If you’ve been reading Books & Biceps for more than a few weeks, you know I’m constantly training for something. Swim meets. Triathlons. 5Ks. Even just to bench 305 again as a 47-year-old dude. And I’m always on the lookout for B&B partners who will hook you, my fellow Sophisticated Meatheads, up with cool stuff.
That’s why I’m excited to have Transparent Labs sponsoring today’s newsletter:
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Boom! This is Books & Biceps #378!
Thanks to everyone who has shared this newsletter with a buddy or fellow sophisticated meathead. In fact, 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 you’ll love this profile that the New Yorker ran on us.
BOOKS
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
I have recommended every single one of Candice MilIard’s books here in B&B for three reasons: she is a relentless researcher, a world class storyteller and she has a gift for picking untold stories about fascinating people and events in history. She has reached lifetime pass status for me, meaning, I’d pay right now far a lifetime pass to whatever books she writes. I don’t even need to know the topic. I’m in. She’s that good.
I first discovered Candice about a decade ago when I read her book River of Doubt about Teddy Roosevelt’s post-presidency exploration of an uncharted Amazon River (you can buy it here). If you’re just starting out in the MLU, the Millard Literary Universe, I’d start there. That book has a 100% hit rate for recommendations. If you like action, world history, US history, adventure, mystery and character studies of icons, that book is for you.
Second, I’d read Destiny of the Republic about James Garfield, his road to the presidency, his assassination, the complete and total bungling of his health care and his ultimate death. Although it catalogues real people and real events, it reads like a well-paced thriller and is an incredible portrait of America, politics and physicians around the time of President Garfield. The book was an Edgar Award Winner in 2012.
Why am I bringing it up now?
Because Netflix has a new mini-series based on it called “Death By Lightning” and it’s excellent (shout out to my dad for telling me about it!).
The portrayal of the two main characters, Garfield and Charles Guiteau are excellent, but more than that, the show captures the “feel” of Garfield’s improbable rise and presidential nomination, as well as how crony politics were done in the late 1800s.
The book can obviously cover more ground than the show, so I’d recommend reading it first. You’ll learn more about the medicine, technology and life in America in the 1880s than you could ever imagine. Then it’ll all come to life with the show. Read it here.
BICEPS
I appreciate how so many of you have followed along with my swim training leading up to my big Swimming Hall of Fame Meet last weekend. And it’s amazing how many of you wrote me asking how I did. That means the world to me. This is the greatest crew of meatheads ever.
The headline: I took Gold in the 50 Fly and Silver in the 100 Fly and 50 Free. You can watch an awesome short highlight video of the day here:
Swimming is such a goofy sport. You can train and train and train for months and you can come up .2 seconds short in a race because you plant your feet a foot too low on a flip turn that you’ve practiced 1,000 times.
You’ve got to be precise and powerful and fast and calm all at the same time. You’ve got to focus on every stroke and hand movement. You’ve got to “feel” the water and find a rhythm. I love it, even when I know I didn’t go my fastest.
I lowered my 100 butterfly time but didn’t close in my second 50 nearly as fast as I know I can. I took second in that. I won the 50 fly and tightened up the last 25 because of a crappy turn. Easily left a full second on the table. I took second in the 50 free and went about as fast as I can go while rebuilding my stroke. One first and two seconds. I’ll take it for the over 45 dudes…But so much to work on.
And as always, no matter how I do, these meets are the most fun because my daughter loves to come with me and we hang out all day together. The best.
STRONG LINKS
If you’re a guy over 40 and you’ve been looking for a new digital magazine that’s written for midlife men, by midlife men, on the topics that actually matter to us: family, fitness, fashion, finance, food & fun, then join us at Midlife Male.
I write a column every Tuesday called The Manologue. This week, I tapped into my cranky, “Get Off My Lawn” ethos and took on that question that lots of dudes over 40 have: “Is Everything Getting More Annoying?” From streaming sports to booking flights to fast casual food getting ruined, I tackle it all. Enjoy:
P.S. Don’t Forget to Check Out Transparent Labs!
I know, you probably have a protein powder that you’ve used forever and that you like. I get it. But if you’ve been thinking of trying something new, with clean ingredients, try this one. Even just click on the link to explore all the cool supplements they have because as you know, supporting the sponsors who support the newsletter is huge for us.
Here’s something cool: Transparent Labs tells you exactly what you’re putting in your body. Every ingredient. Every gram. Every test. All of it is clean, natural, and third-party verified. And they post the lab results publicly, right here: https://www.transparentlabs.com/pages/third-party-tests
And they have a ton of flavors: Chocolate Peanut Butter. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie. Blueberry Pancakes, which they say is The Rock’s favorite.
If you hold your training to a high standard, your supplements should match it. Transparent Labs helps you hit your goals with clean ingredients and labels that actually tell the truth.
Here’s something for your brain:
Ever wanted to start freelance writing as a side hustle? I got your back right here with this proven, unbeatable system that will have you pitching and selling in 30 days. I used this to write for GQ, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, the New York Times and more:
Here’s something for your body:
Try our “Read More, Lift More” Challenge, the world’s only one-month training program that pairs an awesome book with 30 proven workouts. Ten pages of reading a day with one workout based on your reading.
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