Sonds good, makes sense,and it just might work! Is this something you can do on and on, or is here a point of deminishing return on this plan? I think I might try it this summer and see how I look and feel in the fall.
On Thursday, I went over Super Method #1 – MEGA Carb Loading, and today I’d like to share a different, yet enormously effective method called Anabolic Burst Cycling through Diet and Exercise (ABCDE).
To be honest, the whole ABCDE approach is rather old news. I first read about it back in Muscle Media 2000 (man, I miss that magazine) some ten years ago when Bill Phillips interviewed some crazy under-the-radar dude named Torbjorn Akerfeldt.
Good ol’ Tori went on to unveil some interesting scientific theory over the course of a 4-part article series (and this was in a PRINT magazine, so it left you hanging for an entire MONTH before you got to see part 2, 3, 4, etc…and you thought waiting for my next blog post was bad!) along with the basic guidelines of his approach for cycling periods of overfeeding and underfeeding in short bursts (2 weeks at a time).
To give you a simple explanation of the ABCDE approach, you eat a bunch of calories along with intense, high volume muscle building workouts (minimal cardio) for 2 weeks, then transition into a rather strict, intensive diet with a ton of cardio.
The principles are based on research that Akerfeldt shared showing that when overfeeding, anabolic hormones reach their peak after two weeks, while continuing to “bulk” after that point leads to more fat gain and less muscle gain (diminishing returns).
The same thing was observed with regards to fat loss and fat burning enzymes – 2 weeks and then things tend to slow.
So why not take advantage of those “magic” 2 weeks and then when things tend to slow down, then switch gears and take advantage of another magic 2 but while concentrating on the opposite goal.
This is the theory anyway, and for the most part, it works quite well.
There are several problems with the original outlined plan of attack, however, mainly being that recent gains in lean mass are easily reversed when you jump right into a severe calorie restricted diet thereafter (especially with a ton of added cardio).
In reality, you’d need a little assistance (i.e. drugs – not recommended) to make this type of extremely cycling really work.
Fortunately, going with a more moderate approach solves this problem.
Here are the guidelines that I recommend when using the ABCDE approach:
1. Two weeks of higher calories along with serious muscle-building workouts (minimal cardio) followed by two weeks of lower calories and intense fat burning workouts (with much less cardio than originally recommended)
2. On higher calorie weeks, use a macro breakdown of 30/45/25 (Protein/Carbs/Fat) and a total calorie intake equal to 18 x Lean Body Mass (total weight – fat weight)
3. On lower calorie weeks, follow a strategic fat loss diet, such as my Cheat Your Way Thin Diet (core phase)
Essentially, it’s very easy. Simply alternate back and forth between mini muscle building and mini fat loss phases of 2-week duration. The variety alone (both training and diet) is one of the major draws of doing something like this.
Over the course of 12-16 weeks, expect to be significantly leaner with more lean muscle – guaranteed.
Keep rockin!
Joel
P.S. Want to know ANOTHER brand new technique for simultaneous fat loss and muscle gain right now?
Check out the below video from my buddy Kyle explaining one of the NEWEST methods we’re using:
Related Posts
127 comments - add yours
I remember reading the ABCDE article! Muscle media was a great mag. Its a shame it’s gone! I wonder what ever happened to Torbjorn?.
I like the sound of this and it certainly makes sense.
Good articles, pus it is much easier to stay strict on you diet when you know that in 14 days…it is party time in you mouth!
Totally agree with this style of training – it actually forms much of the basis of my own training programs! I used this 2 week back-and-forth training for several years while working on cruise ships – with all the rich food around it was a GREAT way to keep lean and build muscle.
In fact, right now, I’m doing a 5 day version of that eating style…5 days low-carb diet, 5 days large eating and mass training. Works like a charm. I like 5 day cycles because, honestly, 2 weeks straight of low-carb eating is brutal. Joel has mentioned this before in his stuff but your metabolism slows within about a week and you need to jar back into action. I’ve found 5 days to be the best range – gives you plenty of time to burn fat and build muscle and take advantage of the switch-up between both.
hummm, isnt this essentially what ricky hatton was doing whilst preparing for his fights, short term it would be good to do this but isnt yo yo ing your diet a really bad thing to do ???
good stuff, i might try this in the future to mix things up a bit.
