Last week I told you that Creatine is foundational for strength, power output, and recovery, and as a meathead, that’s all important. BUT, this is what I’m really excited about: new studies show it may support cognitive performance too. That means if you read a ton but often forget what you read, or if you feel like you’re not as sharp as you were, or maybe you just feel a mental fog come on in the afternoon, Creatine may offer a solution. It’s been a HUGE help for me, especially since I upped my dose to 10g/day instead of 5g (do your own research and consult your doctor for your own dosage).

That’s why I’m excited to have Momentous sponsoring today’s newsletter (more at the bottom):

And forget basic offers of 10% or 15% off. That’s not enough for the B&B crew. Instead, use this link below and you get up to 35% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER USING THE CODE ‘BICEPS’ at checkout on Creatine chews, powder, collagen peptides, Omega 3s and more!

Boom! This is Books & Biceps #384!

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.

Die Hard: An Oral History by Brian Abrams

First thing’s first: This is an A+ book cover.

Turning John McClane’s classic dirty, bloody and beat-up tank top into a book cover hits all the notes I look for. Genius idea. Brilliant execution. The spatter and grime are flawless.

Second, this book is a Kindle Single, meaning it’s either $2.99 or $0. Not bad.

Third, if you watch Die Hard with your family every Christmas, which, I’m sure you do since you read Books & Biceps, then you will 100% enjoy this fast read. And yeah, I know it’s almost cliche at this point to watch Die Hard this time of year, but I’ve been doing it way before it became a trend, so I’m not stopping now just because it is a trend. Make sense? Good. Okay, let’s talk about the book.

For me, oral histories only work when you learn A TON of new information while you’re reading it. And I don’t mean the basic trivia stuff that big time fans of the project know… I mean random details and thoughts and stories that even people who have gone down Wikipedia wormholes don’t know.

Brian Abrams accomplishes this with Die Hard.

For instance, did you know the movie is based a book called Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorpe? And some of you may have even known that the book was about a 48-year-old guy who was trying to spend Christmas Eve with his daughter (not his wife). And you may have known that the character’s original name was Joe Leland.

And if you knew all that, good for you. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg in the Die Hard lore.

One of my favorite tidbits to learn was that early on, the studios hated the idea:

“Whatever the point is of this novel, it escapes me,” wrote a studio script analyst. “As a theme, it seems rather distasteful….” The report concluded with NOT RECOMMENDED in capital letters.

This was just the first hurdle for the film and it happened nearly ten years before it was even made! The other big obstacle to the movie was that nobody wanted to star in it.

The studio’s first choice was Arnold Schwarzenegger but he was too busy. Then they literally offered it to every single 80s actor you can think of and they all turned it down: Stallone, Richard Gere, James Caan, Burt Reynolds and on and on…

Incredibly, after that, Bruce Willis got a record breaking $5 million payday for the film (the story on this in the book is great - almost worth reading for that alone)…

One of my favorite little revelations is that the title, Die Hard, was originally the title of the screenplay for The Last Boy Scout by Shane Black, which Willis would star in years later. But Joel Silver loved the title Die Hard and couldn’t find the right project for it until Nothing Lasts Forever came along. And of course, everyone hated the title at first. They thought it sounded like a car battery you’d buy at Sears. Ha!

If all this fascinates you, then I would 100% get it here. It’s a fast read and the behind-the-scenes info on your favorite scenes and actors is phenomenal.

I love when meatheads gets ahold of a meme.

In this case, we’ve all been slammed on social media with endless posts and carousels titled “gifts for him under $50” and “gifts for your man for under $100” and “stuff he’ll love for under $150” and on and on.

Well, this one gets it right with a sense of humor and awesomeness.

The title is “Christmas Gift Ideas for Him Under $75,000”. Hint, the gift is epic and perfect for everyone reading this:

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. Earlier this year I shared a column on Old Man Forgiveness that went viral in our world of dudes over 40. That was nine months ago. Since then the piece has been read by nearly one hundred thousand guys. If you missed it, and since this is the time of year everyone has forgiveness on their minds, I wanted to share it again here. Powerful stuff:

Momentous Creatine Chews are about the size of a large mint and have a light citrus taste. It’s super easy to pop two, four or five in your mouth and they dissolve fast. These are way better than gummies which, research has shown, may contain no actual creatine! Crazy!

These Chews deliver 1 gram of Creapure® creatine, the clinically studied, German-sourced gold standard that fits perfectly into your Sophisticated Meathead routine, whether in your own Flex Factory, your car or at your desk. And now, eligible customers can purchase using HSA/FSA funds through Truemed.

Here’s my typical Creatine regimen: I take a scoop of 5g of the powder every day in my protein shake after I lift, and then later in the afternoon, I pop a few of these in my mouth to reach 8 to 10 grams before or after my swim practice. Easy.

It’s up to you whether you want to take creatine. You can read a ton more info about it here. What I can tell you is that brands often reach out to me to partner up and I usually say ‘no’, but in this case, I already take Momentous Creatine, so this was a no brainer. Also, I asked them to up the standard 15% or 25% off to get us up to a full 35%.

Plus, now you can use pre-tax health dollars for clinically backed supplements. Just select TrueMed at checkout and complete a short eligibility survey.

This offer is an easy win-win, because a great way to support the newsletter is to support the sponsors that support us. Please check out Momentous chews, powders and more below. And if you take Creatine, try this one:

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.

→ DO YOU READ BOOKS & BICEPS MOST WEEKS?

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Want to get in front of 27,000 awesome readers who focus on being smart, wellness, fitness, nutrition, entertainment, sports and more?

You could be our next title sponsor!

I have TWO ad spots in January available. Previous sponsors include Nike, Random House, Huel, HubSpot, SFH Nutrition, La Touraine Watches and more…

→ Download the media kit.

→ Or book while inventory lasts.