After holding off for nearly two years, I’m posting this because too many people have asked for it. The lasses should read it, too, as the same principles can be applied to bodyfat loss.
I weighed 152 lbs. for four years of high school, and after training in tango in Buenos Aires in 2005, that had withered to 146 lbs. Upon returning to the US, I performed an exhaustive analysis of muscular hypertrophy (growth) research and exercise protocols, ignoring what was popular to examine the hard science. The end result? I gained 34 lbs. of muscle, while losing 3 lbs. of fat, in 28 days.
Before and after measurements, including underwater hydrostatic weighings, were taken by Dr. Peggy Plato at the Human Performance Laboratory at the San Jose State University, and I had blood tests taken on September 30 and October 20. Though this ridiculous experiment might seem unhealthy, I also dropped my total cholesterol count from 222 to 147 without the use of statins. No joke.
Here are a few comparative shots. Oh, and I forgot to mention, all of this was done with two 30-minute workouts per week, for a total of 4 HOURS of gym time:
How did I do it?
First, some select stats on the 4-week change (9/21-10/23):
Bodyfat %- 16.72 to 12.23
Suit Size- 40 short to 44 regular (measured at Brooks Brothers at Santana Row in San Jose by a professional tailor)
Neck- 15.8″ to 18″
Chest- 37.5″ to 43″
Shoulders- 43″ to 52″
Thigh- 21.5″ to 25.5″
Calf- 13.5″ to 14.9″
Upper Arm- 12″ to 14.6
Forearm- 10.8″ to 12″
Waist- 29.5″ to 33.1″
Hips (Ass at widest)- 34″ to 38.23″
Here are the six basic principles that made it happen:
1. Follow Arthur Jones’ general recommendations for one-set-to-failure from the little-known Colorado Experiment, but with lower frequency (maximum of twice per week) and with at least 3 minutes between exercises.
2. Perform every repetition with a 5/5 cadence (5 seconds up, 5 seconds down) to eliminate momentum and ensure constant load.
3. Focus on no more than 4-7 multi-joint exercises (leg press, trap bar deadlift, overhead press, Yates bent row, dips, incline machine benchpress, etc.) and exercise your entire body each workout to elicit a maximal hormonal (testosterone, growth hormone + IGF-1) response.
4. Eat enormous quantities of protein (much like my current fat-loss diet) with low-glycemic index carbohydrates like quinoa, but drop calories by 50% one day per week to prevent protein uptake downregulation.
5. Exercise less frequently as you increase strength and size, as your recovery abilities can only increase 20-30%, while you can often increase fat-free muscle tissue up to 100% before reaching a genetic set-point.
6. Record every workout in detail, including date, time of day, order of exercises, reps, and weight. Remember that this is an experiment, and you need to control the variables to accurately assess progress and make adjustments.
For the ladies not interested in becoming the Hulk, if you follow a “slow-carb” diet and reduce rest periods to 30 seconds between exercises, this exact workout protocol can help you lose 10-20 pounds of fat in the same 28-day time span.
Once again, questioning assumptions leads to the conclusion: less is more. Detox from TV twice a week and put in your 4 hours a month!
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If you enjoyed this post, check out my latest book, The 4-Hour Body, #1 New York Times and #1 Amazon bestseller. You will learn: How to lose 20 pounds in 30 days (without exercise), how to triple your testosterone, techniques for producing 15-minute female orgasms, and more.
You can also pick up the Expanded and Updated 4-Hour Workweek, which includes more than 50 new case studies of luxury lifestyle design, business building, reducing hours 80%+, and world travel.
Related and Recommended Posts:
Tim Ferriss interviewed by Derek Sivers
Tim Ferriss articles on Huffington Post
Tim Ferriss interview – common questions on lifestyle design and productivity
Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That's how we're gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you're rude, we'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)
Hi Tim, Posted this in the wrong place earlier… Very interested by your book and just ordered it…I’ve started the fat loss diet and am on day 4 – feeling good. In regards to gaining 34lbs of muscle in 28 days – there are some “skeptics” that have said you manipulated fluid and glycogen etc… but just wondering your thoughts… do you think that since your natural weight is considerably more than the weight you were when you started that this had an effect on how quickly you gained the weight? I have played soccer at semi pro level, coach soccer professionally and live in the Bay Area. Friends that workout at the gym regularly are for the most part disbelievers.
Has anyone tried, or does anyone have input based on experience or science on how to focus these muscle gains? I don't need bigger legs at all. Stronger would be great but my wife could literally make a skirt out of each one of my pant legs already. I am also fairly underdeveloped from the waist up and would love to add some lean muscle mass everywhere back, chest, arms.
Tim, in your book you mention the list of supplements on page186…did you take these every day or just on your workouts days as you stated 2 x 30 minutes workouts 2 days a week. 4 hours gym time. if you didn't take these every day which of the supplements did you take on a non-workout day?
Hello, Just thought I'd share. This doctoral thesis seems to give some strong evidence in support of the superiority of excentric type exercises when training for muscular hypertrophy as proposed by Arthur Jones. The thesis also completely changed my view on DOMS. http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:140045
Hi I only have one when you take these supplements are you taking them everyday or just on days you are working out?
Hi I love your book the four hour body. i think it is about time for a book like this. I am about to start your geek to freak routine, and the biggest question i have is about the supplements. So after the 28 day cycle am i gonna loose my gains after i come down off of this massive supplement intake? I will not stop going to the gym or stop taking the protein and some of the others supplements but when you stop taking some of the supplements is there a great deal of gain lost or what?
this is an outright lie. it is physically impossible to gain that much muscle in such a short time even with steroids. the most any natural person can hope to gain is 5-15 pounds a year.
Tommy K, It is not unusual for beginners to gain 5 to 15 pounds of muscle in their first few months if they are training and eating properly, and twice that or more over the course of their first year. Drug free, even. With steroids and other growth drugs you can double those numbers, depending on the types and amounts. The rate of gains tapers off over time, but even someone who has been working out a long time may suddenly start gaining rapidly if they have been making common mistakes with their training and correct them (the biggest three being workout out too long, too often, and not hard enough). I think people have very low expectations because most of what is recommended to the public is relatively inefficient for typical, drug-free trainees, but I know for a fact your numbers are wrong. I've been training people since 1993 using similar methods to what Tim uses, and while I have never had anyone gain quite as much as Tim in a single month, gains like these over a period of 6 months to a year are not unusual (double the numbers you stated) and I've had quite a few one-on-one and phone clients gain between 5 and 15 pounds in their first one to three months of training.
