The 4-Hour Body: The Revolutionary Guide to Weight Loss from the Bestselling Author

This book changed the way I think about fitness. I bought it from America the day it came out so I'd have it for Christmas last year and I'm glad I bought it. It didn't disappoint. Its got chapters on how to do everything from rapid fat loss (that I did and know worked on me personaly losing nearly two stone in two months, exercising like one or twice that whole time) increasing strength, testosterone, gaining mass, improving sex, increasing endurance whatever you need this book has it. Each chapter is worth the price of the book if you're looking to improve on that area. The great part of the book is well is when he talks about using psychology to train habits into yourself and up to date psychology on how thats done. Nothing about will power just systems and tracking what you do is very effective. If its photo food journals, waist, strength training etc tracking these things will make the habit of training and eating well stick. He even has a guy who used tracking to lose about 20/30 pounds in 8 months I think it was to lose weight despite still eating unhealthy foods and not exercising that much just to show how tracking is important. Tim Ferriss encourages you to become a self tracker and do your own research to and not to just trust him and that was important to because it made me do my own reading on fitness and inform myself more than I had in the past. So thats a great thing. I personally read the book all at once which the author doesn't recommended he says just pick your chapter after reading the introduction. But when re reading I pick my chapters. If your going to do any of the programmes in the book I'd recommend re reading the chapters cause you can miss one or two things because its so information dense. But overall if you're looking to improve you body you cant go wrong with this book. I'd buy it P.S. I've bought about 7/8 copies myself for people and a few others have bought them themselves thats how good it is. I've never done that with another book before so please do yourself a favour and buy this book

If you want a book that will change your body and keep it changed this is the book. This isn't some crash diet that you will do for a fortnight and forget about its life changing. The principle of the book can be summed up with this idea of minimum effective dose: if you are clever you will get great results in minimal amount of time by doing only the required amount. Tim calls it hacking your body. The book has sections on weightloss, muscle gain, great sex, and even how to be able to run a marathon without ever running more than 10k a week. Each section starts with an entertaining story about Tims amazing life to wet your appetite. The content that follows will be concise enough for you to follow and with enough information to use the techniques and get noticeable results. If you are interested he has the science bits highlighted which you can gloss over and it won't make much difference to the result. The most interesting section to me was the weight-loss section where Tim proposes his slow-carb diet. The beauty of this diet and why it works when so many others don't is its simplicity and how easy it is to integrate into your life. I've been doing it now for 2 and a half months and my body fat percentage has dropped from 17 to 10%. I like to think of it as a combination of the atkins diet, the low GI diet, low inflamatory diet and with a few other foods taken out because of there effects on the hormone levels in your body etc. Now that doesn't leave you with many foods which makes it very simple to follow. Since we live in a world where everyone is trying to scam you and, just like other books, this promises life changing results with minimal effort, its understandable that people would be skeptical about buying this book. This book however lives up to its hype. Well done Tim Ferris

