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How to Overcome Gym Intimidation

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Here are some real steps you can take to overcome gym intimidation. Short term mindset shifts for long term confidence. Gym intimidation is a real thing! From feeling a little like the new kid to full blown fear, I would guess everyone who has set foot in a gym has experience some version of it.

Like any new endeavor, it can be uncomfortable at first. But also like new endeavors that you repeat, it will become less new and less scary. Read on for some ideas to build your confidence and overcome your intimidation in the gym.

How to overcome gym intimidation with Austin personal trainer Kathryn Alexander.
Overcome your gym intimidation with Austin personal trainer Kathryn Alexander.

Just Do It – For Now

First things first: just do it. For now, one foot in front of the other. Do it even while intimidated. I promise it will become more comfortable. Until then, some more concrete action steps.

Have a Plan

Have a plan. That way you don’t have to think wonder or figure everything out while you’re in the gym. It’s ok if the first few trips are a lot of figuring out. After that, you’ll have your routine down. You can branch out from there when it’s time for a new routine. If you get confused or lost, go back to the trails you know.

Here’s how to choose a training plan.

Ask!

Ask! If you can’t figure something out, ask! You won’t be the first or last person who had questions about particular machines. Believe me- people who have put hours and sweat effort into the gym understand more than anyone. They’re so nice to beginners because they have been there. Of course, if someone is in the middle of a set and avoiding eye contact, ask someone else and let them be. But if on the off chance you get someone who isn’t nice, remember it says more about them than you. If a staff member is short with you, find a new gym. Seriously. There are fantastically supportive gyms out there, like Big Tex Gym in Austin, Texas.

Learn Gym Etiquette

Read gym etiquette so you are in the know. It basically boils down to being considerate of others and paying attention to what you’re doing. You can read a full gym etiquette post here. There are always some things specific to your gym, which you’ll figure out. That usually has to do with layout, like if there’s a busy corner you’ll want to use but not monopolize. Things like that that you’ll figure out. 

Remember It Is Worth It!

Remind yourself that it’s worth the short term discomfort! If you’ve been wanting to do this for a long time, you won’t want it less ina a year. In fact, in a year, you’ll wish you had started now. Eyes on the prize, doll. You can do this. 

I guarantee you- other people don’t have it all figured out either. Everybody is learning together. Someone in worse shape, better shape, fatter, leaner, stretchier and tighter than you has done it before. You can do it too! 

Focus On Yourself

Remember most people aren’t paying attention to you. They are either preoccupied with their session, their outfit, their gym crush, or the work meeting they’re trying not to think about. Or, best  case scenario, they are focused on their training! Very few people are out there truly thinking much about strangers. 

Remember Your Strengths

Remind yourself what you’re good at!! I bet you’re great at something! You could teach me a lot about your job and your skills. Just because you don’t live in the gym doesn’t mean anything about your value, or whether you belong at the gym. True story, I learned to snow ski when I was 27. It was horrible. I had to pep talk myself in the side of this snow mountain by reminding myself I AM good at something, dang it. Put me in the gym and let me go  😂

If you want the full blown account of my ski humiliation, read here.

I had a client many years ago who lamented that he had spent so many years just working and not exercising. He wanted to keep up with the strong strong 20-something male trainers. I had to remind my client that they were elite powerlifters, but he had a very fruitful career, thriving marriage and happy adult children. He was doing great at life! He was healthy too, and still working on it. 

Try These Gym Intimidation Tips For Yourself

That’s the list! Those are my best tips. Remember that you belong in the gym too, that you do have skills in life, and make yourself a plan and follow it. 

Message me if I missed anything. I love hearing from people who have figured out how to overcome discomfort!

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

What is the Best Training Split?

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What is the best training split to do? There are many options, and luckily, many of them are effective. How do you know which one to choose? Let’s discuss! 

What is a Training Split?

A training split is the breakdown of what you exercise on what days. Common gym training splits include:

  • Push/pull/legs
  • Upper/lower
  • Full body
  • 4 and 5 day splits

There is no one best split, and you should rotate every 6-12 weeks anyway. Let’s look at these options and discuss when to best use them. 

What is the best training split?

Push/Pull/Squat

Push/pull/squat is a great 3 day split. Your push days will include upper body exercises for chest, shoulders and triceps. Pull will include back exercises (lat pulldowns, rows) biceps curls and rear delts. Finally, squat day is obviously when you work legs. You’ll want to do some quad-focused lifts, some hip dominant or posterior work, and glutes and calves. How you distribute those lifts is up to your depending on your goals. I recommend having at least one quad-dominant and one hip dominant exercise on your squat day. 

You can do this split if you’re going to the gym 3 days a week, so obviously one day would be push, one day would be pull and the final day would be squat. If you are going to the gym more than 3 days a week but still enjoy push/pull/squat, you can rotate through. For example, if you train 5 days but are doing this 3 day split, you’ll do push, pull, squat, push, pull, and then begin the next week with squats again. 

Upper/Lower Split

An upper/lower body split is fun, conceptually simple, and also flexible. This will allow you to train 2 days, 4 days or even more if you just keep them alternating. Options would be to do upper, lower, rest, repeat. Or, you could do upper, rest, lower, rest, if you’re making it to the gym 3 ish days a week.

You could even do upper, lower, upper, etc, and only rest as you need or as your schedule demands. However, If you’re training 5 days or more, you might benefit from a different program. 

Full Body Every Day

If you only have 3 days a week to lift or less, you’ll see the most progress from doing full body training each time. You’ll see a huge training effect for your time, compared to taking a whole training day for say, just arms and abs for example.

This is also great if athleticism is one of your goals, since the whole body stimulation is more like an athletic endeavor. This split allows for heavy, taxing work, because the rest days are generous. 

4-5 Day Split

Finally, if you are in the gym 4, 5 or more days a week, you could do a split that is even further broken down. This might look like chest/back/legs/arms or chest/back/hip dominant lower body/arms/anterior or quad focused legs.

I mentioned it briefly above in the push/pull/squat section, but its worth noting again that there are a few ways to categorize lower body lifts:

  • anterior or posterior 
  • hip or quad dominant
  • hamstrings & glutes or quads

An easy example of anterior movement would be seated leg extensions for your quads. Hamstrings curls would be posterior. Hip dominant refers a little more to posterior style glute and hamstrings work, such as a Romanian deadlift. An example of quad dominant would be front squats.

Compound lower body lifts like squats, deadlifts and lunges work both quads and hamstrings (anterior and posterior), basically all of the above. There are ways to focus more on one muscle group than the other by putting more emphasis on said group, but there will be involvement from all of your lower body musculature with compound movements.

How Do You Pick a Training Split?

First identify your goals, and how many days a week you would like this program to run. From there, you can choose one of the above programs. Give it a real, honest go for at least 6 weeks.
From there, you can change. Ideally, you will change or adjust every few months anyway, so give it your best. Don’t be afraid you’ll pick the wrong one. Train hard, and it will work well for you! 

Related: how much exercise do you need to do?

Let me know how it goes! I love love love hearing feedback! It helps me learn, and helps me pass on better knowledge too. 

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

10 Best Ab Exercises

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The “10 best ab exercises” might be one of the most googled queries, as achieving visible abs and a flat stomach is one of the most common fitness goals. 

I’m a huge believer that you should love the body you are in, and you get to set your own fitness goals. If you are looking to tighten and tone up your abs, let’s do it! 

Below I will outline what I think are 10 of the best ab exercises, both for home workouts and in the gym. These range from beginner to advanced, so know that you might have to work up to some of them. However, even the “easy” or beginner exercises can benefit even the most advanced lifters. The basics always win!

best ab exercises

Note that this post is about ab work, not core work. Abdominal work here refers to your rectus abdominis, internal and external obliques, transverse abdominis, and hip flexors. This is as opposed to core or trunk work, which includes all of the above muscles, in addition to the muscles of the back as well. 

Best Ab Workout at Home Without Equipment

The great thing about ab work is that a lot of it can be done at home with no equipment. Abdominal work is largely about managing and controlling your movements, and you don’t always need machines and weights for that. Below is an example of one of the best at-home ab workouts.

If you have done Pilates, you’ll see a lot of similarity to the work listed below. 

Try each of these exercises to get a feel for it. From there, you can do these in one big circuit. You would do crunches, then immediately move to a plank. Bonus if you want to do a side plank, then other side, etc., until you have done all the exercises. From there, rest, and repeat the whole circuit 2+ times.

crunch
Plank
toe touch
dead bug
Turkish get up sit up

For example, it would look like (videos above): 

Crunches, 10 reps

Plank, 20 seconds. Right side plank, 20 seconds, left side plank 20 seconds.

Toe touch, 10 each side

Dead bug, 5 each side

Turkish get up sit up part, 5 each side

How to Work Abs at the Gym

The previous work was done at home, at high volume. The following exercises can be done more like traditional strength training, where you can add load and increase the challenge. One crucial factor here is resting between sets, because you are going to aim to go heavier/harder where you can. I suggest doing a set of 5-10, increasing the difficulty for the next set, resting 1-2 minutes, and repeating. 

Hanging leg raise

Slant board crunch

Pallof press

Ab wheel

GHD face up twist. Can be down without weight. In fact, start without weight.

hanging leg raise
slant board crunch
Pallof press
ab wheel
GHD twist

Tips for Abs and a Strong Core

My number one tip for effective ab work is to be deliberate and feel the exercise. Don’t just go through the motions or just get the movement done. Focus on squeezing your muscles and get the most out of each rep. Make each rep a quality rep.

Keep in mind that your diet plays a huge factor in how your abs look. The above exercises will make you core stronger. They won’t necessarily give you a visible 6-pack though, because you must also be lean enough for the muscles to show. In other words, you absolutely can have strong, developed ab muscles that don’t show because you are carrying fat on top. 

To lose that fat and allow your abs to show, be honest with yourself about where you can clean up your diet. Some big factors that can go a long way are eating enough protein, cutting out or reducing sugary drinks and alcohol, and filling up first on your protein and fruits and vegetables before other sides. 

Get other movement in as well. Whether you enjoy walking, cycling, jogging, competitive sports or HIIT, adding in other cardiovascular calorie burning methods will help your abs show too. 

Get on a good, full body training program. If you need a place to start, here are three that several of my clients are doing: Alexander Training programs.

