The Porter Method » fitness

The 4-Hour Body Book Links

Doug Porter — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 11:00:15 +0000

About a year ago I read the The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and even with the hokie title thought it was a very interesting book with lots of great information. I became a reader of Ferriss’s blog and was pleased to learn he was working on a second book on fitness. Since I read the first book from the public library, I figured I would actually purchase the next book. His new book is The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman.

Unfortunately his pre-order for the book was via Barnes and Noble, thus I had to wait almost a full week after the book came out for it to arrive (Amazon tries to time arrival with the book release date). I found it to be a very enjoyable read. It is meant to be read A-La-Carte based on your specific goals (weight loss, strength, speed, etc). This is a good recommendation because if you read it straight through (like I did) it comes across very ADD. One chapter may contradict the information given in a previous chapter (because the goals are different). Ferriss has a very enjoyable writing style and the chapters really come across as a series of blog posts (in fact many of them stem from blog posts he had written previously). While many of the recommendations are based on Ferriss’s and a small group of volunteers’s own experience, the information is rooted in research and many links and references are provided in the book. While I have not tried many of the techniques in the book (I tend to shy away from taking supplements I have never heard of at the recommendation of random authors) the information is quite interesting. I would recommend anyone that enjoys Ferriss’s blog to check out this book. It is like a collection of well written blog posts. You will go through the almost 600 pages in record time.

At the end of each chapter, Ferriss gives links to more information. I went through and collected them all here for my own reference since I didn’t visit them during reading. Some of the links are NSFW (Not Safe For Work) so click at your own risk. Also I noticed that all of the URL’s that redirect to Amazon.com use Ferriss’s affiliate links (in case that kind of thing bothers you).

4-Hour Body Website

Update: Tim has put the links with extended descriptions up on his site here: 4 Hour Body Links

Table of Contents

Start Here
Thinner, Bigger, Faster, Stronger? How to Use This Book

Fundamentals – First and Foremost
The Minimum Effective Dose: From Microwaves to Fat-loss
Rules That Change the Rules: Everything Popular Is Wrong
-Page 34
http://www.fourhourbody.com/wisdom
http://www.fourhourbody.com/almanac
http://www.fourhourbody.com/munger

Ground Zero-Getting Started and Swaraj
The Harajuku Moment: The Decision to Become a Complete Human
-Page 43
http://www.fourhourbody.com/stoicism
http://www.fourhourbody.com/friends

Elusive Bodyfat: Where Are You Really?
-Page 53
http://www.fourhourbody.com/orbitape
http://www.bodycompositioncenter.com
http://www.lifemeasurement.com/clients/locator
http://www.fourhourbody.com/bodymetrix
http://www.fourhourbody.com/escalibio
http://www.fourhourbody.com/slimguide
http://www.fourhourbody.com/evil

From Photos to Fear: Making Failure Impossible
-Page 64
http://www.fourhourbody.com/fatreplica
http://www.fourhourbody.com/pbworks
http://eat.ly
http://www.habitforge.com
http://www.stickk.com
http://www.bodybuilding.com/superhuman
http://www.dailyburn.com/superhuman

Subtracting Fat: Basics
The Slow- Carb Diet I: How to Lose 20 Pounds in 30 Days Without Exercise
-Page 78
http://www.fourhourbody.com/breakfast
http://www.stilltasty.com
http://www.foodporndaily.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/gout

The Slow-Carb Diet II: The Finer Points and Common Questions
Damage Control: Preventing Fat Gain When You Binge
-Page 113
http://www.fourhourbody.com/binge
http://www.fourhourbody.com/cq
http://www.athleticgreens.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/cesto
http://www.nutritiondata.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/thera
http://www.fourhourbody.com/minibands

The Four Horsemen of Fat-Loss
-Page 120
http://www.fourhourbody.com/garlic
http://www.fourhourbody.com/greentea
http://www.fourhourbody.com/ala
http://www.fourhourbody.com/policosanol

