Body-hacking: Tim Ferris's next book & request for help. | Hacker News Reader

Body-hacking: Tim Ferris's next book & request for help.

fourhourworkweek.com

20 pointsJayNeely27 comments

I'd like to see Timmy train for an ironman triathlon or a super marathon. He should do quite well (in theory) given his hacking skills.

If he can do well in one of these events it would give credit to his claims. Until then, he should consider touring around with David Copperfield.

I'd like to see Timmy train for an ironman triathlon or a super marathon.

Or win a UFC championship (most likely by strategically placing his crotch in the path of his opponents' fists so they become disqualified and he wins by default).

No pain, no gain.

While I make no claim of knowing Ferris personally, I've read his book and blog.

He reads like an Infomercial. I'd trust his advice about as much. Do be careful, particularly when your health is on the line.

I think it goes without saying that anybody who takes medical advice from Tim Ferriss will get what they deserve, and deserve what they get.

Let me get this straight. He has tens of thousands of pages of potential material [1], but he is soliciting tips and help from people who have some actual credulity in the field?

Forgive me if I'm a little suspicious of this one.

    [1] "I’ll spare you the 10,000 pages of literature on a
 given topic and give you the one unusual 1-2-3 method that
 produced unbelievable results."

I think, what he is saying is... since he has done most of the reading and experiments, that actually save us having to go through the same amount of literature.

I know personally, when i do those type of reading, they all give a very conflicting opinion. Example: Vitamin C. Some say 250mg, another say you need 3000mg/day (or even as far as 20000mg/day). Almost every piece of medical advice that i read always have counter-argument. It's so hard to know which one is working without experiment. Even then, i'm not sure how long u need to carry the experiment.

I strongly agree with your second paragraph. It just seems like a disconnect to me where he spends 3/4s of his post talking about how much he knows about this topic; and then follows it up with a solicitation for people who know about this topic.

> Almost every piece of medical advice that i read always have counter-argument. It's so hard to know which one is working without experiment.

Medical advice based off peer reviewed studies and expert analysis or advice from some quack promising to increase your strength by 30% in 48 hours?

Regarding your second paragraph, that is perhaps because different experiments give different results. When it comes to such things no experiment can be perfect because it is so hard to isolate completely the dependent variable. So in most cases is probabilities. It is safe to suggest say 250mg if the majority of experiments get roughly that results.

Considering the above and considering that scientists do not seem to agree because the experiments do not seem to give the same results, what made Tim Ferris the arbiter?

He's asking for contributions from other people so that you don't have to just believe him. Maybe you won't believe Tim Ferriss but you might believe an NBA trainer or track and field star.

I don't know much about Ferris nor have I read his book but I am very interested in what he has to say. I didn't know he was viewed as an 'Infomercial' type of guy but its not like the body can't be hacked.

There is the Atkins Diet, Caveman Diet, etc that go against the traditional nutritional advice. There as that one guy that recently watched TV in the morning and just that helped him control his appetite. (it was a story on here or Reddit I think) There was the woman who used eye training to give her depth perception that she had not had her whole life. There was the researcher in the 70s or 80s that wore glasses that inverted the light entering his eyes and he proved that within a week his brain adapted to it and he could function normally. Josh Waitzkin mentions being in the 'Zone' during a chess match when an Earthquake happened and he was so focused it was Zen like to him. There was an article today on researchers finding that sleep happens as areas of the brain shut down independently. Charlie Sheen went on a special workout and diet before Hot Shots Part Deux and gained 20-30 pounds of muscle while getting to under 10 percent body fat with in 4 to 6 months. Eating many small meals a day versus three square meals is supposedly healthier.

I'm not saying that Ferris is correct or a good man or anything like that. I am interested in what he has to say and as far as hacking the body I completely believe it is possible.

Heck, I was thinking of what the 30% strength gain could be and I figured it might be something like over-training a muscle group for several hours one day and then resting. Perhaps the body through evolution will direct more resources to repairing it as it might have in the evolutionary past because it assumes it is going to be needed again soon. Then on day two you get really angry or scared to release adrenaline to give speed, strength and cover any pain as you try and lift something. I don't know... but I know that the stuff talked about today nutritionally would seem crazy 100 years ago and the stuff now ill look crazy in 50 years.

"Come on! Get liposuction to release the natural stem cells in an adult body and then inject it into your heart during a bypass to increase your chance of survival 10 fold AND lowering your chance of complications?! Crazy!"

I think his scientific process is a little flawed... wheres the control? How is it a double blind study if he is the experimenter and guinea pig? Just an example of quack science using outrageous statements and feeding off the fact that people are willing to ignore reason if they _want_ to believe what hes selling.

All these disproportionately strong reactions show that Tim Ferriss is still relevant and still very good at what he does. I look forward to the book.

All these disproportionately strong reactions show that Tim Ferriss is still relevant and still very good at what he does

Correct, if Tim Ferriss is a professional annoyatron.

Close, he's a professional firebrand.

here's some help: STOP WRITING. YOU ARE A JACKASS.

sorry, but good God the planet would be so much better off without this douchegeyser.

here is an article corroborating my opinion from someone who knows the guy:

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2009/01/08/5-time-management-t...

I agree Tim has some very shady practices that I believe are unethical, but he does have some good information on his blog as well. Also, no one can deny he is a skilled marketer.

In any case I have much less respect for Penelope after reading that rant. She comes off as a very jealous and spiteful person.

She comes off as a very jealous and spiteful person.

Perhaps, but beside the point - points #1-4 in that article are valid examples of Significant Douchebaggery (point #5 seems to have been thrown in just to round out the list).

I can save him the trouble of writing the book with one (compound) word: Crossfit.

Crossfit is awesome, but impossible unless you've already got some baseline level of physical fitness.

I can't agree with that... Yes, it hurts, but if you start off with shorter than usual sessions you will keep up eventually. Talk to whoever is running the classes and don't be afraid to leaave half-way through a class!

I don't think I would trust a sample size of one to tell me anything about my body, especially when my body is nothing like the subject.

I don't see why he doesn't approach, say, the national Olympic Weightlifting team or something like that. They would just win all the gold medals, break all the world records and I don't think anyone would need more proof after that feat.

"I can show you how I safely do things outdated physiology textbooks tell you is impossible. This isn’t because I have some unique intelligence. It’s because I’ve tested the most basic assumptions of nutrition and exercise… and I experiment with outrageous alternatives that end up working."

I don't buy it. It sounds too good to be true and it most probably is, it most probably will sound like the article itself on and on without saying much.

What assumptions has he tested? This is like some amature physicist suggesting he has found out the secrets to the whole universe or something and and who reads outdated physiology books for practical information anyway?

One more... Outrageous Alternatives to me seems to suggest like alternative medicine or something, or alchemy :P

I mean good for him for using his publicity from 4 hours work week to come up with any other book. This guy is a marketer in my opinion and if I had his publicity I too would spend a month going through medicine journals and come up with some advice.

That all said, I wouldn't mind some online sources for optimal home exercising, like you know push ups and other alternatives. And what I think would be supper cool is like distance karate learning or something :)

if you want info on home excercising check out rosstraining.com and his books, tons of info there on workout routines you can do without a gym

This guy's fifteen minutes is way up.

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