I don’t understand your PDF on supplements.  Do you have a very simple daily (on the program and on cheat day) list for 4-hour body?

I’ve found a source for AGG and PAGG, but I don’t know when/how to take them on each type of day. What other supplements are important?

Thanks!

If you have read the 4-Hour Body it is easy to get lost in the details.

I have created several 4-Hour Body cheat sheets to address this problem previously but even these have been a bit too complex.

My solution to this problem is this brand new and extremely improved cheat sheet below. It combines the 4-Hour Body fat loss protocols into one easy page with the addition of cheat day guidelines.

I have added three essential morning supplements to the list:

• Vitamin D3 (drops are superior to tablets)
• Fish Oil (I love Green Pastures and so does Tim)
• a daily Probiotic (there are many options but this is a solid choice)

The addition of these 3 supplements has made a noticeable difference among my patients who start the slow carb diet.

This cheat sheet is available online and on the site. You can download it for free with a Like or a Tweet.  If you prefer it is available for download and print for $1.99 on Scribd.

Download the Simple 4-Hour Body Slow-Carb Diet Fat Loss Cheat Sheet With Cheat Day Requirements 

[sociallocker id=8794]Thank you for your support here is your PDF FILE [/sociallocker]

4-Hour Body Slow Carb Diet Fat Loss Cheat Sheet With Cheat Day Requirements

Simple 4-Hour Body Slow Carb Diet Fat Loss Cheat Sheet With Cheat Day Requirements by www.4hourlife.com

Product links included in the cheat sheet

• P.A.G.G. combined (this is my favorite)
• Vitamin D3 (drops are superior to tablets)
• Fish Oil (I love Green Pastures and so does Tim)
• Probiotic (there are many options but this is a solid choice)
• magnesium, calcium and Potassium (can use “lite salt” on breakfast to avoid added potassium tabs)
• Cold Pack (much easier than a cold shower)

Also for a basic look at the principles of the slow carb diet you can see my cheat sheet here.

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Positive Constraints

What are positive constraints? They are walls we intentionally put up that dramatically restrict whatever it is that we are trying to do.

Tim uses this idea to revisit Parkinson’s Law originally mentioned in the 4-Hour Workweek.  Parkinson’s Law states that “In the world of work, a task will swell in complexity to fill the time you allot it.”

Have you ever wondered?

• How does so much get done just before you leave for holidays?
• All the items lingering on your to-do list for weeks or months?

This is the the power of the: Clear and Imminent Deadline

Parkinson law, though vastly simplified, can be seen in the world of cooking.  Le Chatelier’s Principle is invoked to remember that a gas will expand to fill the size of its container.  

Keep Your Container Small

So… all we have to do is create a tiny container right?  Tim recommends we accomplish this goal by creating a “one-pager”.

“The goal here is to make something intimidating unintimidating, so you don’t quit. You have the rest of your life to seek out and master the exceptions, to be comprehensive, if you want.”

In the 4-Hour Chef Tim uses two different types of one-pagers as examples, they are included as “cut-outs” from within the book.

• The first is the “Prescriptive One-Pager”
  
• The second is the “Practice One-Pager”

If you are like me, you probably don’t like cutting into your beautiful new copy of The 4-Hour Chef.  So I took one for the team and have reproduced each cut out here as an  8.5″/11″ printable page.

The Prescriptive One-Pager:

Which lists principles that help you generate real-world examples. In short: “Here are the rules.” Tim provides a prescriptive one-pager for almost all of the recipes in the 4-Hour Chef.

The Practice One-Pager:

Which lists real-world examples to practice that indirectly teach the principles. For this he summarizes the 4-Hour Body Slow Carb Diet.

The Pressure Cooker

Le Chatelier’s Principle reminds me of another important point:  As we limit the size of any container, we will increase the pressure of the gas inside. If the container is too small and the gas is heated it will cause the container to burst.

In other words, we must also make sure not to make the container too small so as to allow room for some expansion.

This is a great balancing act, one that often requires pushing the boundaries of ones container and ones imagination.

For a billion other Tim Ferriss “positive constraint” inspired one-pagers check out my comprehensive collection of Free 4-Hour Cheat Sheets, they can also be viewed or downloaded on Scribd.  I have made a quick and easy to manage table of 4-Hour Body Protocols as well as a growing table of 4-Hour Chef Resources by Chapter.

If you have a project your beginning this weekend remember to first create some  “positive constraints”. You could do this by creating your very own one-pager that summarizes your project and the steps involved (use Tim’s examples above as a template).  Then set a “clear and imminent deadline”. This step is crucial as it will reinforce the constraints you set in the previous step and push back against any over-expanding gas! One thing is for sure, if you are like me and are full of ideas, you are likely also to be full of hot air… Or so my wife tells me

Best wishes, Stephen.

