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How to do Standing Calf Raise + Modifications

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The standing calf raise is an easy, versatile exercise that can be done anywhere. You can use a standing calf raise machine at a gym, which allows you to load weight on your calves. You can also do this from anywhere with no weight. Even if this doesn’t feel challenging for you, it’s a great exercise that can build your calves. 

I’ll show you a variation of the unweighted standing calf raise that allows for a bit more challenge on your calves. I first learned these from Nick Tumminello. 

Why Should I Do Calf Raises? 

Calf raises are beneficial for many reasons. Calf raises work the two primary muscles that you think of when you think of calves: gastrocnemius and soleus. Together, these muscles assist with any kind of bipedal locomotion: walking, running, skipping. Basically, anything athletic or movement based. 

Strengthening your calves through a full range of motion also improves ankle mobility and strength. 

Standing calf raise machine

How to do the Standing Calf Raise

  • Stand flat on the ground, feet about shoulder width. Optionally, you can stand with your toes 1 or more inches higher than your heels for greater range of motion. 
  • Let your weight sink into your heels if toes are elevated. 
  • Keep your knees slightly bend and legs NOT locked out
  • Push the balls of your feet into the ground.
  • Squeeze your calves as you raise your heels as high as you can. 
  • Return to your start position in a controlled manner; don’t just drop your heels back down. 
  • Repeat for as many reps as you are aiming for

How to Modify The Calf Raise for Greater Challenge

If you don’t have a calf raise machine, then to challenge yourself, we’re simply going to add more range of motion here. To do this, take a step back from a wall and then lean into it. The starting position of your heel will be lower, but the rest of the movement mechanics will be similar. This is called the leaning calf raise.

Related: these often overlooked exercises are some of the best exercises for rear delts

Control through the whole movement (up and down), and squeeze your calves at the top. 

Should I Add Weight to My Calf Raises? 

You can add weight if you’d like to increase the challenge of your calf raises, but this is not always necessary. You will still get some benefits without a big machine or heavy barbell. 

Start with 3 sets of about 20, with no weight. If you haven’t been doing any direct calf work, I’d recommend doing this 2-3 times a week for a couple weeks. From there, you can hold a weight if you’d like. You can add more reps and sets as well. Be sure to give yourself an easy couple of weeks first, though. 

In a study of 26 untrained young men, groups did either heavier weight (lower rep) or lower weight (higher rep) calf work. Both groups shows statistically significant increase in the calf muscles. Full study by Brad Schoenfeld and Bret Contreras here.

Yes, they were untrained to begin, so it stands to reason they would see progress, but this is really heartening, especially to those who work out at home without tons of equipment. So – get to your calf work! Increase your calf strength, balance, ankle mobility and all from home. 

Please message me if you have questions, or need a plan for your fitness! 

standing calf raise by Austin personal trainer Kathryn Alexander

References:

Brad Schoenfeld, Bret Contreras, et al., “Do the anatomical and physiological properties of muscle determine its adaptive response to different loading protocols?” Physiology Reports, 27 April 2020.

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 Back Extension Machine

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The back extension movement is a very important piece of your posterior development. Learn how to do the back extension machine to make your back, glutes and hamstrings strong and effective. 

back extension machine demonstrated by Kathryn Alexander, personal trainer in Austin, Texas.
This is the back extension machine at Big Tex Gym in Austin, Texas. Demonstrated by Austin personal trainer Kathryn Alexander.

What is Back Extension?

Extension of the hip (also called back extension) works back, glutes and hamstrings. The back extension machine targets this, unlike other back exercises, which work mid or upper back. Examples of these are pull ups and rows. 

The back extension machine is a fantastic complement to any powerlifting style program. In fact, I think it’s valuable for everybody. You do not have to do this heavy to get benefits, but you can load it if you’d like. To do this, hold a weight plate, barbell, or use bands. 

Overall, the back extension is just a great exercise that can help strengthen the lower back and prevent low back pain. 

This is a 45 degree back extension machine, which is fairly common in many gyms.

How to Set Up For the Back Extension

The most important part of the set up for the back extension is to be sure that you can hinge at the hips, not bend over at the waist. To get this right, you’ll have to set the machine low enough that your hips are not impeded from that hinge. If you set it too high, you’ll have to bend over it, and it will be just a back extensor move. That is fine, but it’s not what we are trying to target.

So to set up, make sure the back extension machine is set where you can get that hinge. Ensure that your feet are secure,  and give it a test rep. This rep ensures that you are able to keep your back flat and really make a lot of the movement come from glutes and hamstrings. 

From here, hold your hands crossed in front of your chest and your back straight. Hinge forward by allowing your glutes and hamstrings to stretch and let you complete a full range of motion. From here, holding your back straight, squeeze your hamstrings and glutes to return to your start position. Repeat for as many reps as you plan. 

This is a less common back extension machine. I love this one though!

