The Four Hour Body, by Timothy Ferris

 The Four Hour Body 

By Timothy Ferriss 

 

Preview 

Do you need to focus obsessively on what you eat and spend hours in the gym to get a good physique? Can you lose 25 pounds in a month in a healthy manner? Is it possible to survive with just 2 hours of sleep every day? Read the book to find out the answers to all these questions and many more. This is a text on health and fitness unlike any other! 

About the Author 

Timothy "Tim" Ferriss is a self-help guru, public speaker, and angel investor. His 4-Hour series-The 4 Hour Workweek, The 4 Hour Chef, and The 4 Hour Body have been bestsellers. His unique insights as a result of experimentation on his own body and life have made him an immensely popular internet icon. 

The Big Idea: The minimalist approach to fitness and health. 

Tim Ferriss has recorded every workout he has had since the age of 18! He has experimented with different diets, lifestyles, workout philosophies, and propounds, that less is indeed more when it comes to getting fit and healthy. 

To lose fat, eat a strict low cab diet and exercise diligently 4-5 times a week. This is oft-heard advice from fitness gurus. 6-8 hours of sleep is a must; this is another health tip that you must have heard of. However, Ferriss encourages you to develop a method of sleeping just 2-3 hours a day and mandatorily eat a cheat meal every week or so to keep yourself lean or lose fat. 

He covers topics ranging from fat loss to building muscle, to having a more productive day with the help of polyphasic sleep, and numerous other areas. Ferriss draws from his interviews with hundreds of experts, and his own experiences, to create a protocol that will help you become superhuman! 

In this book you will learn: 

• Why not eating fruits can work wonders if you want to lose fat 
• Why building muscle is more about intensity rather than quantity 
• Why drinking cold water can make you leaner 
• Why power naps can help you sleep less and become more productive 

Working our twice a week correctly can make you lean and fit 

If one needs to get tanned, how long do you think he or she needs for a melanin response? If the answer to the question above is ten minutes, then one does not need to spend more than ten minutes in the sun. Hence, ten minutes is the minimum effective dose of the sun which one requires to tan. Anything more than that would be wasteful, would not carry any significant benefits, and in fact, may even be harmful.  

This, in essence, is the mantra of the book. Do the least amount necessary for the desired outcome. No need of pumping reps after reps for 3 hours in the gym, take a minimalist approach, and workout intensely 2-3 times a week.  

It is important to stick to protocols one can stick to, rather than trying to adhere to elite-level protocols, which are hard to follow. Always remember that in the fitness industry, people make simple stuff complicated to sell it!  

People hardly follow advice. This is because their motivation is not strong enough. They would like to have a fitter body, but it is not a must-have. There can be moments that can change this though. In those moments, due to a sudden and deep realization, people switch and make choices which seem hard to common people. 

With such epiphanies, it is easy to get fitter and healthier without really doing much! For example, just the knowledge of your basal metabolic rate will make you realize how much you have to eat to remain fat, and how easy it can be to lose it. 

Eating a low carb diet is essential to quickly getting lean and losing fat 

The low carbohydrate diet is a well-known diet protocol to lose fat and get lean fast. Ferriss gives his spin on it and calls it the slow carb diet. He advises people to avoid all white carbs and starches. So, avoid rice, cereals, potatoes, bread, and all forms of refined sugars.  

Contrary to popular belief, it is healthy to avoid fruits, especially when one is looking to lose fat. The benefits of eating fruits every day have been overstated, and to those who feel that they are a part of a balanced diet, it is important to note that there is no scientific consensus on what constitutes a balanced diet. Fruits contain fructose which gets converted to triglycerides in the liver, which thereby results in fat accumulation. Hence, fruits should not be eaten more than once per week. 

Eat a diet rich in lean meat, legumes, spinach, cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, etc. Keep the diet simple, and eat the same kind of food every day, rather than wasting time trying to devise new diets and food preparations. Remember to eat your first meal within an hour of waking up, and drink lots of water throughout the day. 

Avoid drinking beverages that have carbs, like soft drinks and colas, etc. Drink as much water as possible, and if you want, then drink tea or coffee (without sugar) to have your intake of caffeine which pumps up the metabolic activity. 

To pre-empt your body adapting to a low-calorie diet by slowing down your metabolism, eat a cheat meal full of carbs and all that you desire, once every week or 10 days.  

Coldwater can help you lose fat since the body loses energy while trying to keep you warm. A glass of cold water every day and perhaps even a cold shower can help you lose fat. A workout in the pool with cold water can be beneficial in improving your calorie burn rate. Why do you think Michael Phelps was able to eat 12,000 calories every day? 

  

 

Muscle it-The easy way to build strength and muscle 

The ways and methods you have heard about to build muscle are probably wrong, or at the very least, not necessary. Following the minimalist approach is enough to pack on a good amount of muscle if coupled with a proper diet. 

Pumping repetition after repetition and set after set in the gym for 4-5 days a week or more, is unnecessary when what is required is a minimum effective dose of 2-3 workouts per week, lasting about half an hour. 

