The 4-Hour Body (Book)

[_ABB_]

Hello Everyone --

Pretty new to this forum -- have been hearing a lot about Tim Ferris' new book The 4 Hour Body. Has anyone heard of it/read it? Is it worth a read?

Thanks in advance!

 

[innerstyle]

I could not take anything he says seriously as soon I read the following claim of his:

"I gained 34 lbs. of muscle, while losing 3 lbs. of fat, in 28 days."

 

[_ABB_]

Yes, sounds pretty wild right? Hard to believe. NY Times Best Seller though -- people must be reading!

 

[HgaleK]

Originally Posted by _ABB_

Yes, sounds pretty wild right? Hard to believe. NY Times Best Seller though -- people must be reading!

This seems like a really ******* awful marketing attempt.

I liked it a lot. I got several times my money's worth out of it. Just make sure to do your own research and take everything with a grain of salt.

 

[Crono]

A book filled with broscience. The only interesting chapter in the book is the one where he claims to have tripled his testosterone production by eating grass fed beef and overdosing vitamin D for 3 months. Don't buy it, it's a marketing scam.

 

[Leverandon]

There's some dubious stuff in the book and its total broscience. That being said, the weight loss chapter is very solid. I started using the "Slow Carb Diet" chapter in January and have had pretty remarkable results. I'm 5'9" and after Christmas feasting I weighed in at 184 lbs. I'm now 157 lbs.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend buying the book just for the diet (though the whole book is a fun read). Basically the diet is:

1. Don't eat grains (rice as well as wheat is out) and don't eat starchy foods.
2. Don't eat fruit.
3. Don't eat dairy.
4. Don't drink calories (no soda, pretty much the only alcohol you can drink is red wine...I cheat with an occasional scotch).
5. Once per week eat whatever you want in any quantity to keep your metabolism up.

He gives some specific meals to eat that were useful, (beans and nuts are a key part of his diet and usually omitted from other low-carb diets) but basically you'll be eating a lot of salads topped with meat. I coupled those rules with some moderate exercise (weights and cardio at the gym twice a week, running once or twice a week)...but not too much. I don't really love working out.

For this diet alone, I like the book, though I think a lot of what is in there could probably be found elsewhere without the bro-attitude.

 

[HgaleK]

I'm going to make a run through and check the relevance of the cited studies one of these days, but there were several things presented that weren't widely available on the internet that made a huge difference.

I want to go on record saying that the guy is a complete tool and I'd recommend shoplifting it, pirating it, getting it from your local library, or borrowing it from a friend.

 

[Leverandon]

Definitely...my friend let me borrow it and I read the relevant pages and then returned it.

 

[CDFS]

Are you a Connemara sock, but successfull?

 

[jarude]

The only **** worth anything in this book is commonly held knowledge amongst lifters and those "in the know" in the fitness world. Everything else is marketing and hyperbole.

Honestly, I wish I could've put a magic spin on a few nuggets of truth and market it as a complete guide to "becoming superhuman." This is aimed squarely at the Tony Robbins crowd and this dude is no doubt swimming in pools of cash.

 

[alex99]

Originally Posted by Leverandon

...Basically the diet is:

1. Don't eat grains (rice as well as wheat is out) and don't eat starchy foods.
2. Don't eat fruit.
3. Don't eat dairy.
4. Don't drink calories (no soda, pretty much the only alcohol you can drink is red wine...I cheat with an occasional scotch).
5. Once per week eat whatever you want in any quantity to keep your metabolism up.

He gives some specific meals to eat that were useful, (beans and nuts are a key part of his diet and usually omitted from other low-carb diets) but basically you'll be eating a lot of salads topped with meat. I coupled those rules with some moderate exercise (weights and cardio at the gym twice a week, running once or twice a week)...but not too much. I don't really love working out.

For this diet alone, I like the book, though I think a lot of what is in there could probably be found elsewhere without the bro-attitude.

This sounds a lot like the Atkins diet to me. What sets it apart?

 

[Leverandon]

I haven't read the Atkins book, but based on my understanding of it, the differences between the 4 Hour Body diet and Atkins are that Atkins allows fruit, while this book does not. I believe Atkins prohibits beans and nuts, while this book encourages them as a staple. Atkins also recommends a lot more meat than Ferris' recommends. Someone else who knows more about Atkins might be able to correct me.

 

[Reggs]

YOU WILL LEARN (in less than 30 minutes each):
How to pay for a beach vacation with one hospital visit

What?

 

[HgaleK]

Originally Posted by Reggs

What?

Medical tourism

 

[djlukin]

Tim Ferriss may or may not have learned through experience. His claims are unrealistic and the ways in which he discovered his so called 4 hour body methods are very suspect (basically treating his own body horribly for a decade). Obviously, its marketable, so people buy it. Realistic though? Not so sure. His thoughts on dieting are pretty good and his thoughts on sleep and rest are good. I wouldn't really look at his exercise thoughts much, considering he did so much incorrectly for so many years. He's out to make money- that's all he's out to do. And clearly, it's worked. I wouldn't invest if I were you though.