The Slow Carb Diet Better Fat Loss Through Simplicity

5 simple rules to follow

Rule #1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates (or anything that can be white).

Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again.

Rule #3: Don’t drink calories.

Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit.

Rule #5: Take one day off per week and go nuts.

#1: AVOID “WHITE” CARBOHYDRATES

Avoid any carbohydrate that is, or can be, white. The following foods are prohibited; except for within 30 minutes of finishing a resistance-training workout like those described in the “From Geek to Freak” or “Occam’s Protocol” chapters: all bread, rice (including brown), cereal, potatoes, pasta, tortillas, and fried food with breading. If you avoid eating the aforementioned foods and anything else white, you’ll be safe.

#2: EAT THE SAME FEW MEALS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat-loss, eat the same few meals over and over again. There are 47,000 products in the average U.S. grocery store, but only a handful of them won’t make you fat.

#3: DON’T DRINK CALORIES.

Drink massive quantities of water and as much unsweetened tea, coffee (with no more than two tablespoons of cream; I suggest using cinnamon instead), or other no-calorie/low-calorie beverages as you like. Do not drink milk (including soy milk), normal soft drinks, or fruit juice. Limit diet soft drinks to no more than 16 ounces per day if you can, as the aspartame can stimulate weight gain.

I’m a wine fanatic and have one to two glasses of red wine almost every evening. It doesn’t appear to have any negative impact on my rate of fat-loss. Red wine is by no means required for this diet to work, but it’s 100% allowed (unlike white wines and beer, both of which should be avoided). Up to two glasses of red per night, no more.

#4: DON’T EAT FRUIT.

Humans don’t need fruit six days a week, and they certainly don’t need it year-round. If your ancestors were from Europe, for example, how much fruit did they eat in the winter 500 years ago? Think they had Florida oranges in December? Not a chance. But you’re still here, so the lineage somehow survived.

The only exceptions to the no-fruit rule are tomatoes and avocadoes, and the latter should be eaten in moderation (no more than one cup or one meal per day). Otherwise, just say no to fruit and its principal sugar, fructose, which is converted to glycerol phosphate more efficiently than almost all other carbohydrates. Glycerol phosphate → triglycerides (via the liver) → fat storage. There are a few biochemical exceptions to this, but avoiding fruit six days per week is the most reliable policy.

#5: TAKE ONE DAY OFF PER WEEK.

I recommend Saturdays as your Dieters Gone Wild (DGW) day. I am allowed to eat whatever I want on Saturdays, and I go out of my way to eat ice cream, Snickers, Take 5, and all of my other vices in excess. I make myself a little sick each Saturday and don’t want to look at any junk for the rest of the week.

Welcome to Utopia. There are no limits or boundaries during this day of gluttonous enjoyment. There is absolutely no calorie counting on this diet, on this day or any other. Start the diet at least five days before your designated cheat day. If you choose Saturday, for example, I would suggest starting your diet on a Monday.

4 Hour Body Slow Carb Supplement Combo: Click Here

Foods That are OK to Eat

Mix and match from the following list, constructing each meal with one pick from each of the three groups.

I’ve starred the choices that produce the fastest fat-loss for me:

No need to panic you can eat all those wonderful fruits and bread on your cheat day!

Is it Really This Easy?

Start your diet at least five days before the day your appointed cheat day!

Eat as much as you like of the above food items, but keep it simple. Pick three or four meals and repeat them. Almost all restaurants can give you a salad or vegetables in place of French fries, potatoes, or rice. Surprisingly, I have found Mexican food (after swapping out rice for vegetables) to be one of the cuisines most conducive to the Slow-Carb Diet. If you have to pay an extra $1–3 to substitute at a restaurant, consider it your six-pack tax, the nominal fee you pay to be lean.

Most people who go on “low”-carbohydrate diets complain of low energy and quit because they consume insufficient calories. A half-cup of rice is 300 calories, whereas a half-cup of spinach is 15 calories! Vegetables are not calorically dense, so it is critical that you add legumes for caloric load.

Eating more frequently than four times per day might be helpful on higher-carb diets to prevent gorging, but it’s not necessary with the ingredients we’re using. Eating more frequent meals also appears to have no enhancing effect on resting metabolic rate, despite claims to the contrary. Frequent meals can be used in some

Resources:

1. Slow carb diet English/Spanish patient handouts
2. Four Hour Body Food Matrix
3. How to get 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up

I have adapted it from Loren Cordain’s wonderful book whose Paleo rules compliment the lean protein recommendations of the Slow Carb Diet.