Subtracting Fat: Advanced
Ice Age: Mastering Temperature to Manipulate Weight
-Page 132
http://www.fourhourbody.com/colpac
http://www.fourhourbody.com/diy-ice
http://www.fourhourbody.com/pugh
http://www.raycronise.com

The Glucose Switch: Beautiful Number 100
-Page 148
http://www.dexcom.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/jazz
http://www.fourhourbody.com/app-glucose
http://www.julietmae.foodzie.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/vest

The Last Mile: Losing the Final 5-10 Pounds
-Page 156
http://www.rxmuscle.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/bigger
http://www.medibolics.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/anabolics

Adding Muscle
Building the Perfect Posterior (or Losing 100+ Pounds)
-Page 170
http://www.fourhourbody.com/kettlebells

Six-Minute Abs: Two Exercises That Actually Work
-Page 180
http://www.fourhourbody.com/bosu
http://www.fourhourbody.com/stability
http://www.fourhourbody.com/hitchhiker

From Geek to Freak: How to Gain 34 Pounds in 28 Days
-Page 192
http://www.fourhourbody.com/muscles
http://www.fourhourbody.com/comparison
http://www.fourhourbody.com/cartman
http://www.fourhourbody.com/jones

Occam’s Protocol I: A Minimalist Approach to Mass
-Page 210
http://www.freeprintablecalendar.net
http://www.fourhourbody.com/youbar
http://www.fourhourbody.com/parkinsons

Occam’s Protocol II: The Finer Points

Improving Sex
The 15-Minute Female Orgasm-Part Un
-Page 236
http://www.fourhourbody.com/buckwheat
http://www.liberator.com
http://www.beautifulagony.com
http://www.sexwise.me
http://www.tallulahsulis.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/loveorgasm

The 15-Minute Female Orgasm-Part Deux
-Page 251
http://www.fourhourbody.com/doingmethod
http://onetaste.us
http://sfsi.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.fourhourbody.com/roach
http://www.tinynibbles.com

Sex Machine I: Adventures in Tripling Testosterone
-Page 260
http://www.fourhourbody.com/spectra
http://www.fourhourbody.com/butterblend
http://www.fourhourbody.com/cod
http://www.kerrygold.com/usa/locator.php
http://www.fourhourbody.com/testd
http://www.fourhourbody.com/vitamin-d
http://www.sperti.com

Happy Endings and Doubling Sperm Count
-Page 273
http://www.fourhourbody.com/armband
http://www.fourhourbody.com/pong
http://www.fourhourbody.com/disappearing
http://www.spermbankdirectory.com
http://www.spermcenter.com/sperm_bank_listings
http://www.sart.org/frame/detail.aspx?id=3893
http://www.healthgrades.com/local-doctors-directory
http://www.fourhourbody.com/fertility
http://www.findafertilityclinic.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/semen-analysis

Perfecting Sleep
Engineering the Perfect Night’s Sleep
-Page 285
http://stereopsis.com/flux
http://www.fourhourbody.com/poppy
http://www.fourhourbody.com/zeo
http://www.fourhourbody.com/golite
http://www.fourhourbody.com/nightwave
http://www.fourhourbody.com/humidifier
http://www.lexwarelabs.com/sleepcycle
http://www.fourhourbody.com/lucid

Becoming Uberman: Sleeping Less with Polyphasic Sleep
-Page 292
http://forums.trypolyphasic.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/everyman
http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic.htm
http://www.kukuklok.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/clocky
http://www.wakerupper.com

Reversing Injuries
Reversing “Permanent” Injuries
-Page 317
http://www.fourhourbody.com/vibram
http://www.fourhourbody.com/terra
http://www.fourhourbody.com/toe-stretch
http://www.activerelease.com
http://www.hacketthemwall.org
http://www.aaomed.org
http://www.acopms.com
http://www.chiromat.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/mat
http://www.scoi.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/surgery
http://www.chiromedicalgroup.com/biopuncture
http://www.fourhourbody.com/biotensegrity
http://www.egoscue.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/netter