Tim Ferris' website proudly proclaims that he was awarded the title "self promoter of the year" (I forget which year) by Wired magazine - I'm not sure they meant it as something he should be proud of. He is internet famous, has a lot of followers and many haters - but he knows, and has interviewed a number of serious people (his podcast is pretty good). My opinion of the efficacy of his work is that he is a non-scientist researching and self experimenting, to find subjects to talk and write about on his blog and podcasts (and some TV). Some of the science is dubious/controversial. Some of the self-experimentaion is extreme if not dangerous. His real skills are self promotion and selling through his internet business, not scientific method. As such, I take him and his work with a pince of salt, but that is not to say that he is making it all up - just hyping it up. Anyway, the book is OK - you will find some useful ideas, though some more critical-thinking oriented reviewers clearly hate it. It's divided up into chapters on different subjects that are intended to be read individually, though some refer to each other. The writing style is chatty but formulaic. Many of his claims are inflated, but not without a grain of truth. There are chapters on weightloss - via the "slow carb diet" - I didn't lose anywhere near what Ferris suggested I would, but 18lbs in six weeks isn't bad, following the suggested diet fairly closely. 2 months after stopping, I haven't gained any weight, but I cycle and weight train a few times a week which probably helps. The Geek to Freak chapter, describes what is otherwise known as high intensity training (Google Mike Mentzer, HIT). There is no way you can gain good quantities of lean muscle in 30 days following this method - according every expert opinion I have heard (mostly body builder types). But that ignoring the hype, it turned out to be a time efficient routine for gaining strength over a period of months (perhaps a little size). I do a lot of mountain biking and I got very strong at hillclimbing, which I would attribute to performing this programme once or twice a week, for 3 months over the winter. Based on experience I do not believe that the information in the Occam's protocol chapter can gain a satisfactory amount of muscle. Maintainance maybe, when you're short of time for some reason. I do a 5x5 barbell routine, which after a research, testing, and adjustments, is working for me. Six minute abs - more hype. A six pack is more about low body fat percentage than exercise. But strong abs are a good thing for other reasons. The "myotactic crynch" as described here is good - 3 sets of 12 is very painful, and thas is now my abs exercise of choice. There are also a few other abs exercises listed that are far better than situps or crunches e.g. bicycle crunch and captains chair. The sleep chapter is useful. There seems to be a lot of product placement in this chapter, but ignoring that, cold baths (brutal at first, but you get use to it) and flaxseed oil before bed (along with reading fiction and avoiding the telly/Ipad) make me sleep like a log. This process does more for my mood and productivity than anything else the next day. There are a couple of chapters on sex, and the techniques do work. I've read similar ideas elsewhere, and, well give it go on a willing subject and see for yourself. There is no such thing as the 15 minute orgasm that the book claims - 30 seconds max, followed by a few minutes of heightened sensitivity. She will, however, be very happy. I haven't tried everything in the book, but I will be trying out the ideas in the chapters on running and swimming at some stage. The Effortless Superhuman chapter may yeild some benefit as well. Recieved wisdom isn't always correct - but equally the basics sometimes do work better than anything else, I find. Many ideas here are worth testing for yourself, and I've found myself dipping in to this book repeatedly over the last three years. Take the inflated figures and claims with a pinch of salt and do your own research along side this book. Test the ideas and refine processes for yourself and see what happens - I got some reasonable results. To be fair Ferris does say "do your own research" repeatedly.

I love Tim Ferriss's work. I have all 3 of his books that I use daily. So what is it that I like so much? His humour, his uncomplicated way of writing, the empathy and sense of childlike curiosity and adventure that seaps from every page. Does his stuff work? In my experience, yes! I do not get all the science, and to be honest I don't care - this guy slaughters holy cows all over the place and opens up enough pandoras boxes to give the most respectable scientists grey hairs and ulcers, so if the science is askew it still makes one ask questions. We believe a, yet b is happening. We believe that we have to starve ourselves, exercise like the crazied and work like durges to get anywhere close to a reality that we percieve that we want, yet this guy, and those he has talked talk to, have found something totally different. Maybe it's the case of we are resetting and recreating our reality. Maybe, gasp shock horror, the most esteemed priesthood of science hasn't got the full picture and are making 'laws' and school taught hypothesisms based in half facts? Do I care, not really. It works. Period. We may not get the same results - I only lost 5 lbs in my 2 week, but I have been fighting for over 2 years to lose a couple of stone so this is a massive result for me - and we may have to think a little for ourselves, but the basis works. And strangely what he says is echoed in all the old knowledge, in all the fringe belief systems and in all the 'free' societies - we don't have to be slaves to anything if we don't want to be. Not to our diet, not to our exercise regime, not ( 4 hww) to our work, not even to our sleep patterns! So, if you are ready to step out of the box, see the world from a different angle and reclaim some of that childlike adventure and curiosity that adult life tends to squeeze out, buy this book. You may just find it food for thought, or it may rekindle and restart your life like it has for me. P.S Thanks Tim for the rabbit!

