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BOOKS

Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

This book is, simply put, the bloodiest, hardest R for violence book I may have ever read. And the fact that it’s non-fiction, written by a Pulitzer Prize-level writer and based on thousands of sources makes it all the more amazing.

If you have ever wondered what life was like in the real old west, before Texas was a state, when the territory was caught between the Mexican Army, the Apaches, the homesteaders, the land swindlers, the frontier families and the US government, this is the book to read…

Why is it so bloody?

Because every entity I listed above was scared to death of the most brutal and lethal warriors perhaps ever on horseback: the Comanche Indians.

What I didn’t know before reading this, and what they don’t teach you in school, is that when the American settlers tried to push west and the Mexican settlers tried to push north through what is now Texas, they essentially ran into a civilization whose entire society was built around war and warfare and who had practiced nothing else for hundreds of years. The Comanches did not grow food. They did not have towns. They had no central leadership. They had no laws. They hunted. They roamed. They fought. Who? Everyone. Indians. Americans. Mexicans. French. Each other.

This is a stunning, eye-opening read that will have you rethinking what you thought you understood about the United States expansion in the mid to late 1800s. Get it here.

BICEPS

Michael B. Jordan did not build his physique for the Creed trilogy alone. No way. For that, he needed a muscle maestro, a man to guide him in the ways of size and strength and superior training. He needed Corey Calliet, who, by the way, is even more jacked than Jordan:

I interviewed Calliet about the methodology he used to get Jordan into Rocky-level shape:

"I began studying Apollo's physique when we did the first 'Creed,'" Calliet tells me. "We were working on "Fantastic Four," and Michael told me we were going to do the movie. My goal was to get him as aesthetically close to Apollo Creed as possible. He had to have good shoulders, good abs, and he had to have a lot of the detail in Apollo's back, because they film the fights so much from behind."

Here, in the drawing board phase of physique building, is where Calliet's experience as a bodybuilder paid off. He wasn't content to simply make Jordan look like a boxer. He wanted his physical presence to pop off the screen and awe viewers.

"I believe bodybuilders have the most perfect physiques when it comes to aesthetics," he said. "It's a movie, so you can't see the conditioning we put in ahead of time. But you can see the conditioning through Michael's body. Every day we were thinking about it. We knew what we wanted the finished product to look like."

Five minutes into "Creed" and it was apparent to audiences nationwide that Calliet and Jordan had succeeded.

In one of the first scenes in the trilogy, Jordan's character, Adonis, is watching film of his father fighting Rocky while shadowboxing in front of the video. From the style to the body outline to the movement, the resemblance to Apollo was eerie. If you didn't know any better, you might think that Jordan was actually Carl Weathers' son.

"We wanted to beat every other movie we've ever done," Calliet said. "Michael got big for "Black Panther," and we wanted to add more mass. I knew I could bring in a bigger body, and he's actually larger with more rounded muscle in this movie."

They had four months to train, from January to June. During the game-planning phase, Calliet says, he doesn't map out a graph of numbers that he and his client must follow during training. He goes by look and feel.

"Numbers don't mean anything to me," he said. "I'm not one to worry about someone getting to 6 percent body fat or anything like that. I go by what the mirror tells me. We wanted Michael to have full muscle bellies, while looking defined."

When all was said and done, after hundreds of hours in the gym, Calliet got the ultimate compliment while filming Creed II.

"I play a corner man in the movie, so I was on set and the first day Sly was on set. He came up to me and said, 'Hey Corey, Michael looks great'," Calliet says. "I was like… Did Rocky just say my name?"

The two became friendly and connected over boxing and training throughout the making of the movie, but Sly saved his highest praise for the last day of filming.

"On the final day of the shoot, Sly came over to me and said, 'Corey, you are an artist. Exactly as Michelangelo sculpted David, you sculpted Michael B. Jordan.'"

Quick Flexes

Was feeling nostalgic for my magazine days on this throwback Thursday and shared this story of how I got my first magazine cover story with Tiki Barber:

Strong Links

✍️ Many of you noticed the sharp new template and referral program in last week’s e-mail, and that’s because I’ve switched newsletter providers to Beehiiv. I’ve used MailChimp, Revue, Substack and others and I have to say that Beehiiv is so far the best. Best user interface. Coolest gadgets. Easiest back end. If you’re thinking of starting a newsletter, use my affiliate link here for a great deal.

🏋️If you’ve seen pictures of the Flex Factory, AKA, my garage gym, you know I’m a fan of Titan Fitness equipment. It’s durable as hell. It lasts forever. And it looks cool. Amazingly, through the magic of Books & Biceps, I’ve been in touch with them and they’ve made me a partner. Incredible, right? All because of you guys. If you’re looking for home gym equipment, from weights to machines to ropes and squat racks, use this link here for special pricing.

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Have a great weekend! - Jon