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Is it possible to:
Reach your genetic potential in 6 months?
Sleep 2 hours per day and perform better than on 8 hours?
Lose more fat than a marathoner by bingeing?
Indeed, and much more. This is not just another diet and fitness book.
The 4-Hour Body is the result of an obsessive quest, spanning more than a decade, to hack the human body. It contains the collective wisdom of hundreds of elite athletes, dozens of MDs, and thousands of hours of jaw-dropping personal experimentation. From Olympic training centers to black-market laboratories, from Silicon Valley to South Africa, Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, fixated on one life-changing question:
For all things physical, what are the tiniest changes that produce the biggest results?
Thousands of tests later, this book contains the answers for both men and women.
From the gym to the bedroom, it’s all here, and it all works.
YOU WILL LEARN (in less than 30 minutes each):
How to lose those last 5-10 pounds (or 100+ pounds) with odd combinations of food and safe chemical cocktails.
* How to prevent fat gain while bingeing (X-mas, holidays, weekends)
* How to increase fat-loss 300% with a few bags of ice
* How Tim gained 34 pounds of muscle in 28 days, without steroids, and in four hours of total gym time
* How to sleep 2 hours per day and feel fully rested
* How to produce 15-minute female orgasms
* How to triple testosterone and double sperm count
* How to go from running 5 kilometers to 50 kilometers in 12 weeks
* How to reverse “permanent” injuries
* How to add 150+ pounds to your lifts in 6 months
* How to pay for a beach vacation with one hospital visit
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are more than 50 topics covered, all with real-world experiments, many including more than 200 test subjects.
You don't need better genetics or more discipline. You need immediate results that compel you to continue.
That’s exactly what The 4-Hour Body delivers.
Start Here
T$inner, Bigger, Faster, Stronger? How to Use This Book 2
Fundamentals-First and Foremost
The Minimum Effective Dose: From Microwaves to Fat-loss 17
Rules That Change the Rules: Everything Popular Is Wrong 21
Ground Zero-Getting Started and Swaraj
The Harajuku Moment: The Decision to Become a Complete Human 36
Elusive Body Fat: Where Are You Really? 44
From Photos to Fear: Making Failure Impossible 58
Subtracting Fat
Basics
The Slow-carb Diet I: How to Lose 1.4 st (9kg) in 30 Days Without Exercise 70
The Slow-carb Diet II: The Finer Points and Common Questions 79
Damage Control: Preventing Fat Gain When You Binge 100
The Four Horsemen of Fat Loss: PAGG 114
Advanced
Ice Age: Mastering Temperature to Manipulate Weight 122
The Glucose Switch: Beautiful Number 100 133
The Last Mile: Losing the Final 5-101b (2.3-4.5kg) 149
Adding Muscle
Building the Perfect Posterior (or Losing 7 + st/45 + kg) 158
Six-minute Abs: Two Exercises That Actually Work 174
From Geek to Freak: How to Gain 2.4st (15.4kg) in 28 Days 181
Occam's Protocol I: A Minimalist Approach to Mass 193
Occam's Protocol II: The Finer Points 214
Improving Sex
The 15-minute Female Orgasm-Part Un 226
The 15-minute Female Orgasm-Part Deux 237
Sex Machine I: Adventures in Tripling Testosterone 253
Happy Endings and Doubling Sperm Count 264
Perfecting Sleep
Engineering the Perfect Night's Sleep 275
Becoming Uberman: Sleeping Less with Polyphasic Sleep 287
Reversing Injuries
Reversing "Permanent" Injuries 294
How to Pay for a Beach Holiday with One Hospital Visit 319
Pre-hab: Injury-Proofing the Body 324
Running Faster and Farther
Hacking the NFL Combine I: Preliminaries-Jumping Higher 347
Hacking the NFL Combine II: Running Faster 354
Ultra-endurance I: Going from 5K (3 miles) to 50K (30 miles) in 12 Weeks-Phase I 367
Ultra-endurance II: Going from 5K (3 miles) to 50K (30 miles) in 12 Weeks-Phase II 386
Getting Stronger
Effortless Superhuman: Breaking World Records with Barry Ross 406
Eating the Elephant: How to Add 45 kg (100 lb) to Your Bench Press 424
From Swimming to Swinging
How I Learnt to Swim Effortlessly in 10 Days 434
The Architecture of Babe Ruth 444
On Longer and Better Life
Living Forever: Vaccines, Bleeding and Other Fun 454
Closing Thoughts
Closing Thoughts: The Trojan Horse 465
Appendices and Extras
Helpful Measurements and Conversions 470
Getting Tested-From Nutrients to Muscle Fibres 472
Muscles of the Body (Partial) 477
The Value of Self-experimentation 478
Spotting Bad Science 101: How Not to Trick Yourself 485
Spotting Bad Science 102: So You Have a Pill … 495
The Slow-carb Diet-194 People 499
Sex Machine II: Details and Dangers 505
The Meatless Machine I: Reasons to Try a Plant-based Diet for Two Weeks 514
The Meatless Machine II: A 28-Day Experiment 530
Bonus Material 545
Spot Reduction Revisited: Removing Stubborn Thigh Fat
Becoming Brad Pitt: Uses and Abuses of DNA
The China Study: A Well-intentioned Critique
