Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss
The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss is a comprehensive guide on how to live a no holds barred life. It covers a wide range of topics including nutrition for fat reduction, exercise, morning routines, injury healing, and even sex. The book is a result of Tim Ferriss’ obsessive quest spanning over a decade to hack the human body.
The main themes of the book include:
- Simplifying health management: The book encourages readers to make managing their health simple rather than complicated. It suggests tracking data points of things you want to improve and using the same tool to measure and always measuring under the same conditions.
- The 80/20 principle: Tim’s #1 rule for life is the 80/20 principle that says 20% of the effort gets you 80% of the results. He applies this principle to health and suggests that it governs most bilateral relationships in life.
- Finding your Harajuku Moment: The book suggests finding a moment that sparks change and commitment to your health. This moment is called a Harajuku Moment, and it can be anything from being sick in bed to seeing a picture of yourself that you don’t like.
What I Liked
I liked (and it stuck with me) the message of approaching health in a systematic, habitual way. The most important “hack” in health is consistency. I took away from the book that I could set health goals and work towards them. That has stuck and changed my life. I even ran a marathon after reading this book (in addition to the influence of a friend also running one and also reading another book at the same time).
What I Did Not Like
Some of the specific health advice has aged (it’s not wrong, just not as correct).
