The 4-Hour Body
Encyclopedia
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman (2010) is the second book by bestselling American writer Tim Ferriss.
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Two facts informed his choice for his new book's topic:
Firstly, he felt he did not want to write another book on business, as “I've said what I have to say about business. [...] I don't want to be 'The 4-Hour Workweek' guy; I'd prefer to be known for the way I approach the craft of writing and storytelling.” Secondly, of the top ten Google searches bringing visitors to his weblog, four searches were some variation on “lose weight”. That, as he put it, left him with “no Option B. [...] my next book was going to be The 4-Hour Body, or I wasn’t going to write another book.”
Ferriss spent three years interviewing over 200 experts, ranging from doctors
to athletes to black-market drug salesmen. He said that he had recorded every workout he had done since the age of 18, and from 2004 (three years before his first book was published) he had tracked a variety of blood chemistry measurements, including insulin
levels, hemoglobin A1c, and free testosterone.
The 4-Hour Body was published on December 14, 2010.
.
's lists and was one of Amazon
's top 5 bestselling books for December 2010 and January 2011.
Reviews for the book have been mostly positive, with The New York Times saying “it’s among the craziest, most breathless things I’ve ever read, and I’ve read Klaus Kinski, Dan Brown and Snooki.” The book has been profiled in most world publications including CNN
, The Huffington Post
, Wired
, USA Today
, TechCrunch
, The New York Post and Forbes
. Ferriss has been criticized for dispensing medical advice while not being a certified doctor or nutritionist
.
put it, "get drunk with bloggers." One week before the book’s release, Ferriss announced “The Land Rush,” a promotion where he awarded prizes to people that bought one of The 4-Hour Body package deals. His marketing efforts proved to be successful, as The 4-Hour Body beat out The Guinness Book of World Records to debut at #1.
Background
Ferriss's first book, and the one that made him famous, was The 4-Hour WorkweekThe 4-Hour Workweek
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich is a semi-autobiographical self-help book written by Timothy Ferriss, an American writer, educational activist, and entrepreneur....
.
Two facts informed his choice for his new book's topic:
Firstly, he felt he did not want to write another book on business, as “I've said what I have to say about business. [...] I don't want to be 'The 4-Hour Workweek' guy; I'd prefer to be known for the way I approach the craft of writing and storytelling.” Secondly, of the top ten Google searches bringing visitors to his weblog, four searches were some variation on “lose weight”. That, as he put it, left him with “no Option B. [...] my next book was going to be The 4-Hour Body, or I wasn’t going to write another book.”
Ferriss spent three years interviewing over 200 experts, ranging from doctors
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
to athletes to black-market drug salesmen. He said that he had recorded every workout he had done since the age of 18, and from 2004 (three years before his first book was published) he had tracked a variety of blood chemistry measurements, including insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
levels, hemoglobin A1c, and free testosterone.
The 4-Hour Body was published on December 14, 2010.
Synopsis
Ferriss describes The 4-Hour Body as "unlike any diet or fitness book...It’s more like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book for the human body, full of ridiculous stories, practical philosophies, and larger-than-life characters." The book covers over 50 topics, including rapid fat loss, increasing strength, boosting endurance and polyphasic sleepPolyphasic sleep
Polyphasic sleep, a term coined by early 20th-century psychologist J.S. Szymanski, refers to the practice of sleeping multiple times in a 24-hour period—usually more than two, in contrast to biphasic sleep or monophasic sleep . It does not imply any particular sleep schedule...
.
Reception
The 4-Hour Body debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List and has spent 3 weeks in the top 3. It peaked at #4 on both the Wall Street Journal and USA TodayUSA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
's lists and was one of Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
's top 5 bestselling books for December 2010 and January 2011.
Reviews for the book have been mostly positive, with The New York Times saying “it’s among the craziest, most breathless things I’ve ever read, and I’ve read Klaus Kinski, Dan Brown and Snooki.” The book has been profiled in most world publications including CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
, Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, TechCrunch
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is a web publication that offers technology news and analysis, as well as profiling of startup companies, products, and websites. It was founded by Michael Arrington in 2005, and was first published on June 11, 2005....
, The New York Post and Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
. Ferriss has been criticized for dispensing medical advice while not being a certified doctor or nutritionist
Nutritionist
A nutritionist is a person who advises on matters of food and nutrition impacts on health. Different professional terms are used in different countries, employment settings and contexts — some examples include: nutrition scientist, public health nutritionist, dietitian-nutritionist, clinical...
.
Marketing and release
Ferriss’s initial goal for The 4-Hour Body was to beat out the Guiness Book of World Records for the #1 spot on The New York Times bestseller list for the third week of December, which Guinness traditionally dominated. Two weeks before the book’s release, Ferriss released a 60 second trailer for The 4-Hour Body, which he credits with pushing the book’s Amazon sales rank from #150 to #30. He focused much of his marketing plan on connecting with various bloggers within the fitness and exercise community, or as tech blogger Robert ScobleRobert Scoble
Robert Scoble is an American blogger, technical evangelist, and author. Scoble is best known for his blog, Scobleizer, which came to prominence during his tenure as a technology evangelist at Microsoft. He is married to Maryam Ghaemmaghami Scoble. He has three children; one from a previous...
put it, "get drunk with bloggers." One week before the book’s release, Ferriss announced “The Land Rush,” a promotion where he awarded prizes to people that bought one of The 4-Hour Body package deals. His marketing efforts proved to be successful, as The 4-Hour Body beat out The Guinness Book of World Records to debut at #1.