How to Pay for a Beach Vacation with One Hospital Visit
-Page 323
http://www.fourhourbody.com/woodman
http://www.imtjonline.com/resources/patient-guide
http://www.bumrungrad.com
http://www.medretreat.com
http://www.medtrava.com

Pre-Hab: Injury-Proofing the Body
-Page 345
http://www.fourhourbody.com/fms
http://www.fourhourbody.com/fms-self
http://www.fourhourbody.com/cl
http://www.fourhourbody.com/tgu
http://www.fourhourbody.com/1SDL
http://www.fourhourbody.com/squat
http://www.fourhourbody.com/kayak
http://www.fourhourbody.com/cl-band
http://www.fourhourbody.com/chain
http://www.fourhourbody.com/carabiner

Running Faster and Farther
Hacking the NFL Combine I: Preliminaries-Jumping Higher
-Page 353
http://www.fourhourbody.com/jump-mat
http://www.fourhourbody.com/combine-dvd
http://store.allvet.org/abblloga.html
http://www.fourhourbody.com/wilson
http://www.fourhourbody.com/flatbed
http://www.fourhourbody.com/pool-eloi

Hacking the NFL Combine II: Running Faster
-Page 366
http://www.fourhourbody.com/defranco
http://www.fourhourbody.com/40yard
http://www.parisischool.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/ghr

-Page 401
Favorite 5 U.S. Marathons
New York City http://www.ingnycmarathon.org
Portland http://www.portlandmarathon.org
Marine Corps Marathon http://www.marinemarathon.com
Rock ‘N’ Roll San Diego http://www.rnrmarathon.com
Boston http://www.bostonmarathon.org

Top 5 Picks For First-Timers
Napa Valley http://www.napavalleymarathon.org
Hartford http://www.hartfordmarathon.com
Fargo http://www.fargomarathon.com
Dallas White Rock http://www.runtherock.com
Disney http://bit.ly/3chiv

5 Most Beautiful U.S. Marathons
Big Sur http://www.bsim.org
Boulder Backroads http://www.bouldermarathon.com
Myrtle Beach http://www.mbmarathon.com
St. George http://www.stgeorgemarathon.com
Kauai http://www.thekauaimarathon.com

Marathon Search Engines
http://www.fourhourbody.com/marathon
http://www.fourhourbody.com/race-finder

Triathlon Search Engine

http://www.trifind.com

Getting Stronger
Effortless Superhuman: Breaking World Records with Barry Ross
-Page 423
http://www.fourhourbody.com/over-under
http://www.fourhourbody.com/underground
http://www.fourhourbody.com/hsrp
http://www.fourhourbody.com/asr
http://www.fourhourbody.com/smolov
http://www.fourhourbody.com/fatgripz

Eating the Elephant: How to Add 100 Pounds to Your Bench Press
-Page 430
http://www.fourhourbody.com/bench
http://www.fourhourbody.com/primitive
http://www.powerliftingusa.com

From Swimming to Swinging
How I Learned to Swim Effortlessly in 10 Days
-Page 443
http://www.fourhourbody.com/immersion
http://www.fourhourbody.com/kaiman
http://www.fourhourbody.com/shinji
http://www.swimmersguide.com

The Architecture of Babe Ruth
-Page 452
http://www.fourhourbody.com/impact
http://www.fourhourbody.com/cevallos
http://www.theswingmechanic.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/radar
http://www.fourhourbody.com/moneyball

How to Hold Your Breath Longer Than Houdini
-Page 457
http://www.fourhourbody.com/blaine
http://www.fourhourbody.com/krack
http://www.fourhourbody.com/freediving
http://www.fourhourbody.com/powerlung
http://www.fourhourbody.com/apnea
http://www.ftrain.com/lungvacuuming.html

On Longer and Better Life
Living Forever: Vaccines, Bleeding, and Other Fun
-Page 468
http://www.redcrossblood.org/make-donation
http://www.fourhourbody.com/bonfils
http://www.blood.co.uk
http://www.alcor.org
http://www.fourhourbody.com/transcend
http://knol.google.com/k/ron-mignery/protein-cycling-diet/2s3nmvrwklbxs/1#
http://www.mfoundation.org
http://www.imminst.org
http://www.fourhourbody.com/snowball

