The word “Hacking” has been used a lot lately!
When someone says that word to you, what do you think of?Hacking your way through a Brazilian Rainforest?
- What you used to do your hair when having one of THOSE kinds of days?
- Someone getting into a software program illegally and running amok?
- A wild fit of coughing?
All of these are, in my opinion, valid uses of the word, but it has taken on a new meaning over the last 30 years or so, especially when paired with the word “life.”
Wikipedia defines life hacking as a productivity trick, shortcut, skill or novelty method to increase productivity and efficiency. It solves an every day problem in a clever way.
That is why my husband LOVES the lifehacker.com website so much! They present really good information that you can use to make life easier.
And it grows from there – health hacking, fitness hacking, brain hacking – and it is all good stuff in this age of overwhelm and general busyness!
Tim Ferriss, the author of “The 4-Hour Body,” has spent a great deal of his life researching the facts that we have been taught and doing experiments – mostly on himself – on how to do things TOTALLY differently and get unheard of results, really fast.
Check out this short video clip (you can find a longer one on YouTube too, if this makes you want to watch more).
So to recap:
- The most common approach is rarely the most efficient.
- Use the minimum effective dose – What is the least amount you can do to get the maximum result in the least amount of time?
- As detailed in the video, do 1 set to failure for each major muscle group taking 90-120 seconds, slow reps 5 seconds in each direction, 1 time per week per muscle group
I’m going to try that!
If you are interested in this approach, and his other novel suggestions, you may just want to read his book!
