Alexander Training

Personal training and strength programs in Austin, Texas.

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Personal Training in Austin in 2021

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Personal Training in Austin in 2021

Personal training in Austin is alive and well in 2021 and the industry is more motivated and creative than ever. If you are interested in working with a personal trainer, there are many reasons why this is a great time to jump in.

Personal training has historically been a robust business in Austin, and it was fairly consistent and predictable before 2020. 2020 was madness. You know. Fortunately for myself, my trainer friends, and our clients, 2021 has rebounded nicely.


Personal trainers give their clients more options than ever now; working outside, on tracks, in gyms, parks, and homes.

Personal trainers give their clients more options than ever now; working outside, on tracks, in gyms, parks, and homes.

Personal Training is a Steady Business

Personal training is often thought of as a cyclical business, with wild upswings at new year and spring break, and abysmal gym/training rates through the holidays.

I think this is exaggerated, as I’ve seen a much different story in my experience. I’ve seen personal training to an extremely steady industry with slight upticks at the new year and through the summer months.

Most people who regularly work with a personal trainer, and most of my clients, continue their sessions steadily through the winter months and holidays, too. Of course, holidays are busy, and we sometimes have to reschedule sessions, but I’ve had many years where my training business is just as busy in December as in January.

Covid Increased Creativity in the Personal Training Industry

Covid nearly brought the personal training industry to a screeching halt. In the first two weeks, trainers were scrambling to find a way to reach clients, as everybody was scrambling to figure out their life. If you’re reading this, you remember. No need to belabor the point.

I was wholeheartedly impressed with people’s creativity. Trainers quickly transitioned to live online classes, remote training, and outdoor sessions. People built home gyms out of store bought equipment and ingeniously assembled materials that were on hand.

I’ve never trained on so many patios, lawns or met so many family members and pets. For many months, I solely trained outside, via Zoom, or remotely through Train Heroic. And people jumped in. For this I am forever grateful!

Try Personal Training

My point for this blog post is that the personal training industry is alive and well in Austin. There’s been a renewed interest in health and exercise, and it’s fantastic how many people are maintaining or beginning healthy habits.

If you are interested in working with a personal trainer, I highly encourage you to! The industry is more motivated and creative than ever.

Check out these FAQs about what to expect when working with a personal trainer and how to find a great personal trainer that you click with.

If you’d like to try a home workout program, get your first week free and 50% off your first two months of The Home Team training by entering your email below:

Benefits of Training Alone

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Exercise can be done a million ways: in a group, as a team, with your partner, a neighbor or friend. It can be intense and mission driven, or just a way to pass healthy time. Training can also be done solo, and there are a lot of benefits that come with it.


Ball throws while training solo.

Ball throws while training solo.

Peace and Quiet 

Or not! You get to pick. Training out alone affords you the time to take a break form the world; away from the coworkers, the kids, and your overflowing inbox. You get to pick your music, or choose no music. You get to recharge and spend time without having to be “on” at work or serving others. This is about you! 

Exercise Is Meditative

Training done properly is not rocket science, but it is not simple! You should be paying attention to the nuances of form; your grip, hand and foot placement, angles of the body. Correct set up is a procedure in itself. From there, during and after the movement, you should be collecting feedback about the tempo, control, and speed of the rep. This feedback guides the decisions about the next set.


pushups.jpg

It is truly a misnomer to call meatheads “meatheads”. Again, not rocket science, but if you are paying attention to your training, it does not leave much room for consciously ruminating about your problems. The end result is a peaceful mind and a happily exhausted body.

Awareness of the Body

Since you are more attune to your body without the distraction of working out with others, you become more aware of how you feel. You can feel illness before it truly sets in, potentially giving you the chance to head it off. I have often seen clients have an “off” day, only to discover that later they come down with a milder illness or realize allergies are about to flare up. 

This isn’t to say you can’t have this benefit while training with others, but training alone heightens your ability to focus on yourself. Give yourself the gift of training alone and see how you enjoy it.

Top 3 Big Picture Tips for Losing Weight

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Losing weight seems like a daunting task, but I can assure you it is possible. I’ve seen people from all kinds of backgrounds and different stages of life be successful in losing weight and becoming healthier. Here are my top three simple but effective tips:

  1. Structure your meals to have lean protein, vegetables, and water at every meal.

  2. Do both resistance training and cardio.

  3. Sleep well, and sleep enough.

Have Lean Protein, Vegetables, and Water at Every Meal

You can have other things, but you must eat those things. If you begin with those foods and fill up on them, you likely won’t be starving for a lot of other things.

Check out my favorite high protein, healthy recipes here.

Do Both Resistance Training and Cardio

You don’t have to be fanatical about either but be sure to include both of them in your week. Resistance training can be bodyweight or external weights like dumbbells, barbells,

Sleep Well, and Sleep Enough

Your body will not perform optimally if you aren’t sleeping well. Not to mention all the other health and cognitive benefits of getting proper rest.

This sounds simplistic, but there are many nuances to all of these things. You will have questions, but you will find the answers to these questions as you go. Just start here and have faith in your body’s ability to become healthier as your habits become healthier. Good luck!

