| Even though I'm a new poster to this site, I have been through a similar epiphany. I would rather congradulate you and tell you that it took me a lot longer. Some people never figure it out and they go in a never ending circle that never goes anywhere, full of machine curls and lat pulldowns with wrist straps. Maybe this is a time to take a look at the basics and reevaluate your training. I always recommend Starting Strength for everyone. This book is so in depth; it has over 50 pages just on the squat. It teaches you to completely brake down the basics and to get back to a simpler, more effective method of training. I know the effectiveness of this program since I put 100lbs on the squat at the beginning of the first workout of the forth week. Within a month! So get the book.
I'm always glad when someone breaks out of the lat pulldown, smith machine world. Machines are garbage. No one that does lat pulldowns will ever experience the overall toughness that weighted pullups and excercises like powercleans give you. You also might want to travel over to crossfit.com. Even if you don't want to train like them, you will find tons of real information that you will never find in men's health. Scroll down the right side of the front page and you'll see links like Ironmind and westside barbell club. Folks that know what real strength is all about. Go on over to Dan John's web site for some great literature.....That's about it.
Anyways, good luck and get really strong!!!!!  | 
