It’s a quiet drive toward the most highly anticipated event of the week: leg day. The RAM leaves the driveway at 4:50 sharp, with no hint of daylight to lift the spirits. The 405 is remarkably active for this time of the morning, but everyone is on the road for a reason at this hour, and a brisk 80 mph is par for the course. As we drive, Grant silently puts back a breakfast bar, a creatine and protein shake, and a Yerba Mate tea, while Jordan DJs—mostly Juice WRLD and Linkin Park at a soft volume that I can barely hear from the back seat. For Jordan and Grant, this is business as usual. For me, late-night data analysis usually takes priority, so it’s a rare occurrence—one that has cut my sleep to five hours on this occasion.
The guys are nearing the end of an insanely intensive fitness block that began in April with strength and conditioning coach Brian O’Mahoney. This is their final morning in the five-rep range. They will have a deload week during the San Pedro OCR regatta, then finish the hypertrophy training phase with three to four weeks of heavier weights and lower rep ranges. Brian and I are in constant communication by text, handing off information on energy levels, performance in the gym and on the water, and small, constant tweaks to the training plans based on a range of factors. This morning, however, I have joined the team to sync up with Brian in person and see the fruits of the hard work over the last several months.
Since April, the team’s gym program has been priority number one in the campaign, even taking precedence over sailing time when necessary. While the work will need to continue beyond the summer, this particular fitness block has been designed to create a foundation for the season ahead, which will include 30 regattas over the course of the year.
Upon arrival, there is no time wasted. Music is playing. The rep scheme for the day is displayed on one monitor, while an Olympic weightlifting competition plays on another. Jordan and Grant get to work executing what is clearly a well-worn warm-up routine, which Brian modifies with a few extra movements based on feedback from the athletes about how their bodies are feeling.
Back in 2022, when the idea of an Olympic campaign was first floated, Jordan and Grant began this process as scrawny, pimply young 29er sailors. Every movement looked awkward, and every detail of body mechanics required dozens of revisions by Brian to align joints and muscles and create an initial foundation of athleticism. This morning, the contrast with those early days couldn’t be more stark. The coordinated dance through the gym is impressive to watch, with Jordan, Grant, and Brian switching places in the room silently so that a spotter is always present and Brian can inspect each movement and give input. Some feedback happens as a quiet exchange that I can’t make out, while some is a deep, booming command in the small gym: “Heels! Push back! Eyes on the seam! Good!”
The three men have a dynamic relationship forged over years of monotonous reps. The conversation slides easily between banter, professional feedback, and animal noises to eke out the final extra poundage. Brian calls out the weights for each set, and each person knows the plate math, efficiently adding and removing different-sized weights while I try to do the calculations in my head. “I love the sound of three plates,” Grant says, and Brian explains that there is a certain ringing that only happens on the bar when you hang three plates—315 pounds.
Brian has a sixth sense for what each athlete needs at any given moment, noticing tiny subtleties in the mechanics of the movements that I can barely make out. The details that the guys have absorbed from his expertise are impressive: breath work, tempo, biomechanics, and rituals are all on display here. They are necessities this far into the process, when the weights are heavy and the fatigue from the last few months of work is beginning to add up.
As the weight on the bar increases, the rituals become more focused and more defined. Jordan, Grant, and Brian are locked in. Grant hooves the ground with his right foot like a young bull getting ready to charge before each set, yelling as the weights clear the rack, the bar bouncing and bending on his shoulders as the plates clink together. Each rep requires full focus, with Brian dispensing advice and encouragement, ready to jump in for a spot if needed. This morning, however, no spotting is needed.
Over the next two hours, Grant lifts a combined 10,350 pounds off the ground before switching from the squat to a series of accessory lifts, each of which could be a workout in itself. Jordan missed a season of lifting two years ago because of a back injury after falling on a mainsheet cleat in high school sailing practice, so his working weight is generally about 100 pounds less than Grant’s. Brian shares insights about the different body types—their strengths and weaknesses—and what he expects to see in the next few weeks of training as the weights really ramp up for the three-rep range. Overall, we are on track to hit PRs by the end of August, then begin a more cardio-focused phase of training heading into the next season.
As we begin the final set, the sky outside lightens perceptibly. There is light at the end of the tunnel. The world outside is waking up, and with the morning routine almost complete, we’ll begin thinking about refueling before the late-morning debrief and the afternoon sailing session.