💪Books and Biceps - Issue 214

Jim Thorpe, Point Break, Hip-Saving Stretches and...

Books & Biceps is the only weekly e-mail that combines reading recommendations, exclusive workouts, short biographies of fascinating people, dad highlights & more…

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BOOKS

David Maraniss wrote one of the most acclaimed sports biographies of all time in When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi and he wrote one of my personal favorite sports biographies, Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero.

He’s written plenty of other bestsellers, but his newest book is the one I’ve been curious about since he announced it:

Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe, for those who may not know, was one of the greatest modern athletes sports has ever produced. He was an All-American football player at Carlisle Indian School in 1912 in the early 1900s, playing in one of the most famous football games ever, Carlisle vs. Army, where Thorpe had a legendary collision on the field with future president Dwight Eisenhower (I talk about this match-up in Eisenhower’s chapter of my book, Jocks in Chief).

Not only is Thorpe in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he also won gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. Oh, and he played major league baseball for the New York Giants.

Yeah, all of that is real. And now you know why I was so pumped for this biography. If any of the above interests you, and how could it not, grab it. You’re in the hands of a master and what I’ve read so far is awesome.

BICEPS

Fact: my hip mobility sucks. When I get up from a chair after sitting for too long, or even driving, my hips creak and ache.

There’s this stretching dude I’ve turned to on YouTube a few times who calls himself the Body Weight Warrior and he shares a bunch of 10-15 minute routines for all kinds of flexibility and mobility routines.

I found one for hips and the reason I know it’s probably effective is because I can barely do 10% of it. This guy is all bendy and stretchy and I feel like an old wooden lounge chair left on the beach for six months.

But I’ve been forcing myself to do this 12-minute routine every other day. If you’ve got some hip issues or sit too long at a desk or in traffic, try this:

QUICK FLEXES

Wrote this fun post last week on how despite their rivalry, Bodhi really was the best mentor Johnny Utah could have asked for:

Jon Finkel @Jon_Finkel

Bodhi was the best mentor Johnny Utah could have had: • challenged him • taught him new things • made him do cool shit • pushed him out of his comfort zone The picture of a kickass dude friendship in 4 Point Break photos:

And I did a quick breakdown thread of what I learned about the bad ass Under Water Demolition teams from the book I recommended a few weeks ago on the first Navy SEALs: Into Enemy Waters.

Jon Finkel @Jon_Finkel

Imagine storming the beaches of Iwo Jima during WWII with nothing but: • fins • a snorkel • a bathing suit • a bag of explosives It happened. This is the extraordinary & insane training of the Underwater Demolition Teams that became the Navy SEALs:

And this is simply a beautiful shot from the Flex Factory on Monday morning:

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Have a great weekend!