Hello Tim. I am stunned to find this post as you say things that saw me gain almost 40 pounds of lean mass in 10 months and even my friends wha saw me during this period didn't belive me when I was telling them what I was doing to be getting that mass! I am excited to have found your blog and am willing to explore it more! Also very good comment from Drew Baye here. I am so glad to find somebody who is telling what I know and learn even more. Thank you, getting to see more here now!
Definitely not 34 pounds gained… You aren't even flexing in the before photos. Plus in the after shots you got a tan and shaved your hair. Also, the camera is closer in the after shots in the first pic. I'll bet we would have seen the same cuts in the before pics but it was too far away and the light was in a different position. You are such a fake… So tell us why did you use the Doctors name in your book and she hasn't even given you permission to do so? She didn't even know you used her name…. Scammer…
Hello Tim (or anyone else), Could you tell me if is is necessary to follow the Slow Carb Diet for this system to work? Or can I just eat anything I want. And then I mean things like cheese, peanut butter, put on bread. Thanks, Leon
Hello again, I was also wondering if the 'Geek to Freak' experiment and 'Occam's Protocol' have the same effect on muscular gain. Because when following 'Occam's Protocol', you only perform 2 exercises per day(+the additional). However when you are following 'Geek to Freak' you perform 10 exercises per day.
the supplimnent regimen layed out on page 186…is that only on workout days or all the days of the week?
wow that's seriously impressive tim..I spent like 6 months to bulk up and get the gains I wanted. maybe u can try to aim for more defined muscle cuts. good luck!
Not all workouts/diets work for everyone, I guess there is one type for you, and one for me. I`ve found out what works for me,and I can bulk up really quick, I`m talking about a few weeks turn around,but my brother gains nothing on my routine and visa versa. Everyone is different and what works for him will not work for them.Diet is just the same I can eat as much junk food as I want and I`ll burn it all off,yet my brother to his disgust, it goes straight to his 6pack and he has to bust his balls to remove it.So anyone can workout and look good this summer,bulk up ,BUT you have to find what works for you body type. My body type is Ectomorph and I can whack the weight on with the best of them but I lose it so quick if i stop training. My brother is Mesomorph and i can keep up with him un till we stop training then his body stays and mine, well mine just dissapears. You all know your bodies good points and bad and what affects it,all you have to do is find what simulates it(NO DRUGS)and work with it.
Ok. I'm getting a gym membership tomorrow so I figured it was time to review this and try it out.
Even with steroids, a personal trainer, a personal chef, and a flawless routine, this is about double what someone could achieve. You realize that 34 lbs in 4 weeks is roughly 1.2 pounds gained PER DAY? Someone making awesome gains during their prime will gain no more than 0.5 lbs of muscle per WEEK (and some fat). Stop misleading people and admit this was over a year of training. Maybe slightly under with steroids. And the fact you claim to have lost 3 lbs of fat during that same period… Just… no.
Tim, You've hacked the human body… …Excepted the problem of hair turning gray ! Some people are turning white at 40, others stays dark brown at 60. I think it could be your next challenge… I'm 50 and gray, I'm OK to be your guinea pig. My brown hair: the return. I'm ready.
I did the workout. Im a professional athlete, minor league baseball player. Hardest weight training I have ever done. 4 year College baseball 4 Pro baseball. I threw up doing iso dumbell press. I have gained 17 pounds after 5 workouts. Dont try it unless you want to reach your mental Threshold and question your manhood, becuase you will. Then if you make past that you will get jacked. Sweet book.-BA
but i only have three hours!!!
I am following the advice given in the chapter "Geek to Freak." While trying to gain 34 lbs in a month, do I still take off one day a week to eat whatever I want? It seems like while trying to gain all this weight, I should still to protein only. What are your thoughts? Thank you Greg
"Oh, and I forgot to mention, all of this was done with two 30-minute workouts per week, for a total of 4 HOURS of gym time:" Calling bullshit here. I simply do not believe this AT ALL. I think he is LYING.
hey im just wondering if u can really gain that fast that easy why isnt this on the cover of magazines like muscle and fitness u would think all the pro bodybuilders would do this if its really that good
Question – I'm trying this experiment out and the first day taking the supplements listed in the book left me feeling nauseous that morning. I've read where Slo-Niacin can have that effect. Any words of wisdom on overcoming that feeling? I don't mind pushing through it for 4 weeks, but if there is a way to avoid it, I'd like to know. Thanks! Mark P
I've got a question related to Mark's above. In the 4HB you mention your supplement regimen, does the "Morning" imply before or after breakfast?
Something strange happened to me… I usually watch my weight but eat whatever I want, I don`t exactly diet, I just keep track…I measure nearly 1.60 mts and weight 43.0 – 43.5 kilos. I started being more active and playing the drums nearly everyday and I don`t see myself fatter but I weight more, could that be muscle gain?? thanks!!
Any chance you have ever run or will run a before and after posterior building contest for ladies given your superior- posterior workout? Pictures are worth a thousand well…you know…. I would like to see the results of many different women who apply your workout to improve their posteriors.
proteins helps you to increase your muscles, fats become muscles by your training thats all it helps to get muscles in 1 month like others without proteins get same result in 3 months = ))
Hi! Can anyone tell me why Tim thinks that the China study- linking animals protein to cancer- was flawed? any guesses? thanks.
Of course Mr. Ferries manipulated here. He didn't gain 34 pounds of muscle he REGAINED 34 pounds of muscle by starving himself up to this experiment just like Casey Viator did in the original Colorado experiment. By adding some tanning and photoshop + different posture it all looks very dramatic.
