Hey guys, Nate here. I'm proud to announce that I'm now the Program Director of Scrawny To Brawny. From now on all of my blogs and articles will be posted on the brand-new Scrawny To Brawny Blog. So if you enjoyed what you read here, please go check it out. (It's awesome, if I say so myself.) I'm keeping the NGE website alive for resource reasons, but will no longer be actively updating it. The best way to get in touch with me is through leaving a comment on the Scrawny To Brawny blog or by posting on the S2B Facebook page. See you guys over at the new blog!
Become Superhuman - Nate Green and Tim Ferriss
Tim's new book, Israeli stem-cell injections, the unknown power of cinnamon, and becoming superhuman (Plus, win a free book!)
On a lazy Saturday in 2007 I finished a book that was recommended to me by a close mentor.
Two hours later I had quit my job as a trainer at a health club, wrote a plan to open my own fitness studio and get into magazines, and booked a weeklong trip to Central America.
(My mom, understandably, flipped out.)
The book wasn't the cause of my newfound adventure-seeking and impulse decision making; the desire to "do something" with my life had been brewing ever since I dropped out of community college, and I'd already taken the first few steps to live the life of my dreams.
But it certainly gave me a big shove to keep going.
That book was The 4-Hour Work Week, which later became an international phenomenon and catapulted author Tim Ferriss to semi-celebrity status in the area of blogging and lifestyle design.
As fate would have it, Tim and I became friends over the next few years.
So when I learned he was working on a new book, I asked if could help (and quickly learned the subject matter was right up my alley).
I answered exercise and nutrition questions, did a half-dozen interviews, and helped connect Tim to a few world-renowned strength coaches for the The 4-Hour Body
Gaining insane amounts of muscle? Check. Experimenting with anabolic steroids for regeneration? Check. Deconstructing the female orgasm? Double check.
Just like his previous book, The 4-Hour Body is destined to not only become a bestseller, but to provide readers with intelligent, off-the-wall information and cool things to try to dramatically improve their lives.
(Don’t worry, mom. I'm not gonna do anything drastic.)
- Q and A With Tim About The 4-Hour Body -
Nate: How many experiments did you undergo for the book?
Tim: If you count all the blood tests, injections, pills, and potions it was absolutely in the thousands. The book is a culmination of the three years of active experimentation and more than a decade of data.
Why play the human guinea pig role?
Because the rules of publishing and research are skewed. First, to do a study and get it published there has to be a journal for it. Secondly, the experiment has to be viewed as a positive career move for the scientist involved. Third, you gotta have funding for the study.
Given that the type of stuff I'm interested in revolve around everything from boosting testosterone production, increasing maximal deadlift strength, and improving sex, I decided to take it into my own hands and be the guinea pig for other people instead of waiting for the research.
Another thing: self-experimentation is fast. You can do a scientifically valid job of gathering data, and with the websites and new technologies available it's easy to get data and share your results with thousands of people.
For example, there's a forum on Immortality Institute website called the "500 Club". It's an entire forum dedicated to people who've been using 500 milligrams of resveratrol per day for years.
These people have more data than any of the studies that have been published on resveratrol.
That's awesome. It's funny how long it takes the "rest of the world" to learn about things athletes and self-experimenters have been using for years. So when did you decide you wanted to become a human guinea pig?
It started when I was a competitive wrestler in high school. I had to cut from 175 pounds to 152 twice per week to make weight.
But to learn how to cut without negatively affecting performance or putting yourself at risk requires knowledge about electrolyte balance, carbohydrate and protein ratios, water retention, thermoregulation and other complex stuff. So I started tracking it all and became obsessed.
Really, this is the book I wanted to write way before the Four Hour Work Week. But I had to do that book first so I could have access to the best doctors, scientists, professional athletes, black market chemists, and guys like you.
I pulled the trigger once I had my way in and could do what I wanted.
