BODY HACKER STARTERS GUIDE

Bodyhackers concern themselves with getting tangible results with as little effort as possible. Things like holding your breath for a couple of minutes, or tripling your fat loss without moving any more than you do are examples of this Bodyhacking is a lifestyle, one that yields results that often leave people saying I dont believe that is all you did to achieve that!"

S om e t r ic k s an d pr in c iples t o get you st ar t ed

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com

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Disclaimer I (Mentor Palokaj) am not responsible for anything you do as a result of this eBook. You are allowed to distribute this book as it is as long as you charge nothing for it or the service of providing it. Always attribute the original author.

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com

Contents
Information............................................................................................... .........................................1 The Structure of this Book ............................................................... ................................................1 Everything might be wrong............................................................... ...............................................1 Why calories are bogus ........................................................... ........................................................2 The mind is connected to the body .................................................................................................. 3 Register of body hacks ....................................................................................................................... .3 Gain muscle with little effort ........................................................................................................... 3 Lose Weight ................................................................................................................................... 4 Lose Weight with thermodynamics.............................................................................................. .4 Random effects for losing weight ............................................................... ..................................5 Hold your breath longer ............................................................................................................... ...5 Clear up Acne using apples ............................................................... ...............................................6 Boost your immune system ..................................................................................... ........................7 Change what DNA your body uses ................................................................................................... 7 Triple your testosterone ....................................................................... ...........................................8 Boost Your Creativity with Substances and Habits ............................................................... ..............8 Sleep Well and Wake Up Rested ................................................... ...................................................9 References ............................................................... ....................................................................... . 11

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com

Information
The Structure of this Book
While writing this eBook I wanted to keep it as short and simple as possible. Personally sifting through thick books to find only a handful of tips and a lot of blabla filling up the pages annoys me. Therefore every section has three distinct elements: What describes what this body hack or technique should accomplish How describes in simple words how to reach the desired result, no blabbing included (ok true, maybe a word or two but its not that bad) Why describes why the steps in the How section work. If you are just interested in results this section is optional. It is very int eresting though so dont shy from looking through it. In regard to the techniques the Information section is not very important. If you are serious about learning your way around the arena of body hacking it is a recommended read.

Everything might be wrong

There are a lot of things that everybody knows to be true. Things like alcohol kills brain cells, humans only use 20% of their brain and eating cholesterol makes your blood cholesterol higher are accepted both inside and outside of the scientifi c community. Sorrowfully many of those things are wrong (yes all of the above are) Even scientists, or actually especially scientists, are very prone to interpretation errors. A great deal of research is funded by an industry that wants to get certain res ults, and scientists too are not above pride Keep in mind that everything you know might be wrong. List of my favorite 10 myths: 1. Alcohol kills brain cells 2. Humans only use 20% if their brain 3. Eating cholesterol increases blood levels of cholesterol 4. Eating fat makes you fat 5. Obesity is genetic 6. A muscular build is genetic 7. Genes determine who you are 8. Controlling the Autonomic Nervous System is impossible 9. IQ is genetic 10. The recommended daily amount is for optimum health 1

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com The above myths are all wrong (hence they are called myths). Many people will look at this list and disregard it entirely, simply because they have always been told that these myths are true. But if you are one of those people ask yourself this: why do you believe what you believ e? There is a high chance that you actually have no logical arguments or trustworthy data to back up your assumptions. Keep in mind that if these kind of things can be wrong, what is there that really has to be true? Fair enough, you cant mark everything as unsure but doing so will enhance your critical mind a lot. The reason this is good is that discounting general knowledge will enable you to find new insights and less known techniques.

