Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan - An Illustration

My dad has many "famous sayings" that we all repeat in unison when the first word starts to come out of his mouth.  One of those sayings is Plan your Work and Work your Plan.  That's a very wise saying, one that I find myself repeating often in various situations.  My workout yesterday was a great illustration of why following this advice will lead you to success.

Famous Dad Words

During our workout, Coach Dana set my friend Justin and I up in a little competition.  She challenged us to see who could complete the most reps in a 25 Minute EMOM (every minute on the minute) with an AMRAP (as many reps as possible) on every even minute.

The first thing that caught my eye - burpees!  burpees!  burpees!

Now I can count on half a hand the number of times that I have beaten Justin at any of our workouts over the past three years, but that doesn't mean that I won't try.  I looked at the board and quickly assessed the workout to come up with my plan to attempt a victory.  In this workout, there was one key factor that gave Justin a big advantage - he runs much faster than I do.  That means that he would be getting back to his workout mat an average of 10 seconds before I would.  I came up with a two step plan that I felt might give me a chance to pull ahead.

25 Minute EMOM Evens - 1 down & back run + AMRAP of: 0 -  Burpees 2 -  Sit-ups 4 -  Burpees 6 -  Front Squats w/ bar 8 -  Burpees 10 - Lunge Steps 12 - Burpees 14 - Air Squats 16 - Burpees 18 - Jump Squats 20 - Burpees 22 - Thrusters w/ bar 24 - Burpees Odds - rest

1. Set a good pace in my running and my burpees and maintain that pace throughout the 25 minutes.  I was successful with this.  For the run (a down and back run is running the length of the hallway that runs down the center of the building), I started with a pace of 30 seconds and managed to hit that target every time.  During that first minute, I competed five burpees.  That was the number I pushed myself to reach for the remainder of the workout.  It was hard, but I managed to do it.  Set and maintain a good pace - plan accomplished!  

2. Tackle the Air Squats.  Air squats are just your regular squat.  Nothing fancy.  Nothing added.  Just a squat.  I love air squats.  I knew that my competitor, on the other hand, is not a fan of air squats.  I also knew that I can squat faster.  Everything else on the list, I figured that Justin would beat me - especially on the front squats and the thrusters.  Minute 14 - that was going to be my moment.  So when I ran back into the room I strategically placed myself behind Justin so that I could be sure I was moving faster than him.  Even with the 10 second head start, when Coach Dana called rest at the end of that minute, I had done 24 air squats and Justin had done 18.  Tackle the air squats - plan accomplished!

This was a tough 25 minutes.  We were both gasping for air by the time we were done.  And when Coach Dana added up our reps . . . 

BOOM!  WHAT?!?!  Did I just pull off a victory?  Did my plan work?  You bet it did!  The key to that plan was the air squats.  I did six more air squats than Justin.  Overall, I beat him by 4.5 reps.  If I had not analyzed the workout and decided to go as fast I could on minute 14, I would have lost.

In the reality of things, there was no winner and loser in this situation.  Justin and I both won because we pushed ourselves to complete this workout.  We could have said that it was Friday and we were tired and just wanted to go home.  Neither of us were feeling 100%, but we pushed through and finished. 

This situation is, however, a great illustration of how taking the time to put a plan together - no matter how big or small - and then working the plan can help direct you to success.

Ok, ok, ok . . . yes, I'm totally doing celebration cartwheels in my head.  I won!  I beat Justin!  It happens so infrequently that I can't help myself!!  I have to celebrate.  Even if it is just in my mind.

Now get out there, make a plan and work it!