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 15 – 2/3/2014
Monday
I’ve decided that cleans will continue as the opening week’s exercise until a problem develops.
- Speed cleans: 75 x 2 x 6
- 85 x 2 x 6 reps
- Power cleans from the hang: 85 x 2 x 6
- 95 x 2 x 6 reps – these were done quite comfortably. My nervous system seemed to be firing on all cylinders so I was pumped for power cleans from the floor. These are my favorite during clean day because I never seem to get that tired during the set.
- 95 x 2 x 6
- 105 x 2 x 6 reps – these were all pretty easy. I should have taken more but time was up!
Tuesday: Upper Body Circuit
I decided to put the focus on the narrow pulls today, doing sets with 160kg and 190kg. The rest of the weights are basically the same with behind neck presses with 120kg and inclines at 155kg. I finished off with one set at 175kg and curls with 30lbs dumbbells.
Wednesday: Rest Day
Wednesday was a day off as I had much work that I had to get done. No more procrastinating.
Thursday: Snatch Day
Thursday was snatch day and I felt awful. I started with speed snatches.
- 66kg x 6 reps – My breathing was laborious and I hoped things would get better.
- 73kg x 6 reps – The weights went up, but my body was rebelling.
- 82kg x 6 reps – I started thinking, “What am I doing here?” I decided to take 65kg from the hang and nearly passed out. That was enough. My session was over!
Friday: Circuit Day
Friday was long circuit day and I wasn’t looking forward it. It was one of our group’s birthday so we had 44 minutes on the agenda. It went okay, but I could feel the lag from Thursday.
Saturday
I took Saturday off because I still wasn’t functioning at 100% – maybe 70% – and I wanted to give Sunday’s front squats a real go.
Sunday
If Sunday went well, I knew I could salvage the week, even though Monday went great. I started cautiously with my warm up and carefully progressed through my routine.
- 50kg x 3 sets x 6 reps – Not bad.
- 90kg x 6 reps
- 115kg – This jump was done with mediocre confidence but the first series of six, four, and two stop squats went well.
I approached the next series with a great degree of confidence and the six, four, and two stop squats in the second were easier than the first. They went so well that I decided to do two sets of ten reps with 70kg in the speed squats. I finished the workout contented with the idea my Sunday workout saved my training week. I hope that doesn’t happen too often.
