T

h
e
4-
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our
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ody
AN UNCOMMON GUIDE TO
RAPID FAT-LOSS, INCREDIBLE SEX,
AND BECOMING SUPERHUMAN
Timothy Ferriss
CROWN ARCHETYPE
NEW YORK
Ferr_9780307463630_4p_fm_r1.indd vii 10/12/10 2:33 PM
For my parents, who taught a little
hellion that marching to a different
drummer was a good thing. I love you both
and owe you everything. Mom, sorry about
all the crazy experiments.
Support good science
10% of all author royalties are donated
to cure- driven research,
including the excellent work of
St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital.
Ferr_9780307463630_4p_fm_r1.indd ix 10/12/10 2:33 PM
TI M S DI SCLAI MER
Please dont be stupid and kill yourself. It would make us both quite unhappy.
Consult a doctor before doing anything in this book.
PUBLI SHER S DI SCLAI MER
The material in this book is for informational purposes only. As each individual situation
is unique, you should use proper discretion, in consultation with a health care practitioner,
before undertaking the diet, exercises, and techniques described in this book. The author
and publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects that may result from
the use or application of the information contained in this book.
Ferr_9780307463630_4p_fm_r1.indd xvii 10/12/10 2:33 PM
SEX MACHINE I
Adventures in Tripling
Testosterone
NOONISH, ONE BEAUTIFUL SATURDAY,
SAN FRANCISCO, 21 FLOORS ABOVE THE
EMBARCADERO PIERS
T
hats kind of creepy. Theyre already 75%
healed. Vesper had come out of the shower
and was staring at my shoulders.
Are you kidding? Its fucking awesome! Im
becoming Wolverine. I was referring, of course,
to the superhero with mutant healing powers. He
also has adamantium claws, but thats where Ves-
per was a much better comparison.
The night before, shed inicted bedroom
wounds on my back and arms that werent really
scratches. The masterpiece: four 47" gashes
in my right shoulder streaming blood that made
me look like Bruce Lee from Enter the Dragon.
Bruce in dire need of Neosporin. Now, less than
10 hours later, three of the gashes had disappeared
completely, and the last and deepest was barely vis-
ible.
Strange.
The strangeness started much earlier, well be-
fore the bedroom, at The Americano restaurant.
Friday at 8:00 p.m. brought the crowds, and the

Sex is one of the

nine reasons for
reincarnation. The
other eight are
unimportant.
George Burns
Ferr_9780307463630_4p_02_r1.indd 253 10/12/10 2:40 PM
254 T HE 4-HOUR BODY
alpha investment bankers were ghting the alpha lawyers for female atten-
tion everywhere inside Hotel Vitale. The pressed shirts and dresses spilled
from the outdoor patio into the restaurant, where we had reservations. It
took a chaperone using football- like blocking to get us to our booth in a
secluded back corner.
The catch-up chat with Vesper looked like this:
Her: How are you?
Me: Unbelievable. But I need to give you fair warning. My biochem-
istry is very different from the last time you saw me. I feel . . . well,
superhuman.
Her (eyebrows raised): Oh reeeeally? Details, please.
Yes, really. The last time wed met, I had just taken my total testoster-
one from 244.8 to 653.3 ng/dL (nanograms per deciliter), while cutting
my estradiol (estrogen) in half. The subsequent roughhousing had been
a physical encounter of the rst class. This time around, Id just returned
from Nicaragua, where I ate grass- fed beef three times per day for 21
days. I had protein- loaded for the last three days, eating two to three
pounds of fatty organic grass- fed beef per day, including at least 400 grams
just before bed. (Dont worry. I wont suggest that you do this.)
The result?
Fifteen minutes after we sat down, Vesper was in a sexually aggressive
stupor. The bread hadnt arrived and she was already climbing on top of
me. This is not a boast. This is not Penthouse Forum. Its a statement of
pure confusion. She is a CEO, and this is not typical public CEO behavior.
I thought she was on drugs. Heavy nose breathing, interrupted occasion-
ally with What is going on? I dont understand whats going on . . . The
whole spectacle was surreal.
She was, literally, intoxicated on pheromones.
