Tim Ferriss has one of the world's best podcasts, where he interviews some of the world's best performers about their daily habits including how they eat and train.
In the four years since he began the podcast, what has the "the world's best human guinea pig" learnt?
To question everything you know about fitness, for one, he says in a new feature for Outside magazine.
"The Tim Ferriss Show, perhaps more than anything else, has taught me to question my assumptions about everything," the entrepreneur and New York TImes best-selling author writes.
"Did you know that you can train slow-twitch muscles to improve power? That strengthening your gluteus medius can solve many of your lower-body problems? That Olympic coaches often recommend goat-whey protein [easier to digest according to famous strength coach, Charles Poliquin] and a particular focus on the mid-traps?"
It is a weird and wonderful world out there and Ferriss insists that he has experimented with all the wily suggestions for hacking your life and health.
"Some of their recommendations blew my mind," Ferriss says. "For instance, at age 39, I'm now stronger and more flexible than I was at 25. [This wasn't the case at age 35, before I launched the podcast]. It's bonkers."
Or maybe not so bonkers when you break it down.
Get bendy and balance on somebody
Add a little gymnastics into your workout and you will discover muscles you didn't know existed, says Ferris, who noticed "massive improvement" after just eight weeks of adopting gymnastic exercises like J-Curls, dislocates and hinge rows.
Ferriss has also bent his fitness into shape with the inclusion of acroyoga.
Despite the admission that he's not into the "mumbo jumbo" of yoga, he's hooked on acro, which involves yoga, acrobatics and partner work.
Aside from becoming stronger and more flexible, Ferriss says "I laugh at least 50 per cent of the time during sessions. It's a wonderful balance to the rest of my training. If we're serious all the time, we'll flame out before we get the truly serious work done."
Get hot and cold with your workout
Ferriss says he's taken to post-workout saunas (or baths)."How does it work? Heat acclimatisation increases blood flow and plasma volume while causing you to start sweating at a lower core temperature, thus boosting your ability to regulate cooling. Saunas have also been shown to increase growth-hormone levels and spur a massive release of prolactin, which, among other things, plays a role in wound healing."
He alternates his 20-minute sauna routine with a 10-minute post workout ice bath (he puts about a 10kg bag of party ice in a bathtub full of cold water) because all the cool kids do it.
"Wim 'the Iceman' Hof, surf king Laird Hamilton, and performance coach Tony Robbins all use cold exposure as a tool. It can aid in exercise recovery and, according to many advocates, improve immune function, increase fat loss, and dramatically elevate mood."
His one caveat? "Please don't be stupid and fry your brains or kill yourself. It would make us both quite unhappy. Consult a doctor before doing anything I just describe."
Forget your foam roller and buy a vibrator
Foam rollers are good for releasing muscle tension, but he was talking about elevating mood ... and vibrators surely do both?
"But not for what you're thinking [though you can do that, too]," Ferriss says. "The device [Ferriss opts for the plug-in version of the Hitachi Magic Wand], when set on high, delivers the precise hertz most helpful for relaxing hypertonic [chronically tensed] muscles, at least according to the Russian medical-massage specialist who made this recommendation.
"Place the wand on the belly of a muscle [not where it connects to the tendons] for 20 to 30 seconds, which is often all it takes. It's incredibly helpful for anyone constantly managing tight muscles."
Sit it out
"More than 80 per cent of the world-class performers I've interviewed have some form of daily meditation or mindfulness practice," Ferriss says.
It's no surprise that successful people have adopted the centuries-old practice: it reduces the stressy, anxious fight or flight part of the brain, grows your brain's grey matter [the good stuff that is associated with general cognitive function and compassion] and makes us happier, healthier and can improve our relationships.
Ferris practices transcendental meditation (also known as Vedic meditation) but there are many forms.
He recommends trying Headspace "for simple and progressive-guided meditation. The free Take 10 course will fuel you for 10 minutes each day for 10 days" or longer guided sessions by Sam Harris (samharris.org) or Tara Brach (tarabrach.com).
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