I bought this book about two years ago, and have come back to it again and again. I do believe it contains the very best up to date information on what diet and exercise regime to follow to lose weight and gain muscle (and it overlaps heavily with the 'paleolithic' approach to eating and living which I also believe are our best ways of living). The serious problem with this book is that it should have been seriously better edited. The author describes it as a 'buffet', in that he recommends not reading it in a linear fashion but jump in and devour the bits you find most interested. This is fair enough but even within the chapters that I find most interesting Ferriss floats away on flight of fancy after flight fancy, anecdote after anecdote, name dropping all the way.... and I find it deeply frustrating. I just WANT THE INFORMATION. And every time I do dip into this buffet I have to skim past Ferriss's long anecdotes or personal musings. I sit here, now trying to devise a simple weight lifting regime to get myself started with, and there are no less than four chapters, with different regimes mentioned that I trawl through, filtering out the bloat as I do, to get the real info. This book is a serious tome, very very thick, and I think it could have been about half as thick if it wasn't for all that self-indulgent meandering. I like Ferriss. His adventurous spirit is incredible but he seriously needs the restraint of a good editor. This book feels like it's been written by someone with attention deficit, though with some writing talent, and a TON of research and experience at hand. His four hour brand (which I do love anyway, despite these misgivings) is getting a touch ironic when each book gets thicker and thicker and more bloated (the four hour chef looks like a real War & Peace too - in colour). Anyway, it's a great book in the sense it does contains information that works. You just have to do some work yourself (esp. if you're starting out like me) to boil that down to a simple recipe. Even though there are chapters with simple recipes - like "Occam's Protocol" - I still feel I don't come away with a simple prescription.

Tim Ferris is so entertaining and left-field that this book is worth reading even if you have no intention of using it. Oh, and if you do use the techniques that he promotes then they are unbelievably effective. I have lost 10 lbs of fat in 8 weeks and don't ever feel hungry! How do I know its fat? Because I measured areas of the body, waist, hips arm, thigh, calf and also used calipers. Tim is a measurement freak and its easy to get into. Really worth measuring early on as the scales tell one story whereas the measurements can give much more encouraging info when you understand whats going on with your body. Easy to stick to because he encourages eating the same meals over and over again (sounds dull but its ok if you like the meals!) As you are pretty much only eating beans in all their glorious forms for carbs, wind may be an issue for those in the early days of the diet but your digestive system seems to adapt and it doesn't persist! The audiobook is unabridged and an easy way to get into the book, would also recommend the books that have been written by others to nail down actual recipes because when you read the book you may get to a point where you just want a meal plan and to get on with it! There is a cheat day once a week which is to stop your body going into starvation mode when you can eat any foods you might have fancied during the week, for me that would be dark chocolate. However, I've found that I don't really crave much junky food at all so the caloric intake on that day is pretty low but psychologically its a good release. Interestingly, main reason diet fails is not eating enough protein in each meal and not drinking enough water. Only 10lbs to go ,target 12 stone 10!

Book is an excellent read, and has lots of nuggets in there. I find it a refreshing approach that most of the elements have been tested on Tim. However, caution is need, as what works for one person, may not quite work for another, or may have unexpected side effects etc. So as long as the book is used to gain understanding, and you can try and see what works or doesn't for yourself with an open mind, the book is invaluable. I've read through the whole book, now I just refer to bits when I want a review on an area to give me an idea. So you can just read a bit on sleeping, or weight loss etc. Quite a few bits I've not tried yet, but they will be handy for when I do. The book is thick, however its an easy and quick read, so don't let that put you off. Somehow certain elements of the book feel a bit random, as to what aspect of the body is wanted to improve, but certain principles can still be applied to other areas. I'd be interested in him doing a mind hack sometime :). There's lots of ideas in there, but sometimes I wonder if the approach shouldn't solely focus on the body. A lot of the ideas really need a change of attitude of mind as well. As mentioned though, the book isn't pretending to be a complete article on any area, it is a hacks for the body. Its selling itself as that, so giving it 5 stars ultimateley on that basis.

