💪Finkel's Fast Five - Issue 103

 ISSUE #103 - January 17th, 2020

ONE

BOXING - On Thursday of this week my 2nd favorite boxer of all time (behind Tyson) Roy Jones Jr. turned 51. When I was with Men's Fitness I got to spend a weekend with him at his facility/rooster farm in Pensacola while he trained for his fight with Felix Trinidad. When he sparred it was like trying to follow the Matrix without slow motion. His punches were so damned fast that his speed tricked your eyes. You'd hear nine punches but only see four. it's hard to explain.  For most of the 90s and early 2000s, RJJ was unhittable and untouchable. He was also an all-time showman: part Ali, part breakdancer. One of my favorite moments of his came when he knocked out Virgil Hill WITH A BODY BLOW. Of course I looked for the video and found it. This highlight reel is 14 minutes of his knockouts, but at about the 10 min. mark is the one I'm talking about. He was a bad man. Happy birthday, champ.

TWO

BOOKS - I typically read two books at once. I have one at home that I'd say is a little heavier read. Probably a biography or autobiography or some kind of non-fiction or history book. But I also have a book I keep in my car to read at lunch or if I get stuck somewhere for some reason. It's typically more on the entertainment side. Something fast-paced that I can dip into whenever. Usually a mystery or thriller or detective story...and I'm always on the lookout for new writers.  Ace Atkins is a New York Times bestseller and has been given the blessing of everyone from Lee Childs (Jack Reacher) to the Edgar Awards, so apologies if you've heard of him... but I hadn't until Monday when I picked up his book, The Fallen, which Men's Journal called "The Deep South's True Detective", which is pretty accurate. It's fast-moving with a great heist to start. Also has excellent dialogue in a tough guy Elmore Leonard / Robert B. Parker smart ass sense... And clever, unique characters. Highly recommend if you like the crime/detective genre.

THREE

PODCASTS - Eighty percent of the podcasts I listen to are interviews with people/hosts I find interesting. I've never really gotten into fiction podcasts or the news story type pods, but my good friend and OG Fast Five reader, Jess, recommended a podcast called Cautionary Tales to me last week and...well...it's great.  This is the intro to the podcast: We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown-ups — and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “Messy” and “The Undercover Economist”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists, and hilarious fiascos.  Each pod is an easily-digestible 30-40 minutes and my favorite Cautionary Tale so far is titled 'The Deadly Airship Race', about a British Lord in the 1920s who demanded that two rival design teams create massive flying hydrogen-filled floating airships that were over 700 feet long for the Royal government. The amount of ignored common sense, arrogance and idiocy involved could fill a book. But it fills a pod instead. And it's fascinating. Listen here.

FOUR

FITNESS - I have a new favorite exercise that I've been working into all of my routines because it hurts and I hate it... But those kind of exercises are my favorite. I'm talking about the dreaded Farmer's Walk.  Nothing challenges your mind and your grit like picking up heavy weights and trying to carry them for long distances or long periods of time (or both). Your shoulders burn. Your forearms scream. Your hands shake. Your legs stumble... Ahhh, the good stuff. My wife was leaving the house for work at 6am the other morning as I finished a 100-yard carry with weights and chains and let's just say she came upon a hell of a sight. I was panting in pain. She was laughing. It was magnificent. Here's the photo she took. If you're interested in doing these yourself and you want to know the muscles they work and the proper form, here's an informative article by T-Nation.

FIVE

A great quote about fear and boxing:  "The hero and the coward both feel the same thing. But the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing, fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters.”  - Cus D'amato

NEW ---> Share the FF5 and get TREMENDOUS STUFF:  1 SHARE = Enters you into a raffle to win a free copy of one of the books I mention here in the FF5. I'll do a drawing every 10 issues, but you have to forward the FF5 to a friend to enter.  3 SHARES = 1 Abe Lincoln as Tyler Durden Fight Club Sticker - perfect for your laptop, office, fridge or on your squat rack like Tommy John  10 SHARES = 1 Official Finkel's Fast Five Coffee Mug like this one that my man Marlin won last year  25 SHARES = If you share Finkel's Fast Five with 25 friends who you think would like it, I will take you to the movies... (well, not literally) ...but I will Venmo you money for a ticket to your next movie, on me. We'll cap this at 4 people for now.  FORWARD TO A FRIEND RIGHT HERE  DID SOMEONE FORWARD YOU THIS E-MAIL? GET MY FREE STARTER LIBRARY HERE  FYI: The sharing of the FF5 is cumulative... You don't have to share this e-mail 10 times if you don't want to. It can be 10 issues over 10 weeks or 10 months, whatever... The point is, please share it. We've grown from less than a hundred to a few hundred to a few thousand readers in under two years... Let's see how fast we can get to 10,000! - Jon

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