And I'm looking and feeling pretty great.

I haven't bench pressed in a year, but now do
all kinds of other chest exercises and am about
85% as strong as I was pre-injury.

My chest will never be the same--it looks different,
feels different, is different. It gets creaky and
achy when I work it too hard and I'm always paranoid
I'm going to tear it again. That said, its pretty safe to say
that I'm "recovered" and overall my body has responded
well.

I might never bench press again, though. I was benching
quite a lot before I hurt myself....I just think the risks
outweight the benefits. Benching is the best chest workout
their is, but there are others that are safer. Proof is
in the pudding -- I've definitely added mass to my chest
in the last 6 months, just from machine bench press and
pushups.

When you hurt yourself that badly, you can either
lose or gain weight while unable to excerise. I went the
lost weight route, which I preferred. Walking to work
every day kept me lean, as did improving my diet.

Now that I'm back in the gym, I've added a good amount
of muscle and tip the scales at about 200 even.

I'm on the brink of changing my entire workout...which
direction, I don't know.

I'm about to follow my man Vex_ID on his bar tactics,
TruSparta style. I've explored the crossfit thing but
can't really seem to find an entry point. I'm considering
boxing again. I bought a bike and am exploring getting into
that.

For now, I'm just doing the basics and trying to keep lean
and strong.

Let me reiterate something that most of you probably know:

DIET IS EVERYTHING.

Its all about the food. That's how I recovered so well. That's
why I look as good as I did (or better) pre-injury.




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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "