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A New Canadian Record (Athlete Journal Entry 28)

I set a new Canadian record at a recent meet, and plan to try for the world record in June.

Terry Hadlow

Written by Last updated on Nov 22, 2021

After this week’s training and a successful meet, I’m feeling very optimistic on being able to set the world record in Toronto in June.

Monday

Today was my snatch workout. I only did full squat movements again to challenge the wrist and elbow. I cautiously started with the empty bar and moved up, making 10kg jumps, until I got to 90kg. I was averaging three or four reps per set. I took 95kg for two sets of two and 100kg for one. Pain was liveable, so I was encouraged with today’s outcome.

Tuesday

Tuesday was massage day. I got Curtis to give my forearms a good going-over, as well as my triceps.

Wednesday

I woke up and my arms were so sore from the massage I knew I wouldn’t be doing snatches or clean and jerks today. I did a few back squats just to get my legs moving. I finished with 130kg for two sets of six reps.

Thursday

My arms were still a little sore so I decided to do front squats. I finished with 115kg for two sets of five reps. They were much better than I thought they would be. Things are looking good.

Friday

Friday was long circuit. With the competition coming up I did rest week work, which was forty minutes every second stations with 35 seconds work and 35 seconds off. I felt pretty good.

Saturday

Saturday was competition day. I weighed in fairly light at 81.2kg, which is lighter than I thought I would be by about a kilogram. There must have been something wrong with their scale. Snatch warm up was very promising, with very little pain in either my wrist or forearm. I finished my last warm up at 95kg. Pain was limited, but my pull power was suffering immensely.

My first attempt was 100kg. It went up okay but I wasn’t all that excited. I jumped to 105kg and missed horribly. My pull extension has suffered with cutting back because of my wrist. Better fix this before the PanAms in Toronto.

In the clean and jerk my last warm up was 115kg, which was a power clean and jerk. My confidence in this lift was way ahead of the snatch. My first attempt was at 120kg, which was easy. I jumped to 127kg and again, the clean was easy, as well as the jerk. I debated on trying to take on the world record of 136kg or just set a Canadian record at 133kg. I decided to take the 133kg and after the lift was over should have taken the 136kg. Clean was easy, jerk was easy. I’m very optimistic on being able to set the world record in Toronto in June.

Terry Hadlow got started in Olympic weightlifting in 1970 and is the only Canadian to have competed in senior nationals in five different decades – 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. Follow Terry’s journal here to learn about his approach to training and competing.

Terry Hadlow

About Terry Hadlow

Terry Hadlow started lifting in 1970 at the age of thirteen. He was a member of the CanadianJuniorNational team at seventeen, Senior B team at eighteen, and on the SeniorA team at nineteen. He was selected to three junior world teams and competed in two of them. His best finish was a tie for third place, but he lost on body weight. His best lifts as a junior were 140-167.5 in the 82.5 class. Terry won medals in the 1978 Commonwealth Games and 1979 Pan Am Games, and was selected to the 1980 and 1984 Canadian Olympic Games team. He competed in five senior world championships, with a best finish of twelfth in Moscow in 1983, with 90kg lifts of 155-185. Terry’s best lifts ever in competition were 160-190 and his best training lifts were 163-195 at 90kg.

Terry stopped lifting in 1991 age 33 and didn't touch a weight to Olympic lift again until 2005, at the age of 48. He went on to win the Masters Pan Am in 2006. At the age of fifty, Terry competed in the 2008 World Masters at 85kg in Greece and won with lifts of 112-135. In 2010 he went to Poland in the same category and won with lifts of 113-135. His best lifts in that division were 114-139. Those lifts were enough to qualify him for the Canadian Senior Championships as a53 year old. Terry is the only Canadian to have competed in senior nationals in five different decades -1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

After that, Terry took a break from world competition and trained to compete in competitions in North America.His last competition was the 2013 Pan Ams inChicago, Illinois. He won with lifts of 108 (world record)- 132, for a total of 240 (also a world record).

Terry always takes the summer off training, as his summer work schedule just doesn't allow time to workout. In addition, there’s no training in September as that’s Terry’s time to go R.V.-ing.

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