I am starting work for the PanAmerican Championships in Toronto in June, so I am rearranging my workouts a little so I can spend some quality time in the weight room alone. That way I don’t have to focus on coaching anyone else.
Saturday
The week’s first workout started on a Saturday. I was working on clean and jerks. The specific work was power clean, clean, front squats, and a jerk. I was just trying to get my body moving, so I spent four sets at 50kg, two sets at 70kg, and one set at 90kg. I did one power clean, one clean, three front squats, a partridge in a pear tree, and one jerk.
I headed up to 100kg, doing the same rep sequence but for four sets. My left knee was a little sticky and my right groin was reminding me to go carefully. I did clean pulls at 130kg for two sets of five, 140kg for one set of three, and 140kg for a set of two plus one slow pull.
Monday
Monday was the next workout. I did back squats, taking my time warming up and working on my left knee and groin. I took 70kg for two sets of six, 100kg for a set of six, and 120kg for four sets of six. It felt heavy, but I moved well through the range. I ended with speed squats at 70kg for two sets of ten, sore groin be damned.
Tuesday
Speed snatches
- 40kg: 2 sets of 6
- 50kg: 1 set of 6
- 60kg: 1 set of 6
- 70kg: 2 sets of 5
- 80kg: 2 sets of 3 sluggish reps
Power snatch from the floor
- 60kg: 1 set of 6
- 70kg 2 sets of 5
- 80kg: 2 sets of 5 – The work at 80kg was much better than the speed snatch work.
Snatch pull
- 110kg: 2 sets of 5
- 125kg: 1 set of 3
- 125kg: 1 set of 2, plus one slow pull.
Wednesday
Wednesday was beach day! I decided I was going to take it seriously. I started with inclines for four sets of six at 150lb with a strip down. A strip down is when you decrease the weight by twenty pounds, adding two reps every time until you get to twelve reps, with no rest between the descending weights. Then it was on to dumbbell presses. My elbow and wrists were a little sore in this movement, so I only got up to forty pounds. Next came curls. Once again, the wrists and elbows were a little sore so I only got up to forty pounds.
Thursday
Thursday I did front squats. I decreased the volume of work, doing one set of seven, one set of five stop squats, and one set of three stop squats with 100kg. I finished with speed front squats at 70kg for two sets of ten. My groin and left knee felt much better in the front squat movement than in the back squat.
Friday
Friday was long circuit fitness. I took it easy and did forty minutes, for 35 seconds on and 25 seconds off every second station. I think I like this weekly rotation. I’m going to stick with it.
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.