I excused myself to the bathroom at one point, and what came next
was even more absurd. Vesper witnessed it later when we left. Both en
route to the bathroom and coming back to the table, it was as if I had a
10- foot- radius eld of hormonal impact. I received at least three times the
normal eye contact from women.
The animal kingdom was alive and well in San Francisco.
Dinner ended immediately thereafter, and it was a short trip to her
Ferr_9780307463630_4p_02_r1.indd 254 10/12/10 2:40 PM
SEX MACH I NE I 255
apartment on the 21st oor and our version of Enter the Dragon, complete
with furniture smashing and most of the same sound effects.
11
The next morning, after more of the same, I asked her, Do you have a
gong on the other side of your headboard?
It turned out to be metal artwork hanging on the neighbors wall. After
her second shower, and taking another look at my shoulder, Vesper had just
one thing to say:
Whatever youre doingkeep doing it.
The Death of the Metrosexual: Reclaiming Aggression
Things hadnt always been this way. In fact, for several years, things were
quite the opposite.
Somewhere between late 2007 and 2009, at 3032 years old, I found
myself in an odd place: able to perform in the bedroom as well as I had in
college, but having less and less desire to do so.
Even with the most attractive of girls, after a week or two of rabbit love,
sex frequency would drop to once a day. Then it would drop to a few times
a week or once a week. I enjoyed sex as much as ever, once in the act, but
fatigue or disinterest often led me to opt- out. Ill get to it in the morning
became a constant self- promise.
It made no sense.
I was young, athletic, and felt perfectly healthy. Then, looking under
the hood, I ended up in the lower- range of normal for total testosterone
in blood testing.
What was the problem?
POSSIBLE SHORT CIRCUITS
Testosterone is a molecule of many dependencies.
The hypothalamus releases gonadotropin- releasing hormone
(GnRH), which tells the pituitary (anterior pituitary) gland to release
luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle- stimulating hormone (FSH).
LH then stimulates the Leydig cells in the testicles to produce ta- da
testosterone.
11. Check out the original at www.fourhourbody.com/ enter- dragon. My massage therapist later asked me:
Have you been crawling through barbed wire?
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256 T HE 4-HOUR BODY
It is a major but rampant mistake to treat low testosterone with exter-
nal testosterone in the form of a gel or injection
12
without troubleshooting
the upstream parts of the axis rst.
Its also a mistake to think of low libido as strictly a low- testosterone
problem.
In 2004, I experimented with a hormone and drug called human chori-
onic gonadotropin, commonly known as hCG, which effectively acts as
a form of luteinizing hormone. Injected once per week, it immediately had
the effect of more than tripling seminal volume and requiring requiring
ejaculation three to four times per day just to think straight. If you want
to kill productivity, look no further than hCG. This inconvenience was
compensated for by sex with my girlfriend, which jumped from a few times
a week to a few times a day. Happy days.
So just inject hCG and problem solved, right?
Not quite. Heres the catch: repeated use of hCG can desensitize the
testes to real luteinizing hormone.
13
Then the testes cant receive the signal
to produce testosterone naturally. Big trouble.
12. Called exogenous testosterone (created outside the body), as opposed to endogenous (created
inside the body). Think of external to remember the difference.
13. hCG can also inhibit GnRH at the hypothalamus. Its a serious drug and shouldnt be taken lightly.
Brain
Suprahypothalamic:
Hypothalamus:
Pituitary:
Testicles:
Many factors
affect this area
of the brain
GnRH
LH & FSH
Testosterone
GnRH affected by the other
parts of the brain
Testosterone and
estrogen decrease LH
LH decreases
GnRH release
GnRH
increases LH
LH increases
testosterone
The Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Testosterone Axis (HPTA)
Ferr_9780307463630_4p_02_r1.indd 256 10/12/10 2:40 PM
SEX MACH I NE I 257
This disqualies hCG as a permanent solution, but it suggests that in-
creasing luteinizing hormone (LH) increases sex drive.
But, you might ask, couldnt the sex drive be due to more testosterone, since lu-
teinizing hormone (and therefore hCG) stimulates its release in the owchart? This
is true, but Id also used straight testosterone injections earlier in 2004 (as detailed in
The Last Mile), which more than doubled testosterone levels but didnt improve
libido at all.
