For Coaches: One 60-Minute Class That Teaches Pacing Without a Lecture
ONE SESSION, EXPLAINED · FOR COACHES · BY COACH FRITZ
Your class sprints the first minute, then limps to the finish.
You can explain pacing in the briefing and most athletes will nod, then go out hot anyway. What works better, in my experience, is a session built so that pacing is the only way to get a good score. The workout does the teaching and you just point at what happened.
Below is one full class you can run this week: warm-up, main piece, finisher and cool-down, with exact times, reps and loads. After that I cover how to pace it, how to scale it up and down, and what it builds.
IN THIS ARTICLE
The Full 60 Minutes
I call the main piece Three Gears. The athletes do the same 5-minute workout three times, and the goal is to post nearly the same score each time. Not the biggest score. The same one.
Briefing, 0 to 3 min. Give them the goal in one sentence: three blocks, matching scores. Show the three movements and the standards.
General warm-up, 3 to 12 min. Two rounds, all easy. 2 minutes on the rower or bike at RPE 3 (you could hold a conversation), 6 inchworms, 8 air squats, 8 ring rows or band pull-aparts, 5 hand-release push-ups.
Specific prep, 12 to 20 min. Two sets of 5 dumbbell deadlifts and 5 hand-release push-ups at the working load. Then 60 seconds on the machine at RPE 6. Each athlete writes down the calories. That number sets their target for the workout.
Main piece, 20 to 42 min. 3 blocks of a 5-minute AMRAP, with 2 minutes of full rest between blocks. Each round is 10 calories on the row or bike, 8 dumbbell deadlifts (50/35 lb), 6 hand-release push-ups. Score each block in rounds plus reps. Allow a couple of minutes at the end for scores.
Finisher, 42 to 47 min. 4 rounds of 30 seconds hollow hold, 30 seconds rest. Quality shape, not a shaking mess.
Cool-down and review, 47 to 60 min. 4 minutes of easy bike or walking, 3 minutes of slow nasal breathing with calf and hip stretches. Then spend the last stretch of class with scores: who matched, who faded, who got better as it went.
How to Pace It
Target about 4 rounds per block, roughly 70 to 75 seconds a round. Block one is RPE 6, block two is RPE 7, and block three is RPE 8 with a free last minute if they have anything left. The score target is simple: block three lands within one round of block one, and ideally matches or beats it.
Coach's cue: Block one should feel too easy. If it feels right, you went out too hard.
Use the 60-second test to set the machine pace. Ten calories should take most athletes about 40 to 50 seconds at their working rate, leaving the rest of the round for deadlifts and push-ups. If the machine eats a full minute, they are redlining it.
The push-ups are where pacing falls apart. I tell athletes to plan their sets before the clock starts, either 6 unbroken or 3 and 3, and to stick to the plan in every round. A planned break early costs a few seconds. An unplanned break on round four costs much more.
Growing up swimming, I learned pace by repeating the same lap time over and over until it felt boring. That boring feeling is what you want in block one.
How to Scale It Up and Down
Keep the stimulus the same: a steady, moderate effort with three even scores. Change the load or the reps, not the purpose.
Scale down. 8 calories, 8 deadlifts with 25 to 35 lb, and 6 incline push-ups with hands on a box or barbell. Aim for 3 to 4 rounds a block.
Scale way down. Replace the machine with a 200 m walk or an easy 8 calories on the bike, use a kettlebell deadlift from a raised height, and do wall push-ups or hands-elevated reps. Extend rest to 3 minutes if needed.
Scale up. 12 calories, 8 deadlifts at 70/50 lb, and 6 full-range push-ups (chest and thighs touch the floor). The pace target does not change, only the work inside each round.
Same load, more challenge. For athletes who finish all three blocks easily, cut the rest from 2 minutes to 90 seconds in block three. That is a better test of pacing than adding weight.
Watch the deadlifts as fatigue builds. If hips shoot up first or the back rounds, lower the load right away rather than waiting for the next block. Any sharp or lingering pain means stop and see a qualified professional.
What It Builds
First, it builds aerobic repeatability: the ability to produce the same moderate effort again after short rest. Research generally supports this kind of repeated work at a controlled intensity as a base for most conditioning.
Second, it builds self-awareness. Athletes see that the person who went out hardest in block one often posted the lowest score in block three. That lesson sticks far longer than anything I say in a briefing.
Third, it gives you data. Spreads between blocks tell you who needs to start slower and who has more in the tank than they let on. Write those scores down and run the session again in six weeks. Better yet, the athletes will want to beat their own consistency.
Where I Stand
I think we over-coach pacing with words and under-coach it with workout design. A clean briefing helps, but athletes believe what they feel in block three, not what we say beforehand. I would rather run a session like this every few weeks than lecture about pacing before every WOD.
Try this today: Run the 60-second machine test at RPE 6 in your next warm-up, write the calories down, and use it as the target for a 5-minute AMRAP repeated 3 times with 2 minutes of rest.
Three Gears Quick Recap
The goal. Three 5-minute blocks with nearly matching scores, not one big score.
The workout. 10 calories, 8 dumbbell deadlifts (50/35 lb), 6 hand-release push-ups, 2 minutes rest between blocks.
The pace. RPE 6, 7, then 8, about 4 rounds a block at 70 to 75 seconds a round.
The prep. A 60-second machine test at RPE 6 sets each athlete's calorie pace.
The scaling. Change load and reps, keep the steady, moderate stimulus.
The payoff. Aerobic repeatability, self-awareness and data you can use again in six weeks.
The Round You Protect Today
Pacing is a skill, and skills need practice with feedback. This session gives your athletes three tries at the same workout in one class, which is rare and valuable.
Run it, record the scores, and watch what changes in the next hard WOD. I think you will hear fewer athletes say they just died at minute three.
If you want help building sessions like this for your own athletes or your own training, take a look at ATHLETESPHERE coaching.
Your turn. When your class goes out too hot, what is the first thing you see: the machine, the barbell, or the push-ups? Tell me in the comments below. I read every one, and your answers shape what I write next. If this helped, tap the heart so it reaches more athletes.
Keep reading
Further reading: National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)
Coach Fritz Bautista · Head Coach, ATHLETESPHERE
CrossFit Level 2 Trainer (CF-L2) ✓ · CrossFit Programming Certificate · MBA Graduate · Digital Marketing Certified · Coaching athletes from all walks of life online
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