EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to the athlete journal of Terry Hadlow. Terry 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.
Athlete Journal Entry 14 – 1/27/2014
Monday
Since I did snatches on Sunday I decided to do cleans for my first day of loading in week one of phase four. I started with speed cleans and popped off two sets with 70kg and 80kg for six reps. I took 80kg and 90kg for two sets of six reps with power clean from the hang. Final exercise was power clean from the floor with 90kg and 100kg for two sets of six reps. The 100kg were pretty easy and I calculate that six power cleans equals a weight I can snatch, so things are looking up.
Tuesday: Upper Body
Tuesday I returned to my normal schedule of upper body. I did the usual routine and got through it in less than thirty minutes.
Wednesday: Back Squats
Wednesday was back squats and I had to increase the weight by 10kg from the last phase. I took my time for the warm up and made sure everything flowed. I don’t want to challenge the new workload without any doubts.
- 70kg x 2 sets x 3 reps
- 100kg x 1 set x 3 reps
- 120kg x 1 set x 3 reps
Then it was time to take on 140kg for four sets of six reps. They were hard but steady. I decided to take 100kg for one set of ten in the speed squat. It went very well, but I could feel my groin so I bypassed a second set.
Thursday: Snatch
I woke up Thursday morning to find my right knee was the size of a football. It was odd because there was no pain and my mobility was normal, but there was just a lot of swelling. I decided to take a cautious approach to today’s workout and took my Tommy Kono knee bands, hoping the compression would keep things under control.
- Speed snatch: 50kg x 2 sets x 6 reps – things felt good so I made a generous jump.
- 70kg and do 2 sets of 6 reps
- Power snatch from the hang: 70kg x 2 sets x 6 reps
- 80kg x 2 sets x 6 reps
My right leg was feeling a little tender by now, so I did snatch pulls instead of full movements. I took 120kg for two sets of six and at the end of the second set my knee said “Enough.”
Friday: Fitness Day
Friday morning my knee was pretty swollen, but the mobility was good and pain was minimal. I did the long circuit, which was fifty minutes with no real discomfort.
Saturday: Rest Day
Saturday was a day off lifting and time to enjoy more snow shoveling.
Sunday: Front Squats
Sunday was front squats and my knee was much better. I took my time warming up. I hope you see the trend here – when in doubt, a lengthy warm up will tell me if I’m ready to do the planned work. I felt ready to take on the workout. My first series of squats for this phase was not heavy, but it was still challenging because of my right knee. I took 105kg and did seven, five, and three stop squats for two series – a total of thirty reps. I added two sets of speed squats with 70kg and prayed my knee wouldn’t explode on me in the next 24 hours!
