5 ms·

Tim Ferriss Wants to Hack Your Body

24 points by Mithrandir 16y ago

thisisnotmyname 16y ago
It isn't an experiment without a control. There aren't any mentioned in the article - are they in the book?
- notahacker 16y ago
  The hair trim, lighting changes and Photoshop on the pictures in this related blog entry will give you an idea of how scientific the content is likely to be: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/29/from-geek-to-freak-how-i-gained-34-lbs-of-muscle-in-4-weeks/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/29/from-geek-to...
  - ojbyrne 16y ago
    Not to mention the weird scaling.
chrisduesing 16y ago
I am deeply skeptical that anything in this book will be even remotely healthy, but it should at least be good for entertainment value.
WillyF 16y ago
I tried the diet that he outlines here: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/06/how-to-lose-20-lbs-of-fat-in-30-days-without-doing-any-exercise/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/06/how-to-lose-... I only did it for a few weeks before I went on vacation, but it worked really well. Not sure that I lost 20 lbs of fat, but I definitely lost some weight. Now, his ideas weren't all that earth shattering, but I wonder how the intricacies of his diet generate different results from straight up Atkins. I'll never know for sure, but it worked for me.
- jessriedel 16y ago
  > How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise A pound of fat has 3500 calories. A 170 lbs. man needs something like 2500 calories per day if he doesn't exercise. (I think roughly 2000 for truly sedentary, 3000 for moderate activity.) That means that if you go without any food whatsoever for a month, you just barely lose 20 lbs. (And if you do this, you'll probably become so weak and lethargic that you'll start burning less than 2000/day.) There's just no reasonable way to lose 20 lbs. in 30 days without drugs, starving yourself, and/or a very strenuous exercise regime. If you ran 10 miles per day (at 125 calories/mile) you'd still only be able to eat a very meager 1200 calories per day. You'd have to run almost a marathon every day in order to afford a normal calorie intake.
  - joelhaus 16y ago
    If you ran 10 miles per day (at 125 calories/mile) you'd still only be able to eat a very meager 1200 calories per day. Unless your metabolism remained elevated after your run.
    - neworbit 16y ago
      Sure, but how elevated can you expect it to be? (This is a serious question, I am not being snarky.) My vague understanding is that you get some level of metabolic boost from your body busily repairing itself, which is likely to be more true for weight work than cardio, but I don't actually know how much. Any good sources?
      - joelhaus 16y ago
        how elevated can you expect it to be It's circumstantial; varying by specific workout intensity, fitness level/history, genetic predispositions, among other factors. In addition to the repair time, as muscle mass increases, your body generally consumes more energy (calories). Personally, I maintained my weight while eating considerably more (c. 35%) when I played sports. more true for weight work - I'd be surprised if you are not correct. This understanding reflects my experiences (although I'm sure direct evidence exists too) with training, academic courses and as a college athlete.
codexon 16y ago
Isn't anyone else here skeptical of Tim Ferriss? Sure he's rich now, but he graduated from Princeton and self-admittedly worked 7 days a week in order to get his dietary supplement company BrainQuicken up and running. All this flies in the face of his 4-hour workweek book.
- brianmwang 16y ago
  Above all else, Tim is a master self-marketer. I've always found it interesting that I'd never heard of BrainQuicken until he got his fame from 4-Hour Workweek. Granted, that fact alone doesn't mean the company wasn't successful when Tim was running it, but it is curious. IMHO, he comes across very much as a "famous for being famous" type of person and for that, I've never really liked the guy. Some of his ideas are interesting, but it's hard to take him seriously when he's practically Aleksey Vayner.
- joshklein 16y ago
  He addresses this in his book - creating the original "muse" is something that requires huge amounts of work and time. But the objective is to only develop the kind of business you can later automate, thereby reducing yourself to only 4-hours of busywork eventually - not total "work", mind you - so you can focus on the things you care about. In Tim's case, that "stuff you care about" appears to be creating a personal brand as a sort of life coach / marketing guru. Like all business and self-helpy books, you have to take the 4HWW's subject matter as a skeptic, but there are some great nuggets in the book.
