The Home Team

How to Band Deadlift

March 16, 2021 by Kathryn Alexander Leave a Comment

Want to be safer when picking up your kid? Yep. Want your lawn work to feel easier? Yes. Want to tighten up your back side? Oh yeah. I have great news for you! If you learn how to band deadlift, you can accomplish all of these at once.

The deadlift and similar deadlift movements are packed with full body benefits. I say “movement” because you don’t have to do a competition style deadlift, as heavy as you can, to benefit. One great alternative is the band deadlift.

Deadlifts Make You Strong

One of the most beneficial lifts, if not the most beneficial lift, is the deadlift. When done properly, the deadlift makes you real-life strong. It makes you more resilient and more injury-resistant.

The deadlift works much of your body and your whole posterior. Your prime movers when deadlifting are glutes, hamstrings, quads and back. The deadlift also works your upper back, traps, grip, and trunk.

Because it works so much of your body’s musculature, and because the deadlift allows a great amount of exertion, it sends a strong signal to your body to get respond. It says, “Get stronger and grow!”

Why Doesn’t Everyone Deadlift?

One of the biggest impediments to practicing the deadlift is that a traditional deadlift requires a 7 foot bar. Not many people have a barbell like that at home, and not even all gyms have good barbells. Additionally, some people prefer not to do a barbell deadlift. That is OK.

I do want you to have options though, because picking anything up off the floor is a movement that mimics the deadlift, and you’ll surely do that in your life. I want you to do it safely. A simple band at home can help you practice the deadlift movement by doing the band deadlift.

How to do the Band Deadlift

stand with both feet on an appropriately resistant band
keep your whole trunk engaged (abs on, arms pressed down)
keep your trunk neutral (neutral here means straight like normal, no swayback or tucked)
bring your hips toward the ground and grab the band
keeping your arms straight and your trunk unmoving, squeeze your glutes and grab the ground with your toes
press the ground away from you as you stand all the way up
reverse the movement to return to your starting position

Where to Find the Right Equipment for Band Deadlifts

You can find a good and inexpensive band with a quick search for “resistance band”. Look for the flat band and not tubing. If you have questions about the purchase process or your form, please email me! I am happy to help and I wish you fun, fruitful deadlifting!

See More How-To’s Below

How to Stay Fit With a Desk Job

How to Follow Gym Etiquette

How to Goblet Squat

How to Begin Lifting Weights

How to do Bear Crawls

How to do Band Pullaparts

Home Ab Session!

March 2, 2021 by Kathryn Alexander Leave a Comment

I’m a believer in the “big rocks”, the staples of a healthy program: squat, push, pull, weighted carry. Do these things regularly and progressively and you’ll have a solid core. Sometimes you need some accessory ab work though, and people ask me for more ab work all the time. So, here you go: a simple (but not easy) equipment free home session. Enjoy!!

The Session

In the next paragraph are the 5 exercises for this session. Do 10 reps of each exercise and then move immediately to the next one, resting at the end of each 5 before the next round, or as you need. If you can continue without your form suffering, continue. Where there is a right and left exercise, do 10 on each side. Run through this session 3-5 times. If you’re still raring to go, you can add another set!

The Exercises

Each exercise name is a link to a YouTube how-to, and pictures and explanations are below.

Crunch

lay on your back, supporting your head if you choose
using your abs, think about bringing your ribs closer to your hip bones
this is not a sit-up; it’s a partial range of motion crunch

Toe Touch

lay on your back with your legs in the air
reach your right arm toward your left toes in a quick crunch motion
reach your left arm toward your right toes in a quick crunch motion -continue alternating sides

Lying Leg Extension

lay on your back with knees bent at a 90 degree angle
keep knees directly over hips, not pulled into your chest
using your abs, press your low back into the ground
slowly extend your right leg until your knee is straight and heel is close to the ground
stop if your low back pops off the ground
if your low back pops off the ground, don’t bring your heels as close to the ground (image 3)
bring your leg back to the 90 degree bent position and repeat with the other leg

Breaststroke

lay flat on the ground with arms extended in front of you
head should be facing the floor, not looking in front of you
make a wide sweep with your arms around and slightly extend your upper body off the floor
as arms reach your sides, tuck your hands by your sides as you again extend your arms in front of you
inhale as you sweep your arms wide toward your sides
exhale as you return your arms to your starting position

Plank Knee to Elbow

get in plank position from hands
maintain a straight body position from your legs through the crown of your head
keep your back engaged so your shoulders don’t shift up into your ears, and you don’t sink toward the floor
bring your right knee toward your right elbow
return right foot to floor and perform the same movement on your left side
your knee probably won’t touch your elbow, and that’s ok. Don’t crunch to reach it

Home Gym Essentials in 2020

February 2, 2021 by Kathryn Alexander Leave a Comment

The movement toward exercising at home was happening well before Covid forced gyms closed and necessitated our creativity. People have been building home gyms from basic, bare minimum style to fully equipped, built out garages for some time now. Most people fall somewhere in between having absolutely no equipment and having pallets delivered to their driveway.

