Parameter name: request
Translate Request has too much data
Parameter name: request
1,099 of 1,193 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Here's what I got out of it, December 14, 2010 This review is from: The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman (Hardcover) 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). 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.
Here's what's in it:
Chapter 1: Fundamentals--First And Foremost
* Ferriss describes the "Mininum Effective Dose" (doing the bare minimum to gain the most desired outcome).
Chapter 2: Ground Zero--Getting Started and Swaraj
* Uses Mahatma Gandhi reference to make the case that only we can govern our body and destiny by what we purposely choose to do.
Chapter 3: Subtracting Fat
Five rules for cutting body fat:
1. Avoid "white" carbohydrates
2. Eat the same few meals over and over again
3. Don't drink calories
4. Don't eat fruit
5. Take one day off per week
* The Lost Art of Bingeing: Specific steps to minimize fat gain while splurging
Chapter 4: Adding Muscle
* Building the Perfect Posterior
* Ferriss turns the table for readers who wish to gain weight by offering strategies on how to gain 34 pounds in 28 days with exercises like the Occam's Protocoli, the Bike-Shed Effect, and GOMAD (Gallon of Milk a Day).
Chapter 5: Improving Sex
* Ferriss tells a story about a promise he made to a female yoga instructor who have never experienced an orgasm in her life that he "would fix her inability to orgasm"
* the women has to bring herself "there."
* men need to change the angle and pressure during penetration.
* The 15-min Female Orgasm
1. Explain to partner that you will touch her
2. Get into position
3. Find the Upper-Quadrant Point of the Clitoris, and Stroke Lightly--for 15 minutes.
Chapter 6: Perfecting Sleep
How to Fall Asleep Faster:
* Focus on getting to sleep
* 67?F to 70?F is the best room temperature to fall asleep
* Eat a large fat-and protein-dominated meal 3 hours before bedtime
* Use low light in the bedroom
* Take a cold bath an hour before bed
* Use a humidifier to generate cool mist
* Try to sleep in the half-military crawl position
How to Sleep Less and Feel Great
* Learn how to manipulate the sleep cycle to stay in REM sleep longer
* Take frequent 20-min naps throughout the day
Chapter 7: Reversing Injuries
* The $10,000 Fix: Ferriss cured his "permanent" injuries by receiving a concoction of chemicals (i.e. Platelet-rich plasma, Stem cell factor, Bone morphogenic proteint-7, Insulin-like growth factor 1) via injection.
The Cheaper Fix in Stages:
* Stage 1: Movement
* Stage 2: Manipulaiton
* Stage 3: Medication
* Stage 4: Surgery
Chapter 8: Running Faster and Farther
* Jumping Higher: Joe DeFranco, a renowned trainer of the NFL Scouting Combine, worked with Ferriss on his shoulder drive, arm position before the jump, squat stance and hip flexors that allowed Ferriss to jump vertically three inches higher in 48 hours.
* Running Faster: Joe DeFranco also coached Ferriss on how to run the 40-yard dash faster by correcting Ferriss's line-and-arm position at the start line. Ferriss was advised to keep his head down, his knee head of his toes, chin tucked and upper body head of lower body, and to take few steps. Ferriss improved his 40-yard dash by .33 seconds in 48 hours.
* Running Further: Ferriss trains by running 400-meter repeatedly (over and over again) while monitoring quantity of repeats, maximum effort percentage, and rest time. Ken Mierke, a world-champion triathlete helped Ferriss with his stride rate, lean position, and arm movement. With preparation, biomechanics, and training, Ferriss was able to increase his running distance of 5K to 50K in 12 weeks.
Chapter 9: Getting Stronger
The gems in this chapter to become stronger as experimented by Ferriss include:
* Dynamic stretching
* Bench press, push-ups, deadlift to knees
* Static Stretching
* Keep "time under tension" while lifting under 10 seconds to avoid muscle burn.
* "Lift heavy but not hard"
* Keep training times (day or night) consistent.
