Tools of Titans

by Timothy Ferriss

  For Loose Skin or Stretch Marks

  “There’s an herb called gotu kola that—I learned this from Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale, who was one of my early mentors—will get rid of what we call unnecessary scar tissue or unnecessary connective tissue. The truth of the matter, though, is that you will see zero progress for the loose skin for 6 months. So people say it’s not worth it, but I tell people, just keep doing it for 6 months. And then it’s almost like overnight. . . .

  “There are some compounding pharmacists who will make you a gotu kola bioabsorbable cream. That works a lot faster. I would say if you can find a compounding pharmacist who will do that, and it’s a biologically active form, you could get the same results in about 2 to 3 months.”

  TF: I asked Charles about oral sources, and he suggested one dropperful of Gaia Herbs Gotu Kola Leaf liquid extract per day, which also improves tendon repair and cognitive function.

  4 Tests to Check Every 8 Weeks

  Charles recommends checking these biomarkers every 8 weeks:

  Morning (fasting) insulin

  Morning (fasting) glucose: “One thing I insist on is that they always [do this test] exactly 12 hours after the last bite. Why? Because I want pre- and post-measures that are valid. Your morning glucose could be all over the place because you fasted an extra 2 hours, and it’s not valid.”

  TF: This is a hugely important point. Standardize as many variables as possible. For instance, I will do blood tests on the same day of the week, and attempt to hydrate equally, typically by drinking 1–2 liters of water and ensuring my pee is clear. Imagine that you do one blood test on Thursday, then your follow-up tests on a Monday after a weekend of booze, which can elevate liver enzymes. The values aren’t comparable. It’s also a good idea to avoid hard workouts for the 24 hours prior to your blood tests, if possible, so you don’t get a false read on inflammatory markers. Control thy variables!

  Reactive insulin test: “I think the reactive insulin test is the most underrated test in health.” (Dr. Peter Attia also includes this as “OGTT (Oral Glucose Tolerance Test)” in his top 5 tests; see page 65 for more details.)

  HbA1c (usually read as “hemoglobin A1c”): “They say that, basically, you age at the rate you produce insulin. HbA1c will tell me what was the average insulin over the last 3 months. . . . I’ve found over the years that, actually, the amount of magnesium, supplemental magnesium, you consume, is the fastest way to drop that value. So magnesium is probably one of the best anti-aging minerals.”

  More on Magnesium

  “I think the best magnesium out there is magnesium threonate, if I were to pick one. But I prefer taking different chelates. [TF: Dominic D’Agostino also takes magnesium; see page 30 for his thoughts.] So I use glycinate, I use orotate. If you look at the physiology behind it, and there’s a lot of good research that’s really easy to find, every form of magnesium tends to go to a specific tissue. So for example, magnesium glycinate has a preference for liver and muscle tissue; magnesium orotate tends to work more in the vascular system. Magnesium threonate is more of a GABA inducer, therefore it improves sleep. Personally, I take 2g of magnesium threonate at the last meal before going to bed, and I use various forms of chelates like magnesium glycerophosphate from GabaMag [made by Trilogy Nutritional Supplements].”

  Another go-to recipe for sleep: glutamine and physician-prescribed probiotics (vary the brands) before bed.

  On Good Doctors

  “The length of time they spend with you on your first visit is probably your best indicator [of their quality].”

  To Increase T, Decrease C

  “As a rule . . . the best thing to increase testosterone is to lower cortisol. Because the same raw material that makes testosterone and cortisol is called pregnenolone. Under conditions of stress, your body is wired to eventually go toward the cortisol pathway.”

  TF: If you’ve ever laid down in bed exhausted, then felt wired and been unable to sleep, cortisol might be a factor. To mitigate this “tired and wired” phenomenon—as well as reduce glucose levels—before bed, I take phosphatidylserine and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC). For me, this also has a noticeable impact on lowering anxiety the following day.

  * * *

  “The best educator on HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) is Thierry Hertoghe from Belgium.”

