Tim Ferriss
Author · The Tim Ferriss Show
Author of The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body and Tools of Titans, and host of one of the longest-running interview podcasts in the world. He popularized the idea of deconstructing high performers into copyable routines, and treats his own body as the test bed. Much of the modern "stack" genre traces back to his books.
- Entries
- 24
- Does
- 15
- Recommends
- 4
- Discusses
- 5
Books
5 books in this stack
- BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
The 4-Hour Body
Collects his own self-experiments on fat loss, strength, sleep and recovery, written as protocols to test rather than prescriptions.
Source: tim.blog: books pageView item: The 4-Hour BodyOn record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it, 1 has discussed it - BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
The 4-Hour Workweek
Elimination, automation and testing assumptions before committing to them: his own book.
Source: tim.blog: books pageView item: The 4-Hour WorkweekOn record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 recommend it - BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Tools of Titans
Compiles the routines, books and tactics of the guests he has interviewed, organized as a reference to dip into.
Source: tim.blog: Tools of TitansView item: Tools of TitansOn record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - BookDiscusses$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Man's Search for Meaning
Appears on his round-up of the books guests name most often, cited for the argument that meaning rather than comfort carries people through hard periods.
Source: tim.blog: the books most recommended by guestsView item: Man's Search for MeaningOn record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 2 recommend it, 2 have discussed it - BookDiscusses$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
The Daily Stoic
Its author has been on many times, to discuss applying Stoic practice day to day.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show: episode with Ryan HolidayView item: The Daily StoicOn record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 recommend it, 1 has discussed it
Supplements
3 supplements in this stack
- SupplementDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Creatine monohydrate
Five grams of creatine a day is a staple, for strength, recovery and brain health.
Source: tim.blog: 2025 holiday gift guideView item: Creatine monohydrateOn record from 12 of 62 tracked people: 10 do it, 2 recommend it - SupplementDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Magnesium (threonate or glycinate)
Magnesium threonate and apigenin before sleep, a small sleep-focused routine.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #557 transcriptView item: Magnesium (threonate or glycinate)On record from 11 of 62 tracked people: 8 do it, 1 recommends it, 2 have discussed it - SupplementDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.Sponsor, disclosed
AG1 (Athletic Greens)
Puts his own AG1 use at more than a decade and treats it as nutritional insurance. AG1 is a paid sponsor of his podcast.
Source: tim.blog: podcast sponsorsVisit drinkag1.com (opens in a new tab)On record from 3 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it
Gear
2 pieces of gear in this stack
- GearDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Kettlebell
75 swings in one set, twice a week; he calls the two-handed kettlebell swing the king of exercises.
Source: tim.blog: the two-handed kettlebell swingView item: KettlebellOn record from 6 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 2 recommend it, 1 has discussed it - GearDiscusses$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Continuous glucose monitor
Glucose sensors went on as a self-experiment, and he has discussed what the data did and did not change about his eating.
Source: tim.blog: gear pageView item: Continuous glucose monitorOn record from 6 of 62 tracked people: 4 do it, 2 have discussed it
Apps
1 app in this stack
- AppRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Waking Up
Beta-tested Sam Harris's app and points people to it, though his own morning sit is transcendental meditation.
Source: tim.blog: Sam Harris and the Waking Up appVisit wakingup.com (opens in a new tab)On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it, 1 recommends it
Protocols
8 entriesStructured routines and practices with a defined method.
Once or twice a week is the whole lifting plan, on a minimum-effective-dose principle, and he frames it as injury prevention rather than performance.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show: Q&A with Tim transcriptCycles hot and cold for about three minutes each in a converted chest freezer, originally as a fat-loss experiment and later for the mood effect.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show: Q&A with Tim transcriptRegular sauna, often paired with cold, and he has featured the heat research repeatedly on the show.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #557 transcriptRope skipping outside, facing the rising sun for a few minutes in the morning, came after covering the light research with guests.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show: Andrew Huberman transcriptAudits which activities and relationships produce most of his results and most of his misery, regularly, then acts on both lists.
Source: tim.blog: the Past Year ReviewCreated the exercise and runs it at least quarterly, often monthly, defining the worst case and the cost of inaction side by side.
Source: tim.blog: fear-settingDesigned the slow-carb template and has followed it himself, arguing that its rigidity plus one unrestricted day is what makes it stick.
Source: tim.blog: how to lose 20 lbs of fat in 30 daysExtended fasts and various eating windows have all been run as personal experiments, with results he reports as mixed rather than dramatic.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #826 transcript
Habits
5 entriesRecurring behaviors recorded in public statements.
More than 80% of the high performers he has interviewed keep some form of daily mindfulness or meditation practice, he reports, and he sits most mornings.
Source: tim.blog: Tools of TitansMorning pages get the anxious loop out of his head, which he describes as caging monkeys on paper rather than seeking insight.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #557 transcriptGratitude gets a short written section in the morning routine, specific moments rather than general categories.
Source: Tools of TitansShort afternoon naps when the schedule allows, on top of years of extensive experimenting with sleep timing.
Source: The 4-Hour Body30-day breaks from alcohol, taken deliberately rather than presented as sobriety, and he talks openly about the sleep and mood difference.
Source: tim.blog: the NOBNOM November challenge
In their own words
Checked word for word against the linked source
“For instance, without the Oura Ring, I would not have realized that if I have a sauna right before bed or too late at night, within three hours of going to sleep, it interferes with sleep and also negatively impacts HRV the next day.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #557 transcript (opens in a new tab) · 26 Dec 2021 On Sauna
“I think journaling on that, even if it’s several days in a row in the morning, longhand, stream of consciousness, something along the lines of Morning Pages…”
The Tim Ferriss Show #557 transcript (opens in a new tab) · 26 Dec 2021 On Journaling
“And so intermittent fasting would certainly be, if you were to ask me, if you could only add one chapter to The 4-Hour Body, what would it be about? It would be about intermittent fasting.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #826 transcript (opens in a new tab) · 10 Sep 2025
Episodes from the feed
Show archive, The Tim Ferriss Show (opens in a new tab)Last fetched . A title without a link is an episode the feed publishes no page of its own for.
- #881: Tales of Overcoming The Odds, and How to Turn Losses Into Wins — Tim McGraw, Terry Crews, Dax Shepard, and More (opens in a new tab) · 1h 5m
- #880: Relationship Tools That Work — Esther Perel, Brené Brown, Dr. Sue Johnson, Terry Real, and More on Conflict, Repair, and Lasting Love (opens in a new tab) · 57m
- #879: How to Reinvent Yourself and Make Bold Moves — Decisive Stories from Matthew McConaughey, Steve Young, Samin Nosrat, and More (opens in a new tab) · 1h 1m
- #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and More (opens in a new tab) · 59m
- #877: Q&A with Tim — The Art of Male Friendship, Mini-Retirements, Higher-Resolution Living, Reinvention in The Age of AI, and More (opens in a new tab) · 1h 16m
Stack notes are paraphrased. Anything in quotation marks is a short excerpt copied from the transcript it links to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.