FGM > As for the ABCDE programme, I've seen far too much
FGM > disaster follow from that particular programme.

WD > I'd be interested in learning if you tried ABCDE or if
WD > you know people who have. I did a couple 'net searches
WD > for ABCDE as search terms and came accross a few
WD > messages posted to message boards - both pro and con.
WD > Some claimed to have had great success, others
WD > failure.

I'm a personal trainer, Wally, and I've had my share of clients who've tried
the ABCDE ("Anabolic Burst Cycling of Diet and Exercise") only to discover
that they've put on fat and not muscle.  The original magazine article was
printed in MUSCLE MEDIA some years ago.  It sounded pretty impressive and
was replete with footnotes.  If you read the footnotes, however, you'll see
that a great number of them were distorted and/or taken out of context.
Lyle McDonald took some time to write a rebuttal to this programme.  One
doesn't merely eat one's way to greater muscle growth; that only comes from
stressing the muscles and then allowing them to properly recover and grow.

Part of the problem resides in the extremely low caloric intake on the
cutting phase and the massive caloric intake on the bulking phase.  Whilst
there may be some people who are able to successfully ultilize this
programme, I can't honestly say that I've ever met anyone who actually HAS
benefitted from the system.  In fact, the opposite seems to be the norm...at
least with those folks who I train.

Francesco