The Tim Ferriss Show
Ep 64: CrossFit's Good, Bad, and Ugly

This episode delves into the good, the bad, and the ugly of all things CrossFit, straight from a world-class CrossFit coach.  It answers many important questions, including:

-What are the 3 most dangerous exercises in CrossFit gyms?
- What are the most common nutritional mistakes of CrossFit athletes?
- What do elite CrossFit athletes do differently than the rest? Example: How do Rich Froning and Jason Khalipa warm up?
- Is the CrossFit Games really CrossFit?
- Is CrossFit a fad?
- What is the future of CrossFit?

The man to answer all this (and much more) is Kelly Starrett.  He's trained CrossFit athletes for more than 130,000 hours (!) and 10 years at San Francisco CrossFit, which opened in 2005 as one of the first 50 CrossFit Affiliates in the world. There are now more than 10,000 Affiliates worldwide.

Kelly's clients include Olympic gold medalists, Tour de France cyclists, world record holders in Olympic lifting and powerlifting, Crossfit Games medalists, professional ballet dancers, and elite military personnel.

Even if you have zero interest in CrossFitthis conversation invites you inside the mind of one of the world's top coaches.  Kelly discusses habits, strategies, and thinking that can be applied to nearly everything. We cover a lot.

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: If you had to pick one sport or weightlifting movement for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? Please share and explore answers in the comments here.

Direct download: TFS_KStarr2_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:02pm EDT

This is an experimental episode.  It's a roundtable discussion with two hedge fund experts: Mark Hart and Raoul Pal.  It digs into investment, physical training, and more -- all as tools for improving quality of life.  

How far can you push and improve yourself?  These gents tackle this question every day, and it makes for a fun conversation in this episode.

All show notes and links can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast

Bio -- Mark Hart:

Mark Hart is the founder of Corriente Partners, an investment fund focused on placing long/short equity trades based on macroeconomic themes. Mark launched his first hedge fund as a junior partner in November of 1998, and in 2001 launched Corriente Partners, where his macroeconomic framework led him to first question the security of the mortgage and housing market. Managing his portfolio accordingly, Mark earned a sizable return on his positions during the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis - one of the single best performances of that downturn. 

Bio -- Raoul Pal:

Raoul writes and publishes The Global Macro Investor, an elite macro economic and investment strategy research service for the worlds leading hedge funds, pension funds, banks and sovereign wealth funds. He is also an advisor to government organisations and a consultant for several family investment offices globally. Raoul has 24 years experience in the financial markets working for investments banks such Goldman Sachs (where he co-managed the hedge fund sales business in equities and equity derivatives) and founding and managing a macro hedge fund for GLG Partners, ones of the world's largest hedge fund firms. Raoul recently co-founded Real Vision Television, the worlds first on-demand web TV channel for finance. Additionally, Raoul is the author of “The End Game" which is one of the most read financial articles in the history of the Internet. 

Direct download: Hart_Pal_TFS.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:25pm EDT

Justin Boreta is a founding member of The Glitch Mob. Their music has been featured in movies like Sin City II, Edge of Tomorrow, Captain America, and Spiderman.

In this episode, we discuss The Glitch Mob's path from unknown band to playing sold-out 90,000-person (!) arenas.  We delve into war stories, and Justin plays us never-before-heard "drafts" of blockbuster tracks to show creative process.  Even if you have zero interest in music, Justin discusses habits and strategies that can be applied to nearly anything.  Meditation?  Morning routines?  We cover it all.

The Glitch Mob's last album, Love Death Immortality, debuted on the Billboard charts at #1 Electronic Album, #1 Indie Label, and #4 Overall Digital Album. This is particularly impressive because The Glitch Mob is an artist-owned group.  It's a true start-up.

This podcast is brought to you by Mizzen + Main. Mizzen + Main makes the only "dress" shirts I now travel with -- fancy enough for important dinners but made from athletic, sweat-wicking material. No more ironing, no more steaming, no more hassle. Click here for the exact shirts I wear most often. Order one of their dress shirts this week and get a Henley shirt (around $60 retail) for free.  Just add the two you like here to the cart, then use code "TIM" at checkout.

This episode is also brought to you by 99Designs, the world's largest marketplace of graphic designers. Did you know I used 99Designs to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour BodyHere are some of the impressive results.

ALL SHOW NOTES AND LINKS: www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast

Direct download: TFS_Boreta.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:18am EDT

Matt Mullenweg has been named one of PC World’s Top 50 People on the Web, Inc.com’s 30 under 30, and Business Week’s 25 Most Influential People on the Web.

In this episode, I attempt to get him drunk on tequila and make him curse.

