Boom! This is Books & Biceps #326!
Welcome to our hundreds of new readers and a special shout out to everyone who pre-ordered Generation Griffey: Rankfest this week!
If one of the 18,500+ awesome B&B readers shared this with you, add your e-mail with the subscribe button below:
If you’re a new subscriber or haven’t read the big New Yorker profile on our Books & Biceps crew, you can check it out here.
BOOKS
With Bitcoin set to pass $100,000 soon, I have the perfect book for you from the author of The Social Network, Ben Mezrich. It’s called Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal and Redemption.
Billionaires is a sequel of sorts to The Accidental Billionaires (the book that became The Social Network), except this time instead of using Mark Zuckerberg as the main character, Mezrich follows the Winklevoss twins’ life after being portrayed as rich, elitist villains in Social Network. Turns out, maybe they weren’t the villains after all.
How does this tie in with bitcoin? Easy. For much of the mid-2010s, the Winkelvii spent a majority of their time and money buying massive positions in bitcoin, believing that it will be the currency of the future and that they had miraculously stumbled on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…again. While this effort made it seem like the twins had lost their perfectly chiseled marbles in 2012, it doesn’t seem so crazy now, does it?
The book covers their bitcoin chase, the oddball techies and crypto dorks who helped them navigate this uncharted territory and it’s the best bite-sized storytelling version of the rise of bitcoin I’ve read. Also, if things break right for them, they may surpass whatever wealth they’d have amassed with their initial idea with Zuck and their claim to Facebook. That’s wild. Order it here.
I also did a fun interview with author Ben Mezrich for his book, Dumb Money. He gave some great answers about how he chooses projects and what he looks for in characters.
You can read it here:
BICEPS
I’ve dialed things way back in the Flex Factory this week since I have my big swim meet this Saturday. No heavy lifting. Nothing close to max effort. Gotta stay light and loose for my races and didn’t want to be sore or tight.
That being said, I decided to do a few body weight circuits to keep my muscles moving.
This one is simple and it’s called “21” because, you’ll see:
The 21 Workout
21 air squats
21 push-ups
21 burpees
21 jumping jacks
21 diamond cutter push-ups
21 mountain climbers
21 pull-ups (lunges if you don’t have a bar)
21 dips (on a chair if you don’t have a bar or rings)
I just did one round because I’m tapering, but for a full workout, try this two or three times through. Enjoy!
QUICK FLEXES
This is the greatest home wrestling video I’ve ever seen.
It’s 45 seconds of dude-dom glory, with two brothers filming a fake match at their house, complete with finishing moves, destroying their property, creativity and well-synched WWE sound bites. And I gotta say their super kicks are legit. Watch it. Then watch it again. I did: HERE’S THE LINK
IT’S GO TIME:
I have my first swim meet in decades tomorrow (Saturday) and I’m pumped.
It’s at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatics Center and Swimming Hall of Fame. Couldn’t be a more incredible venue. Look at this place. Not many Olympic-level pools surrounded by yachts, the beach and the intracoastal.
Now let me tell you something funny.
I started my swimming comeback in August with my eyes on this meet. Anyone who swims competitively knows it takes way more than just 3 months to whip yourself into meet-level shape… So I figured I’d stick to short sprints and shorter events for my grand return.
Up until two weeks ago my meet program looked like this:
50 FLY, 50 FREE, 200 IM, 200 Medley Relay
Not bad. I’ve built myself up so that I can go full throttle for a 50 without breaking form or breaking down.
BUT… I also coach my son’s flag football team and, in no uncertain terms, we’ve got a squad this year. In fact, we’re undefeated, which means we made the playoff tournament, which, of course, is this Sunday, the day of all the events I listed above. Ha!
No way I’m missing a chance to run the table and take home the Super Bowl with my boy and our team…
Fortunately, the meet is two days, but it just so happens that Day 1, Saturday, has all the longer versions of the events I was going to swim. Screw it. I signed up for all of them.
Now my program for Saturday looks like this:
100 FLY, 100 FREE, 50 BACKSTROKE, 400 IM, 200 Free Relay
Lotta yardage. Lot of events. Can’t wait! I’ll let you know how it goes next issue.
STRONG LINKS
1) BUY YOURSELF OFFICIAL BOOKS & BICEPS GEAR FOR THE HOLIDAYS!
If you’re going to grab one thing from the B&B Store, make it the Official Books & Biceps Tee. It shows that you're a fashion icon. A book lover. A gym rat. An absolute stud. Plus, we faded it and made it comfy for you... so you can actually live in it like people do in apocalypse movies. While flexing, of course. Get yours here.
2) Get Your Flexibility Back with ‘KNEES OVER TOES’
This is the EXACT workout I’m using to cure my longstanding low back pain, along with my longtime pathetic mobility and flexibility. The program is called Knees Over Toes. I’ve been doing it for 3 weeks and the results have been remarkable for me. My tight hip pain has disappeared and my low back pain has gone from a constant five down to a two. Doesn’t even hurt to bend and put on socks and shoes, haha.
If you’d like to sign up, please USE THIS LINK FOR BOOKS & BICEPS READERS.
3) READ MIDLIFE MALE
If you’re a dude over 40 and you used to read Men’s Health or Esquire or GQ, and you’re looking for a digital magazine to get you on top of your game and keep you on top of your game, with incredible A-List interviews (Troy Aikman, Don Saladino, Gunnar Peterson and more), original columns and a curated list of weekly items second-to-none, subscribe to Midlife Male Magazine.
I’ve been helping build this publication from the ground up and it’s the magazine I used to wish existed - and now it does:
4) 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.
5) Readers always ask me what supplements I take or what post/pre-workout 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.
Due to overwhelming (and truly humbling) demand, I will be putting together a paperback version of Generation Griffey. I hadn’t planned on it, but after about the 50th person emailed me or DMd me asking if the book was going to be in print, I’ve decided to make it happen. If you want it digitally, you can still grab it here.
Otherwise, be on the lookout soon for the pre-order link to buy the paperback version!
How strong was this issue of Books & Biceps?
🔥🔥🔥If you want to start your own newsletter, I can’t recommend Beehiiv enough (the platform I use to write Books & Biceps):
PS: You still reading Gus and Mallory? Thanks for getting through the whole thing! No skimming!