I have included a condensed version (cheat sheet) for download as well.

Lean Meats, Seafood & Shellfish – The 4 Hour Body Diet

LEAN MEATS

With the 4 Hour Body Diet I encourage you to eat as much high-quality real animal foods that you can get your hands on.

Obviously, the closer you can get to wild, the better off you’ll be when it comes to the fatty acid profile and the nutrient content of your meat.

Game meat is not necessary for the 4 Hour Body Diet, but if you want to be adventuresome, try some. It’s nutritious and adds a unique flavor and twist to any meal. Game meat is pricey (unless you hunt or know hunters), and typically only available at specialty markets, farmers’ markets, and certain butcher stores. Use the following list to help you select healthy meats.

LEAN BEEF

• Flank steak • Top sirloin steak • Extra-lean hamburger (extra fat drained off) • London broil • Chuck steak • Lean veal • Any other lean cut

LEAN LAMB

• Grass-fed lamb chops from Australia or New Zealand • Grass-fed lamb roasts from Australia or New Zealand

LEAN PORK

• Pork loin • Pork chops • Any other lean cut

LEAN POULTRY (white meat, skin removed)

• Chicken breast • Turkey breast • Game hen breast

OTHER MEATS

• Rabbit meat (any cut) • Goat meat (any cut) • Escargot

ORGAN MEATS

• Beef, lamb, pork, and chicken liver • Beef, pork, and lamb tongue • Beef, lamb, and pork marrow • Beef, lamb, and pork sweetbreads

GAME MEAT

• Alligator or crocodile • Bear • Bison or buffalo • Caribou • Elk • Emu • Frog legs • Goose • Kangaroo • Muscovy duck • New Zealand Cervena deer • Ostrich • Pheasant • Quail • Rattlesnake • Reindeer • Squab • Squirrel • Turtle • Venison • Wild boar • Wild turkey

Fish, Seafood, and Shellfish

Fish, seafood, and shellfish are some of the healthiest animal foods you can eat, and they should be a cornerstone of the 4 Hour Body Diet.  They are rich sources of the healthy long-chain omega 3 fatty acids known as EPA and DHA. Fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, and herring, are particularly rich in both of these long-chain omega 3 fatty acids. Try to include fish in your menu at least three times a week.

FISH

• Bass • Bluefish • Cod • Drum • Eel • Flatfish • Grouper • Haddock • Halibut • Herring • Mackerel • Monkfish • Mullet • Northern pike • Orange roughy • Perch • Red snapper • Rockfish • Salmon • Scrod • Shark • Striped bass • Sunfish • Tilapia • Trout • Tuna • Turbot • Walleye • Any commercially available fish

SHELLFISH

• Abalone • Calamari (squid) • Crab • Crayfish • Lobster • Mussels • Octopus • Oysters • Scallops • Shrimp

In addition to being an excellent source of EPA and DHA, fish and seafood represent one of our best high-protein foods. The high protein content is central to many of its weight-loss benefits. Protein helps you to lose weight more rapidly by raising your metabolism while simultaneously curbing your hunger. Additionally, protein lowers your total blood cholesterol

Downloadable Shopping List

Here is a quick summary of the 6 “Core Movements”

1. Pushups
2. Squats
3. Pull-ups
4. Leg Raises
5. Bridges
6. Handstand Pushups

Today we are going to focus on the third of “The Big Six Movements”:

Movement Three: Pull-ups

This is meant to be a supplement to the book as it is imperative to understand the correct implementation of each movement and the history behind them.

You can preview and download the Convict Conditioning Movement Three Pull-Up Cheat Sheet Here.

1. Vertical Pulls Beginner Standard: 1 set of 10 Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 20 Progression Standard 3 sets of 40
2. Horizontal Pulls Beginner Standard: 1 set of 10 Intermediate Standard 2 sets of 20 Progression Standard 3 sets of 30
3. Jacknife Pulls Beginner Standard: 1 set of 10 Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 15 Progression Standard: 3 sets of 20
4. Half Pullups Beginner Standard: 1 set of 8 Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 11 Progression Standard: 2 sets of 15
5. Full Pullups Beginner Standard: 1 set of 5 Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 8 Progression Standard: 2 sets of 10
6. Close Pullups Beginner Standard: 1 set of 5 Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 8 Progression Standard: 2 sets of 10
7. Uneven Pullups Beginner Standard: 1 set of 5 (both sides) Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 7 (both sides) Progression Standard: 2 sets of 9 (both sides)
8. 1/2 One-Arm Pullups Beginner Standard: 1 set of 4 (both sides) Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 6 (both sides) Progression Standard: 2 sets of 8 (both sides)
9. Assisted One-Arm Pullups  Beginner Standard: 1 set of 3 (both sides) Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 5 (both sides) Progression Standard: 2 sets of 7 (both sides)
10. Master Step: One-Arm Pullups Beginner Standard: 1 set of 1 (both sides) Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 3 (both sides) Master: 2 sets of 6 (both sides)

Preview and download the 3’rd of 7 upcoming Convict Conditioning Cheat Sheets Here.  Or on Scribd.