Finally, put all this together: the best ab exercises, done the best way you can, with nutritious foods in the right amounts. You’ll be happy with the results!

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

How to Use the Hammer Strength Leg Curl

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The Hammer Strength leg curl is a fantastic addition to a lower body strength program. I generally believe that compound movements like squats, deadlifts and the variations, and lunges are going to be the most beneficial for any kind of strength, aesthetic or athletic program. However, hamstrings can usually benefit from assistance work and that’s where this machine excels. 

Like other Hammer Strength brand equipment, this is a plate loading machine. This means it feels good and smooth and is fun to work on. It’s easy to increase your weight from set to set by just adding another plate. 

The Anatomy of Hamstrings

The hamstrings are made of three muscles: the biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitoneinosus. This group of muscles crosses the hip joint and the knee joint. They provide knee flexion, hip extension and rotation.

Why Strong Hamstrings Are Important

Hamstrings make up a large percent of the muscle in our lower body, and act on the hip and knee joints, so you can see how healthy hamstrings are largely involved in having a healthy posterior. 

Hamstrings provide strength and power, which is crucial for athletes, first responders and military personnel. Additionally, they’re important for anyone who moves – walking, going up stairs, picking things up all involve hamstrings. 

Hamstrings are crucial for deceleration, so having strong hamstrings can help prevent injury in athletes. Sprinting, turning, cutting, and athletic movements like those rely only the hamstrings heavily.

Finally, importantly to everybody in everyday life, strong musculature around your knee can prevent and improve knee pain. Continue reading to learn how to use the Hammer Strength leg curl, and how to incorporate it into your program.

Hammer strength leg curl

How to Use the Hammer Strength Leg Curl

Start by placing a weight on the machine, which will be on the left side as you are facing it. I suggest starting with a 25 to get a feel for it. 

Adjust the back rest so that your knees bend approximately where the machine “knee joint” rotates as well. You’ll see this pivot point to the right of your right knee when you sit. If you need to sit and try it out, and then stand and adjust, that is fine. Take the time to get a good setup.

Once you are set up well, extend your legs straight and set your feet on top of the foot pads. They will fit behind your ankles.

From here, think about bending your knees and dragging your heels back toward your glutes. 

Control your legs back to the starting position. 

Do a set of 8-12 reps just to feel out the weight. From there, you can adjust up or down, or keep it right there if that’s a good weight.

How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do on the Leg Curl?

As with any strength protocol, you want to work up to a weight that’s not a max but an honest challenge. I hope the first set is light and functions as a warm up. From there, aim to take a couple more sets to work up to a working weight. 

For example: 

Set 1: 25 pounds, 12 easy reps. Rest a minute!

Set 2: 35 pounds, 10 easy to moderate reps. Rest! 

Set 3: 45 pounds, 10 reps, was a good challenge. 

Rest, and stay at this weight for two more working sets. 

How Long Do I Rest Between Sets?

Rest 1-2 minutes. You will probably be doing this after your big, compound lifts like squats and deadlifts. For those heavy sets, you’ll rest up to 3 minutes. On this leg curl, you can rest 1-2. Don’t wait so long that you get cold between sets, but don’t treat it like an endurance protocol, where you rest 0 seconds.

If you are working alone, I suggest timing your rest. Most people don’t rest long enough, and are surprised when their estimated minute rest is 21 seconds or so. 

Related: learn how to do the Bulgarian split squat, which is killer for leg development too! ooh and bear crawls 🙂 And, read about my 5 favorite exercises!

Does Your Gym Have the Hammer Strength Leg Curl?

If your gym doesn’t, it is worth asking if they can get one. You can see specs for the machine from the Life Fitness Hammer Strength webpage here. If they don’t have one, ask a trainer what machine functions similarly. If you need substitute exercises, ask me too!

Want to work your abs too? Try the 10 best ab exercises.

Want to Chat About Your Training?

I’d love to talk to you about your training! If you’d like to do a consult, please message me here! If you are looking for an Austin personal trainer, I’d love to talk. I have many happy remote clients too.

Happy training!

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

Why You Should Buy a Grill

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I am here to tell you why you should buy a grill. You probably know by now, I am a big believer in taking care of yourself the best you can. I believe in sourcing high-quality food, knowing how to cook your own food, and being self-reliant. One simple solution to all of those things is to own and use a grill.

Let’s discuss all the reasons why I will peer pressure you, I mean support you, in buying and using a grill.

Grills Make Food Delicious

First and foremost, grilling makes food taste delicious. It almost always comes out better than when prepared inside. Grilling allows you to experiment with seasonings, cooking methods, and different cuts of meat. Universally I find food I prep on the grill comes out impressive. Meats, vegetables, desserts, everything.

buy a grill for homemade jalapeño poppers
buy a grill for homemade jalapeño poppers

Grills Are Easy to Use

Also, importantly, the grill is easy to use. There are endless ways to cook food to your preference, but don’t get overwhelmed. The bottom line is that grilling food is pretty simple. Don’t be intimidated! You can absolutely do it, I promise! 

If it makes you nervous, have someone show you how to start and maintain the heat. It’s perfectly ok to be the helper until you feel comfortable making the whole meal. Just know that it is do-able!

Grilling is Fun! 

Like I mentioned above, there are endless ways to personalize your grilling process, and this makes it so fun! You can experiment with different spices and rubs, high temperatures and searing, or low and slow methods. Or you can stick to your tried and true favorite method.

I love trying all kinds of new things, reading different recipes and planning how to incorporate them, but I will admit it feels pretty good to have one ace-up-your-sleeve method. When I throw a steak on the grill I know how to make it. Come out perfect. Sometimes that’s the best easy no-brainer way to go. 

Cook Outdoors!

Also in the fun category is that grilling outside is so nice! It’s really peaceful to cook out in nature. Yes, you sometimes have to deal with mosquitoes or weather, but barring bees stings, the outdoors is pretty lovely. I thoroughly enjoy cooking food outside. Highly recommend.

steak and veggies

Prepare Protein Easily

Back to the health benefits: grilling makes preparing quality protein very convenient. Protein is vitally important to your health so finding any way to be sure that you and everyone you cook for eats enough protein is worth the effort.

Likewise, you are really able to take charge of your own health and make your own food decisions. I eat a lot of meat, but I am hugely passionate on finding meat that’s been ethically sourced. I do not buy any meat, eggs or dairy from large animal farms. I buy directly from three different ranches, and make sure to get Texas dairy and eggs from pasture raised hens. It’s important, not just for my health, but for the the quality of the animals life. I just really like to know where my meat comes from. 

Save Money With Grilling

Grilling can save you money. Yes, I mean that! No, nobody paid me to say that. But I’ll repeat it if someone wants to! Ha! The truth is, high quality and well prepared meat meals are typically the most expensive things to order out. You’ll still want to budget to buy high-quality meat but cooking it yourself will save $30 easily.

You can also batch cook. High quality meat does take some prep time. It’s not always easy to do at breakfast or on the run during the day. If you put extra on the grill or on your grill and slightly larger for portions, you can plan to have some left over. Voila! Healthy food done with no extra time cost. 

Save Your Kitchen the Mess

Grills are also fantastic for sparing your kitchen a huge mess. Grills require some maintenance, but are typically pretty simple. There’s a quick cleanup process after, they don’t heat up your kitchen (crucial in Austin summers!) and they give you more options beyond a stove top. You can think of them as an expansion of your kitchen. 

Be Prepared During Power Outages

Propane grills are a fantastic resource for when the power goes out. Here in Austin, we have had several events in the past few years where electric energy was unavailable for days at a time. In that case, it makes a huge difference to still be able to prep your own food. I highly recommend a propane grill that has a side burner. This way I can have meat on the grill and a canned vegetables preparing on the side burner. This gives me peace of mind that I can still eat nutritiously and even cook for my neighbors during emergency times.

Grills Make for Fantastic Bonding Experiences

Grills are such a fun bonding experience! Every time I have people over, we end up hanging around the grill. It becomes the centerpiece for an outside get together. My friends and I share what we’ve been cooking and how we’ve been preparing everything. 

Go Buy a Grill!

Did I convince you sufficiently? I hope so! You won’t regret it!

you should buy a grill

How is Your Training?

There’s more to life than great eating, and by that, I mean great training. How is your training going? If you need some direction or structure, I’d be happy to do a free consult to see if we can work together on your goals. Message me on this page and let’s chat!

If you’re ready to jump into a program now, check out these programs my clients are currently doing on Train Heroic.

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

2 Common Lifting Myths Debunked

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Check out these 2 common lifting myths debunked here! I love when we collectively learn more about what works and what doesn’t for fitness and health. It steers us in the right direction and takes us to our goals faster. Below, I cover two important myths and truths to discover about gaining muscle and losing fat.

Myths About Gaining Muscle and Losing Fat

I hope people, and especially women, are moving into the era of asking how to gain muscle instead of how to lose weight. Gaining muscle and strength is one of the most powerful, useful, amazing feelings a person can achieve. You can’t buy it. You can’t be gifted it. You must earn it, and it feels amazing when you do.

Whether your goal is to gain muscle all over or spot increase a.k.a. get a bigger butt, there are some main concepts you should know. Let’s start by debunking two of my least favorite myths.

common lifting myths debunked
I was trying really hard to get “bulky” here.

Myth: You Can Spot Decrease Fat by “x”

This myth is that you can spot decrease fat. Some articles you read will say to do a bunch of sit ups or crunches to decrease abdominal fat. Unfortunately this does not work. I wish this were the case.

As it stands, the research consensus is that short of liposuction or other surgical interventions, you cannot choose to lose fat locally. This means that as you lose fat, you’ll generally see fat loss over your whole body. You don’t get a skinnier face because you talk too much. Unfortunately for me, lol. You don’t lose belly fat because you do a bunch of crunches. Fat loss is not general, not local. You can’t choose where you lose it.

Truth: You Can Build Muscle Where You Choose

On the other hand, building muscle is local. It is specific to the muscles that you are working. You can make your biceps bigger. You can build your glutes. And when you combine your fat loss with the abdominal work you’re doing, you will see abdominal definition. 

Myth: Lifting Weights Makes You Bulky

Bulky has to be my least favorite word. It’s worst than “moist”, by a factor of a thousand. “Bulk” looks pretty hot on some people. Then again, you might not want “bulk” on you and that’s ok. It’s just different in every context, and bulk is typically not mentioned as a compliment, but gaining muscle is. What? It’s confusing, I know.

