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Free: Starter Exercise Program for the Tech Executive Who Needs a Plan (Part II)

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Try this free program 3 days a week (less than 20 minutes, no equipment necessary) if you need a simple, workable plan to follow. What do you have to lose? 20 minutes. But what you have to gain! 

Check In

How did the last two weeks go? Did you incorporate any of these exercises? If so, you probably found that they were light to medium – not super hard – but you might have been a little sore. If you continued to do 3-6 sessions, you’d see the soreness quickly drops away, and you get better and faster at the program. Please let me know how it went for you! I love feedback and learn from all of it. kathryn@kathrynalexander.com

Exercise Program for the Tech Executive Part II

Sitting down and working all day is not manual labor, but it’s actually pretty tough on the body. Our bodies do well moving a certain amount in the day, and that’s hard to do if your job is to focus and be electronically available for hours at a time.

If you are a tech executive or business executive, you’ll benefit from incorporating these exercises into your life. Check out Part I for some background info and details about this program:

Starter Exercise Program for the Tech Executive Who Needs a Plan Part I

Feel Better From 20 Minutes a Day

Chances are, you know some benefits of exercise, and you even know some exercises. The challenge is more likely that after focusing and working on all, you just don’t want to think anymore about what to do in the gym. If that sounds familiar, and you’d like increased energy, decreased pain, try this program.

Pick 3 days this week, and give yourself 20 minutes. You can do this!

How to Follow This Plan and What’s Different This Week

This week builds on last week, and adds two exercises, the lunge and pullaparts. Do 8 reps of each exercise, then move to the next exercise. After you have done all 4 exercises for 8 reps, repeat the circuit. (Scroll down for hyperlinks and videos). It will look like this: 

  • 8 squats

  • 8 Y

  • 8 lunges, then 8 pullaparts

  • 8 bear crawl (forward and backward, worth it!)

  • 8 Reach for ceiling

Evaluate how that was, decide to do another set. Aim for 3 this first go round, and note how long it took you. Very do-able! 

Do It! And Update Me!

Exercises listed below. Each exercise name is a hyperlink to a YouTube instructional video, and videos are embedded below as well. Let me know how this goes! Email me with any feedback or questions!

Squat

Y

lunge and pull apart superset

Bear crawl

Reach for the sky

Free: Starter Exercise Program for the Tech Executive Who Needs a Plan (Part I)

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Try this free program 3 days a week (less than 20 minutes, no equipment necessary) if you need a simple, workable plan to follow. What do you have to lose? 20 minutes. But what you have to gain! 

If you are a tech executive or business executive you know how easy it is to fall into a sedentary lifestyle. Reading reports, composing emails and attending Zoom meetings make it convenient to sit at your desk and be productive. Even transferring from an office to work-from-home makes it easier to sit all day. 

The Benefits of an Exercise Program

Despite this schedule, you must be deliberate about making time to take care of your health. It will pay you back in spades. How? You might already know some benefits of exercise, but they include:

  • Increased energy levels (that don’t come from calories or caffeine)

  • Decreased back pain

  • Increased mood

  • Greater quality sleep

Back to the part where I said you have to be deliberate – extra time doesn’t fall into your lap. Motivation doesn’t rain down like pollen in Austin, ya know. You’ve got to make a way for physical activity to fit in your life. This involves knocking down your specific barriers to exercise. 

If this is striking a chord with you, I’m going to guess your barriers might be lack of free time and lack of a plan. 

Challenge Your Limiting Factors – Have a Plan

My clients are very busy and highly intelligent. It’s not that they don’t know some exercises, it’s that after thinking, producing and strategizing all day, the last thing they want to do is think up an exercise program before they exercise. The lack of a program to follow was a limiting factor. 

If that is a limiting factor for you, and you are looking to start something without a huge time commitment, try the following program. Do it 3-6 days a week. It will take less than 20 minutes. It won’t prep you for high level athletics but it will go a long way in helping prevent and ease the pain of a sedentary lifestyle, and promote good health. 

How to Follow This Plan

Do 8 reps of each exercise, then move to the next exercise. After you have done all 4 exercises for 8 reps, repeat the circuit. (Scroll down for hyperlinks and videos). It will look like this: 

  • 8 squats

  • 8 Y

  • 8 bear crawl (forward and backward, worth it!)

  • 8 Reach for ceiling

Evaluate how that was, decide to do another set. Aim for 3 this first go round, and note how long it took you. Very do-able! 

Do It! And Update Me!

Exercises listed below. Each exercise name is a hyperlink to a YouTube instructional video, and videos are embedded below as well. Let me know how this goes! Email me with any feedback or questions! Part II, which is a slight bump up, will be published in 2 weeks, so get on it! Enjoy!

