Garth’s Style of Living the 4-Hour Body and Becoming Superhuman

Garth Beyer

Reading Time:  6 min

“How do you become more productive?”

“Richard Branson leaned back and thought for a second…Twenty people sat around him at rapt attention, wondering what a billionaire’s answer would be to one of the big questions — perhaps the biggest question — of business…Then he broke the silence: ‘Work Out.'”

Tim Ferriss has become a hero of mine after I heard his name mentioned at a business workshop. I read the 4 hour work week and if you recall my post for my first Toastmasters speech, I mentioned he was one of the top 5 influencers in my life. Recently, I have been recalling tips and strategies from the 4-Hour Body “An Uncommon Guide To Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman”. Only after taking Tim’s challenge of making myself the experiment, did I learn a few more things that will help you on your way through incorporating the advice in the book, in your life. I call it the 4.5-Hour Body since the lessons will add on some time to the experiment, but will also add on the results.

Cracking The Harajuku Moment

Tim starts by saying there is no point in following the advice in his book until you have your Harajuku Moment: The epiphany that turns a nice-to-have into a must-have.

I am positive that I have not been the only one to start following Tim’s tips without a Harajuku moment. So how did I follow through when so many others failed to receive results for lack of their Harajuku moment?

The Harajuku Moment[s]

Ever since I had mononucleosis in 5th grade when I lost all my baby fat and plenty more of  my muscle, I have been called skinny by almost everyone I meet.

In middle school, I lost nearly every arm wrestling match I had with my friends.

During high school basketball, I never wanted to take my shirt off because of my paleness, skinniness and bacne.

After meeting a girl, I couldn’t have any other guy able to ‘take me’.

So far, these are the biggest moments that have motivated me to truly follow Tim’s advice in his book the 4-hour Body to become super human. The reason why I could follow through while so few others without a Harajuku moment could was that I had Harajuku moment[s] throughout my life.

However, I agree that having a Harajuku moment will amp up the results tenfold. Nothing could have gotten me as motivated to make larger improvements then when

Someone once important to me said she would like me to gain some more weight and lean muscle.

While she meant it in a positive way, in my mind I could only think “She thinks I’m skinny and weak.” This alone may not have gotten me to make vast changes, but it was the cherry on top of all the other layers of degradation I have received throughout the years.

To crack the Harajuku moment, write a list of all the past smaller moments.

Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector’s passion borders on the chaos of memories

Photos

The more you begin to do things after your Harajuku Moment(s), the more you will wish you had taken photos. Tim says, “The fastest way to correct a behavior is to be aware of it in real-time, not after-the-fact.”

Reminder: Take direct photos in the same light and same area every time. You will have an incredibly hard time seeing the relationship between your photos if you do not follow this advice. There is a reason I don’t have before and after pictures.

What Tim failed to mention was the mental battle that goes along with it (both in real-time AND after-the-fact). When taking picture, you have to keep seeing what you want, instead of focusing in on what is. Especially when “what is”, is a lack of results or even a backtrack. The reason I pushed through was that I looked at the photo process the same as the Slow-Carb diet/binge day process. During the diet, it’s typical to gain up to 5 pounds after binge day but it will go back down even further than when it spiked up. I had to take this mental attitude toward the photos. If I did not see progress or saw my body showing the opposite direction I wanted, I had to remind myself that this was a process and my body is going to have its ups and downs – it’s the end result that matters and that is what you need to continuously focus on.

And the results after only two weeks are incredible.

Measurement + A Bit of Competition = Motivation

By the time you view this post, I am going to expect that you know that what can’t be measured, can’t be managed.

Beginning Estimate:

16% body-fat according to the reference pictures in the book.

Neck: 14 inches

Chest: 35.5 inches

Waist: 31.5 inches

Hips: 37 inches

Thighs: 21.5 inches

Calves: 15 inches

Biceps: 11 inches.

Weight: 165 pounds.

My most recent measurement will be found at the end.

