The 4-Hour Body: Final Thoughts on Tim Ferriss's Body Hacking Bible
Twenty-five posts. Six months. Over 500 pages of Tim Ferriss experimenting on his own body, distilled into something you could actually read on the train.
Twenty-five posts. Six months. Over 500 pages of Tim Ferriss experimenting on his own body, distilled into something you could actually read on the train.
Twenty-five posts. Six months. Over 500 pages of Tim Ferriss experimenting on his own body, distilled into something you could actually read on the train.
Tim Ferriss is jogging through Times Square during a blizzard with an 80-pound boxing heavybag across his shoulders. He and his batting coach went to the wrong hotel. No taxis. So they walk.
Tim Ferriss is jogging through Times Square during a blizzard with an 80-pound boxing heavybag across his shoulders. He and his batting coach went to the wrong hotel. No taxis. So they walk.
“Just remember: somewhere in China, a little girl is warming up with your max.” That’s what Olympic weightlifting coach Jim Conroy tells his athletes. Welcome to chapters 33 and 34. One is about adding 100 pounds to your bench press. The other is about a guy who was scared of water learning to swim a mile in the ocean. Both come down to the same idea: eat the elephant one bite at a time.
“Just remember: somewhere in China, a little girl is warming up with your max.” That’s what Olympic weightlifting coach Jim Conroy tells his athletes. Welcome to chapters 33 and 34. One is about adding 100 pounds to your bench press. The other is about a guy who was scared of water learning to swim a mile in the ocean. Both come down to the same idea: eat the elephant one bite at a time.
This chapter starts with a former Soviet Special Forces instructor punching Tim Ferriss in the butt. Not a metaphor. Pavel Tsatsouline was literally checking muscle tension at a kettlebell certification event. Welcome to chapter 32.
This chapter starts with a former Soviet Special Forces instructor punching Tim Ferriss in the butt. Not a metaphor. Pavel Tsatsouline was literally checking muscle tension at a kettlebell certification event. Welcome to chapter 32.
Kelly Starrett, founder of San Francisco CrossFit, casually mentioned to Tim that he just ran a 28.4-mile ultramarathon with 18,500 feet of elevation change. And that he was back to heavy lifting the next week.
Kelly Starrett, founder of San Francisco CrossFit, casually mentioned to Tim that he just ran a 28.4-mile ultramarathon with 18,500 feet of elevation change. And that he was back to heavy lifting the next week.
There’s a gym in the back of an industrial park in New Jersey, right next to a Chevy dealership. Guys in there rub horse liniment on their elbows between sets. McTarnahan’s Absorbent Blue Lotion - the stuff they use on racehorses. The fumes clear your sinuses from ten feet away.
There’s a gym in the back of an industrial park in New Jersey, right next to a Chevy dealership. Guys in there rub horse liniment on their elbows between sets. McTarnahan’s Absorbent Blue Lotion - the stuff they use on racehorses. The fumes clear your sinuses from ten feet away.
These two chapters cover very different topics. One is about saving money on medical tests by flying to Nicaragua. The other might be the most important chapter in the whole book - how to not get injured in the first place. Let’s go.
These two chapters cover very different topics. One is about saving money on medical tests by flying to Nicaragua. The other might be the most important chapter in the whole book - how to not get injured in the first place. Let’s go.
A spine surgeon who works with NHL and NFL teams told Tim Ferriss his degenerating cervical discs were something he’d “just need to live with.” Then he smiled, which made it worse.
A spine surgeon who works with NHL and NFL teams told Tim Ferriss his degenerating cervical discs were something he’d “just need to live with.” Then he smiled, which made it worse.
Chapters 17 and 18 are about building muscle with the absolute minimum amount of gym time. Two exercises per workout. One set each. Less than 30 minutes a week in the gym. Ferriss calls it Occam’s Protocol, after Occam’s Razor - the idea that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.
Chapters 17 and 18 are about building muscle with the absolute minimum amount of gym time. Two exercises per workout. One set each. Less than 30 minutes a week in the gym. Ferriss calls it Occam’s Protocol, after Occam’s Razor - the idea that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.