Increase Your Exercise Capacity for an Easier Life

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Exercise can make every day better by improving your physical capacity. If your body is trained to do more, then your activities of daily living will take less out of you. You’ll have more strength and energy left to do the things you want to do.

Consider how many steps you take per day. If you take 8,000 steps per day, then a long trip to the grocery store might take a large amount of those. In this case, some unplanned event might take a disproportional amount of energy.

This happens frequently in real life. Maybe a car breaks down and you have to walk half a mile, or a shopping trip with friends turns into more walking than you expected. Sometimes you meet up with friends downtown for dinner, and a change of restaurant plans necessitates an urban hike.

Let’s say you increase your steps from about 8,000 to 12,000 steps a day. Then, that walk around the mall, or finding the car after a football game, won’t be such a large percentage of your activity.

It is better to be active and ready for even the things you don’t plan for.

Put this in strength terms. Some people think they don’t need to be stronger or don’t see how increased strength will benefit their daily lives, but being stronger can benefit everybody. 


Capt. Charles Moore, commander, Company C, 202nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, performs the fireman's carry of a "casualty" during the nuclear, biological and chemical portion of the Expert Field Medical Badge traini…

Capt. Charles Moore, commander, Company C, 202nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, performs the fireman’s carry of a “casualty” during the nuclear, biological and chemical portion of the Expert Field Medical Badge training and testing here Sept. 14. Photo by Spc. Leah R. Burton. This photo appeared on www.army.mil. By The U.S. Army At Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.

This is obvious for those with physically demanding jobs. For example, military, police, fire and medical personnel always have to be able to move people and things. If these people can only deadlift 200 pounds, they might not be adequately prepared for the job.

Two hundred and fifty pounds may sound like a lot. Consider, though, that many people in the general population weigh 200 pounds. If that tactical athlete must move a 160 pound teammate who is carrying 40 pounds of gear, or a 200 pound person in a fire, he is using 100% of his carrying capacity. That is too much – he or she will fatigue soon or fail the task. That doesn’t even include any gear he or she is personally carrying.

Now, if that person’s max deadlift is 350 pounds, which should be doable for most males in a first responder position, then 200 pounds is only 57% of his capacity. In this case, he should be able to move the 200 pound person much easier than if it were almost all his strength allowed. 

Many people have elaborated more on this idea, and I certainly don’t claim it as an original thought. It needs to be said many more times so people understand how important strength is.


Everybody does this. But I think Mariusz Pudzianowski is probably the last person in the world who struggles with the weight of his groceries.

Everybody does this. But I think Mariusz Pudzianowski is probably the last person in the world who struggles with the weight of his groceries.

What if you aren’t a first responder; does this apply to you? Absolutely! Don’t you carry groceries, luggage or children?

If your overall work capacity and maximal strength levels are higher, then these things will not feel like a chore. They will be submaximal work, and will feel much easier. You’ll go through all your activities of daily living and you’ll be less tired at the end of the day because your body’s inherent ability is greater. This is the gift exercise gives you.

In Defense of New Year’s Resolutions

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(This is updated from last year. A year has passed, and I believe the same. Use that New Year energy to go get your goals!)

I am 12,871.75 days old (as of this writing, 1/1/2019).

Everyone’s talking about resolutions right now, just like every new year.

I LOVE New Year’s Resolutions! I just can’t help it. They’re so fun! I love planning! I love looking to the future, and knowing it’ll be better, because I can make it that way!

That’s why it makes me so sad to hear people say stuff like this, true quotes taken from the internet:

  • Start the year with making a promise to myself that I know I will break and end up feeling like a failure? I’ll pass, thank you.

  • Why bother?

  • Nope. Life is hard enough as it is without setting yourself up for failure by making dumb resolutions

  • My New Year’s resolution is to not make one. Stopped years ago 🎉

  • No resolutions. If I feel that changes need to be made, I can do that at any time of the year. It doesn’t have to be at New Year’s.

  • Mine is to overthrow the puppet regime of a third world country, and then install myself as Grand Poobah! Oh, RESOLUTIONS, not revolutions. Sorry, my bad. (Kathryn: Ok, this one made me laugh.)

(All resolutions from Ask Someone Else’s Mom Column, 1/1/2019. I love advice columns. Don’t judge me.)

What if Resolutions Can Help You?

Why all the pessimism? Sure, it’s cliche, and every body does it, every day. I get it.

But what if making New Year’s Resolutions can actually help you? Why not re-assess your goals and where your life is going? It’s really not much different than assessing and planning quarters, as in the business world.

What if a calendar wasn’t little 30-day chunks that hung on your wall? What if it was a big string of days that kept going from left to right along the way across all the walls in your room, little one inch squares to represent the days with no differentiators of week or months or years?

If that was the case, and life was just a long number of days, when would you ever reassess? You’d probably look at it when life got rough. When things were going bad.

Like, “Geez I’m 45 and I live in my parent’s basement, I don’t have a job, and IDK what I’m doing with my life! What am I doing with my life?!”