I have recently purchased your book with the interest in seeing what i could do to reach my full potential. I am in the military and am aspiring to attempt special forces selection in approx 11 months from now. i am in pretty good shape and have reached a sort of 'plateaux' (whether mental or physical who knows). i dont know if you have done any research into the complicated and multi-faceted world of military fitness requirements, but i was wondering if there are articles out there that you would recommend i look into, or if there are certain strains of work outs that i should be interested in (ie: crossfit-esq workouts vice lifting and running). i really dont know if this is the venue for such questions, but i was enthrawlled with your book and your views on maximizing ones potential that i thought i would give this a chance. If i hear from you or your assisstance, great… if not, thanks for a good read anyways.
the guy in the picture did 10 shrugs, was 10 minutes in the sun, and got a 10$ razor nice!
My guess is the detractors are skeptical because they have failed to achieve comparable results with their training, and are assuming since they couldn't do it, neither could someone else. "Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also." – Marcus Aurelius I am training someone now using the same principles who put in 6.5 pounds of muscle in the first three weeks (measured using a BodPod). Total training time in those three weeks was less than two hours (less than 20 min per workout, two workouts per week). Will be repeating the BodPod test in another 3 weeks (6 total) and will post again then. Not quite 34 pounds, but more than what some uninformed posters are claiming is possible.
Will eating this 6x a day help me gain muscle and lose fat?!?!? 1 cup of oatmeal 2 scoops protein (50g of protein) 1 Banana 1 1/2 Unsweetened Almond Milk All mixed in a blender!!!
how could somebody believe this was true? come on guys…
I know that there are some naysayers when it comes to this plan, but I have definitely seen this plan or something similar work. My personal experience has been that I have been using a program that uses a low number of sets and high intensity for most of my adult life, mainly following along with the ideas pushed forward by Mike Mentzer, whom Tim refers to as someone that he gained knowledge from in sculpting his work out in the 4 Hour Body book. At my most muscular and fit, I was 205 at about 8% body fat and I was doing workouts that consisted of 2-4 exercises, maybe 3 times a week. But, more relevant to the discussion on this board, I was diagnosed with thyroid disease, which caused me to balloon up to about 250 pounds and really made it almost impossible for me to maintain any kind of workout and strength building routine that I could count on getting results from. Since January I have gotten my thyroid under control and have the ability to workout with an intensity and in a manner that allows me to get and measure results. When I began testing and training again, with a focus on regaining muscle, losing fat, and returning to some semblance of being in shape, I was at approximately 244 pounds with 36% body fat. That comes out to about 156 pounds of muscle and 88 pounds of fat. (Its pretty disgusting too…if you ask me.) I haven't been super consistent in lifting weights because I don't have the desire to gain a ton of muscle mass right now, because I have been running a lot and the muscle can interfere with performance at longer distances, but what I have done with about 12-15 weight sessions in 6 months is gone from 156 pounds of muscle to 171 pounds of muscle. Plus, in this time, my body fat percentage has declined from 36% to less than 23%. So definitely put me in the camp advocating for high intensity workouts with lots of rest. While not everyone is going to gain 34 pounds of muscle in 4 weeks, I do believe that you can easily gain 10 or more.
Wow that really is impressive! It's great to finally see pictures of the man behind the words (I've read 4HWW and working through 4HB now!) The slow carb diet is producing great results for me so far! Many thanks, James S
This sounds too incredible to be true. Even with steroids, this article seems to be pushing it
Tim, Can resistance bands be used instead of free weights or a machine? I've used these in the past (not for geek to freak) and actually ended up overworking my muscles over a period of several weeks. Yeah, I used them too much but I did get a tremendous workout with them. Also, T.O. uses them and he's in great shape. Thanks in advance for the response.
I'm seeing fast gains. It's all about how hard you are willing to train and how serious you are about it.
34 pounds of pure lean muscle in 4 weeks is a large stretch naturally. If you look at muscular physiology books you will find out what is possible. Like mentioned before great transformation but it hard to believe it happened in 4 weeks.
My husband and I are new to the 4HB program and have been doing it for a couple of weeks. We are also taking the PAGG. My questions are why is it important to take one day per week off of the supplements? Also – why is it CRITICAL to take one week off every two months? I don't have a problem with it – I just like the science behind the instructions. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks
Two more questions….. after just starting the 4HB program. I see it is ok to drink red wine (and anything goes on binge days) does anyone know if a small vodka is ok on non-binge days? It would seem less sugar etc. than wine. Also – I see protien bars are ok in the gaining muscle and weight sections but would the low sugar/no sugar and high protien varieties be ok? My husband is finding it difficult to do brown bag lunches without them – although he is losing with them. He is trying to lose weight and add muscle. Sometimes I just use as a meal replacement or a 1/2 of one for a snack. Any ideas? Thanks
I wish I could post pictures here, 4 hour work week really changed my body. Thanks you tim for all the good advice. Br Markus
Great info Tim, Short, intense and infrequent workouts build muscle mass far better than long-drawn out training sessions that deplete the CNS and leave you feeling like you've been ran over by a truck. I haven't read your book yet but I'm planning on it soon. -Adi Crnalic
Well, after reading some (not all!) of the comments, this page is getting some mixed pre-sale reviews! Now, I studied kinesiology and am well read AND experienced in the muscle building arena. 34lbs of PURE muscle in 4 weeks will never happen. There is such a thing as 'Beginners-Build' where people who have never lifted heavy before start lifting and suddenly their frame changes dramatically. But these dramatic changes are perhaps 15-22lbs at the most. Without the help of AAS you CANNOT (I'm talking about the laws of physiology here) gain more than 1.2lbs of muscle per week – so let me do the math for you… 1.2 x 4 (four weeks) = 4.8 lbs – that's the most you can gain in a month. Perhaps he was juicing, after all he never mentions NOT using AAS… either way, fair play on the gains, but you will never see them in that short amount of time. I'm not saying it's a bad product, it may be well written and have some great tips in there, but the results he is advertising are false for a 4 week period.
This is bullshit im not one to talk trash but facts are facts a pro athlete would know you can only gain 1 pound of mucle a week that makes it 4 pounds of mucle a month.And thats if your on a strict regiment of dietary and high intensity planning.And if you workout every freekin day there is no way this guy gained this much in 1 month bahaha what a joke
Hi Tim, I got your great books both the 4 hour work week, and 4 hour body, and one tip i took is the 30 grams of protein in 30 mins of waking, and i always took whey protein powder, 1 problem i face is, after 1 or 2 hour of the protein shake, my stomach start to feel uncomfortable and it's annoying, i think is too much acid production, but im not sure, i like to ask how to solve this. thks..
