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 3 – 11/4/2013
I’m now entering the gym – formerly known as the Dakota Community Centre, now the Jonathan Toews Community Centre – with my liabilities assessed, my competition goals established, and my first four weeks of training in hand.
My workout program follows three weeks of progressive loading in the early stages, when the loading is both volume- and intensity-oriented. During one of those three weeks, I repeat the first week’s programming, but with half the sets. My training is based on a single movement and its assistant exercises.
The week looks like this:
- Monday: Snatch
- Tuesday: Upper body and back squats
- Wednesday: Back squats
- Thursday: Clean and jerks
- Friday: Fitness
- Saturday: Snatch or clean and jerk
- Sunday: Front squats
Each workout is 1.5 hours long, and includes 45 minutes of warm up and 45 minutes of loading with weights. If I don’t finish the loading part in that time, so sad, too bad – I’m out of there. It takes six to eight weeks for me to get all the prescribed work done in the 45 minutes, especially in the later weeks of a phase, because my fitness sucks. As my fitness improves, I can usually finish in the allotted time.
Monday:
- Speed snatch: 30kg 2×6, 40kg 2×6
- Power snatch from hang with three second hold at knees: 40kg 2×6, 50kg 2×6 – so far not bad, just a little winded at the end of each set.
- Power snatch from floor: 50kg 2×6, 60 kg 2×6 – this one was not so good. My wrist was screaming, forearms were tight, shoulders were stiff.
- Overhead squats: 20kg, 30kg, 40kg, 50kg x6 with each weight – This was the last exercise and I wasn’t looking forward to it. Shoulders by the end were not too bad, groin a little tender. I won’t do full snatches until those areas are 100%.
Tuesday (Beach day)
6 sets, 8 – 10 reps each:
- Press behind neck
- Inclines
- Seated pulldowns
- Curls
All four exercises are done one after the other so there are six circuits.
Wednesday
Wednesday was back squat day, which meant extra time in the warm up. I could feel the groin with the bar so I wasn’t optimistic. I got to 80kg where the discomfort was manageable and stayed there for 4×6. No speed or stop squats for this boy – just too tender. My partner gave me some active release on the illiacus and I could feel the pressure run right into my knee on the right side.
Thursday
Clean and jerk day. I did a full warm up and felt okay since back squats yesterday.
- Speed clean: 50kg 2×6, 60kg 2×6.
- Power clean hang with three-second hold at knees: 60kg 2×6, 70kg 2×6.
- Power cleans floor: 70kg 2×6, 80kg 2×6 – I was breathing harder than I’d like.
- Clean and jerk: 80kg 1+1×4 sets. Full cleans felt good but it was only one rep.
Friday (Circuit day)
40 minutes, 20 stations, 35 seconds work, with 25 seconds to get to the next station – bagged no surprise there.
Saturday
No session due to home renovations going on. The weather was nice and I had to take advantage of the opportunity.
Sunday
Hit the warm up hard in preparation for front squats.
Front squat: 80kg 7+5+3x 3 series for a total of 45 reps. The threes are for stop squats with three second hold at the bottom. My groin was a little bit of a problem, but not nearly as bad as it was with the back squats.
All and all, it was a good week. My fitness is going to start being a factor soon. I can hardly wait to have my heart pop out of my chest.