This chapter is where Tim Ferriss makes claims that most people will immediately call BS on. Gaining 34 pounds of muscle in 28 days? While losing fat? With only four hours of total gym time?
This chapter is where Tim Ferriss makes claims that most people will immediately call BS on. Gaining 34 pounds of muscle in 28 days? While losing fat? With only four hours of total gym time?
Two chapters this week. One about your butt. One about your abs. Both are short because the actual work is embarrassingly simple.
Two chapters this week. One about your butt. One about your abs. Both are short because the actual work is embarrassingly simple.
Tim Ferriss is standing in an airport security line with a medical sensor implanted in his abdomen. His hands are sweating. He almost wore a 50-pound weighted vest through TSA, but a friend talked him out of it by pointing out it looked like a suicide bomber jacket. So the vest stayed home. But the implant made it through just fine.
Tim Ferriss is standing in an airport security line with a medical sensor implanted in his abdomen. His hands are sweating. He almost wore a 50-pound weighted vest through TSA, but a friend talked him out of it by pointing out it looked like a suicide bomber jacket. So the vest stayed home. But the implant made it through just fine.
Tim Ferriss’s dad was standing outside a BBQ restaurant in San Jose when a homeless man walked up and said: “You know how I lost all my weight? More than 100 pounds? Garlic. Clove after clove.”
Tim Ferriss’s dad was standing outside a BBQ restaurant in San Jose when a homeless man walked up and said: “You know how I lost all my weight? More than 100 pounds? Garlic. Clove after clove.”
Tim Ferriss once brought a portable food scale on a first date. He pulled it out of his man-purse at a tea house in San Francisco and started weighing individual pieces of food. There was no second date.
Tim Ferriss once brought a portable food scale on a first date. He pulled it out of his man-purse at a tea house in San Francisco and started weighing individual pieces of food. There was no second date.
So you read the five rules of the Slow-Carb Diet. Simple enough. But now you’re a week in and you have questions. Why am I starving at 3pm? Can I eat cheese? What the hell do I order at a restaurant?
So you read the five rules of the Slow-Carb Diet. Simple enough. But now you’re a week in and you have questions. Why am I starving at 3pm? Can I eat cheese? What the hell do I order at a restaurant?
This is the chapter where the book gets real. Chapter 7, “The Slow-Carb Diet I,” is the part most people bought The 4-Hour Body for. Five rules. No calorie counting. One day a week you eat like a maniac. Thousands of followers lost 20+ pounds.
This is the chapter where the book gets real. Chapter 7, “The Slow-Carb Diet I,” is the part most people bought The 4-Hour Body for. Five rules. No calorie counting. One day a week you eat like a maniac. Thousands of followers lost 20+ pounds.
Your scale is lying to you. Not on purpose. It just doesn’t know any better.
That’s the message from chapters 5 and 6 of The 4-Hour Body. And honestly, once you read the data, you’ll never look at your bathroom scale the same way.
Your scale is lying to you. Not on purpose. It just doesn’t know any better.
That’s the message from chapters 5 and 6 of The 4-Hour Body. And honestly, once you read the data, you’ll never look at your bathroom scale the same way.
These two chapters hit differently. Chapter 3 tears apart things you thought you knew about exercise and diet. Chapter 4 asks a harder question: why haven’t you done anything about it yet?
These two chapters hit differently. Chapter 3 tears apart things you thought you knew about exercise and diet. Chapter 4 asks a harder question: why haven’t you done anything about it yet?
Tim Ferriss opens The 4-Hour Body with a scene that tells you everything about this man. He is backstage at a Nine Inch Nails concert, doing air squats in a bathroom stall. His friend catches his head bobbing above the divider. Forty squats, in silence, in a public restroom.
Tim Ferriss opens The 4-Hour Body with a scene that tells you everything about this man. He is backstage at a Nine Inch Nails concert, doing air squats in a bathroom stall. His friend catches his head bobbing above the divider. Forty squats, in silence, in a public restroom.
So I picked up The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss. And I’m going to retell it here, chapter by chapter, in a way that’s actually fun to read.
So I picked up The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss. And I’m going to retell it here, chapter by chapter, in a way that’s actually fun to read.