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Training Highs and Lows (Athlete Journal 33)

Some days I feel confident and walk away from my training with a smile, and others are more of a challenge. The key is to keep my momentum.

Terry Hadlow

Written by Last updated on Oct 25, 2022

Saturday

Speed snatch:

  • 50kg for 2 sets of 5
  • 70 for 1 set of 5
  • 80 for 1 set of 5

The weights were starting to feel comfortable, but my right elbow was sore as hell again. I decided to continue, but I cut back on sets.

Power snatch from the hang:

  • 50kg for 1 set of 5
  • 70 for a set of 5
  • 80 for a set of 5

Power snatch from the floor:

  • 55kg for 1 set of 5
  • 75 for 1 set of 5
  • 85 for 1 set of 5

Full snatch:

  • 90kg for 1 set of 3 – My elbow was just not working out, so I dropped down to 75kg and did a set of five. That was enough for me today.

Monday: Back Squats

Back squat:

  • 70kg for 2 sets of 6
  • 110 for 1 set of 6
  • 140 for 4 sets of 6

My right groin survived, but just barely. I needed the service of Doug’s magic fingers to impale my iliacus.

Tuesday

Today was a quick upper body workout.

Inclines:

  • 145lb for a set of 6
  • 165 for a set of 6
  • 185 for 2 sets of 6
  • Dropped back down to 145lbs for a set of 10

I finished off with some beach weights for the biceps.

Wednesday: Power Clean and Jerk

My warm up was long and painful today. I had to spend a lot of time with the lighter weights.

Power clean and jerk:

  • 40kg for 4 sets of 4 power cleans and 2 jerks
  • 58 kg for 2 sets
  • 65 for 2 sets
  • 87 for 1 set
  • 97 for 3 sets
  • 107 for 1 set

The entire workout took a lot longer just because of the excess time in warm up.

Thursday: Front Squats

I was working in pounds because everyone stole the kilo weights. The warm up was much better than yesterday.

Front squat:

  • 160lbs for a set of 6
  • 255 for a set of 7, set of 5, and a set of 3 stop squats

No speed squats again. My groin was a little better than on Monday, but I was not quite confident enough to add the extra work.

Friday: Circuit Day

The long circuit was a nice slacker forty minutes. By the time I was done I felt like a million bucks. Hopefully it will pay off for Saturday’s workout.

Saturday: Clean and Jerk

Today was clean and jerk day. Warm up was the best it’s been for the past couple weeks.

Speed clean plus a clean:

  • 50 kg for 2 sets
  • 70 for one set
  • 90 for one set

Second series of exercises was power clean, clean, front squat and jerk:

  • 70kg for 1 power clean, 1 clean, and 3 front squats and a jerk.
  • 100kg – I repeated that sequence, but for two sets.
  • 120kg – power clean, clean, front squat, but I missed the jerk. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.

I decided to drop back down for power cleans.

Power clean:

  • 100kg for 1 set of 6
  • 110 for 1 set of 6

Clean pulls:

  • 140kg for 2 sets of 5
  • 150 for 1 set of 3
  • 150 for 1 set of 2 and a slow pull

Monday: Back Squats

I was looking forward to this nice light day. I spent good quality time in my warm up. My legs were feeling okay and groin was not too bad.

Back squat:

  • 110 for 3 sets of 6 – I pushed through this easily, so I become a little daring.
  • 150 kg for 1 set of 4 – I was so confident in my groin, I added speed squats.

Speed squats:

  • 100 kgs for 2 sets of 10

I walked away with a smile. It’s about damn time.

Wednesday: Snatch

Things weren’t feeling well. Must have done some damage on Monday. I worked on speed snatch after a long, perilous warm up.

Speed snatch:

  • 62kg for 2 sets of 6
  • 72 for 4 sets of 6
  • 76 for 2 sets of 6
  • 81 kg for 2 sets of 6

Better pack it in – I’ve got heavy front squats tomorrow.

Thursday: Front Squats

Warm up was comfortable, but my brain was lacking enthusiasm. I’d better get it going or this is going to be a hard month.

Front squat:

  • 40kg for 1 set of 6
  • 60 for 1 set of 6
  • 105 for 1 set of 3
  • 125 for 6, 4, and 2 stop squats

Considering my lack of brain activity, it went pretty good. I bypassed front speed squats, just to be on the safe side.

Friday: Circuit Day

I did another slacker forty minutes. I think I’m going to cut back on any extended long circuit work.

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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