Are you worried about the backlash that's gonna come from this book? I mean, you talk about some pretty controversial things...
I knew I wanted to talk very candidly and objectively about anabolics and other performance enhancing drugs, which very few people do or are willing to do. And I'm sure I'll be attacked from all sides. But I'm as ready as I'm gonna be.
I don't have a" publish or perish" academic career to protect or a company to defend, so I'm in a unique position to introduce people to an intelligent scientific view of some very controversial topics. I look forward to that discussion.
One thing I do want to say though is I am not a doctor nor do I play one on the Internet. I don't suggest people go out with a cavalier attitude and start jamming syringes into themselves.
Yeah, that's a good call. What are a few of the more interesting or crazy things you found while writing The 4-Hour Body?
Let's see...I found that timed cold exposure can dramatically multiply fat loss if you do it right. I had some help from a NASA scientist for that chapter and really got into thermodynamics.
I interviewed a lot of brown adipose tissue specialists (BATS) and became pretty interested in the hormone adiponectin, which you'll be hearing more about soon. You can tweak it using cold and speed up the fat loss process.
What do you mean by "cold exposure"? Like, sitting in an ice bath?
Exactly. I take three bags of ice, dump them in the bath and sit with the ice and water up to my waist and read for 10 minutes. Then I put my book down and lay completely submerged for five minutes with my ears out of the water.
Holy shit.
It's not as bad as you think. It gets easier, too.
If you want to try it, I recommend that you keep your hands out of the water for the first three minutes of your full submersion, then put them underwater for the last two minutes. At least for the first two weeks. You don't want to lose heat too quickly.
Also, a cold bath like this is a great way to improve sleep. Try it an hour before you go to bed to see what I mean.
So I was reading the chapter about fat loss and noticed cinnamon came up quite a few times. Care to share what you've found?
Cinnamon actually has a few interesting effects that physique and performance athletes will find helpful.
But first, I gotta tell you a quick story. You'll like this.
I had a next-generation continuous glucose monitor implanted in my side to track my blood glucose 24 hours per day. It's something Type-1 diabetics use. Very cutting edge. Anyway, I did this for about thee weeks, tracked my food intake, and timed all my meals and workouts to see when my glucose was spiking.
Wait. What? You implanted it into your side?
Yep.
OK...
One of the things I found was that cinnamon proved effective for lowering glycemic response.
Lets say you have two cups of coffee per day and you normally put a quarter cup of milk in each. If you were to replace that milk – which is highly insulinogenic – with a teaspoon and a half of cinnamon and a little vanilla extract, you'd lose body fat. I've seen people cut milk out of coffee and lose two to three pounds of fat in less than 7 days.
You gotta be careful with the cinnamon, though. It sound ridiculous, but you can hurt yourself. There are even warning labels on cinnamon in Europe, stating how it can negatively interact with certain prescription drugs. So I wouldn't go over 6 grams per day.
One final thing: most of the cinnamon you'll find is garbage. The powdered packaged cinnamon in a clear container is just like buying rancid fish oil. If you're going to try this you need to get fresh products from good sources. I prefer Saigon cinnamon, especially for taste.
Good to know. So after all of your experiments, do you feel like you're living a "healthier" life? Do you feel better?
Absolutely. Without a doubt. I feel healthier than I was in college. I'm faster, stronger, and have fewer aches and pains, which is crazy.
Although some parts of the book process were terrifying – like flying stem-cell growth factors from Israel – all of it was satisfying and worth it.
I wanted to make myself the ultimate guinea pig so the readers didn't have to.
What that's allowed me to do is narrow down the field from the entire spectrum of possibilities to the handful of things that have proven to be effective, safe and replicable.
There's a bunch of amazing stuff out there, man.
I talked with molecular chemist in Russia who's been financed by oil titans to develop technology to help them live forever. He's already reversing blindness in four or five species of mammals with eye drops of a specially made concoction. I'm talking zero visibility, a couple of weeks of eye drops, and then perfect vision.