Heavy Metal: Your Personal Toxin Map
The Top 10 Reasons Why BMI Is Bogus
Hyperclocking and Related Mischief: How to Increase Strength 10% in One Workout
Creativity on Demand: The Promises and Dangers of Smart Drugs
An Alternative to Dieting: The Body Fat Set Point and Tricking the Hypothalamus
Acknowledgements 547
Photo and Illustration Credits 549
Index 551
Snowcrash1984
Posted January 21, 2011
I was massively disappointed in this book. I have found enough errors and half truths in the book that I would have to view everything else written in the book as suspect. "Facts" like an hour on a stairmaster only burning 7 calories more than an hour watching TV... that just isn't possible. But the thing that really killed the book for me was using Dave Palumbo as a muscle mass building example. The guy went from 140lbs to 310lbs. Tim gives us a detailed account of his diet. WOW! GREAT! But oops! Tim forgets to make any mention of the fact that this guy also got busted for trafficking human growth hormone a few years ago. (just google "Dave Palumbo arrested") Secretely using human growth hormone (like Palumbo) to bulk, then telling me about your diet so I can bulk like you is a lie. Now regardless of how you feel about the use of illegal substances, I feel like the whole example in Tim's book is basically a fraud when he leaves out that part of the story. So how many of his other fantastic tales are tainted in such a way? Later in the book Tim discusses Ben Johnson the Canadian sprinter, he talks all about how his brilliant coach trained him in ways that maximized his recovery... again no mention of the controlled substances infamously involved that got Ben Johnson's Olympic gold medal revoked. If Tim Ferris wants to promote controlled substances that is one thing, but if he wants to brag about their results, BUT NOT MENTION THAT DRUGS WERE INVOLVED, that is just fraud. If the book at least seemed factual I could forgive the nauseating amount of product promotion within the text. It even contains convenient web links to where we can buy all these gizmos and supplements that we supposedly need to achieve his amazing results. How much did these companies pay for this type of product placement? Again, if you want to use a controlled substance to train, that is your business. But then don't turn around and try and sell me all the other products promoted in this book and tell me that is how you got your results. After reading this book I can't help but think that Tim is laughing all the way to the bank.
124 out of 164 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Jason_Cai
Posted January 5, 2011
I Also Recommend:
I enjoyed the book. I'm not going to claim that the book is perfect or earth-shattering or anything like that. I did find it entertaining to read all the stuff Tim Ferriss put himself through. I've also benefited from some of his recommendations (though not all). My biggest criticism is the book didn't do enough with the mind part. For that, you might want to read "Emotional Intelligence 2.0". That book did a great deal for my mind. For The 4-Hour Body, here's what's in the book so you can make your own decision. I've read all 571 pages and tried most of the strategies (I had my copy for a while because I got my hands on an advanced copy). Ferriss spent more than a decade researching, monitoring, and noting the progress of his own mind and body. He served as his own laboratory genea pig and also played the role of a doctor, physical therapist, and coach to prepare for this book. Like a school boy, Ferris teaches you how to get your classwork done fast so you can go out and play. He asks you to be skeptical of the book and try only that which you think will help you. Chapter 1: Fundamentals--First And Foremost Chapter 2: Ground Zero--Getting Started and Swaraj Chapter 3: Subtracting Fat Chapter 4: Adding Muscle Chapter 5: Improving Sex Chapter 6: Perfecting Sleep Chapter 7: Reversing Injuries Chapter 8: Running Faster and Farther Chapter 9: Getting Stronger Chapter 10: From Swimming to Swinging Chapter 11: On Longer and Better Life
70 out of 77 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.maycausefatigue
Posted December 19, 2010
Yes, a lot of the ideas in this book are extreme. The core diet plan itself is centered around a pretty limiting diet 6 days a week + 1 cheat day where you can go as crazy as you like (as long as you prepare with the right supplements and exercises). Yet Ferriss has documented extraordinary results in 30 days by implementing his methods to a "T".
Reading this book changed my perspective. I came away with a whole new strategy for losing 20 lbs and the idea that weight loss doesn't have to take a lifetime nor do traditional methods always get the job done best. If you have tried dieting, long workouts, or maybe are just tired of lackluster results, this book can be the swift kick in the pants you need to jumpstart your journey to an amazing body.