THE RESULTS ARE IN ! I have just completed Occam's protocol and gained 11 pounds in 28 days. I am (was a "skinny hard-gainer") until I tried this diet/workout. I did it step by step, followed it to a tee, measured keeping as many variables constant as I could and got great results. Thank You Tim! Don't doubt or hate Tim & the people that have actually completed the protocol until you have done it yourself. That will mean you will understand and nod your head in agreement as you will know what it felt like to feel like throwing up for the first week as your stomach gets used to the huge amount of food your jamming in it, your vision goes blurry for about 20 seconds after you have pushed and shook like a leaf to complete failure during your workouts. and my favourite – Measurement day (every Sunday@noon) when you got to see that your body significantly changed after only 7 days. Drawbacks: meal preparation is a bitch, eating all the time is a bitch, gaining a little fat sucks (but I don't see how I could have avoided this as I was drinking at least 1 litre of milk a day) and trying to explain to narrow minded people that the typical 3 sets of 10 x 5 exercises, 4 days a week is not the only way to get results. Good luck everyone! James McD
Hi Tim, I hope this is the correct place to pose my question its about the Occam protocol from the 4HB. So its been 3 weeks into it and so far I have had all the gains in the lifting aspect (5kg added each time (10kg additions in leg press)) and in some cases even aded a rep or two on top of that. My bodyweight has changed maybe 3 pounds. I am getting bulkier, but I doubt I am loosing so much fat with the amount of food i ingest (or does CQ really make the difference so obviously?). I am using all the "if you can afford it" supplements. Maybe I will hit a wall tommorow who knows (with the increases that is). But if you have any suggestions I would highly appreciate it. Sincerely, Buyseech
Outstanding tips! I personally tried the less workout tip to gain muscle but, didn't really like it. Why, the days I don't workout I feel slugish not cool. I guess it's just a mind trick. lol I don't go past an hour in the gym and do concentrate on on body part. I gain muscle and lose fat with healthy meals. Noticed when I start skipping meals nitrogen retention goes out the window fast.. Don't have the same vascularity. Great blog!
I was just wondering, about the nutrition regiment. Are you supposed to take all of the supplements even on non-training days, or just follow slow-carb as usual?
Like the above, I don’t think you can gain muscle that fast even with steroids.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/maki2.htm Proof its impossible. Enuff said.
I dont know why the "haters" and "doubters" just cant try it for themselves and than be the judge? I am sick and tired of people just blindly following like sheep with no testing or even a "hummm does this really work?"… I am on the training regimee (occam) and I am seeing incredible gains in power as well as fat loss and muscle gain… This has to be the 10th time I have started going to the gym and I believe "The 10th time`s the charm" for me… Will report after a 2 month period is over with before/after pictures etc.
Hey Tim, I am using a season working in antarctica as my own unique test bed for a condensed version of several of your programmes. I am currently following the low carb diet (including massive amounts of whole food protein, grapefruit juice, coffee, pre and post meal exercise), occams protocol and working 11 hour days outside in the – 40 degree cold doing manual labour. My desired result is increased lean muscle mass and decreased fat. If you have any suggestions or observations I'd be keen to hear them. Thanks, Pete
Hey Tim, Recently got 4HB on Amazon, seems pretty interesting. In Occam's part 1, under getting started you say "…as soon as you have a workout where more than exercise has stalled….increase to 4 days in between workouts." What do you mean by "stalled"? In Occam's 2 you say to add an extra recovery day in between A & B if you abandon a workout b/c you miss a set (under "what if I don't make the target number of reps?"). Is that what you mean? The 2 phrases almost seem to contradict each other, or am I miss-reading? Anyway, great book so far, keep questioning the norm!
Well played. Your telling every lazy fat american exactly what they want to hear. Get in great shape with little to no effort!! Wake up Americans, if you're not willing to put in a good amount of time to maintain your health then your going to stay fat. You WILL NOT gain 9lbs of muscle a week from 1 hour of effort.
Brandon: When I first started training back in the early 1980's I was advised to do the following whole body work out Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays: Squats 2×8-10 Bench Press 2×8-10 Bent Rows 2×8-10 Overhead Presss 2×8-10 Lying Triceps Extensions 2×8-10 Barbel Curls 2×8-10 After 2 months of this routine and eating like there was no tomorrow, my weight had increased by 26lbs and my waist measurement had decreased by 2 inches. From this I concluded that I must have lost fat and gained a substantial amount of muscle, I did not think this was impossible at the time, as I simply didn't know what should and should not be achievable. As time went by I started to introduce more volume into the routine and almost immediately saw all gains slow to a snails pace…like a fool I took the advice of 'experts' and trained longer and more frequently until finally after about a year, I come across the writings of Mike Mentzer and started to follow a more abbreviated routine…the gains started again almost straight away. I have witnessed this pattern repeatedly with people I have trained with and others I have personally trained without exception. Looking back had I trained with less volume and frequency in those first 2 months I sincerely believe I would have gained more then I did, possibly much more. Most people never experience that sort of rapid muscle gain simply because they follow volume routines popularised by the muscle magazines, it's no coincidence that the popularity of volume training coincides with the wide availability of anabolic steroids, as that's the only way the human body can recover from those marathon type workouts.
Brandon, Results from training are related to the degree of effort you put into your workouts, not the time you spend in the gym. If someone is truly training with a very high level of effort then a large amount of time in the gym would not only not be possible, but counterproductive since one would quickly overtrain. Anyone spending over an hour in the gym each week is wasting their time, as no more is rarely necessary for optimum results. You do not have to put in a "good amount of time" to get good results from training, stay healthy, or lose fat, you just have to train very, very hard when you are in the gym, then get adequate rest and eat well to aid in recovery and adaptation. While I have never personally had a client gain as much as Tim in one month (the most muscle I've ever personally witnessed and measured someone gain in less than a month drug free is 8 pounds) I know that best gains come from training harder, NOT from spending more time in the gym.
