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For the next hour, the crew did weight-lifting work. Stanzi’s workout was a little different. Rhett would keep her from the more complicated Olympic lifts for now.
“We’re going to widen our grip for this.” Rhett shifted her hands farther down the barbell. “This is a snatch grip. Eventually, when you snatch, this is where you’ll finish, once the bar is overhead.”
Stanzi nodded, without flinching, determined if confused.
“Dip and drive, just like I showed you,” Rhett said. “The dip is just a break of the knees. The drive is powerful. You’re using your hips to help get the bar overhead. When I say drive, I want you to fire those glutes. Then punch it overhead.”
Stanzi struggled at first, to keep the flow from dip into drive smooth. At first she’d pause, the power of her hips lost, and would finish by muscling the bar overhead. She racked the barbell and watched the others, her eyes sharp like a hawk’s. When she got back to the bar, her next set of reps was smoother. She repeated that through all twelve sets, every minute on the minute, sweat beading her brow, which was creased in concentration. By the end, the bar was almost flying overhead.
“You hear that clanking sound?” Rhett smiled at her. “That’s the bar rattling in your hands. That’s good. Means you’re getting power into the lift.”
Stanzi smiled and worked her arms in big circles. She was probably exhausted, but she said nothing.
“Duke.” Rhett shook his head as the big guy failed the last rep of his last set. “This is medium percentage work. You shouldn’t be failing. As big as you are, you aren’t getting the power you need in the drive.”
Duke racked his barbell. “I don’t know what’s going on, man.” He rubbed his lower back. “I’m just sore today.”
Stanzi, who’d been watching intently, stepped in. “I think—” her voice came out soft but authoritative “—that your glutes aren’t firing correctly. I think your back is firing first. Do you want me to check?”
Duke blinked for a few seconds. His hair, which was always perfectly combed on arrival, like a black-and-white film star’s, had a rumpled, sweaty look. “Um,” he said. “Yeah. Sure.”
“Lie down.” Stanzi pointed at a spot on the floor long enough to accommodate Duke. “Facedown.”
Duke stripped off his wrist wraps and, with raised eyebrows, obeyed.
Stanzi kneeled down next to him and waved Rhett closer. Rhett kneeled down on Duke’s other side. The rest of the crew gathered in a curious circle. She pushed up Duke’s sweaty T-shirt, exposing his lower back. “Can I touch your glutes?”
Duke laid his cheek against his crossed forearms. “You have to ask?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes, ma’am. Touch my glutes.”
Stanzi spread the fingers of her left hand, placing her thumb on Duke’s right butt cheek and her pinky on the center of the back of his thigh. With her right hand, she placed her thumb and forefinger on Duke’s lower back, one on either side of his spine. “Duke,” she said, “when I say go, I want you to slowly raise your right leg toward the ceiling.”
“Gotcha.”
“Go.”
Duke slowly raised his leg.
Stanzi watched carefully, then said, “One more time.” Her eyes closed as Duke repeated the movement. Her eyes opened and locked into Rhett’s. “Did you see that?”
“I think so.”
“His back is firing before his glutes or hamstrings. That’s not good.” Stanzi ran a hand through her hair, making it stick up in places. “It can lead to a loss of power and low back pain. I want either the glutes or the hamstrings to fire first.”
Rhett nodded. “Makes sense to me.”
“Here.” Stanzi came around to Rhett’s side and took his hand. “You feel.” She positioned his fingers on Duke’s body, just as hers had been. Up close, that sweaty Larry Bird T-shirt smelled sweet; not like chemical perfumes, but something spicy and soothing at the same time, like a warm kitchen on a cold night.
“Hey, Rhett.” James was smiling down at them. “You’re supposed to ask Duke if you can touch his butt first.”
Doug snorted a laugh. “Can Rhett touch your butt, Duke? And can we watch?”
“Shut up,” Duke laughed into his arms. “Just let the little redhead fix me. I don’t care who touches my butt.”
“Duke—” Stanzi bit down on her lower lip, like she was trying to suppress a smile “—raise your left leg this time, slowly.”