Take advantage of this time of year. Everybody knows gyms will be packed, people will buy more salads, and be thinking of how to improve themselves. The general public sentiment is that people do this, so why not?

I completely, wholeheartedly agree with the notion that you shouldn’t wait until the New Year to improve yourself or make better habit.

But It IS The New Year

It is, right now. That excuse, “Why wait til the New Year?” doesn’t fly! It is the New Year! Do it! Do it now!

I challenge you to PICK ONE thing you can do a better job of, and do it!

Email me or comment: what’s your resolution??

In a Rut? Do This One Thing For a Mid Year Restart

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This is an update of a post originally published in 2015. I think it is important to take stock of where you are and if it’s where you want to be. If not, make a deliberate change to get on the path.

It is fall as I am writing this. If you made New Year goals, you should be in your “after” situation right now. This was going to be the year, you were going to make the changes you know you’ve been needing to. You were going to establish a healthy, disciplined routine.

Did you?


The Texas coast

The Texas coast

Or maybe you’re on that vacation you wanted to get in shape for. The big trip you bought comfortable shoes for, in anticipation of covering miles of European cobblestone. Perhaps your active vacation was carrying golf clubs on your dream course. I hope some of you got to do that. 

We Are All Busy

One of the biggest perks of my job helping people in the gym is that I interact with a large number of the same people on a very regular basis, and I get to see real trends as they happen.

It is fascinating. We are more alike and in tune with each other than we think. When the seasons change and the weather is beautiful, nearly everyone bounds in the gym with energy and optimism. 

Likewise, I see moments when the collective sentiment is a very unenthusiastic “blah.” This was the case recently in Austin, and could have been caused by low grade, often undetectable mold allergies, according to a local acupuncturist. 

This is why I can say with certainly that if you feel like your year has gotten away from you, you are not alone. 

Summer is busy, fall is busier

Summer often passes in a blur of planning and flying by the seat of your pants. You’ve got to plan work and family schedules, childcare, summer camps, and vacation hotels and activities.


So many red dots.

So many red dots.

Regular appointments are subject to reschedules and cancellations, and long vacations end with a pile of emails and to-dos awaiting at the office.

Before we know it, summer turns to fall and the sweet relief of routine. Until after school sports, and new activities. Holidays and holiday planning sneak up.

And so, it is easy to see why our fitness routines fall by the wayside. We are almost a year removed from New Year’s Resolutions, where the abundant optimism of others propels you along too.

What Should You Do?

But you still have goals for your body even when life is busy. You still want your abs to be a little tighter, and your back to be pain-free. So what is a busy person to do? 

Something. Anything, but do it now. Do not wait for “the right time” or til life gets a little less busy. It’ll never happen, because as soon as it does, something else gets thrown in your lap. 

Healthy, successful people do not wait for the right time. 

Your Homework

Pick one thing and commit to doing that one thing. What is that one thing? I don’t know. I’ll give you a list of ideas, but I recommend you take a mental inventory of your strengths. You know yourself and your habits better than anyone else. 

Exercise is an extremely nuanced topic we could study forever. There are years-long graduate programs of study in exercise, and hundreds of thousands of research studies on exercise. The big things, however, are well understood: eat well and move your body. You know which of those you are good at, such as cooking a great chicken salad, or committing to morning yoga classes.

Guidelines

Your activity must be something: 

  • You can do everyday, or with some regularity

  • You are 95% sure you can maintain

See what we are doing here? We are setting you up to be successful. We are setting you up to win.

The Rules

  • Commit to doing this thing for one month. You can continue on if you like, but it’s perfectly fine to quit at one month.

  • No guilt! No guilt if you miss a day. Just prepare better so you can do it tomorrow.

Give this some thought, then if you choose to commit, give it a real, honest go. It doesn’t matter how small or insignificant the action is. You are making a commitment, making positive change, and establishing a habit.

Why Just One Thing?

People do better at change where there is only one change to focus on. After your month, you can pick a different one or add another. Remember, the smallest healthy change you make is better for you the the comprehensive health overhaul that you abandon.

(Reason #2 for just one thing, I always wanted to make a cheesy title like that. “Do this one weird trick!!” Haha!)

Examples:

  • Stretch for 15 minutes every evening

  • Attend yoga or Pilates class 3 times a week

  • Floss your teeth every day

  • Drink 64 ounces of water every day

  • Do this 2 Minute No Sweat Series to start your day

  • Weight train 3 times per week

  • Get 8 hours of sleep every day

  • Cook a healthy breakfast every morning

  • Have 2 boiled eggs every morning for the 12 extra grams of protein

  • Meditate for 15 minutes every day

  • Do a challenging sudoku or crossword puzzle every day

  • Express gratitude every day

  • Give a genuine compliment every day

  • Walk around your block every morning

  • Consume approximately 25/38 grams of fiber per day (female/male, respectively)

One final note. Email me if you need accountability! Email me to tell me your habit! I would love to update this list with healthy habits I haven’t mentioned, and I’m fantastic at nagging, I mean, checking in to see how you are sticking to your plan.

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