Do any of you have hacks you've used on yourself or others to improve fitness/health?
I got it last December and have slowly, but steadily implementing some of the strategies he prescribes. You don't necessarily have to follow everything he suggests (and probably couldn't) but it's full of good advice.
[1] http://goo.gl/38rZ6 (amazon affiliate link)
"How Tim gained 34 pounds of muscle in 28 days"
I'm a biologist and I'm calling bullshit on this claim. It is physiologically impossible to gain that much lean muscle mass in a month under the best conditions. Your body can only synthesize about 2lbs of lean muscle per month. The rest of those 32 pounds is likely glycogen (water weight) and fat.
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/29/from-geek-to...
Suit size went from 40 short to 44 regular. The short and regular is the sleeve length. I'm not seeing how this changes regardless of how much muscle you put on.
The before photos look obviously bad, visible shadow. The after pictures look much better, better lighting.
No tan in the before pic but tan and hairless in the after. Bodybuilders do this to give the appearance of more muscle.
The distance from camera changes in the before pics. Gives the appearance of being smaller or it stretches him out so he looks skinnier.
His "slow-carb" diet is basically a easier to digest low-carb diet mixed with a bit of CKD. Kettlebells are good, but surely not the workout panacea he promises (and actually somewhat risky for people with back or knee problems who are doing this without proper supervision). You should be able to get most of that info on the net, and there you often have some much-needed perspective and discussions about it.
And those are the moderate parts of the book. If I can poke some holes into that, I don't even want to know what might be wrong with the more risque parts (injury prevention, bodybuilding, supplements). And the sex chapters would fit in nicely into drivel like "The Game"...
Don't get me wrong, I would love to have a "body hacks" book, but I'd prefer if it were done with a bit of scientific rigor, not just "this worked for me, control group: me".
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>It's a prime example of good 21st century marketing, so at least that's something of use for a lot of HNers. The scientific and nutritional parts are a "bit mixed", to put it nicely. If I remember correctly, parts of it basically went "this is scientifically proven because Wikipedia says so".
>His "slow-carb" diet is basically a easier to digest low-carb diet mixed with a bit of CKD.
>Kettlebells are good, but surely not the workout panacea he promises (and actually somewhat risky for people with back or knee problems who are doing this without proper supervision).
>You should be able to get most of that info on the net, and there you often have some much-needed perspective and discussions about it.
>And those are the moderate parts of the book. If I can poke some holes into that, I don't even want to know what might be wrong with the more risque parts (injury prevention, bodybuilding, supplements). And the sex chapters would fit in nicely into drivel like "The Game"...
>Don't get me wrong, I would love to have a "body hacks" book, but I'd prefer if it were done with a bit of scientific rigor, not just "this worked for me, control group: me".
And yes, I've read the book, most of the "hacks" have been done by Tim on himself, sometimes with a with/without methodology. Not really bad and actually something that everyone who modifies his lifestyle should do. But that still doesn't replace blinded studies, never mind that he very rarely states how many "hacks" he's been doing at the same time. And never mind that he's been quite athletic for most of his life, so a lot of the techniques won't work that well for your average pudgy nerd.
It's not a very expensive book, on the other hand. But if someone buys it, I'd recommend taking everything cum grano salis and do your internet research before embarking on a "hack", especially if it means taking supplements (e.g. the bro-sciency ECA stack).
I'm down 50 pounds on the slow carb diet and I'm loving the kettlebell workout.
http://diystrengthgear.blogspot.com/2011/02/diy-kettlebell-h...
I wish I had more hard data to share, but I don't.
1. Creating and maintaining routine is the best way you have to reach your fitness goals. This is probably more important than what you eat or how you exercise. Cut out bad habits one-by-one, add good practices slowly, and practice having good health.
2. Every single workout and every single diet has worked for someone - but not all diets and exercise routines will work for you. The problem is that all of our bodies really do respond differently and your job is to be the expert on your body and how it works. Don't get caught up in what everyone else is doing - focus on the results you're getting instead.
For instance, if you feel sleepy or sluggish and it's a problem that you'd like to correct, you might be inclined to adjust your sleeping habits. But what if your sluggishness is a function of your eating habits or your mattress quality? I agree that there's no perfect formula that one can follow, but I think it's more of finding a "system" that you can apply to your life to break down the problems and correct them one by one. So, you might call up your area mattress shops with a 30-day return policy and pick one out that suits your budget. Sleep on your new mattress for 30 days and return it if it doesn't produce the desired results. That's body hacking.
