The Self-Help Book
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman is written by Timothy Ferriss
Timothy Ferriss was previously the CEO of a sports nutrition company. His new book is classified as a Self-Help and Personal Development book.
This is a hardcover book that debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list in December 2010, and is currently #4 on Amazon.com’s Top 100 Best Selling Books.
In his new book, Tim Ferriss addresses many popular concepts such as weight loss, gaining muscle, and reinventing yourself. According to the author, The 4-Hour Body is not intended to be a typical self-help book, and he refers to it as “new mental model of living: the experimental lifestyle.”
His unconventional approach has gotten much attention in the area of lifestyle improvement.
Over 1,100 FIVE STAR Reviews after only FOUR MONTHS on the Market!! Now, that in itself is a strong testimonial to this outstanding book!
More than 88% of the 1,580 reviews on Amazon.com (at this writing) regarding The 4-Hour Body give it four to five stars. These readers claim that following Tim’s plan, they did benefit from his studies and results.
The positive reviews come from people that were previously dissatisfied or confused about diet and exercise. With his unique approach, Tim covers a wide variety of areas for improving your life.
According to reviews, the following concepts are the most notable:
- Small changes for big results
- How to prevent fat gain while binging
- How to reach your genetic potential in six months
- How to sleep two hours per day and perform better than if you slept the doctor-recommended eight hours
- How to increase fat loss 300% with a few bags of ice
- How to lose five to 100 pounds with an odd combination of food and safe chemical cocktails
In the few negative reviews, (less than 12%), readers claim that the book presented no new information and criticized some of the claims the book makes. It seems that the information is more useful for those who are starting out rather than those who might be advanced in body building workouts, diets, and training.
In other reviews, readers liked:
- The book covers over 50 different topics
- You can learn everything you need about the various topics in less than 30 minutes each
- Suggested methods are proven by author’s own experience
- Suggested methods work for both men and women
- Most people will not need to read more than 150 pages to see a change in their life
The 4-Hour Body: Diet, Nutrition and Exercise
This book is not intended to specifically deal with diet and weight loss, however, The 4-Hour Body does promote a slow-carb diet, suggesting five simple tips to reducing fat:
- Avoid white carbohydrates
- Eat the same few meals repeatedly
- Do not drink calories
- Do not eat fruit
- Take one “day off” per week
According to Tim‘s research, you should eat as much as you like of listed foods and eat several meals throughout the day. Mix and match foods for each meal, including one from each of these groups:
chicken breast or thigh; pork; egg whites with one whole egg; grass-fed organic beef
black beans; lentils; pinto beans; asparagus; mixed vegetables; peas; spinach;
In contrast, conventional diets suggest eating more greens, less saturated fat, more omega-3 fatty acids, and getting more exercise.
While exercise is included in The 4-Hour Body for gaining muscle and losing fat, the book claims that if you follow the Slow-Carb Diet, you can lose weight without exercise.
Ideas of the Book
While the book considers the entire body, it is not intended as a all-inclusive study on everything related to the human body. It is suggested that the reader glance through the table of contents and pick the chapters that are most relevant. The author states that there are only two mandatory sections of the book: “Fundamentals” and “Ground Zero.”
Additional points: Tim includes a lot of scientific tests and his personal results, but you do not need to be a scientist to understand the book For “geeks” and anyone curious, he has included details that might increase your understanding, but are not required reading. Tim labels these in the book as “Geek’s Advantage”, or “GA“. If you ever feel overwhelmed, skip the detailed science. They are optional and not necessary to get the results you’re after.
The 4-Hour Body (available at Amazon.com) is not just a theory, but is built on over ten years of medical studies, professional athletes, and Tim’s own personal experiments. Everyone has a different body style, and each individual is advised to learn what their body specifically responds to. The author suggests that the reader pick one appearance goal and one performance goal to start. With all of this in mind,
The 4-Hour Body just might be what you need for a better, healthier you.
Tim Ferriss is best known for his book, The 4-Hour Workweek (available at Amazon.com), which was also a #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week bestseller. This cutting edge step-by-step guide to eliminating 50% of work in 48 hours is popular around the world for tips on living more and working less. In the same design, the 4-Hour Body gives advice on losing fat, how to have incredible sex, and how to become “superhuman”, as the title suggests.
