You are reading Books & Biceps #278!

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BOOKS

I watched the documentary Bye, Bye Barry on the Detroit Lions Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders with my son recently and the highlights were dazzling. My son has been practicing his spin moves in the street and around the house non-stop.

If you were an NFL fan in the 90s, then you’ll enjoy the hell out of it. One thing it reminded me of, though, was how so many modern stars are turning to documentaries that they control (content-wise), which, in many cases, means we won’t see a definitive biography on them any time soon.

To me, part of the beauty of a biography is not only the author’s storytelling (instead of hearing it in the athlete’s own words) but the context, counterpoints, third party stories and the uncomfortable stuff that the subject may not want to talk about (or even know too much about). Basically, all the “not approved” stuff and the real stories people would be more comfortable sharing if they weren’t participating in a project funded by and/or overseen by the subject.

This isn’t to say that both a strong documentary and biography can’t co-exist - they certainly can… Like I said, I had a blast watching Barry run again, but too often now the athlete/actor/whoever owns the production company behind the documentary, or has full approval before agreeing to participate, and thus, it’s more of a PR piece (which could still be enjoyable) than a balanced look at this person’s life and career. Again, if we’re dealing with never-before-seen footage and a subject opening up for a rare event (The Last Dance), that’s fine.

To that end, I wanted to highlight three biographies on the other G.O.A.T. NFL running backs that I believe are the best versions of what a book can do that a documentary can’t:

RUNNING BACKS

Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton by Jeff Pearlman

Growing up in the 80s and 90s Walter Payton was the Michael Jordan of football. He was a wizard and an acrobat on the field and a smiling pitchman off of it. And the hard truth is that as fans, we knew NOTHING about him as a person. Pearlman does his usual stellar research and writing here and the sections on Payton’s college career and early Bears years are outstanding. It’s a cliche to say it, but you really didn’t know Walter. Definitely worth the read.

The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson by Jeff Pearlman

Back-to-back books by Pearlman? Yes. Why? One, because he’s one of the best biographers we have and two, both of these books are on highly enigmatic, somewhat reclusive stars whose life stories needed to be told by someone who both appreciated their place in sports culture and who was willing to dig in and do the heavy lifting for a balanced bio. Bo, like the title says, was a mythological human for many of us. Greatness. Grumpiness. All of it. This book 100% nails it and tells every story you’d want.

Jim Brown: Last Man Standing by Dave Zirin

Uniquely written and raw, Zirin explores the good, bad and uncomfortable aspects of the legendary Jim Brown. It’s one of my favorite biographies because of the device he uses to tell the story, which I won’t spoil. Also, damn… Jim Brown’s stats would have been untouchable if he played four or five more years.

BICEPS - 2023 REVIEW

As we wrap up this year I wanted to take a moment and thank all of you for coming along on this meathead journey with me.

2023 was the first year I ever wrote down quarterly fitness goals and I can't recommend it enough. Even cooler was when I shared those goals in this newsletter and many of you joined along. We had people benching for the first time since high school football, entering their first 5k in a decade, joining a gym, going from zero to five pull-ups and so many more dope accomplishments.

Here’s what I knocked out this year. Some things were specific times/weights I came up with, others were committing to an event. By following this strategy and shifting gears every 3 months... This year, at age 45, I:

• did 100 pull-ups under 12 minutes

• Benched 315 (first time over 300 since college)

• Competed in my 1st triathlon

• Competed in my first 5k (ran 5 total)

• Won 2 local 5ks (one under 24 minutes for the 1st time)

I realized this year how much I missed competing and training for specific events, and now for 2024, I'm doing something I've never done before:

Putting events/competitions on the calendar. I'm aiming for one small event each month and one big event/challenge each quarter.

I’ve always sucked at journaling and tracking templates and all that stuff, so I made this beyond simple one sheet to write down my four goals and I turned it into a PDF anyone can use. Just print, write, commit and keep this sheet on your desk as a reminder. Simply write down one big goal per quarter:

If you want this, I made it FREE TO DOWNLOAD HERE. My gift to you. Go get’em next year!

BONUS: If you fill this out, take a snapshot and send it to me and I’ll share it with our fellow B&B readers right here. Can be anonymous or include your name. Be cool to see what we’re all up to!

QUICK FLEXES

Really enjoyed the “Headliners Only” doc on Netflix. I had two big takeaways:

Don’t forget to pre-order my upcoming biography, Macho Man: The Untamed, Unbelievable Life of Randy Savage here.

STRONG LINKS - BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:

As many of you know, I spent the early part of my career writing for Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness and Flex Magazine. All of these publications were in the Weider offices out of Woodland Hills near Los Angeles.

While I was there, I was lucky enough to work with some great fitness minds. People you likely didn’t know, like the late, brilliant Shawn Perine, and people you do know like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno.

But one man I worked closely with was the then-Senior Science Editor and now owner of Jym Supplements, Jim Stoppani.

Stoppani is one of the most impressive dudes you’ll find in the fitness industry. He’s about 6’1”, 220 pounds and walks around shredded at like 9% body fat (and if I’m high on that Jim, sorry haha). He’s covered in tattoos (completely covered), trained celebs, wrote books and, most importantly, he has a PhD in nutrition and exercise science and did his fellowship at Yale.

I co-wrote dozens of articles with Jim back in the day and even then he talked about starting his own fitness brand. Cut to today and Stoppani is at the head of a massively successful supplement and training company worth tens of millions of dollars and sold in GNCs and supplement stores worldwide.

I have been personally using his supplements from the first month the company started.

Because of the reach of Books & Biceps over the years, I’ve been offered affiliate deals and “influencer” contracts with dozens of supplement companies but I turned them all down for one simple reason:

I don’t use their stuff. I use Jim’s.

And now, as B&B has grown, I’m pumped to say that I’m an official Jym Athlete and Partner. What that means for me is I get some cool T-Shirts and gear.

What that means for you is that you get 10% off any Jym product that I use and recommend. All you have to do is use the code BICEPS at check out.

From Day 1 of Books & Biceps I’ve only recommended books, workouts and products I use myself. And I’ve been using Jim’s the longest because:

1) I know him, and he’s not just some faceless corporation

2) I’ve seen how thoroughly he researches every little thing. Literally in science labs with beakers and bunsen burners.

3) His track record and reputation in fitness and nutrition is immaculate.

4) His protein powder is the best I’ve ever tasted. Like dessert.

Want to try it? Start with either the S’Mores or Rocky Road flavors. Unreal. 24g of protein (a mix of whey, micellar casein and isolate) and I’ll be giving my favorites here weekly.

HERE’S THE BOOKS & BICEPS ORDER LINK

Please us the link to shop. Don’t just go to Amazon for this one. They can’t track sales from here to there, so my ask is:

Use the code BICEPS at checkout and save 10% off everything. If you enjoy the newsletter, this is an easy way to support it.

Want to start listening to AUDIO BOOKS??? 

I’ve long resisted, but recently become a fan and have one or two going right now… I like them for fiction and have been listening to them in place of podcasts during drives…

A nice way to “read” a few more books a year.

If you love audiobooks or are thinking of joining Audible, use this link below and support Books & Biceps:

→ USE THIS LINK for an awesome Audible Premium Deal

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Thank you all for reading.

Have a great weekend! - Jon

PS: I’m gathering testimonials for this newsletter as we grow. If you have one minute, please reply with one or two sentences describing the best book, workout or thing you learned from the newsletter.

Thanks!