You are reading Books & Biceps #282!

Welcome to all the new sophisticated meatheads joining us this week.

If an awesome B&B reader shared this with you, add your e-mail with the subscribe button below:

If you’re a new subscriber or missed my yearly book round-up, “The 15 Most Memorable Books I Read in 2023” you can read it here.

My fellow meatheads, I have huge news:

The Books & Biceps and Flex Factory Store is FINALLY HERE!

I have wanted to launch a merch store for a long time and I’m pumped to share it with you. We have officially reached Phase 2 of our Books & Biceps world takeover!

Since I started writing this I’ve been hit up by a ton of sports apparel and fitness brands for affiliate and sponsor deals and none of them felt right…

I didn’t want to come on here and hustle somebody else’s tees or gear. That’s not who we are. We’re our own crew… We deserve our own stuff.

And after months and months of planning and set-up, we finally have it!

IMPORTANT NOTE: These aren’t the crappy, itchy, bulky Hanes-beefy Tees or shirts that a credit card would give away at a hockey game… These are high quality, super soft, athletic-cut tees…

I’ve been wearing them around for weeks. I’ve coached in them. Lifted in them. Taken meetings in them. They look and feel phenomenal.

For a size reference, I’m 5’11”, 200 pounds and the shirts in these picture are all Larges. I like the shirts a little tight (gun show, obviously) and slim, but the XLs I have fit fine as well, they’re just a little long on me.

The store is so dope: We’ve got weight room water bottles, Flex Factory tees (the one above is called the Little Punch)….

We’ve got Books & Biceps tees (below is the faded gray - my personal favorite, I could live in this thing):

We’ve got Books & Biceps and Flex Factory official meathead mugs…

We’ve got hologram stickers, the Books & Biceps ‘Thirst for Knowledge’ glass, coasters and a ton more.

In honor of the launch, everyone reading this will get 25% off your entire order using this promo word at checkout: BICEPS.

Grab a t-shirt. Grab two! Get a meathead mug!

Also, when you visit the store, please enjoy reading the product descriptions. I had a lot of fun with them haha. Will be adding new drops every few weeks so stay tuned…

BOOKS

The Right Hand by Derek Haas

It’s been a busy few weeks finalizing the store and getting all of my writing and work done, so I didn’t want a heavy read at the end of the day. I wanted cool fiction. Something fast-paced and fun and I’ve had a book in my “to-read” pile for a while that was up to the task.

The book was recommended to me by longtime reader Gavin, a library director and former linebacker who lifts heavy to this day and lives that B&B life. When Gavin sends me a book to check out personally, I buy it right away.

I’ve had this one on my nightstand for a few months, flipped it open this weekend and knocked out 80 pages straightaway on night one.

The book reads like a novelization of one of the Jason Bourne movies (I know those were books first, but The Right Hand reads like a slick action movie).

There’s cool dialogue, unique insight on spies and the CIA, awesome fight scenes and an impressive attention to detail. Also, there’s a nice detective story/mystery that drives the plot.

Fun fact: I didn’t know this until after reading it, but the author, Derek Haas, wrote the screenplays for a few movies I like, including the underrated and bad ass, 3:10 to Yuma remake. Makes sense. The book is only a couple of hundred pages, perfect for a flight or a lazy few afternoons. Check it out.

BICEPS

I wrote about my re-commitment to not skipping leg day in issue 280 here. Along those lines, I’ve been looking for different leg workouts and exercises to mix things up besides deadlifts and I found one.

It’s called the Zercher Squat and it’s basically a front squat where you scoop the bar up inside your elbows.

You do the whole lift with an upright posture as you drive through the floor and use your quads, core and stabilizers to lift the weight. There are a ton of benefits to this squat, including total power improvement, leg/upper back strength and less pressure on your back than a traditional squat.

I experimented with these this week. Super light. Just sets of 12 with 135 to get a feel for it. Huge burn in your quads. Gonna keep going. If you do them now or are going to try them, let me know what you think.

QUICK FLEXES

I wrote a column this week reminiscing about the time my brother and I met Big John Studd when we were kids and he played with our Macho Man and wrestling action figures with us. Perfect prep as an 8 year old who knew I’d one day write the definitive Macho Man biography (due out April 2nd).

Got about 100k views on Twitter. You can read it here:

Now go check out the ALL NEW BOOKS & BICEPS and Flex Factory Store! 

Get 25% OFF using promo code ‘BICEPS’ at checkout!

Don’t forget about the Meathead Agreement

In the gym there is an unspoken agreement that if a fellow dude needs a spot you jump in and help, one meathead to another.

If you enjoy reading this newsletter every week, let’s spot each other.

Let’s consider my writing and sending each issue of Books & Biceps my spotting you the best books, interviews and meathead content around.

Your spot to me is that you share this issue with ONE person who you think would like it.

That’s the deal. I spot you. You spot me. Just like the gym. Thanks, man!

Here’s your personal sharing link to get free stuff for every share:

Thank you all for reading.

Have a great weekend! - Jon

INTERESTED IN SPONSORING BOOKS & BICEPS???

If you’d like to reach our awesome sophisticated meathead community of nearly 6,000 readers, respond to this e-mail and let’s talk.

PPS: Hey Gus! Thanks for reading the whole thing, buddy! No skimming!