Closing Thoughts
Closing Thoughts: The Trojan Horse

Appendices and Extras
Helpful Measurements and Conversions
Getting Tested-From Nutrients to Muscle Fibers
-Page 480
http://www.fourhourbody.com/bodpod
http://www.zrtlab.com/vitamindcouncil
http://www.23andme.com
http://www.navigenics.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/spectracell
http://www.fourhourbody.com/biophysical

Muscles of the Body
The Value of Self-Experimentation
-Page 490
http://www.fourhourbody.com/new-ideas
http://www.quantifiedself.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/self-experiment
http://www.curetogether.com
http://www.daytum.com
http://apps.pachube.com/datalogger

Spotting Bad Science 101: How Not to Trick Yourself
-Page 500
http://www.fourhourbody.com/blackswan
http://www.fourhourbody.com/corporation
http://www.fourhourbody.com/biases

Spotting Bad Science 102: So You Have a Pill . . .
The Slow-Carb Diet-194 People
Sex Machine II: Details and Dangers
The Meatless Machine I: Reasons to Try a Plant-Based Diet for Two Weeks
The Meatless Machine II: A 28-Day Experiment
-Page 549
http://www.goodguide.com
http://www.fourhourbody.com/vegan-athletes
http://www.fourhourbody.com/cowboy
http://www.fourhourbody.com/myth
http://www.beyondveg.com

Bonus Material (with additional info at Ferriss’s site)
Spot Reduction Revisited: Removing Stubborn Thigh Fat
Becoming Brad Pitt: Uses and Abuses of DNA
The China Study: A Well-Intentioned Critique
Heavy Metal: Your Personal Toxin Map
The Top 10 Reasons Why BMI Is Bogus
Hyperclocking and Related Mischief: How to Increase Strength 10% in One Workout
Creativity on Demand: The Promises and Dangers of Smart Drugs
An Alternative to Dieting: The Bodyfat Set Point and Tricking the Hypothalamus

New Year’s Fitness Resolutions

Doug Porter — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 21:37:36 +0000

This is the time of year when everyone seems to fixate on one single New Year’s resolution. That is to get in shape and lose weight. For the next two months the gym parking lot will be packed full of people pursuing this goal. Unfortunately after February, the parking lot will go back to the usual 1/4 full. Now I think the beginning of a new year is as good a time as any to decide to make a change in your life. The problem is people’s enthusiasm begins to wane when they don’t see the results they are expecting. I am pretty convinced that this is mainly because of 1) them acting on bad information on how to achieve their goal and 2) unreasonable expectations.

First, I want to include a youtube video of John Stone and the transformation he made back in 2003 going from 215 lbs at 30% body fat to 160 lbs at 8% body fat in 5 months time. He took daily pictures during that time, and it is pretty incredible to watch (link for rss readers)

Now that you have watched that video and see what is possible, I want to repost this great information from Mark Young and his post How not to F up your weight loss resolution.

1) Be reasonable about what you can accomplish in 1 year’s time.

As long as you are getting closer to your goal, you are making progress, but 100 lbs in 1 month is not reasonable. 0.5-1 pound per week is much more reasonable and sustainable.

2) Don’t overestimate the power of exercise.

And this is the key to fitness goals that just doesn’t seem to make it onto the late night infomercials. Diet and nutrition is at least 90% of weight loss. In fact many studies have shown many people that start exercising end up eating more because they feel hungrier. While having more muscle and cardiovascular health is not a bad thing, unless you have a caloric deficit you will not lose weight. So don’t worry too much about the exercise aspect, just get your diet down for 6 months and see how things go.

To that end, I highly recommend reading the nutrition posts in this Beginner’s Sticky Post on John Stone’s forums.

Good luck reaching your goals. Make 2011 your year.

