Boom! This is Books & Biceps #392!

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With the Super Bowl this weekend, I wanted to share two of my favorite biographies on perhaps the most mythical football players we’ve ever had, Jim Thorpe and Bo Jackson, written by two of the best sportswriters we have, David Maraniss and Jeff Pearlman.

Both of these books are fantastic for similar reasons: they give you the full context of each athlete’s life, along with deep work on the circumstances and people that shaped them. Those things are important to get a full understanding of who these men were and what they meant to society and the sport itself.

Also, they’re entertaining as hell because they share the backdrop and details of each athletes “super hero” type feats on the field. Insane runs. Incredible tackles. Shocking feats of strength. You know, the things that made them legendary in the first place. You can’t go wrong with either of these:

David Maraniss wrote one of the most acclaimed sports biographies of all time in When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi and he wrote one of my personal favorite sports biographies, Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero.

He’s written plenty of other bestsellers, but his biography on Jim Thorpe is the one I’ve learned the most from.

Thorpe, for those who may not know, was one of the greatest modern athletes sports has ever produced. He was an All-American football player at Carlisle Indian School in 1912 in the early 1900s, playing in one of the most famous football games ever, Carlisle vs. Army, where Thorpe had a legendary collision on the field with future president Dwight Eisenhower (I talk about this match-up in Eisenhower’s chapter of my book, Jocks in Chief).

Not only is Thorpe in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he also won gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. Oh, and he played major league baseball for the New York Giants.

Yeah, all of that is real. And now you know why I was so pumped for this biography. If any of the above interests you, and how could it not, grab it. You’re in the hands of a master.

Jeff Pearlman is one of the few authors we have whose book releases are major events in the sports world. Whether he’s writing about the Shaq/Kobe/Phil Lakers or the USFL or Walter Payton, you’re not going to find a writer who uncovers more stories and dives deeper into his subject than Jeff.

His last sports masterpiece dropped on the holy grail of sports figures, Bo Jackson. Pearlman interviewed over 700 people for the book. Spent 2.5 years researching Jackson. He’s got everything you need to know about Bo, from the childhood feats and fights to Tecmo Bowl to Nike to how he should have been on the Tampa Bay Bucs and more.

When it comes to 80s/90s icons and the discussion about the greatest modern athlete of all time, Bo stands alone. And this biography is worthy of his feats. Go pick it up here.

I’m in the middle of an interesting experiment with my running which is a personal contradiction in itself because, as many of you know, I hate running. I committed to running ten 5Ks a few years ago and I did it and got through it and didn’t enjoy any of them.

BUT, I like the idea of always being able to run a 5k or 10k if I need to or want to for a triathlon or something. Plus, continuing to run is super important as we age. Both steady-state running (a mile or so) and also sprinting.

My problem is time. I swim. I lift. I play hoops. I do mobility/flexibility work.

How many days am I going to run? Or do a 5K to train? In addition to all that?

So, I got smart and combined both the 5K runs with sprinting one day a week.

It’s simple: I run a 5K with this pattern: Sprint 1 Minute / Fast Walk one minute.

Check out the image above. It’s kind of an awesome way to get in both distance and sprints and a HIIT workout. My max speed would be a 7-minute mile average and my slowest walk would be a 28-minute walking mile average haha.

All I can tell you is that this whole thing takes just over a half hour. Which is a little longer than if I ran three 9-minute miles straight. Also, I like the breaks and I feel great when I’m done. This may be the only form of running I enjoy. Give it a shot!

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 am sharing a recipe with you for the greatest Super Bowl Dish of All Time!Once you see the ingredients, the reason behind it, and the simple preparation, you will understand its true genius and you will make it for your family and friends. I promise, it has never, eve failed. Good luck:

This is one of the coolest things I’ve EVER been able to offer. And we’ve only got about two weeks to make it happen:

I’m about to begin final edits on the manuscript of my upcoming thriller and with the book coming out November 10th, I was talking to my publisher about that lead time and I realized I could offer my fellow sophisticated meatheads something amazing… a chance to actually have your name appear IN the hardcover book when it comes out!

Yes, I want to honor you, my OG Books & Biceps readers with a special acknowledgement section in the back of the book.

Want your name in print? All you have to do is PRE-ORDER the book in the next few weeks. That’s it!

Imagine it’s November 10th and the hardcover arrives in the mail…

You’re blown away with the amazing cover art (can’t wait to show you!) and then before you dive in, you flip to the back of the book and see the Books & Biceps Hall of Fame reader wall right there… You cruise through the names in alphabetical order and… BOOM!… you’re right there, a part of the soon-to-be #1 thriller of 2026 forever.

But you have to get in before we lock the manuscript and go to layout.

So don’t wait!

1) PRE-ORDER your book below.

2) Reply to this email with a screenshot and your name.

3) You’ll be a part of a blockbuster hit book forever! (We’ve got a FULL page of B&B readers already! Let’s get two!!!! Or three!!!!)

Here is the OFFICIAL BEAR BRAWL SHORT SUMMARY:

Rocky meets The Revenant in Bear Brawl, a heartfelt revenge-and-redemption story perfect for fans of Jaws and Rambo.

Bear Brawl takes readers on a blockbuster adventure with heart-pounding scenes, humor, heart, bear history, William Faulkner (you'll see), and family. Dropping into the action from the first sentence, the pages fly by, covering tracking, training, fighting, philosophy, pain, grief, love and a cast of unforgettable characters you'll root for like you're watching your favorite action movie.PRE-ORDER BEAR BRAWL NOW!

Here’s a SNEAK PEAK at a few blurbs for Brawl:

"Bear Brawl is Jack Reacher meets The Edge--a white-knuckled thriller that pits one man against nature's apex predator. Jon Finkel delivers a page-turner like no other."

-- "Stayton Bonner, USA Today bestselling author of Bare Knuckle and The Million-Dollar Car Detective"

"Jon Finkel's gifts as a rollicking storyteller are on full display in his thriller Bear Brawl, along with his deep expertise in what happens when we're pushed to our physical and mental limits. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll buy an extra can of bear spray next time you head into the woods."

-- "Alex Hutchinson, New York Times bestselling author of Endure and The Explorer's Gene "

And we’ve got DOZENS more on the way!

Let’s get Bear Brawl to #1 and keep it there for months. I know we can do it…

I appreciate you reading Books & Biceps every week. This book is going to be our moment. Our time to show the publishing world that we want these books. We want Bear Brawl. And we’re going to make it the #1 Thriller of 2026!

Thank you for pre-ordering! You’re all hall of famers in my book! - Jon

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