Finding the "system" is what intrigues me most about body/fitness hacking (and hacking/technology in general)
Remove any mindset that exercise is something you do 30 minutes three times a week....that's bulldust. You live in your body 24/7. Any moment is a moment to exercise. Sitting at the pc? pay attention to your body - are your shoulders relaxed? are your forearms relaxed? are you breathing easily? Standing at the bus stop or in a bar by yourself with nothing to do? about to pull out your iphone to check HN? NO - check your posture - feel where your hips are, feel where your head is, drop your shoulders, lift your head gently.....any moment, any time, anywhere you can do some work on your body. How small can you make a movement....can you rotate your hips in such small circles that nobody else notices? Play, explore.
Learn some basic anatomy - the body is to a certain extent, just a set of levers and pulleys - muscles, tendons, bones....those three interact to create movement. Learn the various joints in the body and how they should move. Knowing this alone, you can probably check any exercise you do to make sure you aren't damaging yourself :)
Posture Good posture will not only make you "look" better, but make you feel better - hunching over a desk blahblahblah you know the rest....the best 2 exercises that I've picked up (especially good for people who spend a lot of time sitting) 1) stand with your back against the wall, heels and head touching the wall as well. Gently try to flatten your spine and raise your head. Do this a few times a day for about a minute. 2) find a corner or door frame - position yourself so your spine is on the corner - your shoulders and scapula should be in fresh air. Pull the scapula towards the spine as if you are trying to pinch the corner or doorframe between the two long muscles on either side of your spine (the erector spinae).
Movement Basically movement is fun - if you approach it as fun rather than something you have to do, you'll enjoy exercising....I like to explore how we can move...breaking it down to up, down, left, right, forwards, backwards....then combining them...so do up and backwards together or left and forwards.
Figure out how your joints move. Rotate them, one at a time and all at once. Move slowly and keep awareness on what you are using to move...are you using the minimal amount of effort? are you relaxing muscles that you don't really need to engage to do the movement? play with that it is infinitely entertaining.
Now you want to pick up something heavy and swing it around? Sure why not. Keep the same in mind - minimal amount of effort to accomplish the movement, keep it fun. Do something functional, dig a hole, shovel snow, pitch some hay. Or try http://www.shovelglove.com/ :)
Calorie restriction didn't work, low carb did. Eating 6 small meals a day didn't work, fasting did. A lot of cardio didn't work, a mixture of lifting and cardio did. I guess you get the idea.
The sequence of things I tries was something like this: * get active, i.e start using stairs instead of lifts, walk more, sit less (worked) * cut sugar altogether(worked) * start going to gym with a program mixing cardio and lifts(worked) * limit calories(didn't work, couldn't control hunger) * lower carb consumption(worked) * cardio focused workout(didn't work; went back to my original program) * eat 6 small meals(didn't work, made no difference) * fasting(worked)
It was effectively a journey of discovering what my body and mind reacts to.
http://www.mensjournal.com/everything-you-know-about-fitness...
I started refereeing soccer this past year. The emphasis placed upon on field performance was sufficient substitute for competition and because of the many levels at which the game is played, there have been ample opportunities at an appropriate level as my fitness has improved. Most importantly, as I have received progressively more competitive assignments it has allowed me to reframe exercise (which connotates a certain amount of drudgery in my mind) to training. The fact that refereeing pays for the shoes it requires and doesn't require space in the house beyond that required for a gymbag, is a plus as well.
DO'S:
-Low repition, heavy weight, full-body lifts
-Boost your testosterone levels through things like a high protein diet
-Read more and be intellectually curious
DO NOT'S:
-Avoid soy or other foods/activities that lower your testosterone levels
-Avoid endurance exercises (modern marathoning, etc.) that wear-out your joints and cause cardiac disease
-Avoid blindly accepting the conventional wisdom on health and fitness
Aren't endurance exercises meant to strengthen the cardiac muscle and thus having a positive effect on your cardiac health?
If you want to run, do sprints.
Do not:
* Run
* Shout
* Play ball games
Eat plenty of good foods & lift weights and you'll get bigger and stronger.
Eat 500 calories under maintenance and lift weights and you'll lose weight while also getting stronger.