"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilisation."
Gerald Weinberg

Speaking as a programmer myself I just love that quote.

Anyway, with my goals written I was able to set about reading the rest of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. Essentially it has four cornerstones - Goal Setting, Nutrition, Cardio and Weight Training. Nutrition gets the lion's share of the content, but then there's a lot to say about that subject.

The key thing is that these four elements work in tandem to produce a result that's greater than the sum of their parts. And that is the answer to the chap on the radio in this post who claimed that cardio caused muscle wastage. Well it might, if done in isolation. But if done as part of a programme that also includes good nutritional practices and weight training then it won't.

Having four cornerstones seems comforting somehow. The concept of four walled constructions seems to have served the building industry pretty well, notwithstanding the Pentagon and the London Gherkin. Mind you if modern day house building techniques get any flimsier than at some point they're going to have to resort to a honeycomb structure. That way they'll get the benefits of low weight combined with high strength and rigidity and so be able to stand up to an onslaught of woodpeckers.