Tim Ferris: Bodybuilding Legend

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
hockechamp14 wrote:
Sure he gained like 30-40 pounds or something in a month and “lost fat” (the pics didn’t look like it) but he had already been at that weight for a good amount of time, then later cut down for when he want into ballroom dancing.

I don’t remember reading that he was ever that heavy before. He did say that he was 152 in high school, then went down to 146 before adding the 34 pounds in a month. He also said…

I did not maintain the gains. Why? Too much eating. I estimate (I donâ??t both counting) that I was consuming between 5,000-8,000 calories per day in 5 or 6 divided meals, which is a full-time job. I spent more time eating than working out! I much prefer to be around 165 lbs. for athletics.

So that’s a 146-pound guy (pictured above) eating 5,000-8,000 calories a day, and lifting intensely.

He modeled his experiment after the old Colorado Experiment, which (just as controversially) worked for Viator:

So the underlying basis for it (going balls out in the gym and eating like a beast) isn’t a brand new concept. Plus, programs like the old 20-rep squat routine has people regularly reporting similar gains in similar brief periods.[/quote]

Chris, I read in another one of his articles or maybe in the four hour work week that he was at 185 or so before he lost weight for ball room dancing. That’s one of the small kinds of word tricks he plays to get attention.

He still made a crazy transformation in a month and I won’t take that away. He was borderline deceptive though when talking about his stats because of what I previously mentioned. I’ll try to find a link to the article I’m talking about.

[quote]hockechamp14 wrote:
Chris, I read in another one of his articles or maybe in the four hour work week that he was at 185 or so before he lost weight for ball room dancing. That’s one of the small kinds of word tricks he plays to get attention.

He still made a crazy transformation in a month and I won’t take that away. He was borderline deceptive though when talking about his stats because of what I previously mentioned. I’ll try to find a link to the article I’m talking about.[/quote]

Figured I’d save you some work, so I broke out my copy of 4HWW. Talking about his Chinese Kickboxing championship, he said:

In 1999… Using dehydration techniques I now teach to elite powerlifters, I lost 28 pounds in 18 hours, weighed in at 165 pounds, and then hyperhydrated back to 193 pounds.”(p.29-30)

So, good memory to you. :wink:

Still, like we’ve said, it’s something that looks absurd on paper (gain X weight in Y time), but in practice, under ideal conditions, it’s doable.

EDIT: Ferriss did have a slightly-more-recent post detailing his dehydration techniques, and he points out that it’s similar to how Matt Kroc cuts for a weigh-in (Kroc says he’s dropped 31 pounds in 24 hours, rehydrated, and competed):