It sounds like science fiction, but the future is here. A lot of people just don't know about it yet.
In fact, I wouldn't surprised if you and I make it to 120 years old.
++++
Note from Nate: I had a great time helping Tim with The 4-Hour Body
Comments for This Entry
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I was waiting for this interview. Good stuff Nate... looking forward to usps delivering this darn thing. Sounds like a good read.
I also like your intro...maybe I should quit my job too. Don't worry I won't blame you if things go wrong. -
Hey Nate,
Tim's book had a similar effect on myself, although I picked it up a little later than you. Great interview, I'm excited to grab my copy.
Thanks for the great content man,
- Chad -
Dear Nate,
You and Tim Ferriss are two people who have had an amazing impact on my life. I can't wait to pick up a copy.
Anthony -
Sounds like a bunch of jibberish
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Good interview Nate, it's got me interested in both books, curious to see what it's like as a read and what I can take from it.
Bobby -
I gotta pick this up at some point. Crazy stuff! The cold bath and cinnamon tips were pretty interesting. Too bad there wasn't any quick and crazy muscle building tips... maybe you could throw one of those here? :P
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Tim is true leader, you can't wait for other people and scientists to figure things out. You have to take action and learn things for yourself. As fitness professionals, we are in a unique position to discover new and better ways of improving health and enhancing quality of life.
Great Post!
Tyler Thomas -
With great power comes great responsibility.
I'll have to check out a copy. -
Cool stuff, just ordered from Amazon for $14 and change. Can't wait.
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Cool, i've pre-ordered the book and looking forward too it.
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Nate, I'd love a copy of that book. New technique I've been trying. Stolen from Larry Scott's Loaded Guns book. To isolate the Brachialis, get on a Lat pulldown machine and point elbows to the sky and curl the bar behind your head. Awkward as hell. Will help give biceps brachii a better peak. For a weight gain tip, in the morning and night, mix half-and-half with 4-6 raw eggs and chug. Nasty as hell! Make sure to take Biotin (aka B7) because raw eggs deplete the bodies natural biotin level. Thanks Biochem!
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My new thing is using Saturday as "free" day. I just go downstairs to my home gym and do whatever kind of cardio/bodyweight/light lifting that I want, keeping it intense (and the crazier the exercise, the better.). Last time I actually took two dumbbell bars and put a 5 lb. plate on one end of each. I then proceeded to hold them like swords and pretend I was fighting off an army of ninjas. It gets you sore, man.
Yes, on the inside I will always be, in fact, 8. -
I just purchased the book at Borders with a freshly minted 50% off coupon! (Joing borders rewardsa and you'll receive weekly coupons!)...Man, this is a LARGE BOOK, like Holy Bible big! I especially like the seciton on "15 minute orgasms!"
KT -
Definitely some interesting stuff and look forward to reading the book.
My most helpful tip, especially for those new to a healthy lifestyle and trying to lose fat, gain muscle, etc. is to simply never buy a health/muscle/other industry magazine. This goes for all things really, simply research who in the industry are some top people and go read their actual sites. I've learned more from t-nation, elitefts, Nate's blog, John Kiefer's blog and Martin Berkhan's blog than I ever could of learned from a muscle magazine or 10 tips to a slimmer you type article. Seeking knowledge is important, but where you get it from is even more important in this age of misinformation and idiocy. I truly wish I had known this when I was younger. -
Nate, Great book, I hav e read portions of it. Have a great holiday
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Awesome stuff, discovered his book just a few weeks ago and got interested, been following the blog and I was going to order his first book one of these days, glad I waited, now I can order both of them together. Looking forward to reading both and see what I can get out of them.