DIY Parallettes

Doug Porter — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:00:58 +0000

Some time back I ran across a site devoted to various bodyweight exercises called Beast Skills. I’ve always been a big fan of any bodyweight type exercises (pullups, pushups, dips, chinups, etc.) and the tutorials on this site are incredible. Most of them are gymnastics related skills that require an incredible amount of strength and coordination.

One of the pieces of equipment that is used for improving various skills is the parallette. It is a small set of mini parallel bars that can be used for pushups, L-sits, planche moves, handstand pushups, and more. The set of parallettes demonstrated on that site are simple Do-It-Yourself models created out of PVC.

Today I set out to create my own set of parallettes so I could begin practicing various movements from the Beast Skills site. The cost to build a set of PVC parallettes is only about $20 and take 10-15 minutes to assemble.

I built mine out of 1 1/2″ PVC pipe and the pieces needed are:

10′ section of 1 1/2″ PVC pipe
4 T-joints
4 90 degree elbow joints
8 end caps (though I’m an idiot and only bought 4)

Here are 2 great tutorials about the actual build process though it is pretty self-explanatory.

Homemade Parallettes

DIY Parallettes

I did not use cement to put mine together and it doesn’t look like it will even need it. Plus, no cement, means I can disassemble them for easy storage. I used 18″ pieces for the parallel portion of the parallettes and 6″ pieces for everything else. I will probably change it to use 12″ pieces for the vertical sections to get a bit further off the ground and be able to do L-sit dips. 6″ is a bit low for that. Other than that I’m very happy with how they turned out.

As far as exercise routines for the parallettes, American Gymnast has a set of workouts on their site here (requires free registration).

This is their recommended beginner training guide (though I think I need the remedial training program):

Tuck Sit 3-5 sets of 10 seconds
L-Sit 3-5 sets of 10 seconds
Tuck Planche 3-5 sets of 10 seconds
Straddle Press to Handstand Against Wall 2 sets of 3-5 reps
Handstand Against Wall 2 sets of 30 seconds
Handstand Pushups Against Wall 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Push-ups 2 sets of 7-10 reps
Handstand Forward 1/2 Pirouette 5-7 reps

Probably take me a year to get worked up to that level of fitness (especially pirouettes without killing my self) but it is a good start and a great way to build my core. If you have a free afternoon, put a set of these together and get to training.

Fitness Resources

Doug Porter — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:00:10 +0000

A couple of years back I was planning on going snow skiing for the first time in 13 years and decided I should go back to the gym to prevent getting injured while skiing. I lifted weights in college and have been lucky enough to have a high metabolism, but I could tell the years were definitely affecting my ability to stay lean and eat whatever I wanted. In my quest to find some good resources on strength training and nutrition, I ran across two amazing resources that I wanted to share. They helped me improve my strength, diet, and overall health. I also succeeded in not getting injured while I was traversing the mountains on my ski trip.

The first is an incredible book that breaks down overall diet and nutrition into pure simplicity. It is called Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating

It is written by Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard Medical School and after reading this book you can see through the silliness of all the fad diets out there. It really breaks down what constitutes a healthy diet and the science behind it. Much of it is based on the Healthy Eating Pyramid that the Harvard Medical School put together (shocking to find out after reading the book that the FDA pyramid was very tied to much lobbying by the dairy and cattle industry). I especially like that the book is very up front about stating things that are fairly certain based on the research, things that they think should be done but need more research, and things that should be ignored until further research is completed. It also goes into great detail about diet and nutrition and how it relates to various ailments (diabetes, high cholesterol, etc).

The other resource I ran across is the website and forums of John Stone. The John Stone Fitness site and especially his site forums are a wealth of information on strength training and overall fitness. You can see on the front page of John’s site the amazing transformation that he did himself. This sticky post at the top of the beginner forum has some incredible links on fat loss, strength training, and nutrition. They are worth spending some time reading even if you don’t dive into the rest of the forums.

His site and forums is actually where I found out about the Dr. Willett book that had such an impact on me. If you are interested in improving your health or just learning more about exercise and nutrition, check out these two resources. There is no down side to improving your overall health.