Focusing on compound movements to trigger a positive hormonal response, it is possible to build mass and definition in quick time. Perform kettlebell swings as your main exercise, along with a few other big movements like Yates rows, incline bench, and squats. 

The total time under tension is more important than reps, and you should ensure that your target muscles spend at least 80 seconds under tension. Take about 5 seconds to lift the weight and another 5 to lower it down.  

Recovery time is extremely important to gain strength and size. During this time muscle fibers become stronger, and one must ensure they get enough fuel in the form of protein. 

Track it, to crack it 

Imagine having tracked every workout one has had for decades. What about logging every meal which one has had every day for years on end. The power of tracking and logging in data about one's activities and progress is a tool that can be used by everyone towards achieving their fitness goals. 

The mere state of being aware of one's progress or activities can be a powerful motivator to achieve a higher level of fitness. Tracking data about one's workouts, weight, fat percentage, etc., can make a person aware of the direction he or she is in.  

Tracking data does not necessarily mean counting every calorie but keeping an estimate of one's progress and one's activities. Just measuring your weight every day can help you in not getting fat, or at least make you more consciously aware of your weight. You can then adopt measures to control it if required. 

It is important to note that to make better use of tracking one needs to have specific goals. For example, "becoming healthy" is not a quantifiable goal. Hence, it is important to have measurable goals, like losing 5 kilograms in 3 months, or getting faster by 10% in 1 month, etc. 

You can get more out of sex by changing angles and eating a cholesterol-rich diet  

Research estimates that most women do not orgasm during intercourse. While many men live under the impression that their sexual lives are as good as they can be, the truth is that with a few minor tweaks, they can be much better. 

Just changing the angle of penetration can result in a marked difference. During the act, a man should keep his hips as close to a woman's as possible. This is because a woman's clitoris is especially sensitive to pressure and touch and plays an important role in achieving orgasm.   

Tweaking your diet can also bring gains in your sex life. Research shows that certain hormones like Testosterones in males, and Lutropin in females, are responsible for upping one's sex drive. These hormones can be manipulated by eating a cholesterol-rich diet in the short term. Thus, if you are planning on having sex with your loved one, it would help if you eat four whole eggs (800 mg cholesterol) a night before. Cholesterol synthesis peaks at night time, hence, it is important to time this correctly. 

Polyphasic sleep can help you have a more productive day 

We spend nearly a third of our lives while asleep. Sleep seems to serve an essential function as is evident by the ill effects of sleep deprivation on a person. However, how much is enough? Experts point out several studies and prescribe a 6-8 hour sleeping time as ideal. Sleep can be broken down into stages, and the most productive part of our sleep cycle is the REM stage. All the other hours of sleep are generally a build-up to the REM stage and then an exit from it.  

As busy professionals, most of us are well aware of the utility of power naps. A 20-minute power nap feels very refreshing if taken at the right time and can enhance our productivity immensely. It is indeed possible for one to utilize what is called polyphasic sleep and unlock hours from a typical day! 

Ferriss quotes scientific studies and presents data to the effect which indicates that twenty-minute naps spaced across the day strategically, coupled with a night of 2-hour REM sleep, can enhance our productivity immensely, by cutting on the amount of sleep we need to function healthily. A REM stage typically lasts for 2 hours. Thus, if one can just enter into the REM mode, one can feel adequately rested in a short amount of time.  

There are protocols in which one can take six short naps of 20 minutes each, spaced through the day, for a total of 2 hours of sleep. Such protocols can do wonders and can be experimented with if one has a flexible schedule or is working on a strict deadline. 

Have your cake and eat it too-The long life worth living 

Caloric restriction and several other diets and fitness protocols can make your life longer, but is it worth the time, money, and energy spent? Is it worth looking emaciated and being unable to enjoy the simple pleasures that make life worth living? 

Choose a life of balance and simplify the fitness protocols to be able to enjoy and live a healthy life. Remember, that longevity should not come at the cost of quality.  

While there are several therapies that one can go through to increase the longevity of one's life without decreasing its quality significantly, there are several natural and low-cost means to achieve similar results. 

Creatine monohydrate is not just an effective supplement for muscle gains but has also been shown to reduce the incidents of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. It can be taken in doses of 5-10 grams per day for two weeks, to be repeated in a 2-month cycle. Intermittent fasting is a diet protocol that can also confer the same benefits caloric restriction does, so can alternate day caloric restriction. 

Regular blood donation also helps in living a longer life, as iron in our blood is linked to the formation of free radicals which ultimately are responsible for our aging. 

 

Final Summary 

We hope you enjoyed this quid on The 4 Hour Body. Tim Ferriss gives a counterintuitive and contrarian approach to several aspects of health and fitness. His protocols are specific and actionable and cover fat loss, muscle building, productivity enhancement, longevity, sex, and many other areas. To get the four-hour body one does not need to spend hours in the gym day after day, adopting the minimalist approach can work wonders.