Nothing really new here, a variation on the standard complexes I thought of, really fries the traps (and rest of the body too)
-Deadlift with snatch grip x reps
-follow up by power snatch x reps
-next is overhead shrugs x reps
-and last overhead squat x reps -
Cool performance tip---
Take rubber resistance tubing -the kind you can find in almost any commercial gym- slip a foot in each handle at either end, pull the band over your head and behind your neck. Practice three-step approach jumps to a basketball rim, say a set of ten from each the left and right side of the rim everyday, and you can drastically improve your vertical (think 2-3" per month). Jumping is also great conditioning and very calorically expensive. Go dunk!
Jess -
Dermatologists specifically Leslie baumann have been talking about the benefits of cinnamon for quite some time. Not only is it an antioxidant it is also useful when eating foods with a high glycemic index. Spikes in insulin levels can trigger acne so by implementing cinnamon into ur diet specifically when ur insulin levels are high can be beneficial. just another plus of cinnamon
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This should be interesting. Where can i grab my copy?
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My tip: try to spend at least the double of the time you spend learning about fitness and health aplying what you've learned...
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Hey Nate
Thanks for sharing this awesome interview you had with Tim. I already ordered 3 copies of Tim's 4 Hour Body from Amazon. Looking forward to reading the book.
My exercise tip is keep the exercise intensity up, feel the burn in the muscles and keep it short. -
EXERCISE TIP:
When doing a horizontal pulling exercise, initiate the movement in the scapula first by retracting the shoulders, then pull the weight to your body. This will decrease the risk of impingement and help improve posture. BONUS: Activate your scap and lower traps during your warm-up via scapular wall slides -
The Best Tip EVER!!!
-Ignorance is rejecting something you know nothing about-
No one does this because they don't appreciate the value of it but at least once a week do a handstand next to a wall and hand walk along the side of the wall for 5 minutes or as long as your dealts can manage or before you pass out from the blood and pressure going to your head.......it might even add points to your IQ -
Here's my exercise tip:
You have a big goal for today's training session but you're feeling a bit down for what ever reason. You're wondering if you can succeed in achieving that goal.
1. Get yourself in a calm spot and sit down. Breathe easy.
2. Erase all your thoughts. Get a real clear picture in your mind of yourself as you're doing the exercises. Focus only on imagining yourself as you push through the training session and you fucking crush it!
3. Imagine yourself as if you'd already done the workout with great success. You're all soaked in sweat, you're exhausted but you accomplished what you wanted and it feels great!
4. Finally snap out of it, forget all those thoughts and focus on what you're going to do next. Don't worry about anything and if you do, immediately replace the negative thought with the one you thought above and feel that great sense of success. You already know you're going to kick ass! -
so u said u wrestled in high school and im wrestling right now what are some tips you can offer?
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Hey Nate,
Just wanted to say "thanks" for your Testosterone forum post ~3 years back about the 4HWW. You piqued my interest and I bought the book. It was one of the more influential books that I've read and I've been following Tim through his blog ever since.
-Michael -
Sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out.
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(I'll try not to be so geeky about this)
This is a tip from moi (that's french!). Diet is not the key. Exercise isn't the key. Taking each one path isn't the road to take--both need to be utilized. The diet gives you fuel and the exercise moves your systems and gets it going. When you reach a higher peak by doing workouts more frequently and eating to fuel, there will be synergy.
Great...synergy...what the heck?!
Nate and all of you know about this, but it's best to reiterate. For the diet, eat low on the food chain--go organic, local and study about them (take responsibility) and get movement, not exercise, workouts but move your body everyday and let it be free, integrate it and never isolate. Do things totally (as in move the body in total body fashion) and do it frequently, eating well on the low food chain.
Amazing...does it work? By my experience, it has. Does it work for you? Try it to see and actually use the tip. It can improve you, or destroy you. If it doesn't go well with you. It could be that you're just lazy--and making excuses. Peace and love.