Rounded Back Extension for Glute Development 

At some point, you will see someone in the gym doing this a little differently. You’ll notice that some people really round their whole back as if they are doing a crunch. This style of back extension puts the focus on glutes more so than the erector spinae, the muscles that run up and down along your spine. This is fine to do as well. If you set up your reps this way, the machine is set up the same.

You might hear people call these rounded back extensions. This makes sense when you watch the movement, as it is done with a rounded back moreso than straight.

You have the same options as far as keeping your hands in front of you or hugging a weight to your chest. Now, as you come up, you’ll think about squeezing your glutes hard and rounding your low, mid and then upper back as you come up. The result will be that the rep does not look as big; your range of motion looks smaller. Your shoulders and head will not  move as far away from the floor. 

Which Variation Should You Use?

Should you use the straighter back extension, or the back rounded (glute focused) extension? Do both! Think of these as two different exercises.

You can do both: one focuses on the back, and the other focuses on glutes. In either case, I would suggest doing them after your main barbell work, or if you do it before, do it lightly as a warm-up. It is not advisable to fatigue your back and torso before you load your spine.

How to Progress the Back Extension

You can progress in weight and resistance on this exercise, but this is not one of your main lifts that you will drive up. Progress as is appropriate. If it’s super light and baby weight, you can increase the challenge. But know that this isn’t one that you’re ever going try to max out on. This is one that I would rather you do well and really learn the mind muscle connection.

Check out the back extension machine at Big Tex Gym in Austin – the best gym in Austin!

Need Ideas for Your Training?

Jump into one of my programs here: training programs by Kathryn Alexander. Message me anytime if you have questions about my programs, or your workouts! I’m happy to hear from 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.

Quad Exercises at Home

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Quads are easier to work at the gym, since more equipment means more options, but if you have a little creativity, you can easily do quad exercises at home.

First let’s discuss how you would work quads at the gym. Quad exercises at the gym include seated leg extensions, leg presses, hack squats and barbell squats, among others.

Many people have barbells for home gyms or garage gyms now, but even the most well equipped home gyms rarely have leg machines like the ones named above.

quad exercises at home, demonstrated by Kathryn Alexander personal trainer in Austin, Texas
Barbell squats in my first home gym.

Quad Exercises at Home

Don’t give up on quad exercises at home, though. There are plenty of quad exercises you can do at home without extensive equipment or large machines. With a dumbbell or two, and some creativity and hard work, you can grow your quads at home. Try the following exercises for a quad-focused leg session.

How to do This Quad Workout

You can start with a warm up like a walk but you don’t have to. Your first exercises will be unweighted and will start the process of warming your legs up.

Below, you’ll see exercise “A”, basic squat. Do all 3 sets of those first. After that, do the exercises below in order. Where you see “B1” and “B2”, that is a superset. This means you do exercise “B1” for one set, then exercise “B2” for a set.

Then you rest if you need, and return to exercise “B1” again, then “B2”. If it says “3×10” that means you do it for 3 sets of 10 reps.

So on with “C1” and “C2”.

Best Quad Exercises for Home

A. basic squat to warm up, 3×10

B1. reverse lunge with short step (large knee bend), 4×10

B2. heels elevated goblet squat, stand with your heels on a sturdy 1-2 inches elevation, 4×15

C1. sissy squats, 3x 5-8. These are tough! Work up to them.

C2. lateral walk, 3×10 each direction

As you do this session more, you can add weight to the exercises, and more sets to make it more challenging. You can also be creative on modifications. For example, here’s a whole tutorial on lunge variations and home calf work.

If you’re working quads, you’ll want to work hamstrings as well. Read up on how to work hamstring strength here. And, here’s a whole home leg and glute workout.

Training at Your Home Gym

Quad work takes time and hard work, so keep at it! If you’d like to jump into a program that’s already written, try out The Home Gym. I write The Home Gym for those who work out at home with a few dumbbells and a band. It’s a 3 time weekly workout that works your whole body. Try the first week free here: The Home Team training program!

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 Pushups

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Learn how to do pushups, and do pushups well, with these exercises and tips.

Pushups are one of the toughest exercises to do. The good news is that they are very trainable and if you work at them, you’ll improve and be able to do them. And, once you can do one string pushups, the others come fast!

Often, people practice pushups without paying attention to the nuances. This leads to a less than ideal setup, which actually makes them harder. 

how to do pushups
Kathryn Alexander, personal trainer in Austin, Texas, demonstrates pushups at Big Tex Gym.

What is the Ideal Form for Pushups? 

A pushup is a horizontal press. Think about if you were to try to push against a wall with the goal to move it. You’d want to exert as much force as you could straight into the wall. You wouldn’t push up toward the ceiling or press downward. You’d push straight forward. 

Apply this to pushups. You want your hands right under your chest (pushing away from you), not under your face, which would be like pushing up. Not pushing down, because then you’d fall on your face.

How to do a Pushup

Start with your hands a little wider than shoulder width, and spread your fingers out. Get a good grip on the ground. 

In this position, your elbows will