Previous Convict Conditioning Cheat Sheets:

1. Pushup
2. Squats

Series Progression Chart Convict Conditioning – Pull-ups

Training Programs: (for the Busy “Convict”)

The New Blood (Step 1)	Good Behavior (Step 2)
Practice this program, or a similar routine, during your early work on the ten steps. Once you get past Step 6 on all four of the exercises mentioned, it’s time to move to the next program.	• Good Behavior can be worked into almost anybody’s busy schedule. • This program can (and should) be used by any athlete to achieve solid strength gains-no matter how advanced they are.
The Veterano (step 3)	Solitary Confinement (step 4)
This workout is good for those with limited time on their hands. Sessions can often be completed in under six or seven minutes per day! Recovery is actually pretty fast during this program because the athlete never works the upper or lower body two days in a row. The exercises alternate in the most efficient manner possible. For athletes looking to gain strength and work their way up through the ten steps, this routine can be very productive. Because only one exercise is performed on a given day, the athlete can really focus and give his all.	This program includes ancillary work for the grip, neck, and calves. If you like the idea of trying these extras, but can’t take the daily workload, add a day’s rest between training sessions, or whenever you feel the need . This program is mean. Unless you are in good shape and living clean-regular meals, plenty of sleep, etc.-be prepared to get bullied, big time.

Best of luck, and if you are reading this in jail, please let us know in the comments section below so I can contact my inside connections and send you updates! 

You can sign up to receive updates via RSS or email or sign up for the upcoming 4 Hour University! If any of this info helped please share with a like!

Because it is fully in line with the 4 Hour Life and a mobile, location independent lifestyle. Occam’s Protocol requires fifteen minutes to get to the gym x 2, plus a 20 minute workout plus the cost of the gym membership = More not less! I will be combining 1 (or possibly 2) short Occam’s Protocol sessions each week with this callisthenic program and I predict much better results in much less time. Good by vacation gut!

Today we are going to look at the squats portion from the book Convict Conditioning. You can see the first (pushups portion) in my last post.

Some of you may be tempted to just launch into your training by scanning the exercises in
this book, maybe discovering the hardest techniques you can do, or just attempting
whatever catches your eye and looks cool. This is not training. This is playing.
Training requires discipline and focus. It requires the discrimination to know where to start, the knowledge of what to do, the insight into when to really push, and the wisdom to understand when to stop. It requires regime. – Paul “The Coach” Wade

Here is a quick summary of the 6 “Core Movements”

1. Pushups
2. Squats
3. Pull Ups
4. Leg Raises
5. Bridges
6. Handstand Pushups

Today we are going to focus on the second of “The Big Six Movements”:

Movement Two: Squats

This is meant to be a supplement to the book as it is imperative to understand the correct implementation of each movement and the history behind them.

You can preview and download the Convict Conditioning Movement Two Squat Cheat Sheet Here.

1. Shoulderstand Squats Beginner Standard: 1 set of 10 Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 25 Progression Standard 3 sets of 50
2. Jacknife Squats Beginner Standard: 1 set of 10 Intermediate Standard 2 sets of 20 Progression Standard 3 sets of 40
3. Supported Squats Beginner Standard: 1 set of 10 Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 15 Progression Standard: 3 sets of 30
4. Half Squats Beginner Standard: 1 set of 8 Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 35 Progression Standard: 2 sets of 50
5. Full Squats Beginner Standard: 1 set of 5 Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 10 Progression Standard: 2 sets of 30
6. Close Squats Beginner Standard: 1 set of 5 Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 10 Progression Standard: 2 sets of 20
7. Uneven Squats Beginner Standard: 1 set of 5 (both sides) Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 10 (both sides) Progression Standard: 2 sets of 20 (both sides)
8. 1/2 One-Leg Squats Beginner Standard: 1 set of 5 (both sides) Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 10 (both sides) Progression Standard: 2 sets of 20 (both sides)
9. Assisted One Leg Squats  Beginner Standard: 1 set of 5 (both sides) Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 10 (both sides) Progression Standard: 2 sets of 20 (both sides)
10. Master Step: One Leg Squats Beginner Standard: 1 set of 5 (both sides) Intermediate Standard: 2 sets of 10 (both sides) Master: 2 sets of 50 (both sides)

Preview and download the second of 7 upcoming Convict Conditioning Cheat Sheets Here.