- Kyle Matthew Santelices -
AB Linguistics and Literature -
I see deadlifts, kettlebells, and Brian McKenzie. Looks like Tim has been taking ideas from www.crossfit.com. I hope he gives credit to Greg Glassman and Crossfit in his book. My gym is FULL of shredded muscular men AND women. Real firebreathers. This is the predictable result of crossfit plus a paleo diet.
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Sup Nate,
the book sounds epic so far and i mean 500+ pages :) not bad
And nice interview *thumbs up*
My best tip in exercising is for sure keep training serious! every training brings you further... and do extrem supersets like pullups wide grip, close grip, pulldowns followed by my fav pushups in a handstand (at the wall or without if possible) without resttime between around 15 reps (second round is kinda inpossible BUT you can handle it if you bite)
This gets you into some real burn and you grow like damn (i personaly made extreme steps with this comb... if you are able to do the handstandpushups without the wall you get your core involved aswell by stabilizeing you body )....
nutrition: i'm doing an extreme bulking/cuting plan right now... i gained 16 pounds (8.2kg) in the last 3 weeks by just 1.5% BF using 8 meals per day (for example i drink a shake every eve: 3bananas,500ml milk 0.1%, 500ml water, 80-100 gramns protein and 5 hands of oats. put it in a blender and drink it in 15 minutes after that the oats or they are glueing on the blender.....) and this extreme sets and exercises
cutting will be a torture... no carbs, fish (except tuna) no milk nothing with sugar in it.....
its gona be hard but i should loose up to 6 pounds (3kg) in the next week...
from germany Björn
PS: Nate try the pushups ;) hardcore -
Great interview Nate. Would love a copy of the book.
My tip is make sure you separate your carbs from your fat.
So one meal should consist of protein+fat and the other should consist of protein+carbs. DO not have carbs and fat in the same meal. -
Great Interview man----got my book in the mail today.
Pumped to read up! -
I have a tip to fix a shortcoming some of us have in our programming: cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance. Do some form of a body weight circuit once or twice a week, either on an off day or after completing your training session. Burpees done for time are my favorite (max reps in 1 min. followed with 1-2 min rest, repeat), but there is room for creativity if you want to add exercises. Done consistently and with the right intensity, you'll see good improvement and because the duration and frequency is minimal, your shouldn't see a negative effect on qualities like max strength. This is a great way to become more well-rounded and athletic.
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At the 4-Hour Body launch party I got to meet Tim Ferriss in person and thank him for helping to transform my life from mediocre to awesome in less than a year. He recommended I visit the island of Koh Samet when I take my mini retirement to Thailand.
I can't wait to get my hands on his new book, but I'm still waiting for it to get shipped here from Barnes&Noble. -
Dear Nate,
You are doing a wonderful job by sharing cool stuff with your crazy fans like me.
I have to grab a copy for my self as soon as possible -
cold bath and cinamon here I come.
-
Nate-
My workout tip/ training advice for the group is to add Craig Weller's NSW Mile to your routine every other week or so. It is great for breaking things up and shocking your system. I turned 30 this year and adding the variations of the Mile to my training, along with the other stuff Craig has me doing, has improved my overall performance. I am faster and stronger overall than I have ever been. This past Summer I trained for a race where you run 11 miles and bike close to 40. No one on my team practiced with traditional running methods and the most that we biked was to the gym and back. We finished 2nd in the Mens Division and 4th overall out of 150+ teams.
http://www.t-nation.com/testosterone-magazine-625 -
Amazing how many people buy this without analyzing it critically. Well, not amazing. People are stupid and gullible in general. Tim's made a fortune off of it.
I'm sure this will be deleted as soon as it's up. -
Thanks for the comment nameless person. :)
Your comment is fine; and it's not gonna be deleted. Next time, however, I ask that you use your full name and provide an email address and not hide behind the anonymity of the internet.
One more thing: I'm hoping you read the entire book and thought about it critically before you analyzed it.
