Boom! This is Books & Biceps #344!

Welcome to our hundreds of new readers this week! We’ve crossed 23,000 sophisticated meatheads! If someone forwarded you this issue of B&B, you can join us right here:

(If you’re a new subscriber or missed my yearly book round-up, The 16 Most Memorable Books I Read in 2024, you can read it here.)

BOOKS

 The Underdog Mentality: Sports Stories that Will Change How You See the Game (And Yourself) by Tyler O’Shea

Man, I’ve been diving into some heavy-duty books lately. Not by design—it just kinda happened. These aren’t your breezy beach reads. I’m talking fascinating, well-written, edge-of-your-seat stuff that also punches you in the gut and leaves you emotionally drained. A few weeks back, I raved about The Indifferent Stars Above, a brutal, beautifully told tale of the Donner Party that’ll wreck you with its unimaginable pain and suffering. Before that I recommended The Republic of Pirates — the true pirate story of Blackbeard and the miserable reality of life on ships and islands. I also recommended a Genghis Khan biography that, needless to say, included a major dose of war, conquests, turmoil, tragedy and triumph. These kinds of books make you think hard, and they’re damn good, but they weigh on you a bit.

My nightstand stack keeps growing, and after the Donner Party gut-punch, I needed a break—something uplifting before the next novel I’m pumped to crack open. And right on cue, the Books & Biceps gods delivered: The Underdog Mentality: Sports Stories That Will Change How You See the Game and Yourself by Tyler O’Shea. I know Tyler a bit through social media from his great newsletter, Underdog Newsletter, and this book was exactly what I needed. It’s 20 essays about underdogs beating insane odds—longshots from nowhere towns who turned dreams into reality.

I’m biased toward the Tony Conigliaro chapter (it’s awesome), but there’s gold everywhere: the last-round draft pick who clawed his way to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the below-average high school footballer who made it pro despite never starting varsity, names you know like Billy Wagner, and ones you’ve half-forgotten like NFL Hall of Famer Sam Mills. Zero-star recruits, guys cut from teams—these stories hit you with a quick jolt of inspiration. I didn’t plow through it in one shot. Instead, I’ve been flipping around, one chapter here, one there—my favorite way to tackle books like this. If you want something to keep on your coffee table for a quick pick-me-up, or to put a hop in your reading step, grab this one here.

BICEPS

Last Sunday, I crushed it at a swim meet, absolutely obliterating my personal best in the 50-yard butterfly. Been grinding for this race forever, totally rebuilding my stroke from the ground up. We’re talking catch, straight-arm recovery, breathing, keeping my back flat—the works. But the biggest improvement has been in three areas: starts, kicks, and turns. I’ve overhauled my workout process to dial in mobility, flexibility, and explosiveness. If you’d like to watch the 26 second speedboat performance (haha) you can right here.

I’ve shouted out the Knees Over Toes program before (still phenomenal), but if you’re chasing those old school hops—whether it’s off starting blocks, hooping, swinging a tennis racket, or blasting off a pool wall—here are the three exercises giving me the biggest bang for my buck so far:

1. ATG Split Squat (3 × 10)

2. The Poliquin Step-Up (3 × 20)

3. Slow-Eccentric Front Squat ( 3 × 5 slooooooow)

I do these each twice a week, in addition to other parts of the KoT protocol, but for sheer explosiveness and knee/leg strengthening, this is my top three.

These have been money for me, and I’m still riding the high from winning that race and dropping a time within a second of what I swam in high school, almost 30 years ago! And I’ve got a lot of room to get faster.

I’m up to 10 pound dumbbells in each hand for the split squat, no blocks on the flat ground. I use no weight for the Poliquin. Just controlled body weight… And I used a 35 lb kettlebell for the front squat. Low and slow. About to move up to a 45 pound plate.

Start small. Even with assisted movement or half-movement. The benefits over time are extraordinary.

QUICK FLEXES

I can’t tell you why, but I’m mesmerized by this video of a strongman flipping a car completely over with his bare hands so easily. This looks like it’s a Camry or something. Definitely a legit, compact car. And he flips this thing like it’s a Hot Wheels:

And I came across this quote and photo from a young Chuck Norris. I love it. Dude wasn’t born some gifted fighter. He made himself that way. Great lesson here:

STRONG LINKS

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3) This is the single most relatable newsletter about start-ups you’ll ever read. And it’s by the guy who founded Beehiiv, the platform host of this newsletter. His name’s Tyler. His newsletter’s Big Desk Energy. You’ll love it:

DID YOU ORDER GENERATION GRIFFEY YET?

ALL THESE GUYS DID AND THEY SHARED THE PICS WITH US:

If you still wear your hat backward like Griffey, think all the Prime flavors are dumb because Gatorade Citrus Cooler is the greatest sports drink ever, miss Blockbuster and Tower Records, destroyed your friends in Street Fighter, GoldenEye, and NBA Jam, can quote Tommy Boy and Billy Madison, and never missed Stu Scott on SportsCenter —this book, Generation Griffey, is for you.

I ranked 90 of the '90s things that made your dude childhood legendary. A rankfest, if you will. Ninety columns. By me. For you. For US.

Why Generation Griffey?

First, it’s a great name. We’ve got alliteration, “generation,” and the quintessential athlete of that era: Ken Griffey Jr.

Junior perfectly defines the era for late '80s and '90s kids because the apex of his career matches our childhood. From the day he joined the Mariners’ lineup in 1989 through the next decade, nobody embodied '90s style (the backward hat), swagger (the swing, the smile, the commercials), and coolness (the kicks, the cameos, the crossover stardom) quite like Griffey.
His reign atop the sports/celebrity pyramid (alongside Jordan) from his rookie year in Seattle to his move to the Reds in 2000 serves as the perfect bookend for all of us who grew up in the last decade of the last century.

See? Generation Griffey is a spectacular name for this book.

What are we ranking?

Everything. Well, noteverything, but the 90 most nostalgic things that make us dudes smile all these years later: the movies we quoted, the athletes we loved, the cards we collected, the foods we devoured, the shows we watched, and more. All of it. Got it? Good. Let’s go.