Chapter 10: From Swimming to Swinging
* Ferriss learned how to swim effortlessly within 10 days
* How to swing a bat like Babe Ruth
* How to hold breath longer Houdini, and David Blaine
Chapter 11: On Longer and Better Life
* Take 5-10 grams of Creatine Monohydrate per day
* Fasting and Protein Cycling
* Donate blood
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.
1,037 of 1,169 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Over 100 Five Star reviews in less than a day?, December 14, 2010 This review is from: The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman (Hardcover) Pro: It has a lot of great information for people who are new to dieting and exercise.
Easy to read. The split into different chapters you can read without having to read the whole book was a smart choice.
Simple programs.
Con: All the information isn't exactly new or just in this book. For example, the diet is Paleo, which is fine, but not what I expected from the ads. I really hoped for something new here, and what is new sounds dubious at best.
Some of the claims in the books description are a little exaggerated.
The work out is not the best. It's great if you are new to working out, but it's not enough for someone who is already athletic and looking to improve. If you want to be the best athlete you can, this will take you far but it will not get you there.
Reversing permanent injuries can be expensive.
I have a problem with his scientific method. He did a lot of these experiments only on himself, and one after another in a short period of time. His results might be skewed. I'm currently applying a few of his suggestions and have been for 2 weeks. I will update this review in the future if there is any radicle change, but as of now nothing has really happened.
I also do not like that this book has gotten so many perfect reviews so quickly, and that critical reviews are being removed.
All in all, the book is grand if you need to be introduced to the word of nutrition and exercise. But if you have read widely on the subjects already and looking for something different and radically new, this book doesn't really deliver.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?804 of 907 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars Inconsistent, Holes, and Doubts, December 16, 2010 This review is from: The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman (Hardcover) I started reading this book and was enjoying it. Nice writing style, interesting theories and things to try. But this is not a novel where interesting and enjoyment count. This is a "self-help" body transformation guide where results count.
I went in with an open mind and started reading the chapters on diet and fat loss, which I liked. Nutritional science is not my specialty.
I then moved into the weight lifting sections. Now I am no Arnold but I know a bit about iron. I started noticing a lot of things.
Tim will mention powerlifters who bench 800 pounds. He will fail to mention they wear bench shirts which add 100's of pounds to the total. He will mention past powerlifting champions coached by Marty Gallagher who used linear periodization to build strength. He will fail to mention the enormous amounts of steroids these specific powerlifters used. One was even busted and ratted out fellow lifters. Tim is not telling the whole story. Just parts.
Little inconsistencies stood out. You do not need to add mass to gain strength because strength is a skill. Then some sections later the only way to get stronger is to add mass??? Huh? Which is it?
He relates a story how he gained a lot of weight working out with High Intensity Training. He mentions that he was detrained at the time. It is pretty common to be able to gain weight quickly after being de-trained. Very common and one trick that is often used in "before/after shots." Again - this is well known. It looks dramatic but is just that, looks, smoke and mirrors.
It made me think - if he is leaving stuff out of the strength sections, the area which I know and am familiar with, what is he leaving out of the other sections? If he is not telling the whole story in the strength department, why should I believe he is in the diet part?
I started to notice other little inconsistencies there as well. Calories in/Calories out is a flawed model. Eat as much as you want as long as you dont eat A B and C. Type of calories count. Be careful with nuts because the calories in them really add up. Do calories count or not? Why do nut calories count? Calories in calories out does not work. Person A lost lots of weight counting calories. Is he telling the whole story here or is he not?
His dad lost a lot of weight using the "slow carb diet." Is that the whole story? He did not tell the whole story with other sections. How do I know this is the whole story? Another guy lost a lot of weight using cold water. Lot's of fat people in Minnesota. Why does cold work for his guy but not Minnesota?
I just get the sense that this guy is willing to bend things to make it look like the way he wants.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?
No comments:
Post a Comment