I don't get why you're making such ridiculous claims. You expect people to believe that you put on over a pound of muscle a day, while not gaining any fat but actually losing some??? Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt that you made excellent progress following this program under your specific circumstances. It's a good program and is in fact very similar to what I like to use. In addition, your having been away from lifting for a period of time probably put you in a position to make large gains as you regained lost ground so to speak. But the numbers you're throwing out simply aren't plausible. The guy above me mentioned that the most muscle he's ever seen someone put on in a month is 8 pounds (a number much closer to what I've observed in my years of being around gyms), and yet you expect people to believe that you put on 4x that much?! I know you're trying to sell stuff but come on, at least try to make realistic claims…
Awesome results. I believe muscle-memory contributed a lot to them, but they are still impressive by any means. I do not understand the people here that open fire against Tim. He has no interest whatsoever in lying to you. I managed to gain 62lbs of mostly muscle, but in a period that far exceeds 4 weeks. http://freshbeetle.com/home-exercise-equipment-full-body-workout/
To all of you who believe this, just throw away your money now. He is selling a book and making ridiculous and impossible claims. Please do not be hoaxed into this scam.
so first things first….when it comes to nutrition and work outs….Everyone, and i mean everyone is different. no two people are ever going to get the same results from any type of work out. when people work out they need to realize that when people say "this work out worked for me" or "that work out worked for me" it probably has, but maybe not the same extent as anyone else. my self i have been working out on and off since i was 12. 10 years of trying different routines and diets. and i'd have to say that the only true way to see results is by just listening to what your body is telling you and using common sense. "hey my muslces are really tired"….then rest. "i don't feel anything changing?" then increase weight or intensity. do what makes your body feel great….not that made somone elses body feel good. because EVERYONE is different. no two bodies will ever be the same. take a look at arnold and ronnie. you put those guys in the same room at the same age, and gave them the exact same diet and the exact same workout. no matter what anyone says, they WILL have different results. as for gaining muscle, yes it is extreamly hard in some cases to do so, and in other cases where somone has worked out b4 then suddely stopped for a period of time and started back up, chances are they will gain muscle more quick just from muscle memory. ask a two hundred and fifty pound man to loose 50 pounds in fat. chances are he would have no issue gaining that 50 pounds back. ask a body builder to stop working out and wait till he weight drops 50 pounds of muslce. chances are he'd have no problem gaining it back. as for loosing fat it is WAY easier to do so than gaining muscle. my self i went from 200 pounds and being extreamly out of shape. to dropping 40 punds of fat and getting down to 160lb's in a month and a half. ask me to gain that 40 lbs back in muslce…yea its gunna take time….no matter who you are. our cells can only reproduce at a given rate. and what we do to feather that rate will only decrease it slighly or increase it slightly. to get a change in your body and physical development to succeed in a everlasting change takes years to develop, but with hard work and dedication our bodies will adapt to anything we throw at it. we are the greatest creation on this planet and to sum up all of our capabilities into one book would be one of the greated feats known to man. we are forever changing and learning these new things is the knowledge to change. just remember everyone is different and you need to listen to what your body is telling you. if you aint micheal jordon….you can't be micheal jordon. and if your not ronnie coleman your won't be ronnie coleman. but by listening to your body and keeping up with dedication you can be the best YOUR OWN body can be. only YOURSELF can hold YOURSELF back.
Firstly Mr Ferris the Four Hour Body was a great book. The question I put to you is this. As a fan of both High intensity training and pavel's (who is strongly anti HIT from what I understand) how do wade through material to find truths. I started training in the HIT style of Dr Ken and Kim Wood and have found it to be amazing. My strength coach was mentored by both of them. However I also intern at a sports program dealing with elite athletes and the style of programming is completely different. I see the rational of both but struggle with developing my own style. Any thoughts? I read a lot of research but as you know especially in this field there's a lot of bias and agenda comes across in a lot of material. I am but a beginner and feel quite lost.
Hi Tim, Learned an awful lot from your website and it has changed how I look at things. It must have been very hard to maintain such a high caloric intake as well as a strict workout programme.
Tim, is it possible to still have big full body gains by only training your lower body as I have torn a tendon in my upper arm? If so which exercises would you recommend? Thanks, J
Although the shots are decent enough. I also agree with majority that to get these results it takes longer than 4 weeks. However mike changs workouts on you tube are very good. You could always book a personal trainer and get buff or slim with their advise but the can be expensive
Tim – I'm about to start the Geek to Freak program. I didn't notice much if any cardio. Last night, coming in from salsa dancing I realized I naturally have cardio in my weekly routine. I dance salsa once maybe twice a week, equivelant to 2-4 hours of cardio. Does this impact the work out? Does it totally change up recovery? Should I simply just add more calories to my diet? Should I stop dancing for 1-3 months? Thanks. A Salsero soon to be Freak
I am so amazed on the improvement that you got. I can't believe that you really gained that much of muscle in just four weeks. You really made a great job.
Hello Tim or anyone else who can help, I'm a bit confused. There's first of all Tim's workout which is consisted of 8 exercixes where he performed all these 8 exercises in each workout and he worked out twice a week. Then the book talks about OCCAM's protocol which is consisted of Workout A with 2 exercies and Workout B with 2 different exercises. So, which is the one I should follow if I want to gain a lot of muscles? Also, can someone define what "lifting to failure" mean? After doing a bit of research on the internet, I read some guys say they pushed so hard they felt dizzy, or wanted to vomit, and the muscles got so sore have a hard time lifting their arms / walking over the next few days. Does it mean that if I didn't get these types of post-workout physical respones then I have not pushed myself hard enough? Thanks. Lewis
Nick / Farid, Thanks for your help. Will give it a try. A follow-up question. I read about muscle hypertrophy, which is the increase in size of muscle cells. Presumably this is what I want to achieve in order to gain more muscles in a particular part of my body. Is muscle soreness the day after a workout a required symptom for hypertrophy? In other words, if I feel no pain, then there's no gain? Lewis
The whole four hour a week concept is very enticing for someone who doesn't have a lot of time to train like I would want. I have a question. Once I have reached a desired weight, I wouldn't want to get any bigger. How would I be able to still train and stay healthy but, not get out of hand?