That’s why this is one of the most important yet common lifting myths to debunk.

I would really like to put this one to rest. The idea that women will get bulky if they lift weights need to be left back in the past, when it wasn’t true then either. 

Related: Read the best workout tips here.

Truth: Building Muscle is Hard; You Won’t Get Surprise Bulky

The process of building muscle, especially to the extent that one looks bulky, is extremely metabolically expensive. This means it won’t happen unless you are lifting in a very challenging manner, AND eating enough to support gaining weight. 

Remember bulk = muscle. When you see ladies with nice shoulder caps, curvy quads, and hamstrings, that is muscle that you are seeing. If you are scared of getting bulky, know that your fear isn’t bulk, it’s just the extent of muscle you want to build isn’t extreme. If you’ve read this far, I guarantee you do want some muscle built to support your aesthetics and ability.

As you build muscle, you’ll reach the leaner and higher phase before you ever start to get big. In that case, you can maintain at the point at which you are happy. I promise you will not wake up one day and suddenly be bulky! 

I hope getting these lifting myths debunked helps you feel good about working hard, and helps you get to your goals faster.

Don’t be scared to lift heavy and build muscle! You’ll love it! 

If you are brand new to lifting, read this article. It’ll give you a place to start.

It’s Your Turn to Move Past The Myths!

If you are looking to start, bump up, or change your lifting routine, I’d love to help! Message me here with your questions or check out online training options.

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

How Much Exercise You Need To Do

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Establishing how much exercise you need to do can be a difficult endeavor. Like protein requirements, public health data about exercise is fairly black and white. Cookie cutter. One size fits all.

But we are not all the same size, whether we are talking about physical size, or obligations-on-the-calendar-size, or enjoyment-of-exercise size.

To find what “size” fits you, let’s discuss practical considerations for your training program. We’ll cover: 

  • How much exercise you really need to do and what to do if you don’t have much time 
  • Why you need a plan
  • Whats the best training split to use
  • How to gain muscle, spot increase, aka get a bigger butt, and not get “too bulky”
Austin personal trainer Kathryn Alexander
Austin personal trainer Kathryn Alexander does pushups at the east side track.

How Much Do You Need to Exercise?

First things first: how much do you need to exercise? My new clients ask me this all the time and it’s a very logical question. The CDC says adults need 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, and two weekly sessions of “muscle strengthening activities” of moderate or greater intensity. WHO, Harvard Health and The American Heart Association recommend generally the same, with a few more helpful guidelines like “limit the amount of time you spend being sedentary.” 

Not terrible advice. If most people followed these guidelines, they’d probably do fine. But I don’t trust the CDC, WHO, or Harvard Health after their disastrous guidelines these past two years. There are more important things to consider when you first start than what a governing body that doesn’t know your name tells you to do.

Let’s make you a plan that’s better than the one-size-fits-all aimed at billions of people.

If you take more into account than just that blanket goal, you’ll have a great chance of consistency, and therefore long term success. 

Your Current Situation

To begin, let’s consider your current situation.

  • How much time do you have to allocate toward training?
  • What can you currently do? 
  • What are your goals? 
  • What is your family history?

In athletics, it’s called strength & conditioning. Very performance based. For non-athletes, that’s lifting and cardio. Plan to do both.

We should also take into account what kind of exercise you enjoy. I’ve found with my clients that most people have a distinct preference for a strength or conditioning feel. They prefer either a heavy 2 rep deadlift set or a gut checking extended sled push & pull, all day erry day. Take that into consideration. There will be some parts you don’t love, but if you hate it all, chances are you won’t do it. 

How Much Exercise Do You Need to Do?

The CDC says you should do 150 minutes + 2 lifting sessions, but the better question is, “This week, what are you certain you can do?” Can you do a training session on 2 days? 3 days? Plan on that. Start with what fits your life now. Adjust as you go. 

Please consider practicalities: commute time, the extra time to wash/dry your hair, get dressed, redo your makeup if you’d like. Factors those variables in because this program has to work for you. 

You can say you’ll train 7 days this week, but if that’s not reality, I’d rather you say you’ll do 2. Nail it. Plan on 2 sessions, do 2. Get them done by Thursday. Then, you can adjust to more sessions a week. You’ll be much more successful this way than saying you’ll do 6 days, 7 days, or following a structure that a governing body says to follow, and then failing because it doesn’t fit in your life right now. 

There are seasons in life for everything. If you are a new mom, over committed at work, in a busy semester, it’s hard to do 4, 5, 7 days a week. Don’t look at this like a cop out. Your kids will grow up, mama, your semester from hell will end, and the job will change with time. 

Do the best you can, give yourself grace, and adjust as you go. 

Unpopular opinion, but if you only exercise twice a week for the rest of your life, that’s way better than nothing. That’s 100+ training sessions a year. Better than average, although we don’t compare ourselves to average. 

So how many times a week do you need to train? You pick that right now. Make a plan, nail it, and reassess and make another plan. You can always have an end goal in mind and work toward it, but set yourself up for success first. 

What is Your Strategy?

Sometimes all you need is a plan. The structure of having a plan will help you execute on said plan. If you need help with this please let me know. I have seen many many clients succeed in a variety of ways. We can find a way for you too!

Message me here if I can help you or if you have questions.

Related: 10 Surefire Ways to Get Enough Protein In Your Diet

The Garage Squad

Do you need a program that tells you exactly what to do? The Garage Squad is made for the independent lifter who has gym access and wants to follow a program that uses barbells and some machines.

The Garage Squad Training Program by Kathryn Alexander

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

10 Surefire Ways to Get More Protein in Your Diet

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Protein is vitally important to your everyday life, metabolism, building of muscle, growing skin and hair. 

Protein is not always the easiest to get in the right amounts either, because it often requires preparation and refrigeration.

However, it is worth it to prioritize eating enough protein, and this is especially important if you are responsible for other people’s intake too, like your spouse or children’s.

salmon on grill for tasty protein

I just wrote about how much protein you really need to get so read this if you have questions about how you should aim for.

So how do you get enough? There are lots of ways! Try some of these options below! (I saved the best for last!)

1. Change How You View Your Meals

First and foremost, the biggest change you can make, and the most effective in my opinion, is to change how you think of your meal structure. Plan your meal around protein. It must have high quality protein as its base. This means a baked potato or bowl of spaghetti, or even soup, is usually not a meal. 

Soup can have protein in it. Make sure it’s around 30 g. Baked potatoes, spaghetti, veggies, and soup are great sides. You can absolutely have those; but a meal should have a backbone of protein. 

Once you begin thinking this way, you’ll realize it gives you enough structure to make meal planning even easier. 

2. Have a System

I’ve adopted the viewpoint of having protein as the staple of my meal, so it makes planning them easy. I generally eat fairly protein for breakfast and snacks, I cook meat for supper, and eat those leftovers for lunch. 

Eggs or cottage cheese, and fruit, go a long way for me in the morning. I often have a kefir smoothie too. Lunch is already made from yesterday; a no brainer. And finally, I love grilling. I look forward to a new recipe or an old favorite on the grill. If I don’t have the time or inclination to put much effort into it, I simply brown a pound of ground beef or bison, and have fruit as my sides again. 

3. Keep Some Tuna on Hand

Keep a quick stash of tune in your pantry. Tuna is quick, easy and packed with protein. It’s not gourmet, I know. But it’s cheap, easy, and keeps for long periods of time. It’s a fantastic backup for the days  I need a little something to hold me over until dinner, or times we get those unpredictable Austin storms and I don’t want to drive to the store in the rain.

You can mix it with some mayo, cracker, or relish if you’re a total weirdo. 🙂

4. Eggs

Eggs are so versatile! I love eggs because I think they are delicious, easy, and they are high quality protein. Boiling eggs is quick and easy. Scrambling a few in a pan or making them over easy is also pretty simple. I went through a long phase of poaching eggs, which was a little more like an art form that I never quite perfected. It was fun though, remains a staple in my diet. Many people like eggs too, so you can usually find a way to make them that complements your family’s tastes.

5. Protein Powder

Protein powder is a great way to supplement protein in your diet. This is not cheating or taking a shortcut. Make sure you get a high quality protein, and do not let it substitute real food or real meals. Use it as a supplement, not a substitute. 

There are many people out there who get creative with using protein powder to make high protein snacks. If you google “how to make high protein bread” or “how to make high protein pancakes” you’ll find many options! 

You don’t have to bake with it, however. I don’t. If I have a protein shake, I just mix it with water. I like regular bread, in normal amounts, and protein powder as a holdover. However, you can experiment with this if you like to be creative with your baking.

6. Plan Your Protein On The Go

Admittedly, I am a planner. I do this because it’s logistically and financially easier. I do find myself in a pinch sometimes, where I don’t have enough time to get a full meal but I’m starving. In this case, my go-to is beef jerky or Greek yogurt from a convenience store. Many of the newer convenience stores now carry a nice refrigerated section. I keep a box of plastic spoons in my glove compartment at all times, specifically for times like this. 

Related: How Often Should I Workout?

7. Know What Restaurants Are Around You

By now, I hope you start thinking in terms of building your meal around protein first. This will allow you to have your go-to restaurants. BBQ places are abundant in Austin, where I live, and offer great protein options. Most sit down restaurants have a grilled or baked chicken plate. Even Chick-Fil-A has grilled chicken salads. Look around you and see what works for your needs and schedule.

8. Try New Protein Sources!

Try new things! Chicken and steak are pretty common, but don’t forget seafood. Salmon, oysters, and crawfish are full of high quality protein. If you are able to try wild game, bison and venison are great, healthy options too. 

Currently in my fridge/freezer are: frozen crawfish, frozen oysters, venison, beef, bison, chicken, eggs. 

9. Beware of Less Optimal Protein Sources

Peanut butter should not be your protein source. Nuts and seeds have some protein, but have way more fun, making the majority of their calories from fat. This does not make them inherently unhealthy! However, if you eat enough peanut butter or nuts to get enough protein, you’ll be getting literally hundreds of calories you might not want to consume. 

That’s a quick way to tank any weight loss results you are seeking. If you are looking to gain weight, by all means, eat up. Just be aware of what you are taking in, despite what an internet sources says. Even this. 🙂 Read your nutrition labels! 