Training Programs: (for the Busy “Convict”)

The New Blood (Step 1)	Good Behavior (Step 2)
Practice this program, or a similar routine, during your early work on the ten steps. Once you get past Step 6 on all four of the exercises mentioned, it’s time to move to the next program.	• Good Behavior can be worked into almost anybody’s busy schedule. • This program can (and should) be used by any athlete to achieve solid strength gains-no matter how advanced they are.
The Veterano (step 3)	Solitary Confinement (step 4)
This workout is good for those with limited time on their hands. Sessions can often be completed in under six or seven minutes per day! Recovery is actually pretty fast during this program because the athlete never works the upper or lower body two days in a row. The exercises alternate in the most efficient manner possible. For athletes looking to gain strength and work their way up through the ten steps, this routine can be very productive. Because only one exercise is performed on a given day, the athlete can really focus and give his all.	This program includes ancillary work for the grip, neck, and calves. If you like the idea of trying these extras, but can’t take the daily workload, add a day’s rest between training sessions, or whenever you feel the need . This program is mean. Unless you are in good shape and living clean-regular meals, plenty of sleep, etc.-be prepared to get bullied, big time.

Best of luck, and if you are reading this in jail, please let us know in the comments section below so I can figure out a way to send you updates! 

You can sign up to receive updates via RSS or email or sign up for the upcoming 4 Hour University! If any of this info helped please share with a like!

I am sure that this is not yet streamlined enough but it fits on 2 pages and is a good way to get my patients engaged in a conversation about a slow carbohydrate approach to their lifestyle change.  As I have mentioned before this diet seems to work best in those with some degree of insulin resistance. I will give you my 365 day update as we roll into the new year and let you know how my patients have been doing in the long term. I think this is really the best indicator of success of any dietary protocol.

Please feel free to download, distribute, update and propagate this material as you see fit. I am always looking for suggestions on how to make this better for my patients. Any comments or recommendations on how this could be made better is always appreciated.

Download: (WORD) (PDF)

The Four Hour Body Slow Carb Diet ENGLISH

The Tim Ferriss On-Pager (new 2013)

Here is the Spanish Version as well. I have been told that the translation isn’t perfect, but it is good for getting the point across.

Download: (WORD) (PDF)

4 Hour Body Slow Carb Diet Spanish

You can sign up to receive updates via RSS or email, join us on Facebook or sign up for the much anticipated (at least by myself) 4 Hour University.

It all started one warm July day, when the sun was calling and the GYM well, you know the story… really wasn’t calling.

I was about 2 months into Occam’s Protocol and really enjoying the sequence. But I happened to pick up a wonderful book that Tim Ferriss himself recommends in the 4 Hour Body.

The Book: Body By Science

If you buy the book (which you should) you will learn more about the human body and its relationship to exercise than you had ever imagined was possible.

I can guarantee one thing: If you read this book you will never return to your old workout routine again.

What you are about to read is a product of my first 5 months of “field” testing.  A product of what I have read, and what I have found while doing Occam’s Protocol and searching for the most streamlined approach possible.

In “Body By Science” we are introduced to the foundation behind Occam’s Protocol.  A well tested method for building muscle.

The program consists exclusively of compound exercises – those that involve rotation around several joint axes – and thus involve several muscle groups per exercise.

These exercises are big but simple movements that involve multiple muscle groups and are also easy for the average person to coordinate and perform.

A trainee who is relatively well conditioned and is going to true failure should perform this workout once every 7 days.

The Big 8 Workout

The Big 3:

A Core of 3 will work all the major muscle structures of the body (these will be labeled below under “the big 3”)

1. Chest Press: Upper body “pushing” exercise
2. Lat Pull-down: Upper body “pulling” exercise
3. Leg Press: Lower Body “everything” exercise

Added to this core to create The Big 5 are:

1. Seated Row: Upper Body “pulling” exercise
2. Overhead Press: Upper Body “pushing” exercise

Added to this are 3 exercises from the 4 Hour Body:

1. Myotatic Crunch
2. Cat Vomit
3. The Kettlebell Swing

Total = 8 exercises encompassing all the major muscle structures of the body performed just like Occam’s Protocol with a 5/5 count just once every 7 days.

