The 4-Hour Body_ An Uncommon Guide to Ra - Timothy Ferriss [191]
Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever by Ray Kurzweil
(www.fourhourbody.com/transcend) Kurzweil, called the “rightful heir to Thomas Edison” by Inc. magazine, proposes that those interested in “radical life extension” should make it their immediate goal to live through the next 20 or so years, in order to see advances like DNA reprogramming and submicroscopic, cell-repairing robots. This book outlines the nine key areas for extending your life.
Protein-Cycling Diet by Dr. Ron Mignery (www.fourhourbody.com/protein-cycle) According to this book, available for free at this link, a single day per week of restricting protein to no more than 5% of maintenance calories can produce effects similar to extended caloric restriction.
Methuselah Foundation (www.mfoundation.org) The Methuselah Foundation is a nonprofit medical charity dedicated to extending healthy human life. The foundation also offers the NewOrgan Network for those in need of replacement organs, making it easier to reach out to friends and family for support.
Immortality Institute (www.imminst.org) The Immortality Institute is an international not-for-profit. Its mission is “to conquer the blight of involuntary death.” Though I don’t love the word blight, I do love the forum on this site, where hundreds of self-experimenters (including published scientists who post pseudonymously) report on surprising results and advances from using experimental supplements, drugs, and other off-label therapies.
Snowball (www.fourhourbody.com/snowball) If you think about death too much, life seems too goddamn serious. Take a look at this site. It will put things in perspective. Trust me.
End of Chapter Notes
1. Roger Cohen, “The Meaning of Life,” New York Times, July 19, 2009, sec. Opinion.
2. Rapamycin chemically induces autophagy, which protein cycling, mentioned later, achieves naturally.
3. http://www.Fast-5.com/content/summary.
4. Not entirely unlike hibernation in some species.
5. Following dinner until lunch the subsequent day.
6. From The Protein Power Life Plan.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
CLOSING THOUGHTS
The Trojan Horse
We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.
—Carlos Castaneda
“Running an ultramarathon can’t be good for you. I can’t imagine how it’s possibly good for your body,” I said.
I wasn’t biting on endurance. Running wasn’t my thing and it never had been. Brian MacKenzie laughed: “Good for you physically? No. But you’ll recover. And I assure you: if you run 50K or 100 miles, when you finish, you won’t be the same person who started.”
I thought for a minute, and that’s when I bit.
I’d seen a strange ripple effect dozens of times in the world of strength, but for some reason, I’d never connected the dots with endurance. Perhaps just as you haven’t connected the dots with some subjects in this book. After all, in a knowledge economy, what’s the value of deadlifting more or losing 2% bodyfat? Of hitting a home run?
In a word: transfer.
My father lost 70+ pounds of fat in 10 months and tripled his strength. During his annual checkup, his doctor declared that he might live forever.
The physical changes were incredible, but the curious side effects of the program were the strongest incentives to continue. As my dad explained:
It’s very odd. I used to feel like the invisible man, but now people more readily ask my opinion and take me more seriously. I went from not being noticed to being noticed. Quite apart from the aesthetic and performance benefit, there’s a huge social benefit. I lost my invisibility.
Also, after losing 50 or 60 pounds and doing what you once thought impossible, you start to see the other “impossibles”—doubling income in 12 months or whatever—as “possibles.”
This book is a Trojan horse full of unexpected transfers.
It’s intended to make you a better all-around human. It’s also intended to make you a role model for