Matt is most associated with a tool that powers more than 22% of the entire web: WordPress. Even if you aren't into tech, there are tons of "holy shit!" tips and resources in this episode. 

Matt is a phenom of hyper-productivity and does A LOT with very little. But how? This conversation shares his best tools and tricks. From polyphasic sleep to Dvorak and looping music for flow, there's something for everyone.

Last but not least, Matt is also the CEO of Automattic, which is valued at $1-billion+ and has a fully distributed team of 300+ employees around the world.

But he started off as a BBQ-chomping Texas boy.  So, how did it all happen?  Just listen and find out.  It's one hell of a story.

All links and show notes can be found at: fourhourworkweek.com/podcast

Direct download: Mullenweg_TFS.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:57pm EDT

In this episode, I interview the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger... at his kitchen table.

We dig into lessons learned, routines, favorite books, and much more, including many stories that I've never heard anywhere else.

As a starting point, we cover:

- The Art of Psychological Warfare, and How Arnold Uses It to Win
- How Twins Became His Most Lucrative Movie (?!?)
- Mailing Cow Balls to Politicians
- How Arnold Made Millions -- Fresh Off The Boat -- BEFORE His Acting Career Took Off
- How Arnold Used Meditation For One Year To Reset His Brain
- And Much More...

Links and show notes can be found at fourhourworkweek.com/arnold.

Direct download: FINAL_V2_-_Arnold_Schwarzenegger.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:11am EDT

This is a short excerpt from the full 1+ hour interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger, which is going live after the Super Bowl.

The full episode will be available on iTunes, and you won't want to miss it. Subscribe and get it as soon as it's released!

Enjoy :)

Tim

Direct download: Arnold_5_min_-_final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:28pm EDT

(Part 2 of 2) How do you create a blockbuster podcast? This episode explores the tips, tricks, and best practices of a master.

My guest is Alex Blumbergwho cut his teeth on the king of all radio shows (This American Life) and recently co-founded Gimlet Media. Gimlet swiftly conquered the iTunes rankings with two blockbuster podcasts: Reply All and StartUp.

Podcasters everywhere asked: how the hell does he do it?  This episode provides some answers. (This Part 2 also includes a sample of my upcoming Arnold Schwarzenegger episode!)

Show notes and links mentioned can be found at fourhourworkweek.com/podcast

Direct download: Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Alex_Blumberg_Part_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:50am EDT

How do you create a blockbuster podcast? This episode explores the tips, tricks, and best practices of a master.

My guest is Alex Blumbergwho cut his teeth on the king of all radio shows (This American Life) and recently co-founded Gimlet Media. Gimlet swiftly conquered the iTunes rankings with two blockbuster podcasts: Reply All and StartUp.

Podcasters everywhere asked: how the hell does he do it?  This episode provides some answers.

The discussion is split into two parts, and we cover a ton. Please listen to both parts, as they work together. We discuss what Alex learned from Ira Glass, his field recording gear, the nuts and bolts of producing world-class audio narrative, and much more.

Part 2 also features a preview (5 min) of my episode with Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Show notes and links mentioned can be found at fourhourworkweek.com/podcast

Direct download: Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Alex_Blumberg_Part_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:42am EDT

By popular demand, this is a follow-up episode with Pavel Tsatsouline, a world-class strength coach.

In this ep, he answers your 15 most popular questions, as voted on by nearly 1,000 of you.

Show notes and links for both of Pavel's episodes can be found here: www.fourhourworkweek.com/pavel

Direct download: Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Pavel_QA_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:23am EDT

Dr. Peter Diamandis has been named one of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders" by Fortune Magazine.

You asked for an entire episode with him, so here it is!  The subject is simple: How to think big, and how to use the key strategies of Peter's friends and investors, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Larry Page. How do they create maximum leverage? How do they think differently? We explore all of this.

SHOW NOTES and other links should be available shortly here.

In the field of innovation, Diamandis is Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. Among many other things, Diamandis is also the Co-Founder (along with Craig Venter and Bob Hariri) of Human Longevity Inc. (HLI); and Co-Founder of Planetary Resources, a company designing spacecraft to mine asteroids for precious materials (seriously).

If I could ask one person to write one book, it would Peter and his new tome, Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth, and Impact the World.  In fact, I have been asking him for years, and now it has arrived.  The back cover also gave me serious blurb envy. Check out these testimonials from Bill Clinton, Eric Schmidt, and Ray Kurzweil. Ray says simply: “If you read one business book in the twenty-first century, this should be the one."

 

Direct download: FINAL_Peter_Diamandis_Bold_TFS.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:11pm EDT