LH seems to do more.
LH also correlates perfectly with the heightened sex drive experienced by
women just prior to ovulation.
14
14. Though other hormones like FSH also correlate to the increased sex drive, LH shows the most pro-
nounced jump.
Recruited
Follicle
Maturing
Follicle
Follicular Phase Luteal Phase
Corpus
Luteum
Degenerate
C. Luteum
Ovulation
37oC
36oC
E
n
d
o
m
e
n
t
r
i
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l
H
i
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i
a
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H
i
s
t
o
l
o
g
y
H
o
r
m
o
n
e
s
Body Temperature
Estradiol
Luteinizing
Hormone (LH)
FollicleStimulating
Hormone (FSH)
Progesterone
Menstruation
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
Day of Menstrual Cycle
(Average values. Durations and values may differ between different females or different cycles.)
O
v
u
l
a
t
i
o
n
!
ga
Ferr_9780307463630_4p_02_r1.indd 257 10/12/10 2:40 PM
258 T HE 4-HOUR BODY
My Solution: Two Protocols
I didnt consume much red meat for my rst increase from 244.8 to 653.3
ng/dL, and I believe this type of jump can be achieved without eating red
meat at all. The meat marathon was actually for tracking changes in food
allergies.
I now use two protocols that I believe are effective for increasing both
testosterone and LH, based on repeated blood test results. Neither requires
needles or prescription meds.
The rst is for long- term maintenance and general well- being. The sec-
ond is for short- term nitro boosts of sex drive and testosterone. Sheer
fun, in other words. The detailed rationales behind each can be found in
Sex Machine II in the Appendices, but lets start with the nutshell ver-
sion.
PROTOCOL #1: LONG- TERM AND SUSTAINED
Fermented cod liver oil + vitamin- rich butter fat2 capsules
upon waking and before bed
Vitamin D33,0005,000 IU upon waking and before bed (6,000
10,000 IU per day), until you reach blood levels of 55 ng/mL.
Short ice baths and/or cold showers10 minutes each, upon wak-
ing and right before bed
Brazil nuts3 nuts upon waking, 3 nuts before bed (see important
footnote).
15
PROTOCOL #2: SHORT- TERM AND FUN NITRO BOOST
2024 Hours Prior to Sex
Eat at least 800 milligrams of cholesterol (example: four or more large
whole eggs or egg yolks) within three hours of bedtime, the night before
you want to have incredible sex. The Wolverine intro to this chapter was
partially thanks to two - pound rib- eye steaks the night before, but its
easier to stomach hard- boiled eggs. Why before bed? Testosterone is de-
rived from cholesterol, which is primarily produced at night during sleep
(between midnight and 4:006:00 a.m.).
15. This is personal, and I dont suggest the same unless youre decient in selenium. See SpectraCell in the
resources, as well as the explanation in Sex Machine II.
Ferr_9780307463630_4p_02_r1.indd 258 10/12/10 2:40 PM
SEX MACH I NE I 259
Four Hours Prior to Sex
4 Brazil nuts
20 raw almonds
2 capsules of the above- mentioned fermented cod/butter combination
How Well Can It Work?
Here is a sample of before- and- after sex hormone results from my rst ex-
periment (protocol 1), excluding Brazil nuts, which were added later:
16. Albumin also does this to a lesser extent.
SHBGTHE PARTY SPOILER
Sex- hormone binding globulin (SHBG) is the party spoiler.
SHBG binds to testosterone
16
and renders it inert for our purposes, and total testoster-
one in blood tests can therefore be misleading. Some vegans have been shown to have
higher testosterone levels than both meat- eaters and vegetarians, for example, but higher
levels of SHBG cancel out this advantage. In other studies, consumption of cholesterol has
been shown to be inversely correlated with SHBG. In other words, the more cholesterol you
eat, the less SHBG you have.