  - adriand 16y ago
    > there are some great nuggets in the book. I typically detest self-help books but a small number of ideas from the book were enough to change my life: not checking email first thing in the morning; checking email at scheduled, limited times during the day; setting critical goals for each day and prioritizing them; and setting short limits on the amount of time I set aside for particular tasks. I don't really care what criticism anyone might want to level at 4HWW (and I'm sure there's plenty), but for me, these simple ideas increased my work enjoyment and productivity tenfold.
bobbin_cygna 16y ago
> he packed on 34 pounds of muscle while dropping 3 pounds of fat in 28 days sure.
petercooper 16y ago
In any sport where power, speed, or endurance is a determining factor, everyone is using drugs. I suspect he'll get a lot of "feedback" on that point. I'm no pro-sportsman, but that seems like quite the hot potato to throw out there.
nostromo 16y ago
In perhaps the most extreme undertaking, he packed on 34 pounds of muscle while dropping 3 pounds of fat in 28 days. I could probably gain 31 pounds in 28 days if I wanted to too... In all seriousness, I'd like to see how he measured fat vs. muscle here. These self-aggrandizing lifestyle / diet gurus tend to make a lot of claims that fall flat when subjected to any sort of peer review. ... to compete in the kickboxing nationals... I weighed in at 165, and the next day I stepped onto the platform at 193. So in this instance, he gained over a pound an hour... Is that really possible, even if it's all water?
- joshklein 16y ago
  Not to defend his actual results, as I am unaware of them, but this can be tracked by measuring your mass and volume (through water displacement), since fat and muscle have different and known densities. You can also use a body fat caliper for more of an eyeballing of body fat percentage.
  - hugh3 16y ago
    Sounds rather error-prone. If I wanted to fool myself into thinking that I'd swapped a lot of fat for a lot of muscle, what could I do? I'd try to increase density from one volume measurement to the other -- I could breathe in a lot of air during one measurement, and eat a lot of.. I dunno, fruit cake before the other.
- naner 16y ago
  Here's the post if you are curious: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/29/from-geek-to-freak-how-i-gained-34-lbs-of-muscle-in-4-weeks/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/29/from-geek-to...
- icegreentea 16y ago
  I use to wrestle (highschool level, and trained with university level). I've heard of people who've dropped and gained 10-15% of their pre-cutting body mass like that. His claim is definately on the top end of things. The rehydration process is every bit as dangerous as the dehydration. You don't do it right, you just end up puking all over the place, which is no good when you're already dehydrated. I'm REALLY suspect one pound of muscle per day. If you want an idea of what that means... look at a 1 pound steak. You're adding that much to your body every day. I'll give him that there are probably genetic freaks of nature out there who can pull this stuff off (maybe he is one), but it's simply not a realistic goal.
desigooner 16y ago
I'm really skeptical of what this book talks about (adding muscle mass in x days, weight loss by this, extend orgasms by that and what not) and sounds like a whole bunch of miracle cure type bullshit. His diet outlines etc. are nothing but mashups of good nutrition advice out there and cherry picking some points about certain diets .. it almost seems like he spent a whole lot of time on messageboards and compiled what he read into a book .. Blindly following the advice in the book could well be a recipe for disaster .. there's nothing like one-size-fits-all for the stuff he talks about in the book ... btw .. have you ever seen those fat loss pill ads (hydroxycut and what not) where they show a reasonably inshape guy/gal in the before picture and an extremely ripped version of that person in the post picture? it's someone who's already well chiseled from the get go (fitness models basically) who don't workout for a few days and put on some fat by eating certain types of food .. then they go back to their nutrition and workout regimen to get back in the shape they were already in .. e.g. the VPX Meltdown model had some sort of a genetic makeup that made him put on muscles very easily while losing fat (or appearing to do so) .. read that on a fitness board.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
jonhendry 16y ago
When will we start seeing links to Kevin Trudeau on HN?
rysmit 16y ago
I am really surprised the by the reception here on HackerNews. Tim has a few hacks for the human body and knows how to market it well. That is all.