I’m in. Sounds promising. Same question as first commenter — are there diminishing returns or is this a viable program to use throughout the year (although I always think a little variety is good anyway)? Also on the carlorie restricted weeks, would we follow Cheat Your Way Thin Core phase exactly — including Low GI, High GI AND Cheat Days (as Cheat days will of course tend to increase carlorie intake a bit). Thanks.
Love the sound of this one definitely going to give it a try!
This sounds great for a woman! If I link it up with my cycle, I have 2 weeks in which I want to eat, and don’t want to run. Then I tend to have 2 weeks where I could run forever without food. (not that I’d go that extreme with this) Instead of kicking my self when I eat too much on the first two weeks, it could just be a part of the plan.
Thanks!
Come on, let’s get on with the posts people! 9 posts? Redonculous! I want method 3.
Makes quite a bit of sense, somewhat an advertisement regarding your program and Craig’s. Otherwise, it’s good to get a good refresher.
10th poster :D
I love systems with variety and most people stick to one workout system and one nutrition system for too long. The progress is amazing when you change your workout and nutrition for one or two weeks and then go back to the one you were doing before.
Thanks Joel
Joel,
Can I have a prize for predicting this in every post so far!
wow this sounds like a solid method here. I’m very interested to see what you’ll have worked out next, Mr. Marion
Joel, I have to once again thank you for yet another informative and insightful post. For most of my life I was a competitive long distance runner; I had inordinately low body fat, but not much else in the way of muscle to accompany it. After I committed to weight training and mountain biking in my thirties, I went from 160 lbs (5’11”) to 203 lbs. Although I was convinced that I had achieved quite a milestone for myself, a family friend playfully joked about my “belly”…Of course, I laughed on the outside but was terribly disillusioned. I began cardio training in conjunction with the lifting; and I was a solid 184 before too long…Never a user of steroids, I decided that the bulking up/shredding down method was the only viable recourse. I understand why many have succumbed to the temptation of drugs, because the old school methodology is admittedly a huge pain in the ass :). But the moderate yo-yo method you seem to be espousing might just be the proverbial happy medium. THANK YOU!!!
how about cycling carbs though the week?
So in all reality it cant be done at the same time just smaller time frames hmm interesting : )
This methond sounds a bit less scary to me than #1 from a couple of days ago. Not rational, but it seems like it would work better because you are not “truly” losing weight and gaining muscle at the same time, rather switching back and forth quickly and taking maximal advantage of how your body responds to stresses.
This sounds great and totally doable for me, but for one thing. I take an intense cardio Muay Thai kick-boxing class twice a week that totally kicks my butt and I LOVE IT! Do I need to skip these workouts when I’m on the “minimal cardio” two week session? I’d be sad about that.
I think I’ll never actually use any of these methods because I’m too lazy to actually plan meals and caloric intake…maybe method number 3? Haha.
Joel, I hate to return to the McDonalds thing but to the one who claimed they use worms heres some facts I got from web surfing on worms. Maybe Micky D’s should make worm burgers.
Qualitative indices of worm
Worms contain about 80- 87% of water. Biomass of worms contains 56-72% of protein and 12% of fat. Protein of worms contains valuable amino acids and vitamins. Lipids of worms contain 33% of unsaturated fatty acid and 67% saturated fatty acid. A comparative table 1.5 shows the composition of components of different products made by worms and farm animals.
Joel,
I think many of the people reading these blogs (lose fat and gain muscle) are probably in the same or similar boat you were in prior to your BFL entry. It would be very interesting to hear the method that you actually used to win that competition since you seemed to do a great job of both losing fat and gaining muscle in a relatively short period of time.
Thanks.
haha.. bring on the McD ..on high calorie days !!
Anyway, I will give this a try .. ( Btw, I did Joel’s Fat Loss program and Method #1 eat a ton after training yesterday and it works like a charm! )
interesting approach; i’ve done the alternating high carb/low carb but this could be interesting for a longer term approach
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...