Hi Tim, in the book you wrote that you have trained for 4 months, how much muscle have you gained in these months? I want to now what like the results are in the following months. Sorry, I'm from Austria and I am not good at english. I hope you now what i mean. Thanks, Chris
Dear Tim, You helped change my life! I didn't get your results but I didn't need to, I got my results. Better results than I ever thought possible. I suspended my disbelief and just DID WHAT YOU TOLD ME TO DO as an experiment to see how well it worked. I am amazed at how rapidly my body changed with what seems to me to be very little actual work. Its just like you said, once you see how easy this is you can transfer it to any other part of your life. Its not just my body, but my whole life has changed so swiftly my head is still spinning and your book was an integral part of that. So I just wanted to thank you for helping to pave my way to a better life. Thank you so much!
To gain 1 pound of muscle you have to take in approximately 3,500 calories more than your body uses, and hope that all 3,500 of those calories go to muscle building, and not fat. So, to gain 34 pounds in one month you'll have to take in an additional 119,000 calories above what your body needs for maintenance and, again, hope that none of it turns to fat. To do this in one month you will need to consume a whopping ~3838.7 calories a day! And, that's not total either! That's in addition to all the calories required to go about your daily business of breathing, walking, exercising, etc. For a guy who weighs 155lbs and is moderately active, your calorie requirement to MAINTAIN 155lbs is ~2,078. So take your required maintenance intake of 2,078cal, and add the hefty 3,838cal, and you will need to consume 5,916 calories A DAY to gain 34lbs in a month! And you're telling me that none of those calories went to fat? That in fact you lost fat while doing this? Please sir, publish your findings in a medical journal and get the Nobel Prize you deserve. Professional bodybuilders (the people who gain muscle for a living) usually eat 500-1000 calories more a day than their maintenance requirements. Also, these guys are on stuff that changes their body chemistry to optimize muscle growth. They also work out more than 4 hours a week. You should become a strength and bodybuilding coach if you can successfully eat nearly 6000 calories a day at a starting weight of 152 and not gain a pound of fat! Forget writing books! You should be hosting "The Biggest Loser" with the kind of results you claim to get with people! Jillian Michaels can't even compare!
Chris, You're confusing the calories in a pound of fat with the calories in a pound of muscle. HUGE difference between the two. You might want to actually learn something about this stuff before commenting on it.
Amazing! Great inspiration here.
Hey Tim and readers, read 4HB and have gotten a ton of value out of both this workout and the slow-carb diet. Great stuff! Right now I'm actually looking for a slower strength building workout program, one that takes place over the course of 8 to 12 weeks instead of 4 to 6, and that allows me to keep the same workout days every week, since my work schedule has become super rigid. Is there one that you guys would recommend? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks, mitch
Hey Tim, I was wondering if you could help me. I can't tell if my muscles are failing when I do my excercises. Yesterday I did a quick workout of dumbbell bench press, dumbbell rows and shoulder press (with dumbbells). I did one set of all of these excercises and was able to do about 7 reps for the first two and 4 for the last one. Today, I'm not sore and I haven't taken any l-glutamine. How do I know if my muscles have failed? Is it when I can't push any further during a rep? -Davy
Yep he certainly grew very well, even with the differences in distance from the camera, tan sprayed and shaven in the after shots. One thing you forgot to put into the equation, is that if you haven't trained for a long time, (if ever) then anything thing you do in the gym will promote rapid growth (for a couple of months or so, before you hit a plateau). Though it's doubfull you can grow that much, that fast, without a smart routine. But not being in the gym and starting fresh is definitely one of the main contributors to growing that fast.
Wow, is it really possible? I should let my cousin read this one. 🙂 He goes to gym for like 3 times a week and always babbling about how hot he can be in the near future. hahahah! maybe this one will help him. 🙂 Thank you!
Shane, you and everyone else are ignorant for pre-judging this program without trying it. Perhaps you should face the facts. If you are upset that it took so long to gain muscle in your own program, perhaps you should re-evaluate your own, broken routine that is most likely built on shoddy misinformation. Im excited about this program. After have never been able to "lose weight" through conventional means. It always came back because I was ignorant of what I was eating, and when I was eating it! After using the slow carb diet and Occam's Protocol I have lost 34 pounds since sept 2011(228 down to 195). 28+ pounds were lost in the first 6 weeks. My fiance DEFINITELY notices, and everyone I work with keeps commenting on the new me. 195 looks pretty good on a 6'3 frame. Honestly, Tim Ferris has changed my life for the better by cutting through the misinformation and ACTUALLY finding what works well through his individual scientific method of testing. If he says thge slow carb would work- IT WORKS but requires discipline. The same, by association can be said of the Geek to Freak section. Anyone, with rare exception can create these results with discipline. I found my discipline through the unhappiness with how I looked and with my "Harajaku" (spelling) moment. Perhaps the real doubt in most peoples hearts stems from their own lack of self control and discipline. Anything is possible with focus. I am a believer based on physical proof. Don't mind the noise Tim, you are on to something here. Succes is a choice we all make. I will buy every book you write. You have impacted my life more than any Physical Education teacher, Personal Trainer, or Nutritionist ever has. You have taught me things that our educational system lacks here in America- Food and Nutritional Science. Not only am I physically different but my change in food intake has several other pleasant side effects. You have more than likely added years to my life also. I start the test today for 4 weeks of growth. Ill report back in 4 weeks. BOOM
Of course this is BS. I'm not sure why nobody has pointed out the simple math involved. Let's say he started at 16.7% body fat at 180lbs. After gaining 34lbs of muscle, to be 12.2% bodyfat would mean a weight of 250lbs. The before and after pics don't substantiate a weight gain of 70lbs, not to mention the feasibility of actually gaining that much weight in a month.
Hey Ferriss, long-time fan! Your books basically saved my life. I've been doing some experiments with body recompositioning and neuroscience; Where did you do your Geek to Freak-project? Some place sunny? Also, in which areas (geographical) have you experienced the best strength gains? Are these possibly the areas where you've also experienced consistently high moods? I'm testing a hypothesis about one of the fundamental neurotransmitters and it's impact on body, mood, confidence among other things.
i like the before pictures more 🙂 youe body looks older on the after pics
Hi Tim! A question that I can't seem to find the answer for, you're the only person I know of that could provide me an answer. I would be very grateful if you could answer this. Alpha Lipoic Acid. I know insulin blocks HGH, but what effect does ALA have? (given that it mimicks insulin). Does it block insulin receptors and therefore have the same effect? I ask because I wanted to use it postworkout with carbs, to boost glycogen synthesis whilst maintaining the HGH boost which comes postworkout. (Because I am 17 and do not want to lower HGH production) I assume the effect on HGH is the same at all other times of the day? I'm quite informed on this kind of stuff as I have read your whole book. So don't be afraid to use fancy terminology. I really hope you can answer this, it's the only question I'm asking (out of all the ones I have from the book, because I know you don't have the time to answer them all. Thank you so much in advance – Dom P.S. Awesome book by the way!!!! Changed my life.