Let’s take a look at the sequence:

EXERCISE 1 (Big 5):

Seated Row: Upper Body “pulling” exercise

Muscles Recruited

• Latissimus Dorsi
• Rhomboid (draw shoulders together)
• Spinal extensors running from the base of sacrum to the back of the head
• Flexor side of the forearm that flex your wrists and biceps
• And the brachioradialis muscles that bend your arm at the elbow

Exercise 2 (Big 3)

Chest Press: Upper body “pushing” exercise

Muscles Recruited

• Triceps Muscles (to a great extent)
• Deltoid (surrounding the shoulder joint)
• Pectoralis Major and Pectoralis Minor

Exercise 3 (Big 3)

Lat Pull-down: Upper body “pulling” exercise

Muscles Recruited

• Properly performed the pull-down exercise thoroughly activates almost all of the muscles of the torso- front and back
• Latissimus dorsi muscles of the upper back
• The gripping muscles, or forearm flexors
• Biceps:  Although most train the biceps with single-joint movements such as barbell curls, the biceps crosses both the elbow and shoulder joints, so by doing a pull-down that involves rotation around the elbow and the shoulder joint, you’re involving the biceps from both ends.

Exercise 4 (Big 5)

Overhead Press: Immediately after the pull-down, you should move on to the overhead press.When this exercise is performed properly, you will be engaging all of the muscles involved in an upper-body “pushing” movement, similar to those involved in the chest press.

Muscles Recruited

• Triceps
• Deltoid
• Pectoralis Major and Minor

Exercise 5 (Big 3)

Leg Press:   The final exercise in the workout is the leg press, which covers virtually every muscle group in the lower body.

Muscles Recruited

The leg press exercise hits the entire lower body from the waist down, with particular emphasis on the hip and buttock musculature. It also strongly involves the hamstring musculature on the back of the thighs and the quadriceps musculature located on the front of the thighs, and to some extent, there is also rotation around the ankle joint, which serves to recruit and load the gastrocnemius (calf) muscles of the lower leg. There are many leg press machines from which to choose, with varying pressing angles. Any of them will do the job, but the larger the angle is from linear (straight up and down), the less resistance you are moving (in much the same way that pushing your car horizontally down a street would be much easier than pushing it directly overhead). Exceptions to this would be both Nautilus and MedX leg press machines that make use of offset cams to vary the resistance properly.

Exercise 6 (4HB)

Myotatic Crunch

Muscles Recruited:

• Rectus Abdominis
• Internal Oblique
• External Oblique

Exercise 7 (4HB)

Cat Vomit

Muscles Recruited

• Transverse abdominis

Exercise 8 (4HB)

The Kettlebell Swing

Muscles Recruited:

• Hamstrings
• Glutes
• Core/Abs
• Back (all parts from the lower back all the way to the traps)
• Arms/Forearms

The beauty of the Big 8 Workout is

• The above routine can be modified to your own needs and time constraints: For example if you do not have time to do all 8 exercises you could perform only the Big 3 or for a more complete program you could perform the Big 5.
• Part of your routine can be performed at the gym with the other part performed at home. For example: I like to do my heavy weight lifting at the gym along with my abdominal routine and do my kettlebell swings later at home.
• It is once every 7 days! This is perfect for anyone who is active in other sports. I love to run, bike, swim, play tennis, etc… For me this one day a week workout routine allows me to do what Tim talks about all the time:  Do more of what I really love to do.

Some recommendations from real world practice

• Start with Occam’s Protocol and use this as your base.  Once you plateau consider transitioning into a BIG 8 WORKOUT.  This way you can get a more complete routine every 7 days.  I think this is a bit better as a long term weight training solution.
• I have not mentioned this here but you could also mix up a partial free weight and machine weight routine for variation. This is something I will discuss and demonstrate in a future blog post.
• In The Body by Science they talk about the BIG 5 routine as the “index fund of workouts”. I love this idea. If you know anything about investing you will know that you can constantly change your funds by chasing the market. The same is true with your workout routine. If you buy a good mix of funds that is well diversified and covers all major parts of the market you will beat the competition 9 times out of ten.
• The Big 8 Workout: Is the only mutual fund you will need. It is well diversified, covers all your major muscle groups and if you stick with it, it will give you long term returns on your investment. Guaranteed!
• Make sure you track your progress. Grab a clipboard and carry it with you while you work out. Write down your weight lifted, and note your seat heights. This is all you need.

Resources

• Kettlebell : Shop around, Amazon has several options, just make sure you purchase one with free shipping. I personally bought a 53 pound bell, it is quite heavy and you may want to start smaller and work your way up. Given the cost it may be cheaper to build one as demonstrated in the book. But I like the size and ease of use of the actual kettlebell.
• Bosu Balance Trainer : Honestly this is a must have. I am lucky enough to have one at my gym. But, if I didn’t I would purchase one. This is the best workout for your abs I have every tried. And it is easy on the back and neck.
• Body by Science: A Research Based Program to Get the Results You Want in 12 Minutes a Week: Simply put, this is a must read!