Please note that I bought the ereader version of this book to read on my mac (I do not own a nook) and am having problems with the images not showing up. The images are a key part of the book, therefore if you plan on reading this book on your mac, I suggest purchasing a hardcopy as I've been back and forth with BN customer service 3 times to no avail.
24 out of 39 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 28, 2010
This book may have some benefits if you can stand to read through tons of rambling and very boring statistical garbage . It is like reading scientific case studies . Way too much useless info to try and imprss you or inform you of hings tht are not going to help you one bit . Getting to the " how to " is a real chore . If you enjoy reading clinical trial data then perhaps this is for you .
20 out of 36 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 27, 2010
First, to address those who suggest Tim Ferriss and/or people in his circle are manufacturing the 5 star reviews: I have read his other book and most of his blog and, frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if this was true. I mean, the guy has won awards for shameless self-promotion - draw your own conclusion.
As for the book itself - I thought it was pretty interesting. I have not tried any of the methods in the book, but I plan to try a few of them out before I make a hard judgment of the book. I have read a ton of books on body design and fitness, and this one has quite a few tricks I have not heard before. One downside I see is the emphasis on supplementation, but Ferriss is known for always looking for the extreme shortcut that produces results, so I wasn't too surprised. His methodology centers on this concept of the smallest change that produces the max results which leaves very little wiggle room in most of the methods.
One tip: DO AS THE BOOK SAYS AND DON'T READ IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH. I did this - big mistake. You really have to pick and choose your goals and only read the applicable info, otherwise you will be extremely confused and the book will seem to contradict itself over and over. If you just read the chapters that apply to what you want to get out of it then you should be ok.
Is this the end-all-be-all body design book? I don't know, but it's worth a read. I'm gonna give some of the chapters a shot and see what happens.
17 out of 23 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 16, 2010
First of all , this guy is suggesting tons supplements (ECA stack or whatever it was) ice packs to you neck, very specific diet, binging on your off day requires much planning. I am so frustrated reading this book its all over the place this guy totally sounds like a scam artist. Also the title of the book suggests this is going to be easy and I have been watching my weight for a while now and its not that easy but his method is harder than what I am doing now. Ridiculous regret buying this book.
15 out of 28 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 30, 2010
Why re-invent the wheel ? Well why not ?
So many of us live our lives based on what we see all around us thinking well if it works for them it will work for me. We rarely pause to reconsider the options and create a better path to achieve what we need or want.
Timothy Ferris has a talent for looking at a problem and then goes out of the box ......way out of the box. Although this might make you feel uncomfortable while you read my review i assure you he is logical , insightful and writes in a clear concise manner.
Your body is the only ticket you get to this world and it is best to take good care of it.
Mr. Ferris will guide you in creating new solutions for yourself and inspire you to consider fresh alternatives in all aspects of your life.
I have read his other works and blog and find him an easy read informative and just about brilliant.
11 out of 20 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 10, 2010
Obviously, Anonymous is ignorant of the publishing world. While books have a certain date on which they are released to the public, publishers routinely send copies called "advance readers" to large bookstores for their employees to review. They are carefully guarded and all hell would break loose if one fell in to a non- employees hands (especially as they tend to have typos and such) but the content is there.
9 out of 21 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 6, 2011
I've only made a couple of changes and in 7 days have lost 5 pounds. It has motivated me to make more changes and I'm actually looking forward to exercising. The philosphy is make the smallest change with the most impact. Tons of great information.
7 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 26, 2012
I am loved this book its great! You should read it.dont listen to those clowns that say its not good.listen to me.
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 21, 2011
This book is many pages, but you won't have to read all of it (probably most people won't read the sections on baseball, etc). The diet section is basically the same as what's on the blog (but unlike the paleo post on the blog it doesn't say much that beans/legumes can be estrogenic, have anti-nutrients, and contain enzyme inhibitors/Lectins, so therefore I personally don't eat many beans/legumes and I usually replace them with almond butter or something else, plus I think myself and most in shape people can early in the day eat 1-3 pieces of fruit on some days at least after a few weeks of the diet to make sure we don't enter ketosis/have some carbs for digesting protein, brain and muscle function, and for vitamins). There is some strange things in the book (the picture of the dog) that hopefully is a typo. If you take notes and then apply a few things then you will get something beneficial out of this very interesting book. For me the section on intimacy and some of the links in various chapters were more than worth the price of the book. The 4-Hour Body is more than a book because there is a bunch of things you can take action on and DO in many areas of your real life, especially with nutrition and exercises. Also, I just got the OneTaste DVD and it is not explicit (it does not show the female anatomy having the technique that's shown in the book performed on a real woman), as it only has good looking people mostly talking and only a few on screen drawings, thus I did not learn anything more from this high quality production DVD than I already had from the "The 4-Hour Body," thus the DVD is "couples-friendly" and may be useful for conversations between partners, but as for the actual "Doing" technique the DVD drawings don't show much more than the pictures already in "The 4-Hour Body" book.