Like the majority of people, I feel that I have an average amount of competition adrenaline. Competition streams in all of our veins, some more than others because they have learned to harness it to become Superhuman. While I had the competition of wanting to be bigger and better than my friends, my biggest challenge was that my roommate was also doing the diet and I knew that she was going after pure and noticeable results. I found my real competition. My point: When you don’t have competition, make it.

The Slow-Carb Diet

is only hard if you don’t like to cook (like me). Realize that I said “don’t like”, not “don’t know how”. Lucky for me, I left it up to my roommate to control the Slow-Carb diet and cook the majority of the meals.

The fact that there are so few things you can eat makes cooking and making meals easy. Actually, the diet might even add an extra hour a day to your schedule. While you have to be creative when you cook, you don’t have to spend so much time cooking. The meals required for the Slow-Carb diet can be made for a week in one day.

A Precaution to Air-Squats

Stretch before you do them.

I went into the bathroom at work to perform my squats and slightly pulled my hamstring because I had been sitting for most of the morning. Just because air-squats are a very light form of exercise, stretching beforehand is still vital. (Clearly).

How To Cheat Out Of Ice Baths

If you are like me, you won’t take ice baths. A quick tip to avoid them but still get the results – take up the 4 Hour Body challenge during the winter.

Instead of ice baths, I wore less layers and let my body feel the cold without tipping the point of getting the flu – which the Slow-Carb diet and exercise will work to prevent anyways. Want to lose weight and save money? Leave the heat off in your home, make your body work to keep itself warm by burning fat. These two steps take care of the outside of your body. Now, add only drinking ice water to the list and you have yourself roughly the same results as taking an ice bath if not better results.

The Caliber Test

My roommate surprised me by ordering a Caliber device off  the internet so that we could more accurately know our body fat percentage. You will recall that I was at an estimated 16% body fat according to the reference pictures Tim provided in his book. She got the Caliber around a week and a half  after we began the diet. Did I get from 16% to the 8.3% that the Caliber said I was at? We will never know for certain. Given that I could have been off by 5% in my beginning estimations and the fact that the Calibers can be off by much higher than 5% who knows the true improvement.

The reason I bring this up is to suggest to you to not measure your body fat percentage unless you want to do it for fun or expect to make drastic results. I was often referenced as skinny, so you can expect that I did not have much body fat to lose. When I mentioned the importance of measurements, it is best to know that it is even more important to have very accurate measurements.

Kettle-Ball Swing

is much more of a workout than you will first expect. Start off with a light weight and work your way up slowly.

Dead-lifts Suck For Some

Mainly people with past back problems. If you have had any previous back issues, start doing dead-lifts without any weights. To prepare yourself for the intensity and the extreme results of dead-lifts you can try these real simple back exercises and really focus on your core strength. In addition, kettle ball swings are perfect for preparing every muscle in your body for dead-lifts.

The Vertical Jump

I increased my jump by almost 5 inches by following the tips. The advice also allowed me to almost jump onto a 5 foot high box at Gymfinity during Parkour training.

Sleep Is For The Weak, Sleep is For The Strong

I always say sleep is for the weak because I am up late every night writing, researching, working and living the success journey. It’s sad that there are more people out there that want sleep more than they want to be successful. Thanks to the 4-Hour Body, I am now able to sleep even less and have more energy. I now understand my REM cycle and the other sleeping lessons Tim shared. As a result, I would like to revert my statement. Sleep is not for the weak, Sleep is for the strong. It is for the strong because I know that those who get the most done and accomplish the most each day sleep the best without the need to sleep the longest and they will be more successful than everyone else.

The Best way to predict the future is to invent it – Alan Kay

Beginning Measurements>>>> Most Recent Measurements

16% body-fat according to the reference pictures in the book.   >>>> 7% body-fat according to caliber

Neck: 14 inches  >>>> 14 inches

Chest: 35.5 inches   >>>> 36 inches

Waist: 31.5 inches   >>>> 31.5 inches

Hips: 37 inches    >>>> 38 inches

Thighs: 21.5 inches   >>>> 21.5 inches

Calves: 15 inches   >>>>> 15 inches

Biceps 11 inches.    >>>>> 11 inches

Weight 165 pounds.    >>>> 154 pounds

Notice how almost all of my measurements stayed the same, but I lost 11 pounds. The 4 Hour Body technique allows you to cut the fat but keep the muscle. Uniquely for me, my loss of fat was at a equal relationship with the gain of muscle. Now it’s time to really kick up the muscle gain.