My bare minimum: light dumbbells, medium dumbbells, one heavy implement, a band and a hip circle.

How Much Equipment Do You Need?

Take into consideration your budget, your space, and your needs. I highly recommend having a dedicated space where you can focus solely on your training regardless of how minimalist your set up is.

The Bare Minimum

At a minimum, I’d like to see you have:

a light pair of dumbbells
a medium pair of dumbbells
a light band

With these, you can do many exercises to keep you conditioned. You’ll miss out on the benefits of heavy lifting without having a heavy weight, but this basic combination can keep you building muscle and building your health for a long time.

The designations of light, medium and heavy will be different for everybody. I recommend your light bells to be 2-5 pounds and your medium bells to be 8-15 pounds. Email me if you’d like specific recommendations. kathryn@kathrynalexander.com

The Next Level

If you’re ready to invest a little more, buy one heavy dumbbell or kettlebell, and a hip circle. These should not be prohibitively expensive and give you more options to build strength. Your heavy implement can be 30+ pounds in most cases. A kettlebell is easier to hold on to, but is usually more expensive than a dumbbell. Your choice.

Where to Buy Your Equipment

Remember that weight equipment just needs to allow you to work. It doesn’t have to match and it doesn’t have to be fancy. If you have a resale shop like Play It Again Sports in your town, make that your first stop. I have found Amazon prices are literally double what I can buy in person. Some of my clients have had luck at Target and Wal-Mart online. Now is a good time to be checking Craigslist too.

My favorite hip circle, the blue band is typically used on the lower body, can be found at Mark Bell’s web site. My favorite one is here (this is a clickable link, but not an affiliate link).

Finally, I order my bands on Amazon. The easy way out, but it lets you compare so you can be happy with your purchase. Search “resistance bands” or “exercise bands”. You can find these in stores too if you’d like to put hands on them before buying.

What Do I Do With These Weights?

If you are comfortable designing your own training, then you are now off to the races! If you would like guidance, you can do a week free of The Home Team, my training program for people who are exercising at home. This will give you a good taste of how to structure a week of training and get you started. If it works for you, you can continue from there. If you’d like to continue on your own, you’re off to a great start!

Enjoy! Tag me in pictures of your home set up (@alexanderkma on Instagram), or let me know how you’ve set up your home gym!

Happy training!

Take 50% off your first two months of The Home Team Training with the code below:

The Home Team FAQ and General Info

December 15, 2020 by Kathryn Alexander Leave a Comment

Welcome to The Home Team on Train Heroic! Once you begin your training sessions, you might have questions. Read here for some general knowledge of the program before you begin.

(Not signed up yet? Click here for your first week free!)

Notes:

Each exercise has a video demonstration and text description. Please watch the video and read these. If you have further questions, feel free to email me! kathryn@kathrynalexander.com

The warm-up is just a suggestion.

The general rule is to do a dynamic warm-up first, and stretch after your training session. You can add in some easy movement such as walking or jogging, and light stretching, if that feels good to you.

The weights I suggest are also approximate.

Start light, assess how the set went, and adjust accordingly. Don’t be afraid to start light. If anything, you can chalk it up to a warm up set and increase on the next. As you go, you’ll become more familiar with your weight abilities for each exercise.

Questions:

What do I need for the homework outs?

Short answer: a pair of light dumbbells, a pair of medium dumbbells, a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell, and bands. You can get more if you want more, but this is a solid start.

I want more. What should I get?

A hip circle.

Do I have to do the training sessions on the days they are posted?

No. I will publish them by Sunday. Do them in order, but on the days that you can.

Where do I start?

Click here for your first week free! After that, it’s $27 a month, for as long as you are happy. No contracts, no hassle.

Anything else? Email me! kathryn@kathrynalexander.com

I am so excited to help you on your strength and conditioning journey!

Home Training Program now available!

December 13, 2020 by Kathryn Alexander Leave a Comment

Big news!

The Home Team, my new home training program, just went live!

The Home Team is a training program designed to be done at home with a few dumbbells and resistance bands. It is a 4 day a week program with the option of a bonus day. It is delivered through the Train Heroic app, which I’ve been using with my clients for several years.

An example of a training day on the Train Heroic app. Click the image to visit The Home Team’s page.

By joining The Home Team, you get your own Train Heroic account. Your daily training session will include instructional videos and text, and it tracks your weights, sets, reps and progress. It is your own data center.

The Home Team is $27 a month and you can jump in or out any time.

There is a real need for effective home training programs these days. Whether you are staying in to avoid covid, a commute, or shared equipment, The Home Team will show you the way.

If you’ve ever wanted to follow my plan, now is the time! Email me or leave a comment if you have questions.

If you are ready to start your first week free, click here!