6 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I really can't understand the quantity of positive reviews. Something just seems fishy regarding that, though I have no proof, only doubts. Maybe there is something to Tim's research, but in my opinion, most of his success probably just comes down to genetics. I should have learned when I bought the 4-Hour Workweek. The concept seemed great. The first few pages were very interesting. Then it just fell apart and wasn't practical for a lot of people. I lost interested when he started talking about weighting his own "poo" to prove a point on his binge day. Truth be told, there is some good information in this book. Part of the reason I got it is that I consider myself a sponge when it comes to fitness and nutrition. In the end, the book could have had all the relevant nutritional information condensed into about 75 pages, and the info in those pages has already been published ad nauseum. The strength training section is worthless.
5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 25, 2011
*
Booooooo! I bought the nookbook form for my iPad and it won't even download!
4 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 3, 2011
I Also Recommend:
The title is enticing...so I bought it, and read it. I walked away being more informed and prepared to lose weight and get in shape. I can't say that all of his ideas are practical (some require alot of extreme will power and self-limitation)...but it is worth a read. I also ordered, "Build Your Mind, Your Body Will Follow"...which is EXCELLENT! If you order ANY diet/fitness book, also buy, "Build Your Mind, Your Body Will Follow". It works on your mind (as the title suggests) and REALLY got me ready to change my body...like no other book has!
4 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 18, 2010
Excellent book! I already bought 4 extra copies for folks I care about. This book isn't a 'read cover-to-cover'. It is segmented/focused into areas that you are interested in (e.g. weight loss, muscle building, etc.) so you only need to read the relevant sections - no wasted time on useless info.
I really like how it is a mix of practical instruction, humor, brains, and EXPERIENCE. I just got it a couple days ago, and have already learned a lot. I like how the author has narrowed the info to the 2.5% of all the info that generates 95% of the results. Yes, that means there's a bunch of stuff that isn't in the book...and that's why I like it. I don't need 1,000 pages of stuff that only helps me lose 3 lbs. I need less than 100 pages that will help me lose more than 30 lbs.
(And how did he get so many reviews when it just came out? Download versions & advance copies....and a group of folks who have been waiting for this book)
4 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 14, 2011
Sure it made me chuckle a couple of times, but overall I thought this book sucked. I can't keep all of the supplements straight that he recommends. I'm still confused on what is the overall point of this book. It would have been helpful to have some kind of chart or example of a typical day that summarizes all of the crap he recommends you take (pills, special teas, etc). I think he tried too hard to add validity in what he was saying. You can call me prude - but I thought it was unnecessary to swear throughout the book. You can still make a valid point without throwing the F word in. Just takes away what little credibility there may have been. I thought this book was geared more towards men and/or body-builder types. Not something for an average person trying to lose weight. Better luck next time. I don't recommend this book.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 14, 2010
Super impressed by Tim's commitment in the book to factual results. I am a former Indy Car engineer who specialized in data analysis and sensors to run constant tests and analysis. To have somebody implant metering devices into their own body speaks volumes on his integrity toward finding his own true answers. So many people make statements that they can never back up. I learned this doing data acquisition for over a decade. I love how he puts his money (BODY) where mouth (pen) is is!! Nice work Tim!
Only Tim could have created such a masterpiece with his intellectual insiders background in brain supplements, sports, travel and acquiring the best data from around the world in the most effective ways to achieve the most desired results. The average guy and girl are lucky to have somebody with his mental horse power and competency willing to dedicate so much of his current life to the betterment of us all.
Put simply I think this book should become a college course!
about a minute ago · Like.
3 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 30, 2010
Another great book from a great person and an expert in getting results fast!
3 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 7, 2012
Some of this is dubious. If you want to get the most out of the book though, I highly recommend getting the actual book. Its filled with picture and a lot of zig zagging. If you want to take notes or suck things in better, you will have a hard time if you get it on nook
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 14, 2012
The overall message of this book is worth the read, even if the chapters are lacking in a number of aspects. The scientific data is poorly interpreted and provides almost none of the evidence Feriss suggests that it does. The case studies he presents are individual outliers that are not backed up by any documented data trend. His attempts to explain his 'findings' with biochemistry are completely ridiculous, and I'm fairly certain he doesn't know what 80% of the terms he uses actually mean.
But, the theme of the book, which is carried by Feriss and his palpable enthusiasm for self improvement, is still valuable. I was motivated by this book to do some real experimentation and improvement, based on his premise that our bodies are substantially within our control, if you can work out the formulas. Again, despite its faults, worth reading.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
Is it possible to:
Reach your genetic potential in 6 months?
Sleep 2 hours per day and perform better than on 8 hours?
Lose more fat than a marathoner by bingeing?
Indeed, and much more. This is ...