#255 - Gabi Migala Led Two Days at Rogue, Then It Slipped Away

Gabi Migala led two days at the 2026 Rogue Invitational and finished third. Her coach Adam Rogers joins the show to break down the whole weekend: the decision to skip the CrossFit Games after qualifying in Madrid, the sandbag toss finale nobody could prepare for, and what it actually takes to bring an athlete back from two Achilles ruptures. Adam was on the floor in Aberdeen for all three days. We get into the strategy behind the Viking press, why he chose big sets over clusters while Dani Speegle went the other way, the spinning axle bar and the mixed grip cue, and the one logistical mistake of the weekend: a 20kg men's barbell sitting in a women's lane during event seven, and the six seconds Rogue handed back as compensation. We also talk about what the weekend looked like from a coach's chair. Leading from day one and how that changed Gabi's headspace. The scoring quirk in event eight that punished her best work. The conversation before the final event when Lucy Campbell took the lead. And why Gabi called third place disappointing five minutes after walking off the floor. The last stretch is for coaches. Adam explains why comparing an injured athlete to their past self is counterproductive, why the body does not care about your timelines, and how he handles athletes who are too stubborn to listen. 0:00 Intro 0:45 Why Gabi skipped the Games after qualifying in Madrid 1:09 Defining success outside the leaderboard 1:53 The weight of the 20th anniversary Games 2:39 When mind and body stop trusting each other 3:25 Patience, and coaching athletes back from injury 3:44 Should you stop calling it a comeback 4:20 Building to win versus building to survive 5:00 Taking the lead on day one 5:21 How leading changed her mindset 6:18 Sunday, three athletes within five points 6:43 Event 7: overhead squats, deadlifts, rope climbs 7:00 Event 8, the sprint, and the scoring problem 7:53 Two movements nobody had ever tested 8:22 "I get stronger as the weekend goes" 8:54 The sandbag toss, one hour of practice, no format 10:05 The weight change nobody knew about until Sunday 10:37 The spinning axle bar and mixed grip 11:44 Aimee Cringle's misses and the cost of no information 12:34 Lucy Campbell takes the lead 12:51 The conversation before the final event 13:26 Practicing the 35 pound bag, 60 to 70 percent 14:22 Best event of the weekend: the Viking press 15:42 Why the Viking press feels nothing like a push press 17:01 A fixed anchor point and the height problem 17:40 Big sets versus clusters, the strategy call 18:50 Dani Speegle's cluster approach and the Lydia Fish debate 20:04 What it felt like on the floor 20:20 The fat bell double press and the new axle bar 22:57 The one logistics mistake of the weekend 23:52 Six seconds: how Rogue tried to fix it 24:57 Olivia Kerstetter 26:04 Production, camera angles and watchability 28:05 Why 20 athletes and back to back events worked 28:45 Strongman and strongwoman, the crossover appeal 30:38 The strongmen built their own Viking press 32:21 Is the comeback complete 33:01 Far from satisfied 33:39 Five minutes later, perspective 34:09 Advice for coaches dealing with a catastrophic injury 34:43 Stop comparing yourself to your past self 35:13 "The body does not give a shit about your timelines" 36:06 Athletes who won't listen 36:57 Why skipping the Games helped Rogue 38:24 Saying your goals out loud 38:47 What Adam is most proud of 39:44 Wrap up TRAIN WITH US! TTT Compete: https://programs.trainingthinktank.com/ttt-compete TTT 60: https://programs.trainingthinktank.com/ttt-60 TTT Affiliate: https://programs.trainingthinktank.com/ttt-affiliate