Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Fitness

Erring on the Side of Caution (Athlete Journal 27)

My next competition is less than two weeks away, and I'm feeling pretty confident but still being cautious.

Terry Hadlow

Written by Last updated on Oct 21, 2021

With my competition less than two weeks away, I will have to be cautious with both my wrist and elbow. Today’s snatch workout will be light to see if all this rehab is paying off.

Monday

I did speed snatches at 60kg for two sets of five reps. I got to 70kg and found there was a bit of discomfort, so I did a set of three instead of a set of five. I switched to power snatch from the hang and did two sets of five at 60kg, then I made a 10kg jump and was able to do the five reps.

I started from the floor and alternated between full snatch and power snatch. I got two sets of five reps done with 60kg and one set at 70kg. The last exercise was snatch pulls. I knew my wrist would not bother me, so I did two sets of five reps at 110kg and two sets of three with 125kg. The last rep of the second set of three was a slow pull. The workout was okay, but I still have issues to overcome.

Tuesday: Upper Body

I stuck with incline presses, doing 160lb for four sets of six. I did behind neck press with 135lb for four sets of six reps. The weights were not very challenging, but I was erring on the side of caution and hoping this would help the rehab process.

Wednesday: Clean and Jerk

I do not seem to be having any problems with my wrist or elbow when I do this type of work. I did a few sets of speed cleans with 80kg for five reps and a few power cleans from the hang at the same weight, also for five reps. I switched to power cleans from the floor and I ended up at 100 kg for two sets of five. I finished off with one set of clean pulls with 140kg for a set of five, then I made a jump to 150kg and did a set of three.

Thursday

Today was my day off. I spent my time massaging both my forearms and triceps.

Friday: Circuit Day

Today was a long circuit workout. With the competition so close, I did forty minutes instead of the full sixty. Everything was feeling pretty good by the end of the workout.

Saturday: Clean and Jerk

I had to push it during today’s workout. I started again with a few speed cleans getting to 80kg for two sets of five. Unlike Wednesday’s workout, I went right into clean and jerks. I started back at 60kg, doing one power clean, one clean, one front squat, and one jerk. From there I took 80kg and repeated the rep sequence. Then I jumped to 100kg and did the same. I finished off with four sets with 120 kg.

My pull in the clean seems to be hurting a little. Although the weight was comfortable, it wasn’t as easy as I was hoping for. I finished off with a few clean pulls at 150kg for two sets of four and two sets with 160kg, with the last rep of the second set a slow pull. I took Sunday off to give my arm a little rest for snatches on Monday.

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.

View All Articles

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

Follow Us