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BOOKS

The Professor in the Cage: Why Men Fight and Why We Like to Watch by Jonathan Gottschall

My favorite thing about our Books & Biceps community is that it’s just that…a community.

Yes, I share book recommendations each week with thousands of you, BUT, many of you write in and share books right back. And I buy and recommend a bunch of them.

Case in point, today’s book was recommended a few weeks ago by longtime reader, Mark C.

I’d never heard of The Professor in the Cage, but the title intrigued me so I bought it right away. I planned on adding it to my growing ‘unread book’ pile and figured I’d eventually get around to it… But then I began flipping through the beginning and just… kept reading.

The author, Jonathan Gottschall, is a professor in the English Department at Washington & Jefferson College. One day, an MMA gym opened up across the street from his office and it piques his interest.

At the time he was almost 40 years old and admittedly out of shape… He’s also kinda bored with his life. He’s longing for…something. A challenge, perhaps? Something to test him both physically and mentally. Something he can do to prove to himself he has the fortitude of his ancestors…

And so he sets out on this painful, occasionally humiliating journey from academia to ass kicking… from a cubicle to a cage fight. And he chronicles the whole thing while giving a great history of combat sports, the philosophy of physical combat and so much more.

The book is funny, honest and truthfully, if you’ve hit a bit of a wall or plateaued in your day-to-day life, this might be the kick in pants you need to try something - anything - new to reignite that fire inside.

Great recommendation, Mark. You all can check it out here.

If any of you have books that you’ve read that you think our Books & Biceps crew would enjoy, reply to this e-mail directly and send’em my way.

BICEPS

It was a glorious Bench O’Clock Monday Morning in the Flex Factory this week (my garage gym for our new friends)…

And after I posted this photo early Monday AM on Twitter a friend wrote me the following:

“When are we gonna see three wheels on that bar again, Finkel?”

Three wheels being 3 - 45 pound plates on each side, meaning a 315 pound bench.

Now, I haven’t put up 315 in about 15 years. I’m in my mid-40s now. I put up 305 two summers ago and have since stayed away from maxing out…

BUT… something about that DM stuck with me… Hell, why not go for 315?

I mean, putting up the same weight in my mid-40s as I did in my late 20s would be an ultimate meathead moment.

So I think I’m gonna go for it. I’m gonna max out next week, see where I’m at and put a program together. I’ll share it with you here.

If anyone wants in, let me know. You don’t have to go for 315… Just whatever your max was back in the day… And if you’re still in your prime, hell yes… let’s see what you got.

Quick Flexes

Last Friday ESPN laid off a ton of people. Many of them huge names. It made me feel nostalgic for the old ESPN.

You know, the apex of the network: Mid-90s SportsCenter.

So I wrote a short column and posted it on Twitter. By Saturday morning it had reached 2 million views. By Saturday afternoon, Rich Eisen himself shared it. By Monday morning it reached nearly 10M impression. If you missed it, check it out here:

And not to be outdone, I wrote a piece about the awesome accomplishments of Babe Didrikson that has 1.4M views as of writing this. If you don’t know much about her, read this:

STRONG LINKS - EXCLUSIVE B&B OFFER!

For the longest time I didn’t wear a watch (other than an old Timex IronMan for ocean swims which I love)…

My wife got me a nice Citizen for our one-year anniversary over a decade ago and it’s been my go-to timepiece ever since.

Whenever I feel like wearing a watch, that’s the one I wear and I like it a lot, but I don’t wear it day-to-day largely because the band digs into my wrist when I write with it. It’s not author/laptop friendly.

Occasionally I’d see a nice watch with a nylon band and think about getting it, but none ever really jumped out at me…

Then, through the magic of this very newsletter, a reader reached out to me and mentioned that he runs a watch company with a line of affordable, designer watches.

He sent me a link and as I looked over the site, I found one I really liked: a Cartographer with a nylon band. Here it is:

It’s clean, light, looks cool and is comfortable to wear every day. I’ve had it about two weeks and it’s awesome.

If you’re looking for a new watch, visit La Touraine’s site. They’re a family run business with a cool backstory (the name comes from the ship that the owner’s grandparents took from Europe to Ellis Island).

And if you want to buy one, use the code “BICEPS” at checkout for 15% off every purchase over $50.

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Thank you all for reading.

Have a great weekend! - Jon