Customer Reviews

The Hardness Factor (TM): How to Achieve Your Best Health and Sexual Fitness at Any Age

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book serves a useful purpose by putting this message very much in the face of men: erections are produced by blood flow; if you want better erections and improved sexual health, there are no shortcuts that bypass the need for better health.

It's well documented now that aerobic exercise improves erections, weight loss improves erections, proper rest and proper hormone balance...all improve erections. I've found many men become motivated to lose weight, walk, and quit smoking when their sexual function begins to wane. This book should help motivate and instruct men to better health by linking health to sexual function.

Dr. Lamm's a big fan of L-arginine at a dose of 3 grams per day. Arginine and glutamine boost growth hormone levels in those with a healthy pituitary and lead to improved circulation and better erections. I've found patients do better with glutamine than with arginine (glutamine causes less nausea and can be taken at a higher dosage): try (if your doctor approves) 12 grams per day (best taken as a powder mixed in water since 12 grams would be 24 tablets at 500 mg each) for best source, see my list "Libido, Erection, and Premature Ejaculation."

The most important recommendation in the book is walking. There is no doubt now that walking (or jogging..but not necessary to jog) does more to prevent obesity and to improve and maintain sexual function than anything possible with diet.

I haven't seen as much success with the counting-steps method as outlined by Dr. Lamm as I have with those who just go walking and count miles, but the basic idea that walking improves sexual function cannot be ignored. Not only does the practice improve circulation and firmness of erection but alters levels of seratonin, dopamine, endorphins, cortisol, thyroid, growth hormone, and testosterone in ways that support libido and sexual function.

Dr. Lamm makes the point that hormone levels should be optimized (even mentions their replacement in women). This problem is much more common that previously suspected.

As to the "erection drugs" discussed, the recommendation to start with Viagra, Levitra, or Cialis and only go to the use of Muse (an injectable) might be questioned. Dr. Lamm fails to mention that Muse may also be used as a suppository and has a safer side-effect profile than Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis (and in some may even prolong erection after ejaculation).

Dr. Lamm completely leaves out the use of prescription-strength yohimbine (Yocon) which has good effect on erection in 10-20% of men with the added benefit of increasing libido (which the others do not). Yocon has it's own side effect of irritability and increasing blood pressure in some...still it's a wonder drug for some and adds improved libido even to those who may use Viagra or one of the other medicines. So, I was disappointed it was left out of the discussion (but then I'm also prone to favor products found in nature...of which yohimbine is one).

The foods recommended by Dr. Lamm should be helpful and healthful. For quicker, easier, and similar results...I'd recommend "the Abs Diet, Eat Right Every Time" by Zinczenco. Start with the paperback version of this book and buy the hardback as addition if you want to better understand the underlying science.

Don't think Tantric sex got the press it deserved in a book on hardness (short paragraph with no mention of the man's cycle as discussed in the Tao).

Admittedly, these are comments that have more to do with the art of medicine and plainly Dr. Lamm and I may not bake a cake in the same way...but the main point of the book (that good health results in good sex and there are specific ways to improve health and sex simultaneously) is a point worth repeatedly making. Good sex is the cherry on top; it's the side effect of good physical, emotional, and relationship health. Dr. Lamm will motivate many to better health in all of these areas with his excellent book.

--Charles Runels, MD
Author of "Anytime...for as Long as You Want: Strength, Genius, Libido, and Erection by Integrative Sex Transmutation (A 15-Day Course for Men to Improve Sex and Life).

I am a bit appalled by the two Medical Doctors' comments. Why would anyone expect a book like this is going to fix all. If anyone has medical condition associated with male health, you have to work on that first before you aim for more.

I am a relatively healthy man. I followed Dr. Lamm's recommendation. After only 2 weeks on the program, I feel like a real man. I never had ED problem, but just was a terrible performer in the bed. I don't know whether it is the exercise or the supplements (to someone who can't tell the difference between Viagra and natural supplements, read some books and then decide what is right for you) or the whole thing, I don't get tired and just can't understand how I achieved this kind of performance. I tried Viagra about 5 years ago and didn't do me any good.

It works! You have to take care of your life, eat healthy and all the others, then you can achieve this. It might not work for everyone, but if you are relatively healthy, follow the program diligently for 6 weeks and what worst can happen?