10. Get a Grill or Smoker

A grill or smoker is a game changer; hands down, this is my number one recommendation for how to make getting enough protein easier. Notice this is not easy, per se. I know. But it is worth the trouble and expense in the long run. 

A grill or smoker makes meat delicious, easy to prepare, and even easy to prepare in bulk. Cook for days at a time! Have a party! 

I love grilling so much, I wrote a whole post about why you should buy a grill. 🙂

Grills also make cleanup a breeze and don’t heat up your kitchen. And look at these grill marks:

ways to get more protein

How do You Get More Protein?

Did I miss anything? Let me know how you make sure to get enough protein! Stay consistent with your protein intake and training, and you’ll get where you want to be! If you still have questions, let me know. I’m a fantastic problem solver and I have time for you! 🙂

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

Be High Maintenance

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I want you to be high maintenance

You heard me right. I want you to be habitually high maintenance.

I want you to start your day with the beauty routines, the nice shampoo and conditioner, and all those hair products. Use that special expensive face wash, and don’t forget sunscreen, on your neck and hands. 

Men, I’m talking to you too.

Have your high maintenance habits spill over to the kitchen. When you wake up, have coffee making, water ready to drink, and breakfast that you enjoy.

Set your day in motion by the time you walk out the door. Briefcase, gym bag with your favorite gym outfit, walking shoes ready to go. You don’t need happy hour every day. Get your body moving after work! Meet your friends for a walk.

Every day, do the things that make your life better every day.

High Maintenance People Take Care of Themselves

Here’s the thing about high maintenance people: they take care of themselves. That’s a GOOD thing! Why would you not want that? I’m not asking you to go demand your spouse irons and folds your undies, because this blogger told you so. (Please no.) 

What I’m saying is, adopt habits that make your healthier and make your life better. Our bodies take maintenance, like your home, your car, and your relationships. Our lives go better if we have healthy routines.

When you train, take your time to warm up, do PT exercises if you need, and get mentally ready to work.

Be deliberate about having a good meals. After supper, take your vitamins, clean up and make the coffee for tomorrow.

Spend time with family or on a hobby that makes you happy.

Before bed, check all the boxes again: shower, lotion, face cream, lay out clothes for tomorrow. Say your prayers, quiet your mind, and put yourself to bed in time to rest and recover. 

On the weekend, spend time on the things that weekday schedules don’t allow. See your friends, mow your lawn, and make time to hang out with people who fill your cup. Go to church, say your prayers, and think on the things you are grateful for.

Read: The best fitness stuff in North Austin.

Develop Your Maintenance Routines

It seems overwhelming to check all those boxes, but you must. The way to do it is by having routines. Other ways I’ve found to keep my habits in line: 

  • Reminders on my phone for the monthly or annual things 
  • Timely prompts, like vitamins and creatine by the coffee pot, because I never forget coffee
  • External reminders like a whiteboard where I log my training

Have you noticed that when something goes wrong in your life, EVERYTHING goes wrong? It makes sense: if you are more stressed out in one area of your life, you aren’t bringing your healthiest or freshest self to any other areas. 

And that’s OK – thats LIFE! You can’t completely control that. But you can control the effort you put into being healthy and treating yourself well. 

This is why you need to be high maintenance. Maintain your body, your happiness and your spirit.

Make these healthy routines for your skin, your training program, your recovery, your eating habits, your food and your social life. Your very happiness depends on it. 

Need Help With Your Routines?

I love making custom programs, because your exercise and health habits need to fit you. Learn how to make a few key nutrition changes, find a workout plan that works for you, and find peace with these routines in your life.

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

How to do Bulgarian Split Squats

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Bulgarian split squats (BSS), or rear foot elevated split squats (RFESS) are universally loved* by exercisers and lifters.

*Not really, XOXO

Bulgarian split squats are TOUGH but they are great for so many reasons! 

If you need a solid leg exercise, a change in routine, a new lift or just a challenge, try these! 

You can do it! Don’t be scared off by them. There are ways to modify to make them workable for almost anybody.

This picture is fake news, because nobody smiles while doing Bulgarian split squats:

how to do Bulgarian split squats

What are the Benefits of Bulgarian Split Squats?

There are so many benefits of doing Bulgarian split squats! Here’s a bulleted list, and more info below. 

Bulgarian split squats:

  • Improve balance and coordination 
  • Are effective at building strength and mass
  • Work your legs unilaterally
  • Can be very challenging 
  • Allow you to exercise with less weight 
  • Can be done anywhere 
  • Don’t always load spine 

First and foremost, Bulgarian split squats are effective for building muscular strength and mass. You can often do more than half your squat in the split squat. For example, if you can squat 200 pounds, you can do a split squat holding more than 100. This is a great way to build strength that in turn translates to a stronger squat.

Bulgarian split squats obviously work your legs in an offset way, so even though both legs really are working, they have different roles in the lift. The forward leg should be doing most of the work. This way, you can work your legs in a balanced manner and be sure your strong side isn’t taking over. Building strength unilaterally will spill over to your bilateral lifts like the squat and deadlift. 

Bulgarian split squats are challenging! As mentioned earlier, your body can actually handle a great deal of load in this position, so your ceiling is high. You can continue challenging yourself by adding weight, reps or changes in tempo to progress this lift.

Bulgarian split squats are also extremely versatile. You can do them anywhere! You can do them from a stair if your home has stairs, a park bench if you are getting a lift in outdoors, or from a regular bench at the gym. 

Because they are a combination of balance and load, they can be challenging enough with bodyweight. This also gives you the added benefit of being able to set up anywhere, like previously mentioned. You can hold one dumbbell or kettlebell, or two. You can hold them in a rack position or with straight arms. You can do them with a barbell on your back, too.

Bulgarian split squats don’t load your spine in the way that the barbell lifts do. (Unless you decide to do them with a barbell, which you absolutely can.) This gives you options for a great lower body exercise if your back is giving you issues. 

Finally, you can do them almost anywhere; from stairs, a chair, a park bench if you’re outside. These really are a great option for equipment-free training.

Related: this leg curl is a great assistance exercise for building strong hamstrings and here’s a whole leg and glute home session.

How to do Bulgarian split squats

How to Modify the BSS

Like I touched on briefly above, you can make the BSS tougher or easier by modifying them in many ways. 

To make them most manageable, use a low starting position; try 6 inches. From there, position yourself against a wall or something to give you balance. Start with just a few reps. Switch legs and repeat. Then, immediately rest. Don’t make an assessment of it yet. 🙂 Rest a minute or so, and then do it again. You can add a few reps this time.

Work up to doing 3 sets of 8-12 well. When you are ready to increase the challenge from there, increase the height of the elevated leg to 12-18 inches. Again, practice until you are doing multiple sets of 8-12 well.

From here, you will add weight. It sounds counterintuitive, but holding dumbbells will increase your stability by lowering your center of gravity. Try it with 5-10 pound dumbbells. If that’s still too much balance work, you can hold one dumbbell and stabilize yourself with the other. 

You can see what’s next: increase your weight and build up to challenging, heavy sets. You can get creative with increasing your challenge by continuing to hold heavier weights, decreasing your rest time, doing tempo work (slow on the descent, slow up).

Want an upper body how-to? Check out the Hammer Strength iso-row.

How to Do Bulgarian Split Squats

  • Set up facing away from a sturdy box, chair or bench. 
  • Put one leg behind you, on the box
  • From here, bend both knees to accomplish the split squat
  • Stop before your knee hits the ground
  • Focus on the leg in front to do the work; make sure your whole foot is on the ground
  • Squeeze your glutes, and drive your big toe in the ground as you come up
  • Repeat for as many reps as you are performing
  • Switch legs

Tips

  • You can put your toes on the bench, like I do in the video, or put your foot flat on the bench, with the top of your foot resting on the bench.
  • Situation your feet so that there is lateral stability between them. By this I mean, if you were to look down, your feet are as if you are on railroad tracks and not a tightrope. You might have to hop your front foot out to the side to accomplish this. You’ll feel more stable this way. 
  • You’ll probably find one side is more stable than the other. That is ok! 
Bulgarian split squats incorporated into a superset

Try Them Out!

Add these into your training and see how it goes! Please let me know if you have any questions! Message me here.

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

Grilled Venison Fajitas Recipe

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I want to share this grilled venison fajitas recipe with you because it is delicious and healthy and didn’t take long to prepare at all. 

I believe very strongly in sourcing high quality, healthy foods, and knowing how to cook for yourself and your family. There’s nothing wrong with going out to eat or buying prepared meals, but I think it’s vitally important now to look at where your food is coming from, and know how to prepare it. 

Also, protein is vitally important to the human body, especially if you lift. This is another great way to get enough protein in your diet.

grilled venison fajitas recipe

Related: bookmark this chicken recipe to try, too.

I am lucky that I live in Texas and have lots of friends who hunt. They are happy to share and trade meat. I also buy meat packages from 1915 Farm here in Texas and Stay Classy Meats in Montana. Both are fantastic! (I am not sponsored or affiliated with them).

Ingredients

  • Juice from 1 lime
  • Juice from 1 orange
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 pounds fajita meat from my friend Therk of HD Motorsports, and processed at Republic Butcher
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 green bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 onion if you like onions, sliced
  • Tortillas
  • Sour cream
  • Cheese
  • Sliced tomato or pico
  • Avocado sliced

Marinade and Veggie Prep

Mix the citrus juices and olive oil to make a marinade. I marinated the fajita meat 2 hours, but you can marinate up to 10 or so.

Pre-heat the grill. 

While grill is heating, saute the peppers and onion. You can do this in a cast iron on the grill, or on a griddle plate if you have one. 

Remove the meat from the marinade and dry it off. Sprinkle brown sugar on the meat. 

When veggies are done sautéing, in about 10 minutes, remove and keep warm. I like to use the little side burner for this.

Related: check out some other spice options to enhance your meals.

Grill the Venison

Increase the heat on the grill. 

Add the meat and sear approximately 3 minutes per side. 

Let the meat rest 5 minutes after you remove it from heat. When you are ready, load your tortilla with meat and all your fixings: sautéed veggies, sour cream, cheese, tomato/pico, and avocado.

Enjoy! 

