Posts Tagged ‘Tim Ferris’
The Truth About a 4-Hour Body
Image by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid via CrunchBase
By now the internet has been set on fire by Tim Ferris‘s media blitz in promotion of his newest book, The 4-Hour Body. I’ve already ordered it and looking forward to learning some new “hacks” to increase my fitness and health.
Just like Tim’s last book, The Four Hour Workweek, the title of the new book implies peak results in little time. This is misleading. Even Tim is clear that the goal is not to just work for a few hours and sit around being bored. The point is to spend less time needing to do stuff and more time doing what you are passionate about.
In the same way, I am expecting The 4-Hour Body to provide great time efficient tips for growing strength and endurance, but the point won’t be to spend the other 164 hours of the week slouching around, sleeping and eating potato chips. The point is to integrate it into a lifestyle that is more active and physically aware. In other words, a 4-Hour Body style approach to fitness will give you the tools and motivation you need to make caring about physical well-being a natural and desired thing and not some tax you have to pay.
I also think that in the midst of all the hype around getting massive results quickly, we can jump to the conclusion that real effort and hard work is not required. This is a big mistake. Even if you only train for 4-Hours a month or 4-Hours a week, the level of intensity (I’m talking about physical and mental focus) needs to great. This is evident in Tim’s “Geek to Freak” experiment, which I also tried a few years ago.
If you are going to be in the gym for a few minutes a day and expect massive results, the intensity will need to be incredibly high. If you are going to go from 5K to 50K run in a few months (I just did this!), you need to be very diligent in how you train and focused in getting proper rest and having tons of mental strength to push through discomfort on race day.
This is the truth about a 4-Hour Body. It will take massive focus and lots of effort, though perhaps not a ton of time. The point is NOT to assume that less time and more efficiency = easy results!
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I’m heading tomorrow to XC Ski camp in the Methow Valley in Washington State. Should be a few fun days of snow-time and endurance training! I then fly to Ecuador for 10+ days exploring Quito, the surrounding highlands, maybe the rainforest and then on to the Galapagos Islands for a 6 days boat tour! I’ll drop a few updates to my blog if I find an internet cafe while traveling.
Five Blogs I Read
I read a ton of blogs, but here are five bloggers that I have been reading frequently of late.
Derek Sivers. Creator of CD Baby. His blog is a combo of business advice for entrepreneurs, ideas for creative thinking and personal development advice. His posts are easy read and always insightful. His post about “Leadership Lessons from a Dancing Guy” is not to be missed.I’ve watched it a dozen times. His TED talk on the same topic, How to Start a Movement, is a classic.
Chris Guillebeau. His blog, The Art of Non-Conformity, started out as a discussion of travel hacks and has since grown into a full-on community focused on unconventional ways to work and play. His free Guide to World Domination is a great and very quick read. It will get you thinking about how you can do more with less.
Seth Godin. Ridiculously prolific writer, speaker and blogger, Seth has written a ton of books (my favorite is The Dip, get the audiobook version where he reads it!) and his blog contains super concise and no-frills posts (no images, very short and to the point) about business, leadership and how to stand out in a crowd. I’m amazed and how he can crank out so much quality material (usually 1-2 short and impactful posts per day).
Tim Ferris. Unless you have been in a cave for the past few years you have heard of Tim. Author of The Four-Hour Work Week and the soon to be published The 4-Hour Body, Tim’s blog has very practical and often contrarian tips for working less, making more and feeling great. He coined the term “lifestyle design” and this what he is trying to help you do – ideal your ideal lifestyle. He often has guest authors posting, and I’ve discovered some other good blogs this way.
Scott Dunlap. He writes A Trail Runner’s Blog. I’ve been reading Scott’s blog since well before I started contemplating doing ultramarathon’s. It’s inspiring to see what the human body is capable of, even if it is through vicariously reading someone’s blog! He writes about the ultra-running scene, and his race reports are entertaining with some great pics he takes during his races.
Barefoot Running – Vibram Five Fingers Are Worth It
I’ve been a runner for the past 15 years. Over this time I’ve suffered countless injuries. Training for marathons and Ironman Triathlons can be tough on your body!
Shin splints. Stress fractures. IT band issues. Knee issues. Plantar fascia issues. I’ve suffered through it all. I can run injury-free as long as keep my mileage fairly low, around 30 miles a week. If I get above 40-50 miles a week for a month or longer – I tend to develop issues. My easy response to this is just to keep my mileage low and cross-train heavily.
There must be a better way to stay healthy while training – without having to cut back on mileage.
Lately, there has been a lot of buzz about barefoot running. The benefits of ditching traditional shoes have been discussed in Men’s Health, bestselling books like “Born to Run” and by popular blogger Tim Ferriss. Running and walking barefoot is what we were built to do as human beings. Ditching heels and overly cushioned trainers are said to be a huge help in curing lower-leg and back injuries as well.