Stay Positive and Experimental

Garth E. Beyer

STANDOUT

Garth Beyer

I opened a can of chopped carrots to cook for myself and dumped it in the pot to heat up on the stove. To my incredible astonishment, there was a Lima bean in the can! How the heck?! It was a can of carrots… I still have no clue how a Lima bean could have gotten into the can of carrots. Though it will bug me endlessly until I figure out how this magic happened, the experience was a reminder – a reminder to Standout.

I wrote a 500 character description of this picture for a scholarship test called “Frame Your Future”. The directions said to post a picture that described your future and write a 500 character description on it. Reading over my original writing, it was not good enough. Why? I wrote how it involved my future when my heart was telling me to write about how I could positively impact your future. I used the picture to describe myself rather than to provide a life lesson. While it was originally for a scholarship test, I would now like to expand it for your sake and have it serve its appropriate purpose.

Framing Your Future and How To STANDOUT

You would think that to Standout, you have to be different, unusual or weird. This was once the status quo of Standing Out, but is now a failure. The true definition of Standing Out is to be your true self – to be comfortable with who you are, to have your individuality open to all, to be the only person you should be – YOU.

But, there is still one factor missing in the definition of Standing Out. The most crucial aspect of Standing Out is to influence everyone in your life.

“The more you try to be different, the more you look like everybody else. The more you try to be YOUnique, the more you STANDOUT”

What Standing Out Is NOT

Standing Out is not being looked at in a quizzical manner by everyone that notices you.

Standing Out is not wearing the “dunce” hat.

Standing Out is not challenging everything that is said.

Standing Out is not doing everything that you are told you “should” or “should not” do.

Standing Out is not being the center of attention everywhere you go.

Standing Out is not to have a negative spotlight on you.

How To Successfully STANDOUT

To successfully STANDOUT, you must focus on your influence of others. There is no certain way to STANDOUT than to express your character, attitude and mental/emotional persuasion upon others. Here are the key ways to STANDOUT in the world and achieve all you want in life.

