Tim Ferriss Wants to Change Everything You Know About Fitness

December 2, 2016 5:00 am
attends InsideHook's San Francisco Launch on August 20, 2013 in San Francisco, California.
Tim Ferriss at InsideHook’s San Francisco launch on August 20, 2013, in San Francisco, California (Getty Images)

 

Tim Ferriss established himself as a man willing to attack conventional thinking with the publication of The 4-Hour Workweek. Now he’s done the same for fitness. His podcast allowed him to interview many world-class athletes, and he attempted to discover their secrets. He notes he tried to approach them as an “experimenter”: “If I can’t personally test something and replicate the results in the messy reality of everyday life, I’m not interested.” He published the findings—including many that are non-health related—in Tools of the Titans.

He also focused the material meant to maximize how your body operates for Outside magazine. RealClearLife curated a list of the highlights below. Among the surprises:

The secret to massaging your post-workout muscles. Ferriss found that the plug-in version of the Hitachi Magic Wand “when set on high, delivers the precise hertz most helpful for relaxing hypertonic (chronically tensed) muscles.”

Ferriss suggests focusing on gymnastics. As he puts it: “There’s no strong like gymnast strong.” (He also notes it has proved exceptionally beneficial to his health and particularly flexibility as a guy nearing 40.)

When feeling low, look to Instagram. Ferriss advises loading your “feed with images and video that obliterate B.S. reasons for copping out.” (For instance, if you’re feeling too old to get in shape, find the person who transformed their body at 60.)

Ice like there’s no tomorrow. Ferriss has become a huge champion of a method that involves filling your tub with “30 to 40 pounds of ice,” noting it can “aid in exercise recovery and, according to many advocates, improve immune function, increase fat loss, and dramatically elevate mood.”

Find a favorite song and loop it. Ferriss urges 10 to 20 minutes of meditation a day, but feels “meditation-like activities can be just as powerful.” Repeating a song over and over is one simple way to induce that state.

To learn more about Ferriss’ tips, click here. Below, watch him go deeper into training with his discussion of “The 4-Hour Body.”

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