Cheers,
Nate -
Hey Nate, you tried any of the techniques in the book yet?
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Hey great post !!!
My best nutrition tip hardly anyone realizes is to throw out the microwave
There have been studies showing a plant fed microwaved water and dying soon after
This proves microwaves remove much needed nutrients from food !! -
I lol'd at Nate's response to nameless guy.
I'll grab a copy with some Christmas book vouchers, sounds like an interesting read. -
Easy way to get a bunch of broccoli into your diet without all that chewing: make broccoli soup!
1. Buy bag of broccoli florets
2. Boil broccoli in a big pot until you can cut it by pressing it gently with a knife against the side of the pot
3. Put broccoli and some of the broccoli water into a blender with salt and pepper and blend until smooth.
4. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on it and enjoy.
The simplicity is the point. It comes out really delicious, it's good cold or hot, a retarded monkey could make it. Make a bunch of it at once, freeze it in food prep bowls covered in plastic wrap, and you've got an easy and tasty way to add a bunch of veggies to your diet! (inspired by Gordon Ramsay's recipe which can be found on Youtube) -
Thanks to everyone for the comments! There were some really great tips.
The winner of the book goes to DS who gave us this awesome tid-bit:
"I have a tip to fix a shortcoming some of us have in our programming: cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance. Do some form of a body weight circuit once or twice a week, either on an off day or after completing your training session.
Burpees done for time are my favorite (max reps in 1 min. followed with 1-2 min rest, repeat), but there is room for creativity if you want to add exercises. Done consistently and with the right intensity, you'll see good improvement and because the duration and frequency is minimal, your shouldn't see a negative effect on qualities like max strength.
This is a great way to become more well-rounded and athletic."
-Nate -
Great Video, Great Post. Can't wait to get one.
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This looks awesome, can't wait to see others say when they read it
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Have to say I am rather skeptical about some of Ferriss' claim Nate.
That said and done I will come out and say I not picked up a copy of the book - so could be way of base. -
Nate
I was wondering if you could help me out. I purchased your book and and the 4HB and 4hww. I love all of them. I recently read the four hour body. I am trying to follow tim Ferris slow carb diet. He states in his book that his father drank a protein shake for breakfast instead of cooking food for weight loss. This is what I would like to do. I want to just make a shake in the morning by a certain company not adding any ingrediants besides the liquid. Please give me your recommendation. I have posted on Tims Blog with no response. Please Help. -
Was not aware of the effects of cinnamon. Would like to see some more articles on healthy alternatives to supplements. I have been ordered by my physician to not take any more supplements due to my kidney levels being elevated. He advised not even protein supplements.
I am still working out just as hard as before, but the workouts seem like they are more difficult since I am restricted in my supplement intake. I am still trying to eat healthy and eating lots of protein foods such as white meat turkey, and white meat chicken. Thanks for any help that you can give me on some alternative supplements.
I am always skeptical about some of these books. I have purchased several and the workouts have not seemed right for me. I have basically designed my own workout and I am seeing some good results. -
Just picked up the book today. Has any of you tried any of the Sleeping Techniques?
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Hey Nameless Guy
Using just tims Slow carb and very small amounts of training I have Taken off 5 kilos of fat in 6 weeks. This is the fastest and easiest to maintain system of changing my body I have ever come across and I have been reading and trying different things for 10 years.
I have not tried to do anything from any other sections of the book but just go down to 4hbtalk.com and you will see people getting similarly awesome results no matter what section they are on.
Tim is successful because he helps people achieve their goals. -
Nice interview but I wish you grilled him a little harder on his view points since you're much more knowledgeable about this area than he is.
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Wonderful journey and experience!
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The patent Michael Kors Totes are the quintessential tote bag
COMMENT RULES: Critical posts are fine, but if you're rude I'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your personal name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. But most of all, have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Tim Ferriss for the inspiration.)
Jason LaChance 9:42pm Dec 13, 2010