Why calories are bogus

People these days put a lot of faith into the concept of calories. Calorie poor foods are praised and calorie dense ones are shunned. This is total bogus, not all calories are created equal. In a piece of research where three groups of people were fed the same amount of calories only in the form of carbohydrates, proteins or fats. The only group to gain weight was the carbohydrate one while the protein and fat ones lost weight. Tim Ferris for example ate over 22,000 kCal in one day as an experiment and managed to still lose weight. Keep in mind that calories are bogus. Here are some tips to choose the right calories: 1. Protein is more difficult to get energy from, this means that your body has to expend energy to gain energy from it (thermogenic effect). Eat plenty of protein. 2. Fat is good, as long as you take it separate from carbohydrates it will not make you fat. Also your body really needs fats to function properly. 3. Avoid (simple) carbohydrates, they are soaked up by the body so fast they are the most efficient for weight gain. 4. If you have to take carbohydrates, take complex ones. Dark bread and brown rice are good, white and starchy ones are bad. 5. Avoid empty calories. These are calories that are not accompanied by good nutrients. Examples are white bread, white rice, sugars and potatoes. 6. Get a lot of full calories, these are the ones laden with nutrients. Examples are foods as natural as possible like fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts and seeds. Take them without sugar. Nuts in white bread will not make the bread healthy .

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com 7. The bad does not weight up to the good. Eating a candy bar and then eating an apple will not negate the disastrous effect of the candy bar. Eating healthy keeps you healthy, and all bad foods causes damage they do not balance well. This is a perfect example of how what most people think is wrong. There will be many people who swear by calorie counting, and some of them might even be quite healthy themselves. But when focusing on health behavior it is more useful to focus on what you eat than how many calories it contain s. It does not matter how many calories you eat, but what those calories contain.

The mind is connected to the body

People often see the mind and body as separate entities, and for a long time science had no way of countering this. By now however we know that the mind interacts directly with the body. The best example of this is the fact that stress creates havoc in the body. Due to epinephrine (adrenaline) and cortisol release not only does your body lose muscle but the immune system is also compromised. Not only are the present components deactivated, but the lymphatic tissue that creates cells for the specific immune system (t-cells) is also shriveled and destroyed. This is but one example of how you feel influences what your body does.

Register of body hacks

Gain muscle with little effort
What: Gain muscle very fast with only an hour of gym time a week (I managed 5 kilo/11 lbs in 2 weeks) . How: There are basically two components to this: food and exercise. If you are serious about gaining muscle very fast try sticking to these food guidelines: 1. Within 30 minutes of getting up have a protein rich and big breakfast, no simple carbohydrates like bread, cereals or sugars. If at all possible also take a protein shake . 2. Eat more than you normally would, but focus on protein an d fat rich foods like nuts, fish, meat, yoghurt, cheese and eggs. Please note that protein and fat alone are good, but combined with carbohydrates especially fat is detrimental . 3. Eat a protein or fat rich snack before bed. 4. Protein shakes are a very convenient way to ingest protein, a shake with every meal in your muscle building phase is very good provided you eat good stuff (try focusing on the Paleo diet). 3

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com 5. Drink plenty of water, try to aim for 4 to 6 liters a day . Food is of course only half the job, stick to these guidelines for exercise: 1. Work out twice a week for half an hour, never longer. Doing more exercise than that is counterproductive within this scheme. 2. Focus on compound exercises where you use as much muscles at the same time as possible 3. Perform set to fail , which means you lift your weight to the top (without locking your joints for support) hold it for 5 seconds, lower the weights and hold them just before the neutral setting and hold that for 5 seconds. Keep doing this until your muscles cant get the weight up anymore. This should take o longer than 2 minutes, if it does life heavier. The key to this exercise is to never let the tension of your muscle. Other tips: 1. If you consider supplements, take a look at creatine, protein shakes and HMB. 2. Make sure you sleep at least 8 hour a night, this is highly important in order to build muscle . Why: The reason this works is rooted in the minimum effective dose (MED) concept. The easiest way to explain it is by the analogy of boiling water. If water is 100 degrees Celsius it boils, heating it at 120 degrees will not make it more boiled. This concept can be applied to many things, once a certain threshold is reached doing more is counterproductive

Lose Weight
Lose Weight with thermodynamics What: Lose weight rapidly using thermodynamics insights How: There are a few easy steps to follow: 1. Drink a big glass of ice water after waking up. 2. Shower cold twice a day for 10 minutes . 3. Put an ice pack in your neck for about half an hour to an hour in the evening, for example when watching tv. You can easily make an ice pack by taking a ziploc bag, filling that with 1 part water per one part pure alcohol (you can buy this in the drugstore ) and putting that into second ziploc bag. Leave that in the fridge until it has a slushy consistency.