  • Remain Naive: Often our parents, mentors and elders (do we still have elders?) say that we are naïve because we are ignorant of the possible consequences. My friend rewrote the definition of “naïve” when we were getting ready to move out on our own. “Naïve: inexperienced? … more like..ones dreams haven’t been crushed by society.” It is not that others can’t see the positive, the life lessons and growth that is created through being naïve, it is only that they still have not learned from their mistakes. You know that you have not learned from your mistake if you encourage others not to make the same mistake. I once argued with my dad that if I listened to everything he said and did not do the opposite or make my own mistakes what would I have learned? How would I have truly grown? I would not be me.
  • Ask Yourself: Does it empower all, without conditions and favoritism? Is everyone loved, forgiven and accepted eternally?
  • Do Things Differently: It is my motivation to find a new way to look at everything I read,see and hear. The easiest way to do this is to challenge everything! Learning is a competitive matter between yourself and the source of the information you are learning from. You must find a way that, what you are learning, could be improved. What is the information you are learning, missing? Once you discover that which was not taught, act on it. It is then that you begin to do things differently and you succeed in doing so because instead of waiting for the next step in the lesson, you created the next step. There is always room for improvement.
  • Think Outside Of The Box: This is very similar to doing things differently. Thinking outside of the box requires you to break status quo but, rather than challenge your mind, you have to become mentally creative. (Which may be challenging, but it’s a different type of challenge) Thinking Outside Of The Box also requires you to think about every situation in the one way that very few in the world do – as a life lesson.
  • Character: is the single strongest determinate of your future. Character is the soul of our soul, the heart of our heart, the mind of our mind and the creator of our future success.  When you read about successful people, you will often read countless characteristic words. Collectively, what do they define? Character                    Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. – Helen Keller
  • Dress For Success: In addition to dressing your attitude in the finest garments of value, integrity and positivity, you must have the appearance of the successful. It is as much of a personal mentality as it is an impact on those who judge you (which is everyone). At work where the dress code is casual, I decided to begin wearing a suit and tie. On the third day I met the new executive director who I did not think would be in the office for another week. I was dressed for success and outdressed all the others in the office. You can never be overdressed or overeducated. – Oscar Wilde  Another tip on dressing for success, is the basis of this post, to STANDOUT. Who do you think Stands Out most in the picture? Obviously the guy in green. (Me) Dressing for Success does not mean dressing in blue, black and white every day. If you were to attend a business growth seminar for all the CEO’s of the Fortune 500 companies, you are going to want to Standout among the others dressed in bland and so-called “professional colors”.
  • Be Early: It PAYS to be early
  • Seek Advice: I have to honor Oscar Wilde again for saying “I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.”  While you may use the advice someone gives, it is just as important as to have advice to pass on. When I say to seek advice, I do not mean it in the sense of finding out what advice people have to offer you, but to partake in opportunities which produce advice you can pass on to others.
  • Speak: At every opportunity, make suggestions, voice possibilities to make improvement, ask questions, and participate in every discussion whether it is focused on your area of specifics or not.
  • Public Speak: “One of the greatest individual steps you can take in improving your self image is to learn how to public speak. People automatically give speakers credit for intelligence they don’t necessarily have.” – Zig Ziglar
  • Do More Than Is Required: We learned from above that there is always room for improvement. Well, there is always time and strength to do more than is required. I always say “Go as far as you can see, because once you are there, you can see just a little bit further.” The common thought is that there is nothing better than knowing you had done a good job. I would regularly feel this when I finished painting a room or the exterior of a clients house when I was in the Painting business. Near the end of my painting career I began making more people happier and even earning an extra few dollars. How? By also painting the closet when all that was asked was for the room to be painted. By putting a new coat on the downspouts when I was only supposed to paint the siding. Make this your newest thought, there is nothing better than knowing you did a good job, and a bit extra.
  • Lead: I have to point you toward John Maxwell for the most powering explanation and advice on leadership.
  • Bring The Energy: everywhere you go. Every meeting, every class, every get-together is unbelievably boring when it lacks energy. More importantly, every meeting, every class, every get-together is undeniably life progressive when it has energy. It is up to you to STANDOUT and be the one who brings the energy. Someone mentioned a friend who works at Starbucks with her that is completely energetic every day and exploits the energy with co-workers and customers. However, another co worker or customer might get annoyed by it. There are two responses I have. 1. This friend positively effects infinitely more people with the energy than the opposite. 2. It is not that his energy is annoying, it is the attitude of the one being annoyed. Please do not be the one who is annoyed – be the one who brings the energy. You can’t climb to the top without stepping on a few fingers, it’s better to do so with positive energy than in a negative way.
  • Find Your Passion and Live It: Nothing is more difficult in life than narrowing your interests down to one subject, your passion. When you do this, you have conquered the world. The next step is a form of constant progression – practice your passion.
  • IF: <<read and live it.
  • Health: Referring back to the initial picture in this post, do you know which is packed with more nutrients and vitamins between a carrot and a Lima bean? What is a man if he makes 10 million dollars but suffers a heart attack and loses his health in the process?
  • Positive Attitude: I saved the best for last, also the reason for my signature at the end of each post. There is not a successful person living that does not have a positive attitude. Absolutely no one has achieved a thing without first thinking that they may be able to. There is no victory if there is no thought of it. There is a reason I am writing a book called Infinite Positivity. Stay Positive.

Make your future to  Stand Out among the rest, just as the Lima bean does among the carrots. As a result you will always be on top and successful.When you Stand Out, you stand on top. All of success is about Standing Out in a positive way. The only way to get there is to also be the spoon that stirs the contents in the pot, rub your positive behaviors off on others and influence them. Be the one that prevents others from being burnt.

I have always said, we learn nothing by doing nothing, we learn everything by doing and wishing we hadn’t.