Related Articles

• Occam’s Protocol Step by Step plus a New and Improved Cheat Sheet
• 4 Hour Body and The Elusive Body Fat: How do you Measure Up?
• Occam’s Protocol Essential’s Toolkit Part Un: Keeping Time!
• The 4-Hour Body Vitamin and Supplement Cheat Sheet

Download the BIG 8 WORKOUT CHEAT SHEET For your reference!

*Pictures and material referenced come from: The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss and The Body by Science by Doug McGuff, M.d., and John Little.)

I will be attempting to answer this question: “Is it safe?” and “Does it work?”

Several major barriers stop most people, including myself,  from beginning these protocols mentioned in the book:

1. Confusion: Where do I purchase these supplements? Which are the best? Which actually have the ingredients mentioned?
2. Safety concerns : Side effects and drug/drug interactions.
3. Cost vs. Actual benefit: Is it effective enough to justify the often high cost?
4. Sustainability: How long can I use these products and are they safe in the long term? What does a long term dosing schedule look like? Would I benefit from “Medication Holidays”?

Most have very little access to high quality evidence based reviews of these Natural Medicines.  Also in the United States most of us do not have much interaction with Natural Medications. It is important that we do view these as “Medications”.  They need to be treated, reviewed, dosed and taken as such.

	These are valid concerns that need to be addressed. To do this I have referenced the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. Probably the best source of information on Natural Medicines in the world.

	They rank each Natural Medicine on The Natural Medicines Brand Evidence-based Rating or “NMBER”. You can read about the NMBER Here.

I will be using this detailed review process with each Vitamin or Supplement mentioned in the 4 Hour Body. Linking both efficacy with safety. Presenting you with a complete monograph of each “Medicine” and a product link to several purchasing options (beyond those made by Tim Ferriss) that have the highest NMBER.

To make this easier I have created a chart with each of the protocols mentioned in the 4 Hour Body.

This Chart will be evolving over the next several weeks as I go into further detail of each of the protocols and the supplements that make up each protocol.

Since we will be constantly referring back to this chart I have decided to include this as a link which can be found directly on the home page. This way you can refer back to this as needed, to review the dosing schedules and link back to the individual supplements.

Tomorrow we will be looking specifically at Policosanol as it shows up in two different protocols in the Four Hour Body.

I chose this first because it has some potential side effects that I think are extremely important and it intrigues me as a viable natural therapy in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia.

Let’s take a look at the individual recommendations as seen in the 4 Hour Body.  Remember this Chart will be the basis of our upcoming reviews and is still in it’s infancy.

Each product I have linked to (besides Body Quick and N.O.-Xplode as they are not listed) has a very high NMBER and is dosed according to Tim’s Guidelines. I was happy to see that most of these were the actual products Tim recommended himself. This goes to show he has done his research!

I will be making more recommendations soon. This chart will be continuously updated and always available here.

Make sure you return tomorrow as we begin our comprehensive review of the Four Hour Body vitamins and supplements with a look at Policosanol.

But for now Good Day and Good Luck!

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“The difference between a warrior and an ordinary man is that a warrior sees everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man sees everything as either a blessing or a curse.”

Don Juan in Carlos Castaneda’s A Separate Peace

There is value in the Four Hour Workweek that goes far beyond how to hire a virtual assistant.

There is value in the Four Hour Body that goes far beyond the perfect posterior.

There is a place in life that rises above money and prestige, status and relationships.

It’s the place where we all want to be. The place that we as entrepreneurs exist and dream.

Where the life we live becomes the art we live to produce.

Your Primary Aim

[note color=”##d6e6fa”]

I’d like you to imagine that you are about to attend one of the most important occasions of your life.

It will be held in a room sufficiently large to seat all your friends, your family, your business associates and anyone and everyone to whom you are important and who is important to you.

Can you see it?

The walls are draped with deep golden tapestries.  The lighting is subdued, soft, casting a warm glow on the faces of your expectant guests.  Their chairs are handsomely upholstered in a golden fabric that matches the tapestries.  The golden carpeting is deeply piled.

At the front of the room is a dais, and on the dais a large, beautifully decorated table, with candles burning at either end.

On the table, in the center, is the object of everyone’s attention: a large, shining, ornate box.  And in the box is YOU!  Stiff as the proverbial board.

Do you see yourself lying in the box, not a dry eye in the room?

Now listen.