I searched out this book after hearing it being mentioned by a character in a US Sitcom. I'm a nerd like that. I had never heard of Tim Ferriss or the Four Hour Work Week so was unsure as to what to expect. Firstly, the author makes it very clear that you should dip in and dip out of the book as required. This is sound advice as the book will not be relevant to all people. There are chapters on weight loss and chapters on weight gain. Chapters on female orgasms for those who have never had one (and for those who have never given one!). Much of the book however deals with Tim's experiments with his own body which border on narcism. On reading the book it's clear that Tim is already a wealthy and successful author who has time on his hands. This is where the relevance of the book to the ordinary reader starts to fade. For example: How do you know if you're losing body fat? Simple, you spend your days having numerous X-rays, Ultrasounds and other scans to prove it - you might also want to chat to an inventor friend of yours and have a glucose monitor transplanted under your skin. Do you want a 'free' holiday? Easy, have all your scans in Nicaragua and when you subtract the cost from what you would have paid in the US you're quids (dollars) in! Want better sleep? This can be achieved by not working and taking several 20 minute naps a day at fixed intervals. You could also try to stay awake for a week just for the hell of it. That said, most of the PR surrounding the book relates to the Slow-Carb diet plan. Paradoxically, the diet takes up only about a quarter of the book - the rest being Tim's search to find out just how awesome, muscular, fit, injury free, sexual and clever Tim is. It is the diet that will be of most relevance to the average person who has no aspirations to be a bodybuilder or is happy with their current orgasm schedule. The diet section gives some sound advice and appears just as well researched as the other areas of the book - but with added relevance! I would however caution any reader against following Tim's experimentation with various stimulants and supplements to achieve his ideal body weight.

Loved loved loved this book!! Extremely interesting and full of helpful references. Added bonus, I lost weight too.

I have received this large book only recently and have not gone through it fully. Most of what it says agrees with my opinion formed after about fifty years of regular and daily physical exercise. Mr. Tim Ferris has done a great job of debunking many of the present day ideas about fitness and diet. I have been practicing his prescription about sleep for several years now. A twenty minute after-lunch nap suffices for me to sleep about four and a half to five hours at night. I have added the balancing exercises to my routine. I have reduced the grains and cereals in my diet and added legumes, beans and green vegetables to it. I am feeling the difference, but yet to see it. It is great book, yet I have not formed the final opinion.

Awesome book! Rich in practical details. I read 1 chapter gave an overlook to every chapter and again Tim did a wonderful job Thank you for sharing your researches 🙏🏻

