Cover of The 4-Hour Body

The 4-Hour Body

An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman

by Timothy Ferriss · first published 2010

67mentions
32recommended by
62HN commenters
2010–2026first – last mentioned

52% recommend39% neutral10% critical

Why HN recommends it

Practical, minimum-effort approach to diet, fitness and body changes, built around the Slow-Carb diet. Readers credit it with real fat loss and sustainable habits; suits people wanting efficient results.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

The 4-Hour Body is the result of an obsessive quest, spanning more than a decade, to hack the human body. It contains the collective wisdom of hundreds of elite athletes, dozens of MDs, and thousands of hours of jaw-dropping personal experimentation. From Olympic training centers to black-market laboratories, from Silicon Valley to South Africa, Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, fixated on one life-changing question: For all things physical, what are the tiniest changes that produce the biggest results? Thousands of tests later, this book cont

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Mentions per year

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What Hacker News says

  • Aramgutang · Dec 27, 2011 · Recommends

    "The 4-Hour Body", by Tim Ferriss. Because of that book, within 3 months I went from running completely out of breath after 2 minutes of running, to finishing a half-marathon in 2 hours. And during the prior 3 months,…

    on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011” ↗
  • claudiusd · May 27, 2012 · Recommends

    I suggest checking out the 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss: http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Body-Incredible-Superhuman/... The book describes efficient, sustainable ways achieve changes in your body, the premise being to make changes with…

    on “Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously” ↗
  • akulbe · Dec 25, 2014 · Recommends

    The Personal MBA - Josh Kaufman The First 20 Hours - Josh Kaufman So Good They Can't Ignore You - Cal Newport The 4-Hour Workweek - Tim Ferriss The 4-Hour Body - Tim Ferriss Stop Acting Rich - Thomas J. Stanley James Altucher - Choose Yourself

    on “Please recommend a book to read. List for 2015” ↗
  • triceratops · May 1, 2020 · Recommends

    …dropshipping and peddling their e-courses and newsletters to everyone else for a living - it makes no sense on a macro level. It's still a fun, breezy read and opens your eyes to other possibilities. IMO The 4-hour Body is way more useful and practical. Pretty much everyone who reads it can find something that will benefit them.

    on “The weird, get-rich-quick world of dropshipping” ↗
  • nyjah · May 14, 2022 · Recommends

    I see a lot of people mentioning counting calories and I've never had success doing that. I stick with Tim Ferris's 4 hour body method of only consuming meat beans and vegetables and getting the 1 cheat day or meal. There are a few other rules like eating 20g of protein right when you wake up, but I can't recommend his book enough…

    on “You're Not Losing Fat Because You're Eating Too Damn Much (2016)” ↗
  • fraqed · Dec 28, 2013 · Recommends

    …book doesn't have to be from 2013 only that you read it during the year and it in some way changed your life. The most significant book for me was in the area of health and fitness as I finally read The 4-Hour Body (2010) by Tim Ferris. I'd read about many of the topics he covers before but they just didn't stick until The 4-Hour Body. What I like about Tim's approach is that one should experiment to see what works…

    on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2013?” ↗
  • Soupy · Dec 10, 2010 · Recommends

    …season since it seems like many of us have similar interests and tastes. Personally, this is my (small) list: - subscription to Fast Company - Delivering Happiness (book) - Do More Faster (book) - The 4 Hour Body (book) - Tie Fighter Lego Set (always need at least one Star Wars gift) - Synology 110j NAS server So what awesome things are you asking for?

    on “Ask HN: What do you want for Christmas?” ↗
  • lachyg · Jan 8, 2011 · Recommends

    Hey HN, I've recently read the '4-Hour Body' and got pretty inspired. Started the diet and muscle program. Have seen great results so far. Then saw a supplementation chapter, and decided to see about creating the actual stack. I then contacted…

    on “Ask HN: Review my side project” ↗
  • ryanwaggoner · Feb 2, 2011 · Recommends

    …to quit my job and start freelancing, spend three months traveling through Asia, build some online passive income streams, and generally have a healthier respect towards my time and how I spend it. The 4 Hour Body has led me to completely change my diet over the last 6-8 weeks and I feel incredible, better than I have in a long time. I know I'm not the only one, but am I the only one on HN?

    on “The 4-Hour Dentist” ↗
  • bgraves · May 19, 2011 · Recommends

    In a nutshell, get Tim Ferriss's book: The 4-Hour Body [1] I got it last December and have slowly, but steadily implementing some of the strategies he prescribes. You don't necessarily have to follow everything he suggests (and probably couldn't) but it's…

    on “Ask HN: Hacking your body?” ↗
  • courtneypowell · Oct 16, 2011 · Recommends

    …putting the right type of food in your body is equally important. For many people, decreasing the amount of carbohydrates after breakfast can provide enormous energy gains. I recommend reading Tim Ferris' 4 Hour Body for some interesting advice on diet, exercise and a very detailed chapter on sleep.

    on “Tired of Being Tired” ↗
  • irthomasthomas · Jul 27, 2021 · Recommends

    …insight came from observing addiction in others, and experimenting over the course of a decade. However, the two books which I guess started me on this journey are Why We Get Fat by Garry Taube [0] and The 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferris [1]. Both of these books take a scientific approach to diet (which is governed by habit and addiction, after all). I will say this, I am convinced that for a lot of addictions, all you…

    on “Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage” ↗
  • PStamatiou · Dec 12, 2010 · Recommends

    …admire Tim as a person. He has done an amazing job making a name for himself. Everything he talks about is ridiculously well-researched. He's not a snakeoil salesman. For example, I have a copy of his book 4 Hour Body.. the thing is 600 pages, mentions no less than 50 doctors with whom he consulted while writing the book and endless citations that support what he says. He has personally helped with some aspects of…

    on “Tim Ferris: 3 More Case Studies of Successful Cash-Flow Businesses” ↗
  • georgieporgie · Nov 27, 2011 · Recommends

    It sounds like you might want to read Tim Ferriss's book, The 4-Hour Body. I'm not aware of anyone else who has 'hacked' their diet as much as him. My tip is to eat double-fiber bread. Also, it's generally expected that vitamin D recommendations will be increased significantly.…

    on “Ask HN: Have you hacked your nutrition?” ↗
  • ellyagg · Dec 28, 2011 · Recommends

    Yep, 25 lbs. It's not unheard of. You can do google searches to read up on some other peoples' experiences, but presumably you won't believe them either. You could read 4 Hour Body, which has pics, but I guess you won't believe that either. I don't know what to tell you, but it happened. You could ask anyone at the SEM firm I work at, many of whom I convinced to do CrossFit with…

    on “The Fat Trap: Our Bodies Are Fighting Against Us” ↗

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