Can the Human Body Build 34 Pounds of Muscle in a Month?

Timothy Ferriss’ “The 4-Hour Workweek” has made a noticeable impact on me since I read it this weekend. (My impressions of the book are here.) I’ve already tried taking some of his advice to heart and it’s working pretty well; I’ve made some positive steps towards self-sufficiency.

Part of what made me put stock in Ferriss’ techniques was his unabashed willingness to cheat. He won a kickboxing tournament by exploiting the rules to his advantage and simply pushed his opponents out of the ring, for instance. I can admire that circuitous thinking.

But I cannot believe for a single second that he gained 34 pounds of muscle in four weeks simply by weight training for 30 minutes twice a week, no matter how smartly he trained and no matter how much protein he ingested. Even presuming that he took the best steroids and growth enhancement chemicals available—and I’m not saying he did—I don’t think the human body is capable of growing eight pounds of muscle a week. Something isn’t right. And the claims by Reddit users that Ferris is deleting critical comments isn’t very promising, either. He deleted my comment, which was simply a request to have him describe a sample set. (Or rather, he never approved it for posting.)

I’ve not completely written off everything he’s said because of this one post, but it’s troubling. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, right?

From Geek to Freak: How I Gained 34 lbs. of Muscle in 4 Weeks [FourHourWorkweek.com]