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 5 – 11/18/2013
Week three was the last loading week of the first phase of training for the Pan Americans and World masters. I can feel the fatigue creeping into my body now that it’s over. The last squat workout went well but the residual discomfort is starting to create a snowball effect. My planning has to compensate for the fatigue and discomfort, or else the last week’s results could be disappointing.
Monday: Snatch Day
Usually after front squats from the weekend my legs have a lot of pop, which makes this session very comfortable.
- Speed snatch: 40kg x 6 x 2 sets – The weight felt very light so it was hard to assess how the rest of the workout would go.
- 50kg x 6 x 2 sets – Again, very easy.
- Power snatch from the hang: 50kg x 6 x2 sets
- 60kg x 6 x 2 sets – My performance on these was encouraging, so I was looking forward to tackling 70kg for those sets of 6. But first:
- Power snatch from the floor 60kg x 6 x 2 sets – these went as expected.
- 70kg x 6 x 2 sets – No problem, but I was tired from the work. My heart rate was way up but generally not bad. I took 80kg for an easy double and felt very satisfied with myself.
The satisfaction didn’t last long. I still had to do full snatches, which replaced the overhead squats. I was having trouble coordinating the fundamentals of the full squat movement. Note to self: must correct this by doing more full squats and less of the power movements. I struggled with 60kg, which was not comfortable at all. I know with repetitions this will get fixed. I hummed and hawed over the snatch pulls I had planned, but time was up for this workout so the decision was made for me.
Tuesday: Beach Day
My shoulders were stiff as boards, and I figured the full snatches from yesterday were the cause. I spent most of the workout trying to get the mobility back in them. As far as a workout goes, this one was a bust, but the information about how my body reacted to the previous day’s stress was valuable and has to be addressed. During the next phase I will add more overhead work.
Wednesday: Back Squats
My groin seemed to be getting better from all the rehab and attention, so it was time to put it to the test. My warm up is always very deliberate on back squat day, since this is the one workout each week where I know I’m going to get trashed. I started slowly and the movements were effortless. Of course, with the empty bar they should be. I moved up to last week’s effort of 105kg with no discomfort and decided to move to 120kg. The squats were heavy but I stood up well, so on to 120kg. I did four sets of six reps. Just like last week my adductors started to ache, so once again no speed or jumps.
Thursday: Clean and Jerk
Since I hadn’t done any jerks during the first two weeks I figured it was time to add them to the process. My shoulders were cranky, but after a good warm up and half a dozen sets with the empty bar they started to relent. Speeds were done with a jerk at the end of each set, so instead of doing six reps per set I did seven. I decided to be conservative with the weight and the jumps. Usually I jump 10kg, but today I only jumped 5kg. All the work went well and I ended up doing 90kg power clean from the floor for two sets of six reps, plus one jerk. I was exhausted and I ended up fighting the lockout.
Friday: Circuit Day
Today’s workout was only sixty minutes, which was a piece of cake compared to last week’s marathon. I was tired, but each set’s performance was consistent, which is a good sign that my fitness is improving.
Saturday
Reno time, so no workout.
Sunday: Front Squats
Today was the last day of the first three weeks of this phase. With the day off on Saturday I was hoping that the work would go well, even though I felt a little rough which was what I expected. I did 100kg 5+3+1 x 3. The single rep was a stop squat and went well.
Overall I felt positive after a hard three weeks. I got lots of good info to base the next phase on, and I’m looking forward to putting it on paper.
