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BOOKS

Adrift by Steven Callahan

Wherever you’re reading this right now, you’re likely comfortable. You’re probably in an air conditioned room. You have food and water nearby. You know where you are and how to get where you’re going. There are people around who can help.

Now imagine if you strip all of that away and you’re stuck on a rubber raft in the Atlantic ocean by yourself. Lost. With no water. No food. No clothes. Exposed to the elements. At the mercy of the sea.

Your assets: a small survival kit and barely working solar still for fresh water, a spear gun that breaks, a knife, some random items you grabbed from your boat before it sank and a sextant made from old pencils.

How long would you survive? 3 days? 7? Two weeks?

Do you think you could make it 76 days?

Steven Callahan did. And I re-read his book, Adrift, every summer to remind myself how good I have it with all this AC and available food and water.

If you haven’t heard of the book, it was a national sensation when it first came out a few years after Callahan survived his journey in 1982.

It’s a fast read and Callahan is a gifted storyteller. It’s one of the few books that you will be reading late into the night to find out what happened - even though you know he made it because you’re reading the book.

It’ll make you think about your own mortality and potential survival skills and you’ll find yourself assessing how you’d hold up mentally at certain points in his journey - like when he’s forced to eat fish eyes to stave off dehydration. Or when he tried to eat a raw bird. Or how he dealt with endless hallucinations and skin sores and near-sinkings.

I recommend reading it now, while the weather is still nice and hot, so you get the full feeling of dehydration, heat, desperation and courage-against-all-odds that Steve shares.

Grab it here.

BICEPS

We were away this week and the hotel we stayed in had a fully-loaded, sick gym. One of the best I’ve ever been able to use while on the road. Now, I love my Flex Factory as you all know, but when I get the chance to use a gym full of new and different toys, I’m in.

My first day in this vacation iron paradise I hit shoulders and used all the cool stuff I don’t have in my garage. Give this a whirl at your local gym or wherever you get your lift on:

Finkel’s Full Gym Heavy Shoulder Routine

Machine Shoulder Press 4 × 12, 10, 8, 6

Landmine Presses Alternate Arms 4 × 12, 10, 8, 6 (heavy)

Machine Shoulder Flyes 3 × 12, 10, 8

Rope Cable Shrugs Heavy 3 × 6, 4, 4

Battle Ropes (Multiple Variations) 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off (6 sets)

Quick Flexes

I wrote this column for every dad who set out to dominate a road trip this summer. 200k views and counting:

Also, remember rule number one when you travel: ABG

AND FINALLY, I LEAVE YOU WITH THIS, MY MAGNUM OPUS PHOTO OF THE SUMMER:

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Thank you all for reading.

Have a great weekend! - Jon

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