Squat

Y

Bear crawl

Reach for the sky

How to Do the Goblet Squat

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goblet_squat_1_Kathryn.jpg

The goblet squat is a great squat variation that is effective as a training tool and teaching tool. It naturally predisposes one toward optimal form, making it easy to feel a good squat. It is accessible too, as it can be done with any implement that you can hold at your chest.

The placement of the implement (high, at your chest) recruits your anterior musculature more than a back squat does, meaning you’ll use your torso a good bit.


goblet_squat_2_Kathryn.jpg

You can use the goblet squat as a warm up, learning tool, or main lift. Check out the directions and video below for more thorough directions.

Goblet Squat

  • hold the weight in your upward facing palms

  • press elbows toward each other so your elbows are under the weight, not pointing toward the sides of the room

  • keep trunk tight and neutral

  • break at the hips to initiate squat

  • sit deep into heels

  • squeeze big toe into the ground and squeeze your glutes as you stand

How to do the Dead Bug

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The dead bug is a trunk and core stability exercise that can be done at beginner to more advanced levels. As long as you can safely lay flat on your back on the floor, you can do the dead bug.

Begin with the easiest version, described below. Once you have mastered that, you can progress to the tougher versions by using a foam roller, or performing the 4-way dead bug. Videos are below.

The Dead Bug

  • lay on your back with arms and legs extended into the air

  • squeeze your abs to press your back into the ground

  • maintain this abdominal squeeze

  • extend your right arm and left leg toward the floor in a controlled manner

  • shorten your range of motion if your low back pops off the ground

  • return to your start position, and repeat with your opposite arm and leg

Practice, practice. You’ll get it- this one’s a thinker! 

Performing the dead bug on a foam roller provides an extra stability challenge.

The 4 way dead bug is the toughest. Keep your abs very engaged and low back pressed into the ground. This is a tough variation. I’d ideally like your reps to be better than my first rep in the video. Watch the reps to see if you can spot the difference.

Happy training! Let me know how you incorporate the dead bug into your program!

Backyard Conditioning

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Sometimes you just need a backyard conditioning session. Find yourself a little bit of grass and try this session. Each exercise name is a video link.

Do 5-10 reps of each exercise and then move on to the next exercise. Do the whole first round with no equipment. When you have done all of the exercises, rest for 1-2 minutes and repeat. You can do the entire session with no equipment, but some of the videos show equipment being used. IF you have weights, you can use them on round 2 and later.

Round 2

If you want an increase in challenge on the second round, try squat jumps instead of squats, and Bulgarian split squats instead of lunges. Your round will look like this:


BSS_Alexander.jpg

Aim for 3 rounds and reassess. Work hard but work smart. Listen to your body, and rest as you need.

Cooldown & Stretching

When you have done all the rounds you’d like, walk a few laps as your heart rate decreases. Then do the following stretches, 30 seconds per side, twice.

Different Styles of Cardio and How They Can Help You

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Love it or hate it, cardio is great for you. Cardio can improve your health, quality of life, and athletic and physique goals. There are many ways to do cardio, though, so let’s cover the details so you can discover what style is best for you.

American Heart Association Guidelines

For reference, the American Heart Association recommends, in addition to 2 days a week of moderate to high intensity muscle building activity, either:

  • at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity at least 5 days a week for a total of 150 minutes. These can be broken into 10 minutes chunks. OR

  • at least 25 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity 3 days per week for a total of 75 minutes


Alexander-cardio.jpg

Low Intensity Steady State

LISS cardio is done at a very low intensity, or slow pace, usually for an extended period of time. This is usually a long walk and is done for recovery or just extra movement. If you are an experienced swimmer or cyclist and can settle into an easy pace, you can do LISS with those methods too. If you are physically exhausted from an accumulation of hard training, this is a good option. 

Moderate Intensity Exercise

Moderate intensity exercise is a step above LISS in intensity, but is very do-able for a period of time. Examples include brisk walking, walking on a treadmill at an incline, jogging, cycling, rowing or swimming. Moderate intensity exercise can be done multiple times a week.

High Intensity Exercise

High intensity exercise is vigorous in nature and feels highly exertional. High intensity exercise sessions will usually be harder and quicker than moderate or low intensity. Examples include running, hard cycling, swimming and jump roping.

High Intensity Interval Training

High intensity interval training (HIIT) is characterized by bouts of high intensity alternating with low intensity or rest intervals. The high intensity intervals are typically done at an exertion level near impossible to maintain, thus necessitating the rest periods. Examples include sprints, hill sprints, stair climbing, kettle bell swinging, and jump roping. You might do HIIT only a couple times a week since it is quite demanding.

It All Adds Up!

Remember that exercise accumulates! No movement is wasted! Find something fun and try a new cardio method today!