Spent the last week of July in Zadar, a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. Was there with one of my friends - no training, no dieting, no working. Just going to the beach, visiting the Krka Waterfalls, meeting locals, and enjoying the food. The place was beautiful, highly recommend it, you can find pictures on flickr (not mine, I rarely shoot pics when I travel - hate walking around with a camera).

When I was younger and still doing silly bodybuilding routines, I used to train during holidays because I was afraid of losing muscle and strength. I used to do crazy stuff like choosing a hotel with a gym and taking whey protein with me...

10 years later, I don't do that anymore. First because you don't lose muscle or strength when taking a week off. Second because you need breaks physically AND mentally. Regular breaks from your diet and training helps you sticking to both. Trying to be perfect (which you can't anyway) is a recipe for failure. And if you're a recreational lifter like me, training 45 weeks per year is plenty anyway.

So I tested my 1RMs before I left and hit an easy 418lbs Deadlift at 165lbs body-weight (no straps obviously, just chalk and my Inzer forever belt). Then I took a week off (my 2nd this year, previous one was when I went skiing in January). When I came back, I resumed lifting as if nothing had happened.

To be honest, I should have started lighter. I had very sore legs after last week's Squats (the result of taking a week off + 1 week low volume 1RMs testing). But since I've been obsessed with hitting the 3xBW Deadlift lately (500lbs for me), I wanted to get back to it quickly. Usually I think it's better to start lighter so you avoid the leg soreness that I had to deal with (I was so busy I didn't even follow my own advice , except training through the soreness).

But enough about me. As the headline suggest, I have important changes that affect you. Read on.

Blog Hiatus Over. Every month I used to send a list of my favorite threads from the StrongLifts Community. At first, I was just listing them (like here, here and here). Then I figured it would make more sense to add my views each time  (like here and here). Your  feedback confirmed this was a better approach.

But the problem was that I couldn't say everything I wanted to say without posts getting even longer than they were. And I was stuck with that list format.

That's why I've decided to do this differently. Instead of doing a long, once per month "best of SL Community" blog post, I'm going to send regular blog posts of threads (and more) that I think you should check out, followed by my take on things. These posts will be shorter, only 1 thread each time.

Benefit for you: you're getting regular tips again. Benefit for me: unlike the how-to guides that I used to send, this content doesn't take me long to write. So I can keep working on the upcoming content without issues (121 posts in my offline StrongLifts site so far, not done yet, but will be published soon enough).

When does this start? Monday September 6th 2010. Remember you can get that article and all the next ones delivered for free in your mailbox by subscribing for free (100% no-spam guarantee  and there's no catch).

StrongLifts Success Stories. For similar reasons, I'm also going to do the StrongLifts Success Stories differently. Every time a StrongLifts Member shares results that I think you should know about, I'll share his story inside a blog post followed by my views, remarks and comments.

Why am I going to do this? First to show you that the StrongLifts Methods actually work (no matter your genetics, metabolism, built, age, race or whatever you think matters). Second because recognition gives that StrongLifts Member even more motivation and accountability. Third, because of the bragging rights.

There are already over 120 success stories from StrongLifts Members from all sorts of backgrounds, walks of life, bodytypes, genetics, and age. You can read them here inside the StrongLifts Community. And keep in mind: if it works for them, it will work for you. You just got to follow the same methods they use.

Please share your own results following the StrongLifts Methods. You'll inspire and motivate other guys to stop doing those silly, ineffective, time consuming bodybuilding routines that even I used to do; and to stop wasting time on worthless supplements. Read the how to write your success story guide here.

Not a StrongLifts Member Yet? The StrongLifts Community counts almost 12,000 Members from over 187 countries. There are more than 2,100 training logs online. The most successful StrongLifts Members will tell you that keeping a log was THE key to getting the body and strength they've achieved - motivation and accountability are the SL Community benefits that I keep hearing.

My advice: become a StrongLifts Member and start keeping a training log too. You don't need to have something significant to report to start a log. Keep a log from the start. You'll see how other StrongLifts Members will help you out, and this will help you get results you always wanted once and for all.

Thanks to a strong moderationship, the SL Community is free from the bullies and trolls that are common on other Internet communities. The atmosphere at SL is friendly, polite, helpful and mature. Nobody is going to make fun of you or do other crap that is common elsewhere. You can ask ANY question right here.

So please join the tens of thousands of StrongLifts Members today. They'll help you get the kind of body and strength you want by giving you advice and showing what can be done. Here's how you can become a SL Member too:

• Register for a free SL Membership by clicking here now.
• Read the quick start guide on how to profit to the max as a SL Member.

That's all there is to it!

Talk soon,

-Mehdi