24 points by Mithrandir 16y ago

thisisnotmyname 16y ago

It isn't an experiment without a control. There aren't any mentioned in the article - are they in the book?

notahacker 16y ago
The hair trim, lighting changes and Photoshop on the pictures in this related blog entry will give you an idea of how scientific the content is likely to be: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/29/from-geek-to-freak-how-i-gained-34-lbs-of-muscle-in-4-weeks/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/29/from-geek-to...
- ojbyrne 16y ago
  Not to mention the weird scaling.

chrisduesing 16y ago

I am deeply skeptical that anything in this book will be even remotely healthy, but it should at least be good for entertainment value.

WillyF 16y ago

I tried the diet that he outlines here: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/06/how-to-lose-20-lbs-of-fat-in-30-days-without-doing-any-exercise/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/06/how-to-lose-... I only did it for a few weeks before I went on vacation, but it worked really well. Not sure that I lost 20 lbs of fat, but I definitely lost some weight. Now, his ideas weren't all that earth shattering, but I wonder how the intricacies of his diet generate different results from straight up Atkins. I'll never know for sure, but it worked for me.

jessriedel 16y ago
> How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise A pound of fat has 3500 calories. A 170 lbs. man needs something like 2500 calories per day if he doesn't exercise. (I think roughly 2000 for truly sedentary, 3000 for moderate activity.) That means that if you go without any food whatsoever for a month, you just barely lose 20 lbs. (And if you do this, you'll probably become so weak and lethargic that you'll start burning less than 2000/day.) There's just no reasonable way to lose 20 lbs. in 30 days without drugs, starving yourself, and/or a very strenuous exercise regime. If you ran 10 miles per day (at 125 calories/mile) you'd still only be able to eat a very meager 1200 calories per day. You'd have to run almost a marathon every day in order to afford a normal calorie intake.
- joelhaus 16y ago
  If you ran 10 miles per day (at 125 calories/mile) you'd still only be able to eat a very meager 1200 calories per day. Unless your metabolism remained elevated after your run.
  - neworbit 16y ago
    Sure, but how elevated can you expect it to be? (This is a serious question, I am not being snarky.) My vague understanding is that you get some level of metabolic boost from your body busily repairing itself, which is likely to be more true for weight work than cardio, but I don't actually know how much. Any good sources?
    - joelhaus 16y ago
      how elevated can you expect it to be It's circumstantial; varying by specific workout intensity, fitness level/history, genetic predispositions, among other factors. In addition to the repair time, as muscle mass increases, your body generally consumes more energy (calories). Personally, I maintained my weight while eating considerably more (c. 35%) when I played sports. more true for weight work - I'd be surprised if you are not correct. This understanding reflects my experiences (although I'm sure direct evidence exists too) with training, academic courses and as a college athlete.

codexon 16y ago

Isn't anyone else here skeptical of Tim Ferriss? Sure he's rich now, but he graduated from Princeton and self-admittedly worked 7 days a week in order to get his dietary supplement company BrainQuicken up and running. All this flies in the face of his 4-hour workweek book.

brianmwang 16y ago
Above all else, Tim is a master self-marketer. I've always found it interesting that I'd never heard of BrainQuicken until he got his fame from 4-Hour Workweek. Granted, that fact alone doesn't mean the company wasn't successful when Tim was running it, but it is curious. IMHO, he comes across very much as a "famous for being famous" type of person and for that, I've never really liked the guy. Some of his ideas are interesting, but it's hard to take him seriously when he's practically Aleksey Vayner.
joshklein 16y ago
He addresses this in his book - creating the original "muse" is something that requires huge amounts of work and time. But the objective is to only develop the kind of business you can later automate, thereby reducing yourself to only 4-hours of busywork eventually - not total "work", mind you - so you can focus on the things you care about. In Tim's case, that "stuff you care about" appears to be creating a personal brand as a sort of life coach / marketing guru. Like all business and self-helpy books, you have to take the 4HWW's subject matter as a skeptic, but there are some great nuggets in the book.
- adriand 16y ago
  > there are some great nuggets in the book. I typically detest self-help books but a small number of ideas from the book were enough to change my life: not checking email first thing in the morning; checking email at scheduled, limited times during the day; setting critical goals for each day and prioritizing them; and setting short limits on the amount of time I set aside for particular tasks. I don't really care what criticism anyone might want to level at 4HWW (and I'm sure there's plenty), but for me, these simple ideas increased my work enjoyment and productivity tenfold.

bobbin_cygna 16y ago

> he packed on 34 pounds of muscle while dropping 3 pounds of fat in 28 days sure.

petercooper 16y ago

In any sport where power, speed, or endurance is a determining factor, everyone is using drugs. I suspect he'll get a lot of "feedback" on that point. I'm no pro-sportsman, but that seems like quite the hot potato to throw out there.

nostromo 16y ago

In perhaps the most extreme undertaking, he packed on 34 pounds of muscle while dropping 3 pounds of fat in 28 days. I could probably gain 31 pounds in 28 days if I wanted to too... In all seriousness, I'd like to see how he measured fat vs. muscle here. These self-aggrandizing lifestyle / diet gurus tend to make a lot of claims that fall flat when subjected to any sort of peer review. ... to compete in the kickboxing nationals... I weighed in at 165, and the next day I stepped onto the platform at 193. So in this instance, he gained over a pound an hour... Is that really possible, even if it's all water?

joshklein 16y ago
Not to defend his actual results, as I am unaware of them, but this can be tracked by measuring your mass and volume (through water displacement), since fat and muscle have different and known densities. You can also use a body fat caliper for more of an eyeballing of body fat percentage.
- hugh3 16y ago
  Sounds rather error-prone. If I wanted to fool myself into thinking that I'd swapped a lot of fat for a lot of muscle, what could I do? I'd try to increase density from one volume measurement to the other -- I could breathe in a lot of air during one measurement, and eat a lot of.. I dunno, fruit cake before the other.
naner 16y ago
Here's the post if you are curious: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/29/from-geek-to-freak-how-i-gained-34-lbs-of-muscle-in-4-weeks/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/29/from-geek-to...
icegreentea 16y ago
I use to wrestle (highschool level, and trained with university level). I've heard of people who've dropped and gained 10-15% of their pre-cutting body mass like that. His claim is definately on the top end of things. The rehydration process is every bit as dangerous as the dehydration. You don't do it right, you just end up puking all over the place, which is no good when you're already dehydrated. I'm REALLY suspect one pound of muscle per day. If you want an idea of what that means... look at a 1 pound steak. You're adding that much to your body every day. I'll give him that there are probably genetic freaks of nature out there who can pull this stuff off (maybe he is one), but it's simply not a realistic goal.

desigooner 16y ago

I'm really skeptical of what this book talks about (adding muscle mass in x days, weight loss by this, extend orgasms by that and what not) and sounds like a whole bunch of miracle cure type bullshit. His diet outlines etc. are nothing but mashups of good nutrition advice out there and cherry picking some points about certain diets .. it almost seems like he spent a whole lot of time on messageboards and compiled what he read into a book .. Blindly following the advice in the book could well be a recipe for disaster .. there's nothing like one-size-fits-all for the stuff he talks about in the book ... btw .. have you ever seen those fat loss pill ads (hydroxycut and what not) where they show a reasonably inshape guy/gal in the before picture and an extremely ripped version of that person in the post picture? it's someone who's already well chiseled from the get go (fitness models basically) who don't workout for a few days and put on some fat by eating certain types of food .. then they go back to their nutrition and workout regimen to get back in the shape they were already in .. e.g. the VPX Meltdown model had some sort of a genetic makeup that made him put on muscles very easily while losing fat (or appearing to do so) .. read that on a fitness board.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

jonhendry 16y ago

When will we start seeing links to Kevin Trudeau on HN?

rysmit 16y ago

I am really surprised the by the reception here on HackerNews. Tim has a few hacks for the human body and knows how to market it well. That is all.