I had some friends over for a dinner for my fiance's birthday two days ago and one of my friends asked if my jeans were new. They weren't and, in fact, I had worn them several times around the same friend before. This time, however, the jeans actually fit and look great, like they're supposed to. See, I was an athlete my entire life. Starting in my childhood, and through high school I played three organized sports, or more, each year. In college I played basketball several times a week with roommates. I was tall and lean and could eat without guilt no matter what. Once I finished college, however, everything began to change. I landed a cushy desk job and moved away from my normal workout buddies, so I grew sedentary. Not being 100% sure on how to deal with my burgeoning waste-line, I delved into the popular P90X diet and workout regimen. Following the plan to the T, I transformed my body into something that I was truly proud of. Even when I was in the weight-room for over an hour a day and doing football drills for another hour a day in high school, I didn't look as good as a looked on the backside of the P90X routine. However, the whole think is a daunting task. Nearly 10 hours of workout time per week plus a very strict diet that requires a ton of time and energy just to count/portion/maintain. Luckily, I had a work schedule that lended itself to the lifestyle; but when I got a new job, P90X became impossible for me. Over the next couple years, I lost the incredible body that I had after P90X and somehow got to a point where I was embarrassed to not wear a shirt. My clothes didn't fit well anymore and I was unbuttoning the top one (or sometimes two) buttons on my pants when I sat down! I was lucky enough to happen upon this book and sat in on a Q&A with Ferris, in which he encouraged me to do what works for me whether that's P90X or his new book 4-Hour Body. He said the trick was finding something that I could maintain - something that wouldn't cause me to YoYo. I bought the book that day and began to read and understand what I needed to do to give his weight loss plan the ol' college try. First of all, Ferris tells you to choose the section that you are most interested in: fat loss, muscle gain, sex life, among others. He says to focus your attention on that one section for some time until you feel you are ready to move on. Clearly, I needed to focus on fat loss and I've been doing that for the past 6 weeks or so. The chapters are easy to understand and the fat loss one clearly and concisely dispells some of the common misconceptions associated with weight loss. As an engineer, I looked to his testing and science for my peace of mind. The weight loss section talks about several aspects of his weight loss plan: 1) diet 2) supplements 3) temperature conditioning 4) there may be others. I have really only implemented number 1) in my daily life, since they get progressively harder to make part of your routine as they go (2 is harder than 1, 3 is harder than 2, and so on). The diet is interesting, and most resembles a typical no-carb diet. These can be dangerous when done in long stretches (read: dangers of atkins), but there is a trick to this diet which I will get to in a few lines. The other sections of the weight loss chapter are designed to get you through the last 5 to 10 pounds of loss that can be very tricky and stubborn. The last section is about managing and minimizing damage done during times of binge eating (holidays, days of weakness, etc). Utilizing only the tips and suggestions and guidelines Ferris sets forth in the diet section of the weight loss part of the book, I am happy to say that I have lost just under 15 pounds, which is about 8% of my starting body weight. My face looks much more handsome since the bone structure is clearly visible. What's more is that my clothes fit me again! I don't feel disgusting anymore. I've dropped about 4 and a half inches off my waist and about 2 and a half off each thigh. What's more is this is all without stepping a foot in the gym. Now on to the best part, I'm on a diet right now. This diet. But last Saturday, I ate 4 donuts, half a bag of cheetos, a Mexican pork dish, Spanish rice, some corn tortillas, and about 6 beers. Today (also Saturday) I've eaten a German pancake, corned beef hash, 2 eggs, some country-style potatoes, a package of thin mint Girl Scout cookies, some oreos, and a couple spoons of ice cream. You see, every diet has its cheat days. You always break down and cheat. With Ferris' diet, you MUST cheat once per week. In fact, it's a mandate, and without it, your progress will stall. Right now, I am sitting in my living room, munching on cookies writing this review. I'm 15 pounds lighter, I wake up much easier in the mornings, I never feel bloated or fat or gross, I have more energy throughout the day, and I'm WEARING A BELT on pants that I bought when I was 21!! Do yourself a favor and buy this book. Read it, learn it, and follow it. If it doesn't work for you, then it doesn't work for you. It's not miraculous, and it requires commitment, but it IS easy and maintainable. You can change the way you feel with this as your primary tool. You can change the way you look, the way you see yourself, and most of all you can change your life.

Tim Ferriss prévient le lecteur dans la préface : ce livre doit être utilisé comme un buffet ; les quelques premiers chapitres sont incontournables et les autres sont à lire (ou non) en fonction des envies. Et pourtant, j'ai lu ce livre comme un roman, chapitre après chapitre ! Bien sur, tous les chapitres ne me concernent / ne m'intéressent pas mais la curiosité et le dynamisme avec lequel l'auteur aborde ses sujets donnent envie de tout lire. J'ai trouvé dans ce livres des explications et des conseils qu'on peut facilement appliquer. J'ai notamment adapté mon alimentation (plus de proteines) et commencé l'exposition au froid (douches froides) et je ressens un regain d'énergie. Il convient évidemment de prendre ce livre pour ce qu'il est : le compte rendu d'auto-expériences personnelles (et non un traité scientifique). C'est dans cette perspective que le livre peut être vu comme un buffet ; on retient de la lecture de ces 600+ pages des préceptes que l'on peut expérimenter sur soi, souvent avec succès. Quelques soient vos objectifs, Tim Ferris à des propositions fascinantes à vous faire.