Well… OK, the title is a bit dramatic. But, I’ve just had a look at my training journal, and realised that this website saved me from a lifetime of mediocrity, in size, strength and looking bad naked. Before I started reading through this website, I was doing 25+ sets/workout. All of these were isolation work, with the occasional 1/2 complex exercises as warmup.
Of course, I did about 9 sets on bench press variations on chest day… And, oh, what was I eating! No fast/junk/sweet food, mind you. But, I starved myself, then wolfed down huge meals. (After running 4-5 km). No post-workout nutrition. Carbs before bed… etc etc etc. So, a very small notch above your average gym bicep curl/bench press bandit. The intensity was there; I just didn’t know what the hell I was doing.
Then, I chanced upon this website. At first I was a bit sceptical about bulking/cutting; compound exercises; HIIT, etc. But, well, I wasn’t seeing any results from my past 2 years of working out, and decided I’d give it a shot. Got a logbook; chose the madcow/bill star 5x5; decided I’d eat like I’ve never eaten before for a month and see where that takes me. Well… Since that fateful day, I haven’t looked back.
Ah! The pleasure of growing stronger week after week. Gaining 5 kg (11 pounds) of weight in just under 4 weeks (Guess my body really wanted to put on some muscle this whole time but just didn’t have the nutrients!). Since that first month of the 5x5 (now with some slight modifications), another 6 weeks have elapsed. I’ve improved:
22 kilos in the bench press (49 lbs)
30 kilos in the deadlift (66 lbs)
15 kilos in the front squat (33 lbs)
10 kilos in parallel barbell rows (22 lbs)
10 kilos in pull-ups (weighted) (22 lbs)
12.5 kilos in the military press (27.5 lbs)
And, for my own amusement, I did a few curls the other day - 40 kg with a barbell, whereas before I was having a hard time with 35. And I haven’t done any curls at all in these 10 weeks! On top of it all, I’ve been cutting for the past 2 weeks, (6 lbs) and the strength gains just keep coming, since I now have enough knowledge on nutrition to mainly lose fat (Thank you, Dr. Berardi!) , and have stocked up on Biotest’s excellent supplements 
But, what I really want to say is this:
I’ve always worked hard in the gym, but saw no return on my efforts until now. My gains in the past 2.5 months have been phenomenal, at least to me. So, I keep thinking about how, if I hadn’t found this website and this community, I’d still be nowhere. I want to thank the creators and contributors, as well as all the helpful and insightful forum members for sharing their knowledge. Don’t know how many of you will find this post interesting, but it had to be said!
Peace