Books & Biceps is the only weekly e-mail that combines reading recommendations, exclusive workouts, short biographies of fascinating people, dad highlights & more…

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READING

One of the coolest parts about writing this newsletter is that I get to meet fellow writers who I read on a regular basis and whose work I admire. And when it works out, I love to share their exceptional stories here.

This week, Joseph Bien-Kahn wrote an incredible longform profile for Sports Illustrated about Ian Mackay, a once-active cyclist and botanist, who became paralyzed after a horrific bike accident fourteen years ago. Bien-Kahn follows Mackay on his quest to break the Guinness Book of World Record’s mark for the most miles covered in a 24-hour period in a mouth-controlled motorized wheelchair. The record was 173.98 miles.

The feature is at once heartbreaking and inspiring. It’s raw and real. Dark and deep. It’s one of those pieces that stays with you for a while after you read it. Makes you think. Highly recommend: Read it here.

BICEPS

I admit to being a bit of a mad scientist in the Flex Factory lately. Been working on putting together the ultimate superset workout… Ideally something that can be done in 45 minutes, with 3 superset pairings and time for a quick abs/arms burnout at the end because… hell who doesn’t like having a six pack and 24” pythons?

This week I believe I found the perfect shoulder superset: Landmines and Farmer’s Walks…. The Landmines (or one-armed dumbbell presses if you can’t set up the landmines) are perfect for shoulder/delt size and strength building… While the Farmer’s Walk works your traps, delts and forearms to failure.

I recommend:

4 sets of 12 Landmines (each arm - adding 5 pounds with each set)

Superset with

40 yard heavy Farmer’s Walks (carrying a heavy dumbbell in each hand)

1 minute rest between.

Enjoy!

DAD STUFF

60,000+ people saw this post and I got hundreds of comments from both dads and moms alike. Take a look and dads, enjoy a little self care:

NOSTALGIA

FACTS:

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Have a great weekend!

Jon