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com Why: Your bodys biggest energy expenditure is heat, just the fact of keeping your body at a healthy temperature requires tremendous amounts of energy. Have you ever wondered why the average calorie recommendation is 2,000 kCal? When you consider that an hour of exercise burns an average of 300kCal it seems a bit weird that the entire population is not fat yet. This is purely due to the fact that your bod y uses a lot of energy for simply staying alive, and staying warm is a big part of that. This is why making your body cold at the right times and in the right ways can boost fat Random effects for losing weight What: Losing weight How: These are some random things that work very well: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up Drinking a lot of water Eating thermogenic compounds like pepper Make your diet have a high concentration of protein Make your diet have a low concentration of carbohydrates Drink a lot of green tea (drink within 30 minutes of brewing) Sleep more than 8 hours a night, and do so with regularity Take a high concentration multivitamin Breathe deep during exercise loss up to 300%!

Why: These are the reasons assorted by point: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Boosts fat burning and lowers cortisol levels Helps with fat burning and getting rid of the toxins in the fat cells Increase the BMR (base metabolic rate) These make you more saturated and have less effective energy Controls insulin spikes preventing rapid storage Contains a compound that is a very powerful antioxidant, it does however break itself down within 30 minutes to an hour so drink it as soon as possible after you make the tea 7. Decreases food intake and allows for a healthy metabolism 8. Helps with cell regeneration and the processing of toxins 9. The more oxygen you use during exercise the more energy you will burn after

Hold your breath longer

What: Hold your breath for a couple of minutes. How: There is an entire discipline of diving while holding your breath (freediving), here is a crash course: 1. Lie down and relax 5

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com 2. Breathe in deeply through your belly followed by through your lungs 3. Breathing out should take double the time as breathing in (one breath can take 1 minute) 4. Do that for a couple of minutes 5. Take three hyperventilation breaths and start holding your breath 6. When you think you really cant hold on any longer, remember that you can go at least 3 more minutes without causing any damage. If your body has many failsafes and if you risk anything your body will just take over 7. Never do this in the water unless you are trained by a freediver There is also a quick fix in case you just need a couple of extra seconds while diving for fun: 1. Take 5 hyperventilation breaths. 2. Take a deep breath. 3. Repeat the above a couple of times. 4. Breathe deep and dive . 5. You can increase the amounts of quick breaths, but if you start to feel dizzy take a deep breath . Personally I manage 4 minute 40, though I have had some practice Try to aim for 2 to 3 minutes. Why: Breathing deeply will slow your metabolism and increase your oxygen levels while quick breaths will rapidly increase oxygen and decrease carbon dioxide in your body. Remember that your brain uses a lot of energy just like your body, when diving move slowly and think calm ly.

Clear up Acne using apples

What: Clear up your acne using an apple fast. How: I came across this in a random book and it worked miracles for me: 1. Eat only Golden/Red delicious apples for three days, you may eat as many as you want provided it is the only thing you eat. 2. Drink plenty of water. 3. The end of the second day take one glass of grape juice in the evening . 4. The end of the third day take a spoon of olive oil and a glass of grape juice. Why: I have no clue, it probably has something to do with the fact that the apples contain a lot of fibers... It may also be due to a relatively high amount of vitamins or other substances. 6

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com

Boost your immune system

What: Boost your immune system. How: There are many measures, the ones below are some of my favorites: 1. Take a strong multivitamin . 2. Take Echinacea herb. 3. Sleep more than 8 hours, and afternoon nap works well too . 4. Relax, remove stress. 5. Eat healthily, make sure your diet consists of as natural foods as possible. That means no synthetics, also stop eating sugar entirely in a period where you need your immune system. 6. Have cold showers. 7. Work out. Why: Below are the reasons sorted per point: 1. Through many pathways boosts the immune system. 2. Has in multiple studies shown to make the immune system more potent . 3. Decreases cortisol levels. Cortisol shuts down the immune system . Also rebalances the body. 4. Again cortisol, it has a shriveling effect on the tissue that creates white blood cells . 5. The body needs a multitude of vitamins and minerals to function properly . 6. Through a pathway too complex for this eBook it boosts immune function. 7. This improves kidney function (toxin filtration) and releases endorphins that make you feel good and thus has a good effect on cortisol levels .