  * * *

  ✸ “Back squat, front squat, or overhead squat, if you had to choose one for your athletes?”

  “The front squat. I have a lot of statistical data on that. Because it is impossible to cheat on the front squat. I’m talking ass-to-the-grass front squat, meaning you leave a stain in the carpet in the bottom position. In my opinion, for athletic purposes, all squats should be done that way. . . . They should [perform] it the way the Olympic lifters do it. So hands slightly wider than shoulder width, elbows up as high as you can, and actually the elbows in. That locks the bar into right in front of your throat. If you find the exercise comfortable, you’re not doing it correctly. You should feel some restriction in the neck when you front squat properly.”

  (See Kelly Starrett’s thoughts on squats on page 124.)

  Step #1 in a Squat Warmup

  “There’s a lot of research that shows that mobility in the ankle is what decreases the probability of any lower extremity injuries, whether it’s an ACL tear or hamstring pull or groin tear or whatever. So the first thing I would do [in a warmup prior to squatting] is go on a calf machine and stretch the calves, and then go down and statically stretch for 8 seconds. I’d finish off with voluntary contraction, because it resets the pattern for strength. Research is clear: If you do static stretching and you don’t finish with a contraction, you’re more likely to get an injury.”

  TF: This, along with Paul Levesque’s recommendation, prompted me to take Cossack squats seriously (see page 87). I pay more attention to my calves now than ever before, both for injury prevention and upper-leg flexibility (see Christopher Sommer, page 9).

  Activating the Hamstrings

  I once took a Kinetic Chain Enhancement seminar under Charles, in which he tore my arms apart with ART (Active Release Techniques) and doubled my shoulder internal-rotation ROM in minutes (see The 4-Hour Body). He also taught us the “muscle-tendon technique”—how to activate the hamstrings, among other muscles, by using simple cross-fiber friction near the insertion points. For instance, to immediately increase your strength output in a set of hamstring curls, you could lie on the floor and have someone use a knife hand—think “judo chop” edge—to rapidly rub back and forth on each of the dotted lines in this illustration for 8 to 10 seconds each. For reasons that exceed the space we have, start at the gluteal fold (butt fold) lines for hamstring curls, but start with lines just below the knee for deadlifts.

  ✸ Most-gifted or recommended books

  59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute by Richard Wiseman (for stress reduction)

  The 4-Hour Workweek

  The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller

  “So after reading [The 4-Hour Workweek and The ONE Thing], when I’m at home, I work 2 and a half to 4 hours max. I take the month of July off. I take the first 2 weeks of August off. I don’t work from the month of December until about end of January, and a week a month I take off.”

  ✸ Charles’s best $100 or less purchase

  “It was a gift, so I’m not sure what the price was, but it can’t be that high. It’s called a Bamboo Bench [made by German personal trainer Bernd Stoesslein]. It has this half-moon shape [it attaches to any bench] where your spine rests. So when you do pressing movements, you can drop the elbows much farther than with a regular bench. It allows for a freer scapular movement, it allows for a greater range of motion when you lift, and it allows pain-free upper body pressing.”

  ✸ Who do you think of when you hear the word “successful”?

  Winston Churchill. “This guy had balls. He stood up to Hitler, he ral
lied the United Kingdom, he refused to surrender. He’s a Nobel Prize winner in literature. Very few people know that.”

  TF: Fun note—after Charles said this on my podcast, the owner of Winston Churchill’s former home reached out to invite him to visit.

  The Slow-Carb Diet® Cheat Sheet

  Many people lose hope when trying to lose weight.

  Fortunately, it need not be complicated. Though I regularly fast and enter ketosis, the Slow-Carb Diet (SCD) has been my default diet for more than a decade. It works almost beyond belief and affects much more than appearance. From one reader:

  “I just wanted to sincerely thank Tim for taking the time to research and write The 4-Hour Body. My mom, in her late 60s, lost 45 pounds and got off her high blood pressure meds that she had been on for 20+ years. She did all this in about 3 months. This means that I get to have her around for a long time.”