From Carrutherss Androgen Deciency in the Adult Male: Causes, Diagnosis, and Treat-
ment:
Strict low cholesterol diets have been shown to lower total and free testosterone levels by
14%. Vegetarian diets, especially if low in protein, can increase SHBG, further reducing
FT [free testosterone]. However, men put on a low- fat, high- ber, vegetarian diet have a
18% reduction in both total testosterone and FT, which is reversed when they go back on
a normal diet. . . . Conversely, high- protein, low- carbohydrate diets, such as the fashion-
able weight- reduction Atkins diet, may partly exert their slimming action by raising total
testosterone and lowering SHBG.
SHBG isnt evil, and we dont want to eliminate it, but a little less SHBG equals a little
more free testosterone. This isnt evil either. It actually makes life much more interesting. This
is the reason for our cholesterol- loading in Protocol 2.
Ferr_9780307463630_4p_02_r1.indd 259 10/12/10 2:40 PM
260 T HE 4-HOUR BODY
APRIL 3, 2009 (BEFORE) TO AUGUST 20, 2009 (AFTER)
Total testosterone: 244.8 to 653.3 (normal: 170780; it would later
jump to 835, more than tripling my original value, with the addi-
tion of Brazil nuts)
Free testosterone: 56 to 118 (normal: 47244)
Percentage free testosterone: 2.3% to 1.8%
Bioavailable testosterone: 150 to 294 (normal: 128430)
Albumin: 5 to 4.6 (normal: 3.54.8)
DHEA-S: 170.5 to 201.8
FSH: 6 to 8.5 (normal: 1.2719.26)
Estradiol: 39 to <20 (normal in males: <47)
Eager to give it a shot?
This chapter is enough to get started, but the real magic happens when
we nesse the details. Be sure to read Sex Machine II: Details and Dan-
gers in the Appendices if youre serious about kicking testosterone and
sex drive into overdrive.
TOOLS AND TRI CKS
SpectraCell Laboratories (www.fourhourbody.com/spectra) SpectraCell is the micronutrient test-
ing lab allegedly used by Lance Armstrong. I uncovered my selenium deciency through SpectraCell
and used Brazil nuts, among other things, to correct it. To nd local SpectraCell clinicians, go to:
www.fourhourbody.com/spectra. More on this in Sex Machine II.
Blue I ce Butter Oil/Fermented Cod Liver Oil Blend (www.fourhourbody.com/butterblend) This
is the cod/butter combination I used. Blue Ice is from a small manufacturer and production is
limited.
Carlson Super 1000mg Cod Liver Oil (www.fourhourworkweek.com/cod) A decent substitute if
the above is sold-out, but consume at the same time as the below.
Vitamin- Rich Butter Fat: Kerrygold I rish butter (www.kerrygold.com/usa/locator.php) This site
helps you nd local stores where you can buy Kerrygold Irish butter. If youd prefer to order online,
check www.foodireland.com and click Deli Counter at the top of the screen.
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SEX MACH I NE I 261
21 DAYS OF MEAT AND NUTSAM I NUTS?
Lets take a closer look at what happened to my blood and cholesterol after those 21 days
in Nicaragua, 21 days of consuming at least 30% of my calories as beef fat and 200300
grams of protein and 4070 almonds per day. I expected the worst. Here is the real impact
on two common concerns: cholesterol levels and kidney function.
BEFORE (AUGUST 20, 2009) vs. AFTER (SEPTEMBER 25, 2009)
Cholesterol
Total cholesterol: 200 (borderline out- of- range) vs. 190
HDL: 57 vs. 57
LDL: 133 ( out- of- range) vs. 108
VLDL: 10 vs. 25
Cholesterol/HDL ratio: 3.5 vs. 3.3
Triglycerides: 48 vs. 124 (normal: <150)
Kidney function
BUN: 17 vs. 18 (normal: 725)
Creatinine: 1.0 vs. 1.1 (normal: 0.71.2)
BUN/creatinine ratio: 16.417 (normal: 1020)
ZRT At- Home Vitamin D Test Kits (www.fourhourbody.com/testd) If you spend a lot of your time
indoors, theres a good chance that you are decient in vitamin D. Dont just guess what amount of
vitamin D you need, as overdosing will produce side effects.
