💪Finkel's Fast Five Issue 112 - March 20, 2020

Welcome to Finkel's Fast Five #112. Thanks for reading and subscribing! - Jon

Week One of the National Quarantine (AKA, the seven days that the United States became a nation of Great Cornholios*) is in the books. I hope you and your family are safe and sound. In order to keep your sanity, I'd advise sticking to some semblance of a routine that includes solid, high-intensity exercise every day, blocks of time to get work done and meals eaten in the vicinity of when you'd normally eat them... If any one of these daily anchors becomes unmoored for too long, or all three drift, you can easily start heading down the road to feeling like crap all the time.

Don't do it.

If you need a workout to do at home, join hundreds of us who are just finishing up 'Eye of the Tiger' workout week, with 5 workouts inspired by Rocky opponents. It's free and you can download it right here. And for those of you who enjoyed the Rocky workouts, I've got another awesome themed week coming at you Sunday night.

If you're looking for a few books to read with basketball, comedy shows and concerts cancelled, . If you're looking for a fun way to help people in need that combines charity and hoops, then join us HERE with this trick shot contest that has already raised hundreds of dollars.

*You know... a nation of Cornholios... who seemingly need a never ending supply of TP for their bungholes. (If you're too young or don't get the Beavis & Butthead reference, this is what I'm talking about.)

And with that, on to our regularly scheduled Fast Five...

ONE

BOOKS - NBA fans have been begging ESPN to release their highly-anticipated documentary about the 90s Chicago Bulls since we're all stuck at home... But until they do, if you want to get a great Michael Jordan / UNC / Chicago Bulls fix, then I'd highly recommend you read Roland Lazenby's book, Michael Jordan: The Life.

I don't know if I've ever enjoyed a book about an icon more. I am putting this book up there with Jane Leavy's book on Koufax and Leigh Montville's book on Ted Williams. I think Jordan is in the same category. From the real story about why he got cut in high school (not what you think) to how much shit he talked to Patrick Ewing when they were both recruits at UNC all the way through their NBA careers, to the first time Jordan realized he was an NBA top dog (and how he stayed there), this book brings it chapter after chapter. It's like 700 pages, so if you were ever going to tackle it, now's the time.

TWO

COMEDY - I hate the news. I rarely watched it before this pandemic and I don't watch it much now. I like to read well-researched pieces on topics if I can, which is why 95% of TV news is worthless media nonsense...however, every time I see a headline trying to incite mass hysteria, I think of...

This absolutely legendary scene from Ghostbusters were Venkman and the boys explain to the mayor that he's dealing with a disaster of biblical proportions. It's twenty-two seconds of pure gold. Egon's face when he delivers his lines gets me every time. Enjoy.

THREE

EXERCISE - I've been on the garage gym train for the better part of a decade now and with regular gyms closing, lots of you have written me for advice on the best equipment to buy to work out at home, keeping in mind that most of us don't have a ton of space or money to spend on this stuff. To start, I'd recommend these two cost-effective items:

In my opinion, in terms of sheer cardio and cost, you simply cannot beat having a high quality jump rope. There are almost unlimited routines you can do with a jump rope and they all shred fat. This Master of Muscle jump rope is less than $10, is adjustable and is built for high speed, so you can really work your legs and shoulders. The second thing I'd get is a pull-up bar with multiple grips... The one that I used to have between my bedroom doorway and my closet is so old they don't sell it anymore, but it looks just like this one. You can usually find a decent one for under $50 and they last forever. You can stay in bad ass shape for a long time doing push-ups, burpees, dips, jump rope work and pull-ups with a variety of angles.

FOUR

MUSIC - We've had a keyboard in our house going on six years and I've started and stopped taking lessons about five times. Now that I have a little more time in my schedule without a commute and no sports on, I'm going to finally learn how to play the damn thing once and for all...

I'm signing up for at least two months of Quincy Jones' playground sessions, which from what I've read, is the best home learning piano course on the market. You can get it yearly or monthly and trust me, I've looked at all of these. I'll let you know how it goes... And if you want to do it with me, let me know. We can do a Twitter concert of 'We Didn't Start the Fire' together. Here's the course.

FIVE

A great quote about managing stress:

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another."

– William James


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