  The basic rules are simple, all followed 6 days per week:

  Rule #1: Avoid “white” starchy carbohydrates (or those that can be white). This means all bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and grains (yes, including quinoa). If you have to ask, don’t eat it.

  Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again, especially for breakfast and lunch. Good news: You already do this. You’re just picking new default meals. If you want to keep it simple, split your plate into thirds: protein, veggies, and beans/legumes.

  Rule #3: Don’t drink calories. Exception: 1 to 2 glasses of dry red wine per night is allowed, although this can cause some peri-/post-menopausal women to plateau.

  Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit. (Fructose → glycerol phosphate → more body fat, more or less.) Avocado and tomatoes are allowed.

  Rule #5: Whenever possible, measure your progress in body fat percentage, NOT total pounds. The scale can deceive and derail you. For instance, it’s common to gain muscle while simultaneously losing fat on the SCD. That’s exactly what you want, but the scale number won’t move, and you will get frustrated. In place of the scale, I use DEXA scans, a BodyMetrix home ultrasound device, or calipers with a gym professional (I recommend the Jackson-Pollock 7-point method).

  And then:

  Rule #6: Take one day off per week and go nuts. I choose and recommend Saturday. This is “cheat day,” which a lot of readers also call “Faturday.” For biochemical and psychological reasons, it’s important not to hold back. Some readers keep a “to-eat” list during the week, which reminds them that they’re only giving up vices for 6 days at a time.

  Comprehensive step-by-step details, including Q&As and troubleshooting, can be found in The 4-Hour Body, but the preceding outline is often enough to lose 20 pounds in a month, and drop 2 clothing sizes. Dozens of readers have lost 100–200 pounds on the SCD.

  My 6-Piece Gym in a Bag

  I take these 6 items with me whenever I travel. In some cases, I buy several sets, which live in trunks stored at hotels in my most common locations, like L.A. and NYC. For the cost of checking luggage on a few flights, I can have my “kit” waiting in a few cities and avoid check-in lines.

  Voodoo Floss ($20 to $30): This looks like a rubber ACE bandage. It is used to wrap and compress stiff or injured body parts. It’s small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, yet it often decreases pain and increases ROM more than fancy injections and $200/hour therapy. I use Voodoo Floss 1 to 2 times per day on my elbows and forearms during hard gymnastics training. Source: Kelly Starrett (page 122).

  Furniture Sliders ($5 to $15): I’ve used these to freak out guests in hotels around the world. I’ll put them under my heels for a move called “Ag walks with rear support” (page 17), which I do up and down hallways on the carpet. Source: Christopher Sommer (page 9).

  RumbleRoller: Think foam roller meets monster truck tire. (See details on page 3.) Source: Amelia Boone (page 2).

  Bed of Needles: Technically, I bought a Nayoya Acupressure Mat. There is a competitor (same same but different) called Bed of Nails, both available on Amazon. This type of roll-out needle mat, which is covered with “needles” that look like cleat spikes, was recommended to me by Andrii Bondarenko (IG: @andrii_bondarenko), one of Cirque du Soleil’s one-armed-handstand prodigies. His former Ukrainian sport acrobatics coach had athletes use these for up to an hour a day. I find that 5 to 10 minutes in the morning can seemingly perform miracles, particularly for back pain. For one lat tear, this device was the only healing modality that got me back to training.

  Tera’s Whey Goat Whey Protein: If you are lactose-sensitive, this can be a godsend. Even for those who tolerate dairy well, many (like me) find it easier to digest. I use a simple mason jar for mixing. If it’s too goaty for you—I find it very neutral—consider adding a tablespoon of beet root powder from BeetElite or another brand. Source: Charles Poliquin (page 74).

  Mini-parallettes: Anyone who’s seen gymnastics knows of the parallel bars. Anyone who’s been to a CrossFit gym knows about the miniature versions called “parallettes,” typically made out of PVC pipes. What many haven’t seen are the Vita Vibe MP12 ultra-light mini-parallettes that are small enough to fit in carry-on luggage. They are only high enough to clear your knuckles and are perfect for L-sits, planche leans, and handstand training. This is much easier on the wrists than flat hand work. Famed neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley, PhD (page 135), first introduced me to good at-home “p-bars.”