Spectracell is a more reliable blood- based test, but ZRTs saliva mail- in kit can give you an inex-
pensive estimate of your vitamin D levels. Once youve established your baseline, you can use sun-
light, supplementation, and UV- B lamps to increase levels, following eight weeks of which you can
perform an after test to track changes.
Vitamin D3
NOW Liquid Vitamin D3, 2 oz (www.fourhourbody.com/ vitamin- d)
UV-B/F Lamps
Sperti Ultraviolet Systems (www.sperti.com)
The KBD D/UV-F uorescent lamp was developed in 2010 for individuals who cant tolerate
direct sunlight exposure or oral Vitamin D supplements.
Ferr_9780307463630_4p_02_r1.indd 261 10/12/10 2:40 PM
262 T HE 4-HOUR BODY
Even I was stunned.
I took no cholesterol- lowering (or HDL- raising) drugs or supplements, and a 21- day
marathon of red meat actually improved my cholesterol/HDL ratio, which most doctors view
as an indication of cardiac health. I also lowered both total and LDL (bad) cholesterol. I
ended up within the low- risk range for triglycerides, according to the American Heart As-
sociation, but there was an elevation. I expected the increase for three reasons:
1. Triglycerides transport dietary fat, and I had been consuming massive quantities of
fat.
2. Fat- loss can produce transient elevated triglycerides (as it did with my dad, who lost
70+ pounds of fat), and I had lost substantial bodyfat in the preceding 21 days.
3. I had consumed 14 ounces of pulp- free orange juice the morning before the blood
drawthe rst time Id done so in at least a yearto measure my blood sugar re-
sponse. Fructose, the sugar in fruit, is well known for rapidly increasing both triglyc-
erides and LDL.
All cardiac markers were brought within normal range within weeks of stopping the
animal esh binge. When I retested on October 16 (21 days later), my triglycerides had
dropped from 124 to 82, and my VLDL had dropped from 25 to 16.
What of the BUN and creatinine, considered indicators of kidney stress? Both were
nominally elevated but well within normal range.
Im amazed that both werent higher, considering that muscular damage can increase
both BUN and creatinine, and I had done a squat workout 48 hours prior to the after blood
draw on September 24.
But isnt cholesterol bad for you?
This belief is predicated on the Lipid Hypothesis of cardiac health (cholesterol = bad),
which I disagree with based on the sum total of available evidence. Between 2006 and
2009, I had obsessed over lowering my total cholesterol. The outcome? Lower testosterone
and fatigue.
Ill take my egg yolks, thank you very much.
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SEX MACH I NE I 263
RECIPE FOR DISASTER: THE SALMONELLA SPECIAL
It appears that splitting up the 800 milligrams of cholesterol also works for the earlier Nitro
Boost Protocol 2.
If you know your local sources and can avoid salmonella and raw milk issues, Ive found
the following shake to produce incredible effects when mixed with a hand blender and con-
sumed at both 4:00 P.M. and before bed. It also helped me achieve the 100+- pound strength
gains as detailed in Effortless Superhuman:
12 oz whole raw milk
4 tbsp raw almond butter
2 raw egg yolks
3 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp vanilla extract
tsp cinnamon
This is more appropriately called a fat shake instead of a protein shake, but I still
dropped bodyfat while consuming it. How? The fat- loss was predicated on otherwise main-
taining a slow- carb diet and taking the shakes only on workout days, no more than three
times a week. If youve ever wondered what anabolics feel like, one week of these shakes
will give you a good idea.
Here is the nutritional yield, with all percentages of USRDA (recommended daily allow-
ance):
Total calories = 966
Calories from fat = 627
Fat grams = 73 g (113%)
Saturated fat grams = 15 g (76%)
Cholesterol = 456 g (152%)
Protein = 34 g (69%)
Carbohydrate grams = 55 g (18%)
Dietary ber = 20 g (81%)
Sugars = 19 g
Calcium = 93%
Glycemic load = 15 (out of maximum 250)
Know your food sources, and the statistics on salmonella poisoning, etc., before consum-
ing this. If raw milk scares you, and I wouldnt blame you, use organic whole milk instead.
Ferr_9780307463630_4p_02_r1.indd 263 10/12/10 2:40 PM