Only thing stopping you from being who you want is yourself.

I began to really Standout when I decided that I just want to make things and be creative, even if no one else loves it.

My statement: We need a positive revolution, one where more is given that you want, then what we are currently doing which is giving less of what you don’t want.

Fall into boundaries that life forces you and join everyone or begin prioritizing what you want and need and not what others want or expect from you.

Stay Positive and Why Fit In When You Were Born To STANDOUT

Garth E. Beyer

Parkour: Mental Training

Garth Beyer

95% of a physical challenge is a mental battle.

The 95%

Tonight’s Parkour class focused on stride, momentum and all aspects of the legs. This means that we had to analyze the distance of our steps, strategize the power behind our strides and operate both sides of our brain as we were challenged last minute to step on a target with a certain foot.

  • You can run a Parkour track in record time, but not before you think every moment of it through.
  • You can jump from one roof to another, but not until you mentally evaluate the distance.
  • You can do a back flip off a 2 story building, but only if you win the battle in your mind telling you not to do it.

“A large part of an athlete’s performance is the mental state” Dr. John F. Murray, a widely known sports psychologist said, “the mind is a huge component of performance and outcome; a lot of people seem to be ignoring that.” This is a challenge to you for the next time you are lifting weights or training for Parkour – confront your mentality before performing a movement. Create an exercise program that is 95% targeted at your mind. Try curls on one leg, practice landing on a specific foot on a set of targets, test the distance of your strides and jumps – really stimulate and challenge yourself mentally.

 

Stay Positive and Balanced, For That Is 100% Mentality

Garth E. Beyer

Myth: Speling Doesn’t Matter For Bloggers & Writers

Garth Beyer

FALSE

A common piece of advice from great Bloggers, Marketers, Salesman and Writers is that spelling and grammar should not be a priority.

People like Jeffrey Gitomer, Seth Godin and countless others encourage you to blog and write your heart out without a worry about the spelling or grammar because it means nothing compared to the content you are providing. So many successful people think they can get more attention by suggesting to others that they do not need to focus on spelling, but do you notice… they never make any spelling errors themselves? They re-read their own material over and over until it is perfect, because they know the second golden rule of a life well lived –

Everything Counts.

Have you ever read a novel and found that one word that is misspelled? I bet you wonder if anyone else noticed it too, but then you shrug it off. Without realizing it, you have just been pushed back – taken out of the story for a moment. But then, later in the novel you find another mistake and you think, did this author even read this over? This is his heart poured out, his focus, and countless hours of time in this novel and he lets two misspellings go by? Or did he not care enough and simply had his editor try to catch everything? Doesn’t he think his information is important enough to share with other close and personal friends that could have read the novel before its release and found the errors?

Spelling Is Crucial!

It is unfortunate that the consistent effort that a person puts into a goal is not seen by the majority of their peers. Only the end result, the achievement, goes noticed. How do you think we got the term “an overnight success”? I guarantee you, it was not overnight. Why do we believe the novel we read was the absolute greatest? Because it was flawless. The author knows that everything counts, especially the little things like 1 spelling error in a book of 650 pages.

Words, grammar, and spelling are the tools of the trade and should be used correctly. Using them incorrectly is like a carpenter using a sledgehammer to drive in finishing nails. It can be done, but it will leave big marks in the wood and leave the user’s hands bruised and battered. – Michael Barbagallo

The days in which content and messages are only related to a few people each day are long gone. Now, a single message could be sent out to one person or one billion people in a day. A single misspelling could be noticed by (depending on your number of followers) thousands of people. What do these people think? “Does this author even care? And he calls himself a Writer?” Basic errors in grammar, mechanics and spelling are harmful to your reputation, your brand and your credibility.

Interested in more (pardon the reference) sledgehammering of grammatical errors? The Price of Typos

I look at it this way, Scucses is not Success. You cannot be a successful writer, editor, copy writer, journalist, ghost writer, blogger, and so on if you do not put in the effort to have everything in order.

Here is a bonus from SpellDoctor.

Why Spelling Matters 

No matter how you look at it, success in spelling leads directly to success in our overall use of the language. Spelling matters.