After you’ve made your grilled venison fajitas, try some other grilled meats like steaks. I put two different methods of cooking steak head to head: check it out here, “Can Steak on the Stovetop be as Good as on the Grill?”

Training Programs

Back to our regularly scheduled programming, exercise! Try jumping into The Garage Squad, which includes barbell work and some gym machines, or The Home Team, which is work that can be done at home with a few dumbbells. See both The Garage Squad and The Home Team here on Train Heroic!

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

How to Make Your Training Session Quicker

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Here are some options for how to make your training session quicker, if you need to hurry it up for some reason today.

I hope you are following a training plan. That is hands-down the best way to get results. if you’d like an in-depth post about why a training plan can help you, read here. In short, you’ll see increases in strength, improvements on lifts, and changes in your physique if you follow a plan. 

how to make your training session quicker

Additionally, you will always know what to do. There’s no guessing when you get to the gym. 

However, sometimes you have to make adjustments. Sometimes, traffic gets the best of you and you don’t get to the gym until later than you planned. This is called “living in Austin”. Surprise, Mopac is backed up an extra 40 minutes. 🤗

Sometimes you just get busy for a week or so and need to prioritize the lifts that are really bang for your buck. 

How do you do this without wasting your time in the gym? How do you use your time in the gym without just skipping? There are four main ways I will adjust a training session if I or a client need to get work done in less time.

Options for How to Make Your Training Sessions Faster

As I mentioned, there are several ways to speed up your session if you need to. This will depend on your goals, upcoming events (meets or beach trips), and how long your schedule will be very busy. These are meant to be short term adjustments. If you find you are frequently needing a shorter session, you might want to get on a training plan that addresses that. Here are some ideas on how to do that: link to how to exercise when you are busy: 

But, let’s say you just need to make adjustments today. Here are four ways to do that: 

At the gym, there are a few ways to get a quick workout. You can:

  1. Just do your main lift/s and skip accessory work.
  2. Just do exercises that don’t take as much time to warm up and prepare for
  3. Move quicker through your planned session (don’t adjust anything but pace)
  4. Change the type of exercise you are doing altogether. 

Do Your Main Lift/s and Skip Accessory Work

This is my favorite way to train if I need to hurry it up. This allows you to hit your main lift, which is presumably the lift you are focusing on improving and working on. In this situation, the pace of your session doesn’t change. You just end it sooner.

Begin with your regular warm up. Do not skimp on or rush the warm up. Remember, you’re still going to get your heavy, compound lift so you need to be prepared. No matter what, do not sacrifice your warm up. You’ll lift better if you warm up well neurologically and physically, and you are at lower risk of injury. 

Progress on your feeler sets or warm up sets as you would if you had all the time in the world. Let’s use the deadlift as an example. If my current program aims for me to do 3×3 @ 225 (that is, 3 sets of 3 reps at 225 pounds), then I would start with 95 pounds. I would do 3 – 5 reps. From there, I increase the weight each set until I get to 225. Then I begin my work sets. For example, I might progress like: 

1×5 @ 95

1×5 @ 135

1×3 @ 185

1×1 @ 205

3×3 @ 225.

Between my feeler sets, which are 95 – 205 pounds, I’ll rest a minute or 2. Not long. Between my work sets, I’ll rest 2-3 minutes. 

In total, this puts my warm up around 10 minutes, feeler sets around 8 minutes, and work sets 9-10 minutes. From here, I would finish with 2 sets of the back extension or reverse hyper and then head out. Boom – around 30 minutes for a big lift, which was safe and uncompromised. 

Do Exercises That Don’t Take as Much Prep Time

If you have half an hour but want to get more than one exercise in, an option is to do exercises that don’t take as much time to warm up to prepare for. In this case, you skip exercises like heavy compound movements that require a good bit of warm up, prep, and feeler sets. This would be a day where you skip your deadlifts. 

You would begin with a warm up, which you always do. Then you would do exercises that you can jump right into, or only take a couple sets to get into. An example is the push pull squat style of workout.

Let’s choose a pushup (push), dumbbell row (pull) and squat. After your general warm up of some squats, lunges, and light presses, you’d begin. 

Start with pushups and get a moderate amount. Move right into the dumbbell row with a light/moderate weight. Then squat. For this first round, I would suggest a light to moderate weight, such as the one you just rowed. From there, you can decide to bump up the next round or not. 

If you do want a bump up, then you do a few more reps on the pushup, heavier weight on the row and heavier weight on the squat. Rest as you need between rounds, and repeat. 

This is a fun one to push conditioning goals, whereas the previously mentioned deadlift session still works strength in a quick amount of time. 

Moving Faster Through Planned Session

Another option to move quicker through your session is to keep the same exercises, but skip the heaviest/hardest sets so you can move faster. Let’s go back to my deadlift day. Let’s imagine I planned to deadlift, then superset lunges and overhead presses, then superset hamstring curls and bent over rows. 

Normally, I would take my time on the deadlift session and work up to my challenging working sets. Using the number from the first example, where my goal was 225 for 3×3, today, I might just do sets of 5 all the way up to 185. This would look like: 

1×5 @ 95

1×5 @ 135

2×5 @ 185

Note that you always respect your heavy lifts. Even if it’s not as heavy for you, you always treat it like it is. Getting some good volume at lower weights, while still doing my best with form, is a good way to get good work in safely. 

This deadlift progression would shave off the last 10 minutes of the heaviest lifts, because you’re not having to rest quite as much. 

From here, you would go to the first superset and work through it. Back and forth, back and forth. Lunges and presses done. Move quickly to the curls and rows. Since you’re moving quicker and resting less, you might not go as heavy as you would have on the last set, but that’s ok. You’ll feel the work begin done! You can choose to do just two sets here if you’d like. And, boom, you’re out. Lots of work done quickly. 

Change the Type of Exercise You Are Doing

The last option if you are strapped for time is to change the type of exercise you are doing altogether. If you are going to be worried about rushing or running late to the point you do not get good exercise, then just turn it into a conditioning session.

Great options are to get on the treadmill and get some incline work in at a steady pace, or set up a circuit of sled pushes and pulls. Bonus options are the rower, ski erg, and battle ropes if you have access to these. 

In this situation I’d still recommend a light warm up of treadmill work, or squats and lunges to get your heart rate up. Then get into your work. 

This is a great option to get quality work in, and reserve your big lifts for a day when you have the time to give them the attention you want. 

Modify, Don’t Miss

Matt Wenning says, “Modify, don’t miss.” This is great advice. Modify according to make a rushed session fit your time frame. Let me know how this works for you, or if you have ways to work around busy times. I’d love to hear!

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

How Much Protein Do You Really Need to Eat

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Protein is absolutely vital to thousands of functions of the human body. Proteins are involved in hormonal messaging, structural components, enzymatic reactions and more. Our skin, muscles, hair and nails are built from protein. In short, the human body needs protein. 

On a much more macro level, you’ve most certainly heard that you need to take in more protein if you lift, exercise or are trying to build muscle mass.

So how much protein do you need to eat? The answer is that there is not just one right answer, and finding the answer is unnecessarily complicated. 

ounces of protein

What Do the Governmental Organizations Say About Protein?

If you google “how much protein do I need?” you’ll find a bunch of little non answers. You’ll find an estimation of how many ounces a day you should eat, but of what? Cottage cheese? Beef? Different protein sources have different amounts of protein per ounce. 

how much protein is recommended

You’ll find an answer that says 10-35% of your total calories should come from protein. But how many calories should you eat? How many calories should you base that off of? Also, that’s a huge variance. 10-35%? 10%? Eh, why not 3.5 times that? Sure! This source from health.gov can be found here.

Another recommendation from the FDA says adults should get 50 grams a day. Fifty grams a day. Sounds hiiiighly personalized, haha. I am 140 pounds and I lift 3 days a week. Does this also apply to my friend who is a 110 pound runner? Or a 250 pound strongman? Sounds fishy to me. 

This was accessed here. This article states this info is current as of 2/25/2021.

Here the Recommended Dietary Allows (RDA) is considered 0.80 g of protein per kg bodyweight per day. This is a more concrete number than 50 for everyone, or 10% – 35%. But – its still low.

The Current Dietary Guidelines on Protein Consumption

The most current dietary guidelines, published in a U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report acknowledges that older adults take in less protein than they need and are at a greater risk of muscle loss. According to this report, 50% of women and 30% of men over 71 already eat less than the already low recommendations.

protein intake

When analyzing “what we eat in America”, the report says that most men ages 19-30 eat just under 8 ounces of protein foods a day, and similar aged women, just over 5 ounces. They graded the overall eating style on a Healthy Eating Index Score (scale of 0-100) and graded Americans a 56.  

protein intake

Fifty six on a scale of 0-100 is pretty terrible when we are talking about our health. 

Why then are we not encouraging increased protein intake? Why is this considered a max level?

The above information was accessed 5/9 from dietaryguidelines.gov.

A Better Protein Recommendation

The above numbers are dangerously low, and are considered by many to be inadequate to build or maintain muscle mass in amounts that will reduce age related sarcopenia and losses of strength. 

According to these researchers published in the peer reviewed Journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, a better number for maintaining muscle mass and function is 1.2 – 1.6 g of high quality protein per kg body weight, per day. 

These authors find no evidence of negative effects on bone health or kidney health from higher protein diets. Instead, they find the upside of eating enough protein is optimal health, increased satiety, and even loss of fat mass, which in itself is associated with many healthy outcomes. Accessed 5/9/2023 here.

Similarly, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, a functional medicine physician, recommends adequate protein intake for health, wellness, and graceful aging. She also cites 1.2 – 1.6 g/kg as an adequate goal, and in this post, she recommends aiming for 30 grams of protein per meal. 

How much Protein Works For You?

How much protein works for you? Some people recommend even higher for active athletes and lifters. In the end, I recommend Dr. Lyon’s method, which is a simple starting point. Aim for a solid base of 30 g protein per meal, and adjust as you see fit. 

Commit to this method for a few weeks and see how you feel. You might not see results in a day or two. Pay attention to:

  • How your exercise feels
  • How your recovery feels
  • Soreness levels
  • Sleep differences
  • Changes in appetite
  • Changes in energy levels and motivation

Make adjustments as you need. 