Change what DNA your body uses

What: Change the DNA your body uses. How: All activities that cause the release of steroid hormones by the body: 1. Sit in the sun (vitamin D, good effects) . 2. Stress out (cortisol, bad effects) . 3. Train in a specific way (see the muscle building section) . 4. Eat specific foods (too broad to go into).

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com 5. The most important thing to remember is that this is po ssible, for specific changes a Google search usually yields good results . Why: Steroid hormones have a bad reputation, but really they are nothing more than hormones that can pass cell membranes. They connect to nuclear receptors and change what DNA your body uses to build your body out of. Examples of steroids are vitami n D, cortisol and testosterone. These are substances that the body itself releases under certain circumstances. No ingestion necessary.

Triple your testosterone

What: Triple your testosterone levels. How: There are a couple of supplements and habits that will facilitate this: 1. Vitamin D at waking and going to bed, take 2.000UI to 5.000UI . 2. Cod liver oil at waking and going to bed. 3. Teaspoon of grass-fed butter at waking and going to bed. 4. Have a cold shower at waking and before bed . 5. Instead of 2 and 3 Royal Ice cod liver oil mix is best, but it is quite expensive . 6. For a temporary boost take 3 to 4 whole eggs shortly before bed . Why: A combination of substances in the above simulate testosterone synthesis. The temporary trick works because egg yolk contains cholesterol, which is used to create testosterone. Since testosterone is synthesized at about 4 AM the availability of cholestero l increases blood levels.

Boost Your Creativity with Substances and Habits

What: Make yourself temporarily (and permanently) more Creative on a biological level How: Creativity hinges on a capability to think divergently, divergent thinking means to see a lot of possibilities in one situation. The brains capacity for divergent thinking (and thus creativity) is mediated my dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain. Here are some ways to boost dopamine levels to temporarily get more creative: 1. Drink a standardized glass of alcohol (as pure as possible, tequila over beer) 2. Ingest a dose of caffeine, avoid drinks laden with other stuff (e.g. energy drinks) 3. THC seems to work quite well, but is illegal in most countries other than my country of residence (Holland) Here are some more permanent ways: 4. Sleep well, 8 hours a night at least 8

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com 5. Do exercise, this releases dopamine in combination with endorphins 6. Feel good Why: These reasons all have in common that they stimulate dopamine release from the mesolimbic area, they do so according to different mechanisms though: 1. Alcohol triggers endorphin release from the pituitary gland and dopamine from the mesolimbic area. As a bonus the endorphins also trigger dopamine release. 2. Caffeine blocks the function of a molecule called ade nosine, this is the substance that makes you feel sleepy. Adenosine blocks the release of dopamine and makes the dopamine that is released less effective. Blocking adenosine thus keeps you awake and boosts dopamine levels and effectively. 3. I have yet to look into the biochemical reasons for this, but a superficial explenation would be that it triggers alternate states of consciousness. 4. Sleep deprivation results in higher adenosine levels (sleep molecule), as discussed above this blocks the dopamine circuits. 5. The released endorphins trigger dopamine release, as an added bonus you also stay in shape. 6. Dopamine is the brai ns reward chemical used to stimulate good behavior by means of positive reinforcement. Executing good behavior (that is, what makes you fe el good, regardless of the social perception of good) triggers dopamine release with the above mentioned consequences.

