| The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman | |
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| Author(s) | Tim Ferriss |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject(s) | Health & Fitness, Weight Loss, Diet, Self-help |
| Genre(s) | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Crown Publishing Group |
| Publication date | December 14, 2010 |
| Pages | 592 pp |
| ISBN | 978-0307463630 |
| Preceded by | The 4-Hour Workweek |
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.[1]
Contents |
Ferriss's first book, and the one that made him famous, was The 4-Hour Workweek. 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.”[2][3] Secondly, of the top ten Google searches bringing visitors to his weblog, four searches were some variation on “lose weight”. [2] 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.”[2]
Ferriss spent three years interviewing over 200 experts, ranging from doctors to athletes to black-market drug salesmen. [4] 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.[2]
The 4-Hour Body was published on December 14, 2010.
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."[5] The book covers over 50 topics, including rapid fat loss, increasing strength, boosting endurance and polyphasic sleep.[6]
The 4-Hour Body debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List and has spent 3 weeks in the top 3.[7][8][9] It peaked at #4 on both the Wall Street Journal and USA Today's lists and was one of Amazon's top 5 bestselling books for December 2010 and January 2011.[10][11][12][13]
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.[14][2][15][16][3][4][17] Ferriss has been criticized for dispensing medical advice while not being a certified doctor or nutritionist.[4]
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.[18] 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.[2][19] He focused much of his marketing plan on connecting with various bloggers within the fitness and exercise community, or as tech blogger Robert Scoble put it, "get drunk with bloggers."[20] 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.[18] His marketing efforts proved to be successful, as The 4-Hour Body beat out The Guinness Book of World Records to debut at #1.[2]