In Conclusion – Scientific Standard for Protein Intake

Protein intake is hotly contested and often dogmatically argued over. As we have seen the past few years, sometimes science changes fast. Sometimes science doesn’t change, maybe when it should. The truth is, “science” is often filtered. True science tells the truth.

Experiment to find what works for you, what makes you feel good, and what fuels your performance. 

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

My 5 Favorite Exercises

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In this very non-scientific, highly biased list, I present to you my 5 favorite exercises. 

They might not be your favorites, or you might not have ever done them. I’ll explain where to start on them if they are new to you. If you have questions, let me know please!

What are your favorites? Comment below or email me! kathryn@kathrynalexander.com

deadlifts: 1 of my 5 favorite exercises

Deadlift

Why: Deadlifts are the kings of the lifts! Deadlifts are just so much fun. You can typically lift the most weight of any lift on the deadlift. It’s an ego booster, it’s a progress driver, and there are many ways to do the deadlift. Carryover to real life is great.

You can do the deadlift safely. Remember: you are in charge! You do not have to lift as heavy as you can, you do not have to go for a max. You get to decide if you do 50% of your 1 rep max or use them as an accessory. Heck, you don’t even have to know your max.

What they do for you: Deadlifts are great for your whole posterior: your back, glutes, hamstrings. They work your arms, your traps, your legs. They teach you how to move weight, and move weight safely which you will likely have to do someday. Deadlifts really are your best friend.

Start here: Start with a very light weight, as light as you’d like. You can even start with one kettlebell or dumbbell, like in this video:

Here’s my most recent deadlift, recorded at the Sorinex Headquarters during SummerStrong 16.

Squat

Why: Squats are special to me, because they are HARD. Squats are fun because they are hard! When you cultivate an appreciation for squatting well and squatting consistently, you’ll see progress in many ways. You’ll feel strong and athletic. Your other lifts will go up. Your body composition will change. Your back will feel fantastic.

What they do for you: Squats work your whole body. There are many ways to do a squat well, so don’t listen to people telling you what a squat should look like, unless they are a real, qualified coach who is truly on your team. You can do back squats, front squats, Zercher squats, goblet squats, pause squats, tempo squats, Hatfield squats, split squats, box squats. Tell me more, I know I missed some! 

Start here: squat to box, feet up, in the video below:

Pullups

Why: Pullups are one of my favorite lifts because I had to earn them. Pullups are challenging! When I was at my most athletic, I could tell you down to a pound how much I weighed based on how my pull-ups felt. Now, they all feel hard, but I’m getting them back. 

What they do for you: Pullups work your back, your arms, and grip. Pullups are great for your shoulders, as you get some of the benefits of hanging as well. Pullups are also just pretty cool. 

Start here: lat pulldowns, band pulls (below), and dead hangs. Yep, just hang from a bar.

Reverse Hyperextensions

Why: They feel so dang good! Reverse hyperextensions make me feel like I have some secret weapon exercise. They first hit my radar when I realized all the big strong lifters trained these. I’m talking the thousand pound squatters, the famous guys, the lifters who had decades of experience.

What they do for you: reverse hypers work your back, glutes and hamstrings, though I suggest you keep your knees mostly straight and still, so the work is happening at the hips. (In other words, it’s not a hamstring curl at the knee.)

I feel fantastic after doing these, and do these after every day that I squat or deadlift. If my back ever bothers me even a bit, I can do a set of these and the small amount of work and blood flow instantly makes it feel better. 

Start here: If your gym has a reverse hyper machine, use it! Start with no weight. If you don’t   have one, try this modification from home:

My Fifth Favorite Exercise???

Why: I always have a rotating favorite, a flavor of the month. Currently I would say it’s the Gluteator. Check out all about, and how to do, the Gluteator here.

These are a pretty unique machine that produces a stimulus a little different than any other machine. Sometimes my favorite is a kettlebell swing, which just feels athletic! Often, my favorite is lateral raises, which make 5 pounds feel like work work. Getting a shoulder pump is always fun.

What they do for you: having a current favorite exercise which you experiment with and learn about is a fantastic way to keep lifting fresh. I highly recommend that you give yourself time to play, even if you have a strict program. If you have a coach, maybe run it by them if they have parameters. Ya know, don’t add in 20 sets of bleacher climbs or heavy deadlifts on a whim. But, do allow yourself room to play.

Start here: what sounds most fun right now? Go do that! Doesn’t matter if it’s one set, or if you don’t even count. Doesn’t matter if it’s easy, or something you’ve never done or haven’t done in 20 years. Find some curiosity and joy in your lifting again and it’ll spill over into your whole training program. 

Related: Be high maintenance and enjoy life!

My 5 Favorite Exercises

Those are my 5 favorite exercises! What are yours? What are your current favorite lifts? What are your all time favorites? I’d love to hear from you! Let me know!

And, please let me know if I can help you get started! Problem solving and helping people see that they can do it is one of my favorite things.

Here are some ways we can get you started!

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

How to do the Hammer Strength Iso-Lateral Row (Plate Loaded Iso-Lateral Row)

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The Hammer Strength plate loaded iso-lateral row is a mouthful, and it’s also a fantastic machine to use for building back strength and mass. Here’s how to do the Hammer Strength iso-row so you can continue to build your back strength in your training program.

Hammer Strength makes plate loaded exercise equipment, as opposed to a pin-stack style of machine. I specify in my training videos which brand a piece of equipment is, because they all feel a little different. 

Kathryn Alexander personal trainer Austin

This is me ⬆️ and, specifically for my local clients and me, Big Tex Gym has an abundant variety of machines. They all work slightly differently, and I like my clients to know the difference for themselves.

Hammer Strength in particular feels good. The plates move easily with no cable to run along. The motion feels natural, like it’s just you and gravity working together. I don’t work for or rep Hammer Strength; I’ve just generally always liked the feel of their machines.

How to use the Hammer Strength plate loaded iso-row

Types of Pulling Movements

If you want to break it down very simply, you can think of pulling movements as horizontal or vertical. 

Horizontal movements are rows, any kind of rows: bodyweight rows from a bar or TRX/blast strap, dumbbell rows, barbell rows, T-bar rows, seal rows, machine rows. 

Vertical rows are lat pulldowns, pull-ups, band rows from a very high anchor point, etc. 

Wondering how to choose a good, comprehensive training program? Check this out.

That is a black and white way to look at rows, because the human body does movements at every angle between strictly horizontal and vertical. You can see the Hammer Strengrh iso-lateral chest/back is a pulling motion from an angle between horizontal and vertical.

However, I do like the idea of thinking about pulls as a horizontal or vertical pull because it’s simple and useful. The takeaway is, do both horizontal and vertical. Do a pulling movement at an angle between. Do them all. 

Today let’s discuss how to use this machine for your horizontal row.

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Why Rows are Important

Having a strong and built back is important for a balanced physique, and for optimal strength and performance. You won’t get very far without imbalances and pain if all you do is bench pressing and no pulling. 

And besides, having a built and strong back is impressive! It looks great in suits, shirts, backless dresses and swim suits.

Read also: Best Gifts for Powerlifters. Ultimate Guide for 2024

What Muscles Does the Row Work? 

The prime movers of a row, meaning the main muscles that perform the movement, are the rhomboids, traps and lats. 

Assisting the lift will also be your forearms for grip, biceps, rear delts and erector spinae.

What is Different About the Row Variations?

There are obviously differences and pros and cons of doing dumbbell, barbell or machine work. A non-chest supported row will require your back and lower body to provide all the stability for you. Of course, this takes more effort from your body to execute the movement. There’s no downside to working a full body movement. 

However, sometimes you want to focus more on your prime movers and not need as much involvement from your erector spinae, your low back.

In this case, adding a machine instead of gravity shifts the focus to your main movers. Further, adding a chest support provides more stability. 

1 arm row on the Hammer Strength Iso-row at Big Tex Gym in Austin, Texas.

How to do the Hammer Strength Iso-Row

Load the machine with a light weight each side just to get a feel for the movement. For the average gym-goer, I’d suggest starting with a 25 on each side. 

Adjust the seat so that at the end of the row, your hand is mid chest level, not up in your armpit or by your belly button. There is not an absolute right or wrong here, but you just don’t want to end up doing a seated biceps curl. 

Sit tall, with the bench touching your lower abdominal area, and your upper body slightly peeling away. 

Now, it is your choice if you’d like to do one arm at a time or both. I suggest doing both one arm, and two. 

How to do B-Stance RDL’s.

One Arm at a Time

  • sit tall and choose whichever hand position you like
  • get a solid grip
  • pull your shoulder back and immediately follow by pulling your elbow to your side
  • extend your elbow first to return to your start position
  • allow your shoulder to stretch before you begin the row again

Imagine your spine is like an equator: you can slightly rotate around it, but don’t dump your shoulders forward. 

How to do the Hammer Strength iso-row at Big Tex Gym in Austin, Texas.

Two Arms at a Time

  • sit tall and choose whichever hand position you like
  • get a solid grip
  • pull your shoulders back and immediately follow by pulling your elbows to your side
  • extend your elbows first to return to your start position
  • allow your shoulders to stretch before you begin the row again

With both of these, you want to have scapular movement. This means you do NOT “pin” your shoulder blades back. You want them to move. Think stretch, squeeze, and finish with a wide, open chest. 

Related: here’s another great Hammer Strength exercise.

Try the Hammer Strength Iso-Row Today!

And let me know how it goes. Happy training! 🙂

Work With Me!

If you are looking for a personal trainer in Austin, I’d love to talk with you! If you are not in Austin, Round Rock, or central Texas, let’s talk about online training.

Message me here for a free consult about personal training in Austin, Texas, or here for online personal training, and we’ll discuss your goals, background, equipment availability, schedule, and exercise preferences.

Let’s get you strong and healthy! 💪

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

Check Out Some Other How-To’s

SummerStrong 16 Recap #SS16

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SummerStrong is an annual gathering of strength coaches, lifters, and physical culture enthusiasts at the Sorinex facility in Lexington, South Carolina. 

It is like Oprah for meatheads, says Dr. Pat Ivey. I think his wife first said that. Hiiilarious! It’s true! It’s education, fellowship, competition, and reunion. It’s unlike any other conference, workshop or CEU opportunity. It’s just really really special, and SummerStrong 16 did not disappoint.

