{"id":19028,"date":"2020-11-24T12:51:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T16:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=19028"},"modified":"2020-12-07T17:49:34","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T21:49:34","slug":"the-four-hour-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-four-hour-body\/","title":{"rendered":"The Four-Hour Body: 6 Ways to Improve Your Body"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is The Four-Hour Body<\/em>? What topics does Tim Ferriss cover in The Four-Hour Body<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Four-Hour Body<\/em> is a book by Tim Ferriss focused on changing your body and improving its performance. He covers six areas of performance in the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on for the six areas covered in The Four-Hour Body<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Overview of The Four-Hour Body<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Four-Hour Body<\/em> is an experimental lifestyle with the goal of finding out what makes your body work best. <\/strong>Self-experimentation<\/a> has several benefits over conventional science\u2014it\u2019s personalized, fast-paced, multi-disciplinary, and free from corporate agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author Tim Ferriss has been living this lifestyle for years, and in The Four-Hour Body<\/em>, he shares what he\u2019s learned about his own body from researching scientific literature, interviewing experts, and self-experimentation. The book\u2019s title comes from a 28-day experiment in which he spent only four hours total in the gym but lost 3 pounds of fat, gained 34 pounds of muscle, and decreased his total cholesterol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferriss covers six topics in The Four Hour Body<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Body recomposition (changing the percentages of your body that are made up of muscle vs. fat)<\/li>
  2. Enhancing sex<\/li>
  3. Improving sleep<\/li>
  4. Preventing and recovering from injuries<\/li>
  5. Improving sports-specific skills<\/li>
  6. Living longer<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    While everyone\u2019s body is different, much of what the author discovered is broadly applicable to most people, so you can use his recommendations as a starting point and inspiration for your own self-experimentation. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (Shortform note: We recommend consulting your doctor before starting any of the book\u2019s programs or self-experimenting.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Minimum Effective Dose<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    An important part of your experimentation will be to find the minimum effective dose<\/a> (MED), which is the smallest dose that will create a particular result.<\/strong> For example, the MED to boil water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Heating water past 212 degrees doesn\u2019t make it any more boiled. Don\u2019t ever exceed the MED required for any program\u2014you\u2019ll waste your time and increase your risk of injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sticking to an Experiment or Program<\/strong> Like The Four-Hour Body<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    To successfully carry out an experiment or stick to a program, you need to change your lifestyle, which can be hard. Fortunately, there are some strategies in The Four-Hour Body<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n