Developmental, Practical and Personal Matters

  • Spelling Supports Reading Comprehension. Spelling skill goes hand in hand with efficient word decoding and solid reading comprehension as well as unlocking new words and the understanding of the phonological structure of words.
  • Spelling Supports Effective Writing. Because confident spellers are adventurous with language, they are able to create richer more persuasive essays.
  • Projected Image. Spelling is part of one’s projected image. Like it or not, it is one of the means used by society to judge a person’s literacy.
  • Presentations. Many presentations involve marker boards. Spelling errors can be very embarrassing if committed during a presentation. The fear of making an error can lead to a limiting of word choices and a lessening of the impact of the intended message. (I have been victim to seeing a professional speaker not know how to spell “education” or “management”. Regardless that it was on the spot or not, spelling is an extreme key factor in presentations)
  • Employment Opportunities. A survey of major American corporations indicates that 96% of employers consider spelling, punctuation, and grammar to be “extremely important” or “important” factors when making hiring and promotion decisions. In 2005, The National Commission on Writing for American’s Families, Schools, and Colleges reported that 80% of employment applications are negatively affected by misspellings.
  • Attention To Details. A commitment to spelling teaches us to have high standards and pay attention to details.
  • Self Esteem. Strong spelling builds one’s self esteem. We are saved from that nagging worry that we may be judged as unintelligent.

Stay Positive and Know That Success Is The Greatest 7 Letter Word That You Could Use In Scrabble

Garth E. Beyer

 

An Interrelationship Trend To: Success, Business, Self-Growth

Garth Beyer

Success, Business, and Self-Growth magazines all incorporate a common trend.

Can you guess what it is? Hint: It is an advertisement.

I love learning new languages because of the joy of it but also the benefits of knowing more than one language. You may recall my blog post How To Become 3+ Billion Times More Connected, Successful, and Happy where I write about the idea that those who teach you how to speak, teach you how to think. Now can you guess what advertisement you will find in each type of magazine?

“No one is the worse for knowing two languages” – Oliver Mowat

Rosetta Stone

It hit me in the head, like an unexpected gust of wind, one day when I was reading Success Magazine and saw the advertisement for Rosetta Stone. Of course, Rosetta Stone would purchase advertising space in these magazines in addition to Traveling magazines. Why?

  • Business Owners are in the top half of polyglot’s
  • Success comes to those who can connect with the most people – which is exactly what learning another language allows you to do
  • It takes a trained mind to focus and learn a new language
  • “Insert your own explanation here”

A Brian Tracy Story

If you have followed my blog, you know that I have joined Toastmasters and am constantly working at improving my public speaking abilities. Well, as a surprise, my friend filled out an application for Brian Tracy’s Speaking Academy without my knowledge. A few days ago she forwarded me the email that stated I was accepted into the limited class of 12. The director of events provided the details of the event and also added that it would cost over eight thousand dollars. As much as I would have loved to go to the Speaking Academy, it would be a stretch to get the money for tickets and a hotel to stay in San Diego while I attended. As odd as it may be, I was interested in the type of credentials that were necessary to get an employment position for Brian Tracy International – so I Googled the director of events’ name and found her LinkedIn profile. Who would have guessed?  Her specialties: Fluent in Spanish and Italian, and speak conversational French and Mandarin Chinese.

Coincidence?

I know not. It is not only a common trend in Success, Business and Self-Growth magazines, knowing more than one language is the most common trend in the majority of successful business CEO’s, directors, associates, etc.

What do you think?

Stay Positive and Polly-Wanna-Learn-A-New-Language

Garth E. Beyer

I do have to add that the advertisement stated the following “He was a hard working farm boy.     She was an Italian supermodel.    He knew he would have just one chance to impress her.” Would it be uncalled for to also say that those who know multiple languages, have the most beautiful arm candy?

The Greatest Influencers & Motivators

Garth Beyer

did not become so by making up fictional stories that had meaning, but found an entertaining meaning in every non-fiction of their life.

 

Stay Positive and Find Meaning In Everything

Garth E. Beyer