SummerStrong 16 with my friends :)

The SummerStrong 16 Reunion

It’s fun to see old friends and catch up on how their lives are going. I hear about weddings, and babies being born, babies growing, businesses growing and clients thriving. Sounds corny, but it fills my heart. It’s super cool and really heartening for me to hear about these things happening all across the country. The world, really. It reminds me why I love coaching and why we do what we do.

Watching my friends grow in their careers is really special too. I like seeing people learn, grow their competencies, and move up in their careers. Everyone is quick to share their knowledge too, and I’m grateful to have the best in the business to learn from. 

It’s also really great perspective. There’s a large group of people at SummerStrong who are post military, or currently active duty. I owe a debt of gratitude to the service members whose sacrifices allow my clients and I to work on these incredible goals together. 

The Competition

If you talked to me leading up to SummerStrong, I might have mentioned to you that I was lifting in the informal competition. I haven’t lifted on a competitive platform in any capacity in 7 or 8 years. I was so nervous! 

I learned a lot: namely, that I get realll nervous in front of a crowd of the most accomplished coaches I know. Haha! 

But I did it! I have a lot to work on in terms of focus, presence, and form. But, I did it! Here’s my deadlift, which ended up being 255. It’s not an all time PR, but it’s a current PR. I’ll take it. 

Ancore Training Truck Mount

One of the most fun things was playing with this Ancore system that Bert Sorin set up on his truck. How cool is this? Blows my mind! I love it! This is two Ancore systems attached with a wall mount. I will be doing something similar to my truck soon, so my clients I travel to, get ready! 

Well, this was a 10/10. Can’t wait til next year! 

Related: Best gyms in Austin, and how much does a personal trainer cost?

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

How to Use the Dynavec Gluteator Glute Machine

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The Dynavec Gluteator Glute Machine is really fantastic addition to the current glute training options. It’s not often that something new comes along in fitness. I suppose the Gluteator isn’t exactly a new glute training movement, but it is a multi-planar movement. Disclaimer, I have no connection with Dynavec or the Gluteator; I just think it’s a fun machine that can be a useful part of a training program.

Anatomy of the Glutes

There are 3 gluteal muscles: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. Together, these function to do 3 main movements:

  • Abduction of the hip 
  • Hip flexion
  • External rotation of the femur

You might have seen the seated abduction machines, which work hip abduction. Then, consider the reverse hyperextension or back extension machines, which can be used to create hip flexion. These are all great machines and movements! They typically work in just one plane of movement.

What’s Different about the Dynavec Gluteator Glute Machine

The Dynavec Gluteator glute machine combines both hip abduction and hip flexion, two planes of movements. This is such a unique take on a glute machine and the result is a nice complete feeling rep.

Kathryn Alexander demonstrates the Dynavec Gluteator glute training system at Big Tex Gym in Austin, Texas.

How to use the Gluteator Machine

The Gluteator is pretty simple to operate. Sit down with your hips pushed back into the seat. You can use the seat belt to hold yourself in place. Once you are settled, use the handle under your right leg to move the machine into the starting position, which is legs closer together.

Press your knees into the machine’s pads to push the machine out and back, away from the midline of your body. Control the machine to your starting position. Continue on to do as many more reps as you’d like to complete your set. 

Of all my favorite Austin gyms, only one has The Gluteator.

The Gluteator is plate loaded, so I suggest putting matching plates on each side. Start very light to get the feel for it. Try 10s on each side. Not much, but focus on your mind-muscle connection instead of just throwing the machine around.

What Does the Gluteator Do For You?

Glute work gives you many benefits, including looks, function and health. I think the popularity of glute training has been a blessing to many people who are learning to develop their glutes better. 

Of course, bodybuilders and physique competitors are interested in developing their glutes to their fullest potential, but anybody can work their glutes and hips to look the way they desire. 

Strong and capable glutes are important for athletic performance too. This isn’t a particularly athletic move per se, but it can be used in complement with a training program. 

Finally, improved glute and back function can help lifters perform well by allowing the glutes to do the work they are designed to do, and not causing the back to compensate. When glutes function as they should, the back is more likely to be healthy and pain free. 

Try this posterior/glute exercise to: how to do the B stance RDL

How to Incorporate the Gluteator

Add the Gluteator glute machine in as an accessory lift after your main lifts on leg or lower body sessions. I suggest doing a warm up, your main lift like a squat or deadlift, other compound movements like lunges or split squats, and then the Gluteator. 

Start with a very light weight, as mentioned above, to get a feel for the machine and the movement. From there, add weight until a set of 10-15 is honest work. Rest about a minute. You can add more weight or keep it at the weight that is work. 

This isn’t a machine you’ll max on, so I’d suggest keeping the reps at 8+. Do try to go heavier, though. It’s not a risky machine, so if you go too heavy and can’t get 8+ reps, you can just adjust the weight back down. 

Ready for another tutorial? Try the Hammer Strength Iso-Row.

If you have questions, please email me! kathryn@kathrynalexander.com. And get your workout in! Happy training! 🙂

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

Training Philosophy at Alexander Training

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I believe your training philosophy is crucial to your success. We know that physical training has cognitive, emotional, psychological and of course, physiological effects.

Your training is so much more than the gym.

I encourage you to ask your trainer or coach what his or her training philosophy is. It will help you decide if you are a good match to work together on your goals.

What I Believe Here at Alexander Training

Below are the main pillars of my training and life beliefs. Training myself and training others really is my life, considering it has comprised all of my jobs and education. I do encourage you to think about how training affects your life as well.

Below are my main beliefs.

Your Strength and Health Are Up To You

Nobody is coming to save you. Nobody can do the work for you. That is the good news. This means you are in control of your destiny. Strength of habit, discipline and life management can radically change your whole life.

Your Health is Bigger Than Just You

Yes, it comes down to you, but it is about more than you. You need to be the best version of you, for everybody in your life. For you, for your “why”: your spouse, your children, everyone who loves you, for your goals that are still undone.

Read: Happy and hilarious feedback from my clients

The Mind and Body are an Unbelievable Combo

We have more collective knowledge than has ever been published in history; everything we need to live an extremely healthy and fulfilling life. It just needs to be distilled into what is pure and true and effective. 

Things Are Getting Worse. You Need To Make Your Life Better

Everything is politicized now, even your health, which is something you alone own, and you alone should control. Trust in public institutions is at an all time low. We know we’re not getting the full truth from our government, so you must do your best to stay healthy and out of hospitals. 

This is not to be negative, but to be practical. You must put in the effort to make your own decisions as much as you can. Maximize your health, avoid disease and unnecessary medical interventions.

Look Good is Worth the Effort

I’d be lying to say this isn’t one of the best benefits of lifting! You work hard enough; you deserve to be proud of how you look! 

You Can Do This

I want desperately to see you succeed. I want you to dig your heels in, make good decisions, and work hard. Do it alone if you have to. I want you to lead the way for your spouse, family, children, and friends, and show that it is possible to take charge of your health and your body.

What Matters Here

The scope of my experience is exercise and physiology, but you know as well as I do that there is more to it than that.

Here are the pillars you must have to life a good and joyful life: 

  • Faith
  • Family, close friends, and community
  • Exercise and physical movement
  • Good nutrition
  • Purpose in life
  • Rest

Take inventory of your life and see if you are fulfilled in all of those areas. Be honest with yourself about where you are lacking abundance. This needs to suit you specifically.

Develop Your Philosophy

If this posts resonates with you, and you’d like to develop your philosophy while you work on your physical training, I’d love to walk that walk with you. Message me at Kathryn <at> kathrynalexander.com and let’s talk!

Or, check out the ways we can work together here. I look forward to talking with you about your strength and fitness goals!

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

How to Choose a Training Program

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Sometimes the toughest decision out there regarding your fitness is how to choose a training program. There are so many programs out there – probably hundreds of thousands! How do you find the right one for you?

To start, consider your current situation, your goals, schedule and lifestyle, and equipment availability. I’ll walk you through it. Read along to discover how to choose a training program for you.

Top 5 Reasons to Follow a Training Program

What Are Your Training Goals?

Your goals are going to be the largest determinant of which program is best for you. Before you go any further, I need to remind you that many, many programs will work for you. Lots of programs can get you where you want to be. Please do not stress about finding the right absolutely specific perfect one.

Write down your goals before you choose a training program.

First, write down what your goals are. Pen and paper. I mean it, write it down. Be honest with yourself here. Be selfish! These are your goals, your body, your time, effort, energy. You deserve to get what you want for your investment. 

Examples include:

  • Fat loss in general 
  • fat loss in specific areas
  • overall muscle gain 
  • building size or muscle definition in specific body parts
  • bigger butt
  • more toned arms
  • bigger arms, bigger calves, lol good luck just kidding 😉
  • more definition
  • increase in performance, such as faster running times
  • increasing strength, stronger squat, deadlift, bench press, clean, or snatch
  • Increase in the amount of steps each day
  • increase in time standing each day
  • increase in number of exercise sessions done per week

The list can go on and on. Make your goals very specific for you. Know that you won’t get all of them accomplished from a six week program, but you can work toward them in a methodical way.

Find a Workout Plan That Fits Your Lifestyle

Finding a workout plan or fitness routine that is compatible with your lifestyle is crucial.

Choose to do hard work but make it easy on yourself. 

If you have to drive an hour and a half to the training facility you want and you want to do it five days a week, make sure that you can maintain that. Otherwise, try to find a great gym near you or invest in a home gym. If you are into jogging and you live in northern Canada, you might want to invest in a treadmill for harsh times of winter. These are extreme examples, but the easier you can make your workout program fit your specific situation, the greater chance you have of committing to it . 

Additionally, I want you to pick some thing you enjoy. This should be good for you in the short term and long term. If lifting gives you a little post workout high, embrace that and do it. 

One summer when I was 19, I got an intense runner’s high after a specific jog I would do. It was a route that covered about 2 miles and included running stadium bleachers. I loved it and I looked forward to it. I sometimes feel a little giddy after lifting weights also. 

Some people feel like a million bucks post yoga or Pilates. Some people don’t get runner’s high, but just feel accomplished and proud that they checked their physical investment off for the day. Find what makes you happy and work that into your program. 

