Opinion

The 4-hour body

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Author Timothy Ferriss has a solution to almost any problem that ails you — cold showers.

An ice bath will fix your sex drive, help you lose weight, and give you the perfect night’s sleep, according to Ferriss’ new, textbook-sized how-to guide, “The 4-Hour Body,” which tackles everything from how to lose 20 pounds in a month to how to give a women a 15-minute orgasm.

Ferriss, author of the successful “The 4-Hour Workweek” which guided readers on how to effectively spend less time working, is an energetic motivational speaker for a smart-drug, cardio-training, Google age. He’s an intense polyadventurer: He has the Guinness Book of World Records for the most consecutive tango spins and was a National Chinese Kickboxing champion, among other, strange accolades. And though most of his advice is common sense — or even ridiculous — he’s developed a fervent following of people who believe that, yes, I can learn to swim just by jumping in a shallow pool and pushing forward.

Criticisms become a bit more pointed when Ferriss, who is not a doctor or nutritionist, dispenses medical advice. But Ferriss disagrees that this might be dangerous.

“I would say that you could ask, ‘How is Malcolm Gladwell qualified to write about “The Tipping Point”?’ The answer is he is able to investigate, has access to the best people, asks the best questions and gets the best answers,” he said.

“I know how to find the right people, separate fact from fiction. I’m a meta-expert. I would say I’m the Jack of many trades and that I would contend that given my position and my ability to broadcast that is a good thing.”

Ferriss spent three years interviewing over 200 experts, ranging from doctors to athletes to black-market drug salesmen. He also used himself as a willing guinea pig, undergoing steroid injections, strange drug combinations, even weighed his own waste. (ewww . . .) If it worked on him, he’d try it on another 190 willing participants (some even opted for the female orgasm part) and then he would add it to list of recommendations for readers.

Besides the obvious weight loss and muscle gain chapters, he also tackles getting a good night’s rest, adding 100 pounds to your bench press, running a 50 mile race, perfecting your baseball swing and hitting a basketball jump shot.

The book is filled with Ferriss’ own struggles — his low testosterone, his early childhood lung problems and inability to swim.

“I am not embarrassed to promote what I believe in,” said Ferriss, who was voted by Wired as the greatest self-promoter in the world.

“I’m not promoting a miracle pill that I know will cause long-term effects.”

Ferriss, who hails from East Hampton but currently lives in San Francisco, says that his curiosity concerning the body began when he started wrestling as a teenager. He learned quickly how to manipulate his poundage as quickly as possible to get into weight classes. His concern for the mechanisms of the body continued when he left Princeton University to join a start-up in Silicon Alley. Due to the stressful nature of the job, he packed on 40 pounds, up to 200 from 160. Losing that weight inspired him.

Ferriss has taken his “anybody can solve any problem” philosophy on the road, earning big bucks as a corporate speaker. No matter that, say, working only four hours a week may be good for an Internet entrepreneur and author, not necessarily the average barista.

But his popularity is no mystery — he’s a poster child for the Wikipedia generation, where anyone can be an expert with a few keystrokes. He says there are few things — within reason — that he wouldn’t be able to master with the help of trainers and time. And for college students who do term papers using Google or singers who become stars by putting up their own videos on YouTube, that’s a mantra people want to believe.

The 4-Hour Body

by Timothy Ferriss

Crown Archetype

Timothy Ferriss on how to lose weight

1. Forget fruits like apples — everything but tomatoes and small portions of avocado should not pass your lips.

2. Go ahead, have a drink — but only two glasses per night of dry red wine.

3. Eat an hour (preferably a half-hour) after you wake up and make it a protein rich meal (he suggests making an omlette out of egg whites, spinach and legumes).

4. Don’t eat anything white (bread, pasta, cheeses), unless its cauliflower.

5. Eat slowly. He suggests portioning food out into thirds and waiting five minutes in between each portion to continue eating.

6. Take 5-10 minute cold showers before breakfast and/or bed. Short-term exposure leads to fatty acid release, he claims, and also increases immunity.