When I first encountered this book, and read the summary/reviews on Amazon, I dismissed it as another wacky 'erection' book. Later on, after reading a few pages in a local bookstore, I bought a copy. I've now completely changed my mind. It's worth reading. Even if you don't follow his exact plan line by line, you'll have to do some variant of every step of his plan to restore your erection to its best- so read it, for a template plan, if nothing else.

This is an excellent book overall. There is much, much more to treating erectile dysfunction than is in this book but this book does a nice job of covering some of the basics to getting guys back on their feet again. One of the best things it does is draw a strong connection between heart disease and erectile dyfunction, which is something that many males do not consider.

You could summarize the whole book in a couple of sentences. Loose weight. Get fit. Go walking. Take pycnogenol and l-arginine. And presto. It sure worked for me. And I thought it would take years! Glad I bought the book because it motivates more than the couple of sentences I just wrote.

OK, the South Beach Diet works. After my endocrinologist advised me to see her nutritionist, she recommended the diet and I lost up to 35 pounds in about six months. Both diets share the same nutritional message. Avoid junk food in all forms. Eat healthy, natural and more expensive real foods. And exercise. Daily! Fair enough. I got it. Thankfully enough, restaurants all over the country now offer low carb meals and even fast food place have salad alternatives to greasy fries.

The Hardness Factor however, gets men where they live. First, unlike high school, it teaches about subjects that the students are actually interested in. Though it doesn't include any pictures, and has but one clinical internal graphic, it does manage to teach about the penis, health and sex, making a strong correlation for what men already suspect, that sexual performance and loving relationships with women are closely linked. It gets you excited and motivated. Neither Atkins, nor the So. Beach, diets make such emotional, gut level, appealing-to-the-basest-instinct, exhilarating promises as this book does.

Skimming the easy-to-read layout, with pages trimmed in red and sidebars every other page, one can't help but get aroused. The book is not just about health and sex, but it is also about getting in masculine, studly shape. Without following any of its advice, the book has already improved my sex life. It confirms what men know. Getting hard, endurance, stamina, flexibility are what it means to be a man. The girlfriend said I didn't need no Viagra!

Unfortunately, like the other diet books, it doesn't prepare you the shocking cost and for many people, the impossible high and difficult-to-implement price of these sophisticated and expensive diets. Unlike the good doctor, with his own thriving practice made of exciting gut-reaching claims of health and sexual happiness, the majority of Americans are harnessed tightly to their jobs, regular paychecks and the convenience of fast food. Buying and cooking the fancy meals of expensive salmon and tuna several times a week, or supplementing their diets with a fistful of high quality supplements is not easily squeezed into an "every penny spoken for" consumer budget. Not to mention the requisite "get up extra early when you don't get enough sleep already" advice to exercise first thing in the morning. Or the "just go to the health club after work" suggestions to the multitudes who must rush home everyday to meet and feed the kids.

To read the Hardness Factor is a prurient pleasure - a stimulating dream of macho possibilities. To implement it though, is a lifestyle change of Herculean proportions.

This is a guide to mens' health. The premise is that a man's overall health affects everything he does--including sexual performance. It is simply written and includes information on diet, exercise, vitamin and herbal supplements. Includes a short-term (six weeks) plan for overall health improvement.

This was a good book from many points. Its ability to explain the background of erection is second to none. Lots of informative information here. If you want a book with all that you need to learn under one cover, this is the book for you. While most of the information can be found on the Internet for free, it's nice to have it one volume, so one doesn't have to go searching for it. The only other book I would recommend is Iron Man Penis which takes these topics to a more advanced spectrum.

This is basically a book telling you to get off the couch and get some excersize. It does it in a way that is fun and gets the point across.
Connects your overall health to your peis hardness and vs-versa.. If you are out of shape, or just want some extra encouragement to get yourself out into the workout world this is a good read.

I definitely recommend this book. It's well-written and organized in a fashion that is easy to read/scan. The author recommends a whole list of exercises and supplements through his "6 week program". I started taking 3g of L-Argenine daily and 80mg of Pycnogenol, as he advises in the book, and promptly saw results in both hardness and stamina! Combining this with Taoist teachings, such as those presented in Mantak Chia's "Multi-orgasmic Man", is a total powerhouse for limitless stamina and earth-shattering orgasms!