressing. And here’s where Marvel has him:

Now, let’s assume Cap is doing reps with 1100 pounds comfortably without a spotter. That means his max has to be in the 1500 range at least. So let’s say that a fired up, pissed off, fully-focused Captain America could summon all of his super soldier powers and bench: 2,000 pounds.

A clean one ton.

What do you think? Vote below:

QUICK FLEXES

Happy Birthday this week to “Mean” Joe Greene! Some of you new readers may not know that I co-wrote his autobiography, so here are some lessons I learned from spending time with the icon himself:

When you write for a living, especially books and newsletters, you get a lot of writers reaching out for advice on how to start their own writing careers.

You also get asked to speak to writing groups and to college journalism and English classes. I’ve spoken at TCU, North Texas, Central Florida and more.

Over the years, I’ve compiled my talks into a 90-minute video seminar, including 3 e-books and pitch templates. The course is called Freelance Fortune and I just got notified of a new review as I was writing this and I wanted to share it:

If you’ve been thinking of freelance writing or are a veteran looking for new tips and tactics that work in today’s media landscape, check out Freelance Fortune, and learn more here.

STRONG LINKS:

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) Do you run a start-up?

Have you ever wondered what tools and tactics the best founders use? This newsletter, Big Desk Energy, gives you deep insight into the ins, outs, dos, don’ts and definitely don’ts when it comes to starting a company - all with a little humor involved. Check it out.

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

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