"C'mon son…" ~Ed Lover (funny dude)
I've been on this diet and workout regimen for 4 days now. Gained 4 pounds. Hopefully it is all muscle! Hah. I'm doing it almost exactly the same as Tim. I am doing full body workouts during each workout. I do about 10 lifts to workout each muscle group. I'm using the same supplements, excluding bodyquick. Didn't feel like paying an extra 50 dollars. I'll post later the final results and all muscle gain+plus gains in my lifts.
hey, sorry for the question about 80/10/10 🙂 I bought a fourhourbody in addition to 4hww and it answered all the questions. we (the readers) are very lucky to have you. i was from a well off family, gorgeous, and happy when i was 16. then we moved to the US. situation changed. i am now 23, broke, alone, and 25 pounds heavier. Could not be more lucky discover your exact how-to on all subjects important at 23 yo instead of 63 🙂 yay. i shall share the first results in 6 and 12 months 🙂 Thanks, Tim. Also, your pricings on amazon are incredible. I bought both books for twice as much in Barns and Noble but that's because I could absolutely not wait for it, so I'm happy 🙂
When ferriss will be 60, although he would have made a ton of money, will regret why did he do the nasty things to his own body. The followers of his book will feel the same. These are utterly unnatural methods, which can only be expected to drain out the body.good luck to those who think his book makes any sense!
Omg, you are so full of shit, it is IMPOSSIBLE to gain 34 lbs of muscle in 4 weeks. Let me repeat that, IMPOSSIBLE, not even with all the GH and roids in the world. I have been training for 5 years now, so i know a little bit, 185cm, 88kg, 6% bf. This is not about "hating", or being jealous or any of that shit. I have above average genetics, i can gain muscle faster than most people, but everything i know about bodybuilding, nutrition and chemistry says that it is just plain IMPOSSIBLE. Ask any serious bodybuilder, from the home trainer, to Ronnie Coleman, all of them will tell you IT CAN NOT BE DONE. It is as simple as that, you mind as well start trying to defy gravity, it goes against the laws of nature. Anyone making such outrageous claims can not be trusted, only the ignorant would buy into this crap.
Those shots are clever camera tricks. I'd be amazed if they were even shot on different days. He shaved, got a spray tan, and flexed in the after shots. The before shots used only one light source, whereas the the after used several. Not to mention he is very clearly standing closer/farther away in some shots for greater effect. As for stacking on 34 lbs in a week, it's impossible. It takes 500 calories a day to gain a pound a WEEK. To gain 34 pounds he'd have to eat 6000+ calories a day.
Tim is claiming four weeks, not one. Also, the 500 cal/day for a week is for the energy stored in a pound of FAT, not muscle. A pound of relatively lean ground beef (90/10) is less than 800 calories. Obviously, there is also a cost associated with synthesizing this, and this is a huge increase in lean body mass (the most muscle I've ever seen someone gain consistently over several weeks without drugs is around 2 lbs/week) but if you're going to criticize at least know what you're talking about first.
For another perspective on Arthur Jones, his Nautilus machines, and the infamous "Colorado Experiment": http://muscleevo.net/4-hour-body-workout/
Jake, I knew Arthur Jones personally and have heard about the Colorado Experiment directly from him and discussed it with others who worked at Nautilus at the time. Bill Starr is mistaken in claiming the Colorado Experiment was a hoax. Not only does that article get various facts wrong, but Arthur was entirely up front with people about the circumstances under which the experiment was conducted.
Thanks for the great tips man!
3500 calories per pound of muscle times his 34 pounds over 28 days equates to 4250 calories per day plus average BMR for a 146 lb male of 200 brings him up to 6250 clean calories per day. Good luck eating that, much less losing fat while doing say. i call BS.
90% muscle memory or you took some of those nice pink Anabol 5's along with your weight training, which one was it?
It would be awesome if I could achieve this kind of results within few weeks. Been go to gym and trying to build up my body, but yet to see significant results, perhaps there're some part miss out, especially my meal. Gotta work harder to achieve this goal.
If you work muscles, they get bigger/stronger. If you don't, they don't. So if you simply don't do any leg exercises, they won't grow. So no squats, deadlifts, leg presses etc. focus on upper body stuff. And be aware that even if doing say rows, your legs will get *some* work anyway but they won't grow the way you would expect from focusing on lower body exercises. I'm wondering how you got massive legs but nothing else; cyclists often have that happen. Stop riding the bike if you want to let the legs shrink, but overall, make sure you're not missing out on exercise that you enjoy and is good for you 🙂
HAHAHAHAHAHA @tommyK. I feel sorry for u, dude. I myself have put on more than 8 kilos(15-16pound) in 3 months using thise tecnics(body fat kept at 8-9%. Measured by proo´s). where as before i spend 18-20 months to get 4-5kg up. The deference? more food-less gymtime( 2 times 30-40 min a week using the methods here). And I did´nt even eat that much! I sted, why don¨t u just try it for 2-3 months? less work- more eating= FUN TIMES!!! Best of luck to to you and everybody else out there :o)
This is a program. If you don't do what Tim says, then you're making up your own program and the results will probably be different to what Tim's program would give you. So if you do your own thing and it doesn't work out, don't blame Tim.
I'm with you. Let's say that you gain 5 pounds in a month. Most people tell you that is impossible. I see and hear these crazy routines that tell people that they will put on 10 pounds this year if only they will eat 7,000 calories a meal and do 300 sets per body part, 3 times a week. This idea of working out hard and long doesn't make sense to me. Our bodies can only take so much. You really do have to choose.
buyseech, If you are genuinely lifting more weight each time, staying in good form and in the target rep range, then you must be gaining muscle, no doubt about it. It is definitely possible to gain muscle while losing fat so some of the muscle gain could be masked by fat loss so your overall weight hasn't changed as much as expected for the increases in strength. Tim mentions this in the book. It's a great programme, very similar to something I paid a personal trainer a couple of thousand bucks to devise for me 5 years ago but Tim's is better, less gym time for faster results.