  * * *

  Pavel Tsatsouline

  Pavel Tsatsouline (TW/FB: @BeStrongFirst, StrongFirst.com) is Chairman of StrongFirst, Inc., a worldwide school of strength. He is a former physical training instructor for Spetsnaz, the Soviet special forces, and is currently a subject matter expert to the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Navy SEALs. He is widely credited with introducing the now-ubiquitous kettlebell to the United States and is the author of Kettlebell: Simple & Sinister.

  Sound Check

  Before interviews, I always check equipment with the same question. It’s intended to get people talking for at least 10 seconds. This is what happened with Pavel:

  TIM: “Pavel, if you don’t mind, tell me about what you had for breakfast this morning as a sound check.”

  PAVEL: “Sound check. Breakfast: Coffee.”

  I thought this was so funny that I stuck it at the beginning of the episode. Many fans listen to it over and over again for laughs.

  Two Warmups: Halos and Cossack Squats

  If you’re looking for brief, high-return warmups, here are two to consider.

  Halos

  Grasp a weight with both hands and rotate it around your head to loosen up the shoulder girdle. I use a 25- to 45-pound kettlebell or plate for this and perform 5 slow reps in each direction. Start light.

  Cossack Squat

  When everything else failed, Cossack squats with a kettlebell (as shown below) roughly doubled my ankle mobility, which had a chain of positive effects. Keep your heels on the ground throughout, keep your knees in line with your toes, and keep your hips as low as possible when switching sides. I do 5 to 6 reps per side for 2 to 3 sets, often supersetting with Eric Cressey’s “walking Spiderman” warmup.

  Basic Tenets for Strength

  “Strength is the mother quality of all physical qualities.”

  “Strength is a skill, and, as such, it must be practiced.”

  “Lift heavy, not hard.”

  “Anything more than 5 reps is bodybuilding. . . . If you want to be strong, you want to keep your reps at 5 and under.”

  “If you are training for strength, you want to try and avoid the burn altogether. The burn is your enemy.”

  “Training is something that should be enjoyed.”

  The last quote isn’t a motivational throwaway line. It’s literal. If you’re training for maximal strength, you should feel better after your workout than you did when you walked in. There is a huge neural component.

  Effortless Superhuman

&
nbsp; Pavel introduced me to track coach Barry Ross. Ross had read a study performed by Peter Weyand at Harvard concluding that the key to a sprinter’s success is their relative strength: specifically, how much force he or she puts into the ground per pound of body weight. Then Ross read Pavel’s prescription for increasing strength with minimal muscle gain: deadlifts with heavy weights, low reps, low volume, and a de-emphasized negative. Barry put two and two together and developed a deadlift-based program to create world-class sprinters. One of his early prodigies was Allyson Felix. His deadlift-based protocol utilizes partial range of motion and no negative/eccentric (lowering). I followed this protocol over a period of ~8 weeks and describe this at length in The 4-Hour Body, so I’ll only provide the simplified basics here:

  The Basic Technique: Deadlift to your knees and then drop the bar. I used a “sumo-style” stance, but conventional is fine.

  Format: 2 to 3 sets of 2 to 3 reps each, each set followed by plyometrics (e.g., sprinting 10 to 20 meters, 6 to 8 box jumps, etc.), then at least 5 minutes of rest. My best gains came from 10-minute rests, which aren’t uncommon among power athletes.

  Frequency: I did this twice weekly, on Mondays and Fridays. The total “time under tension” during sets is less than 5 minutes per week.

  Results: I added more than 120 pounds to my max deadlift in ~8 weeks and gained less than 10 pounds of additional mass. For relative strength, I’ve never experienced anything like it. Think you’re too old, or too X for deadlifts? Pavel’s father took up this lift in his 70s. He pulled more than 400 pounds without a belt a few years later, setting several American records in the process.