Lose 20 Lbs. in 30 Days? A 15-Min. Orgasm?

Dec. 16, 2010— -- It's a book bursting with tips that seem too good to be true.

A diet and fitness plan that helps you drop 20 pounds in 30 days, without exercise? A technique that produces a 15-minute female orgasm, or advice for doubling your sperm count? Binging during the holidays without gaining fat?

To those schooled in conventional approaches to nutrition and health, the claims made in Timothy Ferriss' new book "The 4-Hour Body" may seem dubious -- impossible even.

For medical experts who place their trust in the reams of published research studies, the book is just another self-help program promising a fast fix with a fad diet. Decades of peer-reviewed research have already revealed that there are no magic bullets for weight loss and fitness, they say.

But Ferriss, a best-selling author, entrepreneur and professional jack-of-all-trades, master of much, says he has personal experience, cutting-edge science and mounds of data on his side. Not to mention an unquenchable desire to test the boundaries.

"I'm not a doctor, I'm not an academic," he said. "And this is a good thing because I don't have a career to protect by hedging...I don't have to hold back. I don't have to conform to any preset rules."

Ferriss made his name with his first wildly popular book, "The 4-Hour Work Week," and now makes a living trotting the globe, speaking to top companies, investing in tech start-ups and blogging about his experiments in what he calls "lifestyle design."

Though people associate him with time management based on the first book, he says his real obsession and area of expertise is physical optimization.

"Over the last decade, every conversation, whether it has started with e-mail management or world travel, at the end of the conversation, at a dinner or cocktail party, has always ended on fat loss and physical performance," he said. "I've jokingly said to people, something I think is true, that the fears of modern man can be boiled down to fear of too much e-mail and too much fat."

His debut book tackled the first fear; "The 4-Hour Body" takes on the second.

The "minimalist guide" covers more than 50 topics, running the gamut from a "slow-carb diet" that promises a dramatic drop in body fat, to the secret behind "Michelle Obama" arms, to a how-to guide for producing a 15-minute female orgasm. (That last chapter, he said, was written at the request of his female friends.)

If you want to magnify your manhood, the book says it can teach you to triple your testosterone and double your sperm count. It also includes a way to "hack" yourself into a schedule that lets you perform well on just two hours of sleep a day.

Ferriss said the book relies on data provided by hundreds of others and his own personal experimenting, but medical experts aren't exactly wild about some of its promises. And sexual health professionals say a 15-minute orgasm is not just unlikely, but possibly unpleasant.