No, Fred, just proof bodybuilding.com is not a valid source of information on the subject. I've been training people for a living for nearly two decades now and while advanced trainees might have difficulty gaining more than 0.5 lbs of muscle weekly, much greater gains are not unusual for beginners or people resuming training/regaining muscle after a layoff. This is even more likely with a proper, high intensity training program like the one Tim followed, as opposed to the high volume, multi-set nonsense popular with many bodybuilders, whose gains have more to do with drugs than their training or nutrition.
if you really believe that working out till you puke, and eating like it's a job stuffing in 3-5,000 calories a day is "no effort" then you are sadly mistaken.
Genuine failure means that on the last rep you couldn't move the weight another fraction of an inch if your life depended on it. You will feel yourself straining hard against the weight. Hold it, keep trying to get it to keep moving again until you have no choice but the weight sinks back and there's nothing you can do to stop it. My personal trainer a few years back told me that if I didn't throw up occasionally then I wasn't giving it my all. I chose to not work hard enough to vomit, still made much better than average gains. Remember to keep breathing while you do this. Otherwise internal pressure inside the body can build up to dangerous levels and interfere with the heart. As for guys getting dizzy, personally I would stop my workout immediately and seek medical advice if the dizziness didn't pass quickly. It could indicate a dangerous rise in blood pressure, for example. (I'm not a doctor but I've done some reading too, like you have).
Lewis, Tim recommends Occam's protocol which is a simplified version of the Geek to Freak for most trainees esp. beginners to HIT. The principles are the same. As for the failure, I agree with Nick. I'd just like to add that you should hold the weight at the point that you can't lift any higher, for 10-20 seconds, then spend another 10-20+ seconds lowering the weight VERY slowly, millimeter by millimeter. Preferably use a timer as it's easy to lose count of the time while you're pushing hard. Remember that it's the last rep that really counts. The rest are just a warm-up. Also, if you youtube "body by science", you should be able to find some examples of trainees pushing to complete failure (although the cadence is 10/10 in that program and the rest between the exercises is not 3 minutes.) As for the breathing, I suggest that you just keep your mouth open and maybe relax your face while concentrating on pushing the weight as hard as you can, as if you had a gun to your head.
I'm again. How much more weight do you use? What like is your increase in lbs? Yours, Chris
yep, that's correct. It's when you simply can't move the weight anymore, and you can't even begin another rep (or finish the last one), . That's failure
I'm not sure you could even achieve that much muscle using steroids. Still, this will be a fun site to show people as examples of the kind of things not to believe on the internet and how common sense can reveal frauds.
Dom S. I believe the purpose of ALA is the same as citrus acid and other acids before big meals; inducing secretion of somatostatin by lowering pH by ingesting acidic foods. Somatostatin, in turn, inhibits the release of insulin, making fat-retention from all the excess carbs/fat smaller. I don't think a little insulin will modulate your growth hormone a lot, since insulin is required to lower your blood sugar and retain any nutrient, even amino acids in the form of muscle. I'd not worry about lowering your GH, but keep ingesting ALA before high-carb/fat meals. As Tim says, it blunts the insulin-response and stabilizes the blood sugar; high blood sugar = lower growth-hormone. In my opinion, keep ingesting ALA before cheat-meals. Protein-synthesis is highest not immediately post-workout, but studies show it's higher 24h+ post-workout than 6h post-workout. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HGH http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatostatin
Dom I just kept reading a bit and probably found what you were looking for: GLUT-4 which transports glucose into muscle is insulin-regulated. Inhibiting insuling, by taking ALA, will inhibit GLUT-4. Less of your PW-carbs will be retained as glycogen. IMO: Post-workout, feel free to eat those carbs, GLUT-4 transports it, retained as glycogen. Skip ALA, it inhibits insulin, thus inhibiting glut-4. OBS: Given wikipedia isn't bullshitting me! 😉 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLUT4
Also, where most people fail to gain weight is either rest, eating, or just plain working out incorrectly. You should be able to gain if you do things correctly. I am eating much more food than I thought I needed in order to gain weight. At timesyou will probably be eating even if you aren't hungry. You also need to rest multiple days in between workouts. 3 days between workouts is definitely alright. And as you grow, it is important that you increase the rest time, as Tim said. A large issue I noticed from my friends, is how they workout. They actually workout often, and they still don't understand true failure. If your muscles don't feel like they are on fire as you are lifting.. Then you aren't doing the workout correctly, and your workout will be pointless. Muscle failure is essential for this regimen to work.
If you wan more strength gain and less workout variables. Do 5 reps of 5 sets and eat the slow carb diet. 3 days a week. 1 day of rest.
You never know how people will feel… And why do you think the methods are unnatural? Its eating, exercise and bio-chemistry. Not really any magic or voodoo; Tim just highlights the little things that have the most impact/effect. Tim is consistent and hey, the book makes a lot more sense the most politicians… 😉 The method is really Brilliant, and Tim has a very admirable way of thinking.
Sounds pretty crazy, eh? You need to keep in mind that Tim was recovering lost muscle mass, not building new muscle mass. One of our Bony to Beastly guys, Obe, just gained 26 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks. He started off skinny and having never been able to gain weight in the past. He responded extremely well to finally eating and training properly for muscle growth. And Obe's just a regular dude. My incredibly tiny roommate gained 22 pounds of muscle in 4 weeks when he first started out. If you train and eat incredibly smart it's amazing what you can accomplish when you're either somewhat of a beginner or recovering lost muscle mass.
"3500 calories per pound of muscle times his 34 pounds over 28 days equates to 4250 calories per day plus average BMR for a 146 lb male of 200 brings him up to 6250 clean calories per day. Good luck eating that, much less losing fat while doing say. i call BS." What's BS is your calculation, there are 3500 calories in a pound of fat not muscle so you have based your calculation on faulty data.
Agreed. He could have posted the before and after pics with a more realistic timeframe and probably sold more product. As is, only the young and gullible, who tend not to have much to spend, will be taken in. But he's the businessman so maybe he has discovered that this is his niche and the market where he'll do best.