Diary of the average Dan - Review of the year

Been a couple of weeks now - so I though Id better get on and do a little review of the year

At the end of last year I was a little lost and directionless so i started off thinking - what do I actually enjoy doing? - (this is actually an important part of any programming) - I decided;  big movements,  low reps, 1-2 movements per session, small but tangible progress every session.

So I shopped around a decided the Hepburn method was what I wanted to do. I got cracking and stayed with the programming till June/July this year. It was all going pretty well then things started to go wrong. First up, strained the MCLs in both knees - not squatting but benching, feet turned out a lot, hips felt tight and forced hard and so sore knees.

This basically was the beginning of the end. Couldn't squat, couldn't bench how I had been, so couldn't carry on. I deadlifted fairly frequently over the following few weeks whilst my knees slowly recovered. I jumped back into the programming when I had recovered fortunately hadn't really lost anything so I though great lets crack on. I then decided to strain my neck which was another set back and finally when that was better I ruptured a tendon in my finger whilst bouldering.

That was 10 weeks ago.

So what have I been doing since then?

Well I couldn't grip a regular bar, even with straps it was far too uncomfortable, so regular squatting, benching and deadlifting was out. I wasn't going to let things slide so I thought about what I could do instead. This another important point, don't dwell on what you cant do, work on what you can do.

Safety bar squatting was fine - so that was in. I could bench with a fat bar, although with a loose-ish grip. I could also use fat grips with straps (because my hand could stay open.) So I built what I could do around that. I messed around for a couple of weeks with frequent squatting and benching with no structure. After two weeks I decided that my hand is not going to get better in a hurry so some sort of programming was in order.

Squat and Bench frequently? - Easy choice - Smolov and Smolov Jr. I ran the base cycle, it was tough but enjoyable. I then deloaded for two weeks and now I'm into week 3 of the intense cycle. I'm withholding judgement until its done suffice to say I'm just about getting through albeit with a little modification to bench numbers.

So that's it. My finger is recovering but is not 100% better yet - it certainly feels weak although I have been able to do machine rows and lat pull downs with standard grips without straps.

Has it been a successful year? - not really - but I have learnt. Next post will look at what I'm going to do for the 2-3 weeks left of the year and what I might do in January.

Thats how for now.