Originally Posted by Riddick2112

heheh, hey look who's here . . . does anyone even remember me???

damn it's been close to a year since i last posted in this journal and with good reason, my training has been lousy to just plain non-existent fr most of that time!
a quick backstory on my absence:
last winter i was hit with 2 seperate intense bouts of tonsilitis. I couldnt train, I couldnt eat, and I lost a lot of weight in a very short time (damn that fast metabolism!)
then around feb i embarked on a major home renovation project that i worked on almost every single night after work and all through the weekends. this went on for about 3 months. i did attmept to do some training but either i just didnt have the time or i was too bloody tired for it.
after that it was really really hard to get any momentum going. Work, personal shit and a new furniture making hobby all intervened.
i was back into the 150's for b/w and my strength was comparable to that of either one of the Olsen Twins (together they could whip my ass though!)
I was discouraged but also it gave me time to relect on a few things that kept running through my mind all these months and i've come to a few conclusions:

1. i really dont care how heavy i get anymore. i feel much better at a lighter b/w and so if the only way i can gain muscular b/w is to be walking around with 25% or more b/f all year then i dont want it. it isnt healthy and i looked pretty bad too.

2. if i miss a meal or a gym session the world will NOT end! i used to stress out so bad about that shit but i realize there is NO reason for it. i am just making things harder for myself by doing so.

3. when i was at about 170-175lbs not a single solitary person commented on any changes in my physique except saying that i looked fatter. now, i KNOW my gains were not all b/f. my arms had increased quite a bit and so did my thighs and my strength was the best it had ever been. On the other hand almost every single person i've seen in the last 6 months keeps telling me how much better and healthier i look. now this isnt to say i am in the gym solely to get compliments from others or any shit like that, but only to underscore the fact that i myself didnt think i looked or felt that great and apparently it showed!

so the deal for me now is to recapture my previous PR's but at a b/w of about 150lbs and then continue to gain strength while maitaining a healthy level of bodyfat vs definition.
I've been hitting the gym 2-3 times a week for about a month now doing only squats, bench, rows, Chins, OH press, DL and ab work on an A/B type thing just like i did before. I'm still as weak as hell but should be back to my old numbers pretty soon. i guess technically that will make me stronger than i was before right?
i may increase food intake a bit over the winter, but worrying about seeing the scale go up every single week is not going to happen anymore. its just not worth it when in a few weeks of illness i can lose a years worth of hard training and eating.

another thing is i have been seeing a chiropractor for the last 2 months now. not for a specific injury or anything but i had been experiencing some weird and intense stiffness across my middle back and wanted it checked out. long story short, there were no serious structural problems and the weekly adjustments have gone a long way towards making my left and right sides of my body feel equally strong. I always had a weak feeling in my right side, especially when benching but that seems to be rapidly disappearing so i am quite pleased about that! the back stiffness never came back either so it's all good!

that's it for now, i'll let ya'll know when i reach those PR's again!