Remember, do try to make it fit your schedule. If you are into endurance exercises that take a large chunk of your time, you might have to schedule that on the weekend with supplemental shorter training sessions during the week. If you like to spend a good hour and a half in the gym when you lift but you also have family obligations, you might do that 3 days a week instead of 7. Or if you are looking to simply lose a few pounds, establish good habits, and stabilize your blood sugar, taking 10 minute walks a few times a day can help you more than you think. 

Read more about how to fit exercise into a busy schedule here.

Coordinate Exercise and Diet

Having an optimal diet and training program will help you toward your goals exponentially. Let me repeat that: you will get there way faster when you are eating well in addition to your physical training. Ensure that you are getting enough protein, several servings of fruits and vegetables, a day and plenty of plain water. Add those things in first. 

Then be honest with yourself about taking out the things that you know do not help you reach your goals. I’m not saying go on the strictest squeaky clean diet you’ve ever heard of. I am saying that you know the bad habits you can tone down a little bit. if you drink, maybe drink on fewer days of the week or have one less. If you’re big big into desserts, enjoy a smaller portion.

If you are into cokes and sodas, try having less or having a substitute. Sparkling water really scratches that itch for me. Experiment and see what you like. You might love tea! That would be great, since there are countless varieties out there. Try and try again, to find something that is healthy and enjoyable for you.

Whether you end up following a formal diet or just adjusting yours, a little bit know that every little bit will help you toward your goal.

Fitness Programs for Beginners

If you are a brand new beginner in the gym, I am so excited for you! It’s like you haven’t read the best book of your life! It’s like you’re just about to start the best most bingeable TV series ever. I’m so excited for you! 

I created a course just for beginners. This assumes you want to learn the ins and outs of the gym from square one. This program is very creatively titled Square One. It is six weeks and $15 because I want this to be available to everyone! 

Square 1 training program by Kathryn Alexander created for beginners learning to lift and those looking to learn how to use the gym.

See All Of My Programs Here

If you have questions, please let me know and we’ll discuss if this is a good fit for you. If you have other questions in general, about your program or what program is a good fit for you, I am happy to help! I read every email. Kathryn@kathrynalexander.com.

Happy training!

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.

How to Make Time for Exercise With a Busy Schedule

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It can be challenging to make time for exercise with a busy schedule, but there are so many ways you can get it done! Most people are busy these days, and that is not a copout or a lie. I believe my clients when they say they are so busy that it is hard to find time to workout, because I see it. Like you, they have responsibilities and obligations in the form of jobs, work and relationships. 

Some people like to be busy all the time, because it’s just how they choose to live their life. Others are busy for a short period of time such as until a project is completed, at which point life will go back to a regular pace. 

How to Make Time for Exercise With a Busy Schedule, pushups at home
Pushups at home. Doing low equipment exercises at home is one way to make time for exercise with a busy schedule.

Whether you are steadily busy or in a push right now, take a few minutes upfront to plan how to make time for exercise in your busy schedule.

Whether you adjust how long you spend in the gym, move some training sessions to your home, or even cut down some sessions, maintaining some training in your schedule will be worth it! 

Remember, you can’t cram exercise. You can’t wait until you’re sick and then exercise for 100 hours in a row and get the benefits. You must exercise regularly. It will build strength, health, quality of life and fortuitously, help manage stress during your busy times. 

Quick Workouts

You can get an effective workout in a quicker time frame than you think, so try a quick workout instead of just skipping. Whether you are doing these short workouts in the gym, home, or even at work, identify smaller chunks of time (10-30 minutes) that you can possibly use for exercise.

Gym

At the gym, there are a few ways to get a quick workout. You can:

  1. Just do your main lift/s and skip accessory work.
  2. Just do exercises that don’t take as much time to warm up and prepare for.
  3. Move quicker through your planned session (don’t adjust anything but pace).
  4. Change the type of exercise you are doing altogether. 

Let me touch on each of these briefly to explain: 

  1. If you just do your main lift and skip your accessory workout, the pace of your session doesn’t change. You just end it sooner. An example of this would be if I only had 30 minutes to train, but I really wanted to deadlift. I would warm up well, hit my feeler sets that increase in weight, do my working sets, and then be done. Voila. Note, you should always warm up – do not sacrifice warming up for time! You won’t perform as well without a warm up, and you risk injury.
  2. Just doing exercises that don’t take as much time to warm up and prepare for is an option also. In this case, you would leave out exercises like heavy compound movements that require the time to warm up thoroughly. You’d still do a warm up! It just won’t be as involved. An example of this kind of session would be a push pull squat minimal equipment workout, where you do 3 exercises and move quickly through them. They’ll be moderate weight, high volume, and quick rest. If you click the link for push pull squat, you can see an exact session like this, and how to modify it to fit you. 
  3. Moving quicker through your planned session is a good option also. If you choose to speed up your session by moving through it faster, you’ll shorten your rest periods, and because of this shorter rest, you’ll skip the most challenging sets. For example, if I am deadlifting but still want to make the time to do accessory work, then I might skip the heaviest few sets, which require the most rest between. You do not want to rush through your heavy compound work. 
  4. Finally, you can change which type of exercise you do altogether. If you are short on time and literally don’t have the time to do multiple exercises and work around the gym, you might choose just to do some conditioning. Say I don’t have time to do my deadlifts (boo!) but I know I’ll have time tomorrow, then today I’ll get on the treadmill for an incline walk. This way I am getting good work in, and giving myself the chance to get high quality work in when I have time to do it thoroughly and safely.

At Home

If finding time to exercise means you exercise at home, that’s great too! With just one or two weights, you can do the above linked Push Pull Squat session. It’s killer, and can be briefly done in a small area. There are many examples of sessions like this, where you focus on a few exercise that can be done with little or no equipment, and do them circuit style. 

On one particularly cold day a few years ago, I decided I would not be going outside, at all, for anything. I decided to do squats, lunges, and pushups as my workout. I started doing 10 of each and resting only when I needed. Some sets felt great and I did up to 15 reps. When I fatigued, I dropped it to 5. This ended up being less than 20 minutes and I felt great.

You can do something similar. Choose exercises that are within your ability, set a timer and some great tunes, and go!

At Your Work or Desk

Depending on your work situation, you may have a gym or fitness center close to you. If this is the case, make use of it! Remember, you can get sufficient work done in about 30 minutes, 2-3 times a week. If you aren’t able to get to a gym during your workday but you would like to get movement in, don’t forget walking! Walking is so underrated! Walking is great for a whole host of things, including digestion post lunch, and stabilizing blood sugar, which wards off those afternoon energy crashes. You might even be able to walk and get steps in without changing clothes. 

If you sit all day for work, check out specifics workouts in How to Stay Fit With a Desk Job

Likewise, look for staircases. Walking stairs is legit! If you can find a safe place to walk stairs, do it! You’ll experience significant increases in metabolism and conditioning, and building muscle, ie toning the legs, as people like to say.

Make Working Out Convenient

Whether you choose to exercise at home, at the gym, or from work, set yourself up to succeed! Make it fit in your schedule, make it convenient, and commit! Be creative about how you can minimize wasted time, by adjusting your commute to avoid busy times in traffic and the gym. Also think about how you can adjust your work hours so you are in the office being productive instead of sitting on the highway.

Work Commute

I’ve seen so many creative ways to make room for exercise from my clients over the years. Some examples are: 

  • Joining a gym with a friend and doing work together instead of happy hours
  • Walking meetings instead of sitting
  • Joining a gym close to home so traffic is not prohibitive 
  • Going to the gym early to avoid traffic
  • Similarly, going to work early, and going to the gym before heading home. This has a double benefit, as you avoid the busiest hours of the gym too.

Home Gym

Exercising at home can be done with no equipment, or with just a few pieces. You can go as grand as you like in building out your home gym, or go minimal with small pieces that store easily. Links here. 

For example, my exercise program The Home Team, uses two pairs of dumbbells and a band. This way you can always have fresh workouts delivered to you to do from your living room, garage or back yard. 

Check out The Home Team here for a free week.

I recommend having a dedicated space to exercise at home, like you would have a dedicated work space if you work from home. However, if that doesn’t work for you, you can absolutely have a small storage space for 2-4 dumbbells and a band. Those can go in a corner of the room or closet very easily. 

You can even use a Bala ring, which is pretty cute, and can be left out as an accessory. I don’t make any money from this, by the way. I just thought it was so cute that I bought my mom one.

Hybrid Gym/Home Workouts

Finally one of my absolute favorite ways to structure your training is to do a hybrid of home and gym workouts. You’ll always get benefits from going to a gym, whether its by using equipment you don’t have, learning from others, or creating a supportive community for yourself. Even with the most built out home gyms, most people can find equipment they don’t have at a full gym. For example, I have spent a lot of time and money making my home gym sufficient. I still go work out at Big Tex Gym for the cable systems. 

Lat pull downs, rows, and large spaces for sled and sandbag work permit me to do back and leg work I can’t do at home. For clients who split up home and gym workouts, I suggest doing the home work that you can at home with dumbbells. Obviously, at the gym, you’ll do the work you can’t do at home. 

Big Tex Gym, one of the best gyms in Austin
Turf side at Big Tex Gym

Use Every Minute

By honestly assessing your time management, you can see where you can fit exercise in. You will also see things you can minimize or adjust. Decreasing social media, for example, can yield you some of your time back. And definitely don’t commit to another tv series! You’ll be fine if you don’t know the water cooler gossip! As a person who doesn’t watch tv, I say this with lots of love. 🙂

Most importantly, schedule your workouts, and do them. Put them on your calendar, remind your spouse and the people who need to know, that you have a commitment to yourself. 

Choose which exercises are priority for you, and do those first. It is much easier to maintain strength than to abandon it and rebuild. 

If you just don’t quit, you’ll get through your busy time. You can add more exercise in as you have time for it, and you’ll be so grateful to yourself that you never quit. 

I believe in you! Message me if this still seems impossible for you. I have the benefit of talking to hundreds of people about how they get their exercise in. kathryn@kathrynalexander.com Let’s find a way for you, too!

Are You Beginning Your Fitness Journey?

If you are brand new to the gym, my program called Square 1 takes you through exactly how to start. It tells you how many sets, reps, and what weight to start with on exercises. It’s $15 for a 6 week program, and you can message me anytime with questions. I’d be happy to help get you started, on this beginning program, or on a program custom written for you! Email me at kathryn@kathrynalexander.com or fill out this form here

About the author

Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.