Sleep Well and Wake Up Rested

What: Improve your sleep How: Good sleep hinges an a lot of things, these are the things I have uncovered so far: 1. Have regular times at which you sleep and wake. Times at which you wake seem to be more important. 2. Do not look at a screen (e.g. tv or computer) in the hour before going to sleep. 3. Do some mild stretching before taking your evening shower, if you dont shower in the evening start doing it (see reason below). 4. Cool your head, literally. Yes meditation works fine, but cooling your head with a shower or a towel wrapped ice pack has been shown to put people to sleep faster. Even insomniacs had little trouble sleeping in the study that proved this. 5. Cool your mind by doing something relaxing. Meditation indeed works quite well, but a nice fiction book or relaxing music work splendid as well. 6. Cool your room, for reasons similar to those of point 4 a relativ ely cold room stimulates sleep better than a hot one. 7. Regulate air humidity in your room, a slightly humid atmosphere has been shown to benefit restful sleep. Try an air humidifier. 8. Light and sound should be minimized. This appears very obvious but most pe ople dont pay attention to these simple factors. 9. Have a notebook near your bed. 9

by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com 10. Don t have an alarm clock, if you need an alarm choose for a device like a phone or ipod. 11. Avoid intoxicating substances like caffeine 6 hours before bed, alcohol should be avo ided as well but for different reasons. 12. Take a fat or protein rich snack before bed (avoid carbohydrates, I know many people dispute this). 13. Find a comfortable position, lying on your belly provides comfort and keeps you relatively immobile since turning over costs more energy. 14. If you feel the need to use substances to aid your sleeping, consider Magnesium, Melatonin and Valerian. 15. Take a glass of warm milk, this is not some random myth it contains sleep inducing substances and a psychological aspect. Why: The underlying reasons for these actions are quite diverse. 1. Your body regulates your sleep rhythm through melatonin, a substance also very sensitive to light on the body. By having regular sleeping times your bodys melatonin regulates sleep is more effective resulting in good sleep (meaning falling asleep quickly and waking happily). 2. The above mentioned melatonin is also influenced by light from screens. Looking at screens will signal your body that it is still day thus making it harder to fall asleep. In ad dition looking at a screen usually means the intake of new (usually useless) information which stimulates rather than calms the brain. This all in combination with the characteristic eye strain marks screens as a factor to be avoided. 3. By the end of the day your body is probably a bit stiff, stretching mildly (dont overdo it) will release the stiffness and relax you. Do this before you shower, especially a cold one since stretching will warm you up a bit. 4. Why exactly I dont know, I read this is a study whe re the effect of head temperature on sleep was researched. It might be linked to a mechanism close to melatonin since this substance also partially works by decreasing body temperature. 5. Obviously falling asleep is quite hard when your mind is too active. Meditation or some other relaxation exercise will make it easier to dose off. Try to combine this with letting go of the stuff you still need to do (in the sense that you shouldnt let it bother you while you fall asleep). 6. See point 4 7. No idea, I read it in a study and havent looked at it since. 8. All stimulation should be minimized, simply because stimulation will trigger your brain to interpret or respond to the stimulus. 9. When you suddenly remember something (e.g. Oh my god, I still have to transfer some mon ey to person x) or you have a brilliant idea (e.g. Ive figured it out! The answer is 42!) it will keep troubling you until you do something with it. Writing it down is a good reminder to engage with your duty or idea and will take your mind off of it. 10. Apart from the light that most alarm clocks produce, a constant reminder of how long you have been lying awake will cause stress and make you fall asleep even later.

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by Mentor Palokaj @SkillCollector.com 11. Caffeine blocks adenosine which will result in difficulties falling asleep. Alcohol is praise d by some as a sleeping aid (e.g. night cap) but reduces deep sleep (Delta and Theta wave). 12. If you wake up groggy chances are your blood sugar is too low. Protein and fat are absorbed slowly as opposed to carbohydrates, try a snack high in these and avoid carbohydrates since they will raise your blood sugar too fast. 13. Turning over all the time doe snt help when you are trying to sleep, a position on your belly with one of your legs slightly up will stop a lot of the turning and help you fall asleep faster. 14. Magnesium relaxes the nerve system, Melatonin regulates sleep and taking it helps many people fall asleep faster and Valerian is a herbal relaxant. 15. The exact name of the substance is irrelevant, but its effects have clearly been demonstrated to help people fall asleep.

References
If you are wondering where I got my information, send me an email. The reason I don t reference in this eBook is that it would become too cluttered Want to keep updated on good stuff? Visit:

http://www.SkillCollector.com

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If you have any questions or remarks, feel free to send me a personal email at mentor@skillcollector.com All the best, Mentor

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