From the four corners of the room comes a tape recording of your voice.  Can you hear it?  You’re addressing your guests.  You’re telling them the story of your life.

How would you like that story to go?

That’s your Primary Aim.

What would you like to be able to say about your life after it’s too late to do anything about it?

That’s your Primary Aim.

If you were to write a script for the tape to be played for the mourners at your funeral, how would you like it to read?

That’s your Primary Aim.

And once you’ve created the script, all you need to do is to make it come true.

All you need to do is begin living your life as if it were important.

All you need to do is take your life seriously.

To create it intentionally.

To actively make your life into the life you wish it to be.

Simple?  Yes.

Easy?  No.

But absolutely essential if your business is to have any meaning beyond work.

I believe great people to be those who know how they got where they are, and what they need to do to get where they are going.

Great people have a vision of their lives that they practice emulating each and every day.

They go to work on their lives, not just in their lives.

Their lives are spent living out the vision they have of their future, in the present.  They compare what they’ve done with what they intended to do.  And where there’s a disparity between the two, they don’t wait very long to make up the difference.

They go to work on their lives, not just in their lives.

I believe it’s true that the difference between great people and everyone else is that great people create their lives actively, while everyone else is created by their lives, passively waiting to see where life takes them next.

The difference between the two is between living fully and just existing.

The difference between the two is living intentionally and living by accident.

The above is an Excerpt from:

The The E-Myth Revisited © by- Michael E. Gerber- Harper Business

[/note]

 My 4 Hour Body Occam’s Protocol Updates (Day 90)

7-18-1979	5-02-2011	5-29-2011	7-31-2011	Goal
Little Stephen	Body Fat %: 15.2 Total Inches: 140	Body Fat %: 14.9 Total Inches: 141	Body Fat% 14.9 Total Inches:143.4	Superhuman

As I was putting together my stats I realized that life is lived on a continuum.

As Mr. Gerber points out:

Great people have a vision of their lives that they practice emulating each and every day.

Their lives are spent living out the vision they have of their future, in the present. They compare what they’ve done with what they intended to do. And where there’s a disparity between the two, they don’t wait very long to make up the difference.

Are you living a life of disparities?

• 7-18-1980 (Little Stephen)

Age 3 years old: I was at “Bud’s Farm” a family friend who owned a horse name Blackie and pigs I would chase all day long. He chewed loads of tobacco, smoked a pipe, ate eggs and bacon every day, drank in moderation and lived to be 102. He was funny, well connected and loved by his community.

• 7-18-1979 to 8-4-2011

As a child I dreamed of changing the world, touching people’s lives, making the world a better place. Life gets complicated and we are processed, packaged and transformed into cogs in a larger system. We forget where we are going. We lose sight of our childhood dreams; we can become paralyzed by fear. We become stagnant in our lives, often at a level of achievement that is comfortable. The continuum is transformed to the now; life is no longer a place of growth, but of existence.

6-26-2011	7-31-2011
Body Fat %: 14.5 Total Inches: 139.25	Body Fat% 14.9 Total Inches: 143.4

A final thought on all of this:

I was watching a contemporary dancer last night. Her art was beautiful; the passion that defined her life came through so beautifully in her work.

But, the expression of her art, the beautiful technician that she was would be lost if she had been unable to reach her athletic potential.

This is the reason the continuum of life must we worked on from both the inside and the outside. The art we feel in our heart must be developed through hard work and apprenticeship. We must develop the skills and then assure that our skills and potential can be met through the health and well being of the body. They are mutually exclusive.

For this reason:

The 4 Hour Workweek + The 4 Hour Body = The Evolution of A Superhuman

Must you become Timothy Ferriss to reach your true human potential?

No, but you should strive for something, something that intoxicates your soul. Motivates you to wake up in the morning and embrace your life: “To go to work on your life not just in your life.”

I am so happy to have focused again on the continuum. I feel this process is just beginning.

Here is a tool to help you track your progress:

The 4 Hour Body / 4 Hour Workweek Results and Tracking Worksheet (MS Word) or View On Sribd (Excel Spreadsheets are embedded)

Also if you are interested we just posted our first set of results on the 4 Hour Body vs.Beachbody Challenge

Related Posts:

• Damage Control and the 4-Hour Body Slow Carb Diet Binge Day Cheat Sheet
• 90 Days of P90X Lean – The Results
• 4 Hour Body and The Elusive Body Fat: How do you Measure Up?
• 4 Hour Body vs. P90X: Day 30 Updates
• Truly Amazing People Never Tell You They are Amazing, You Have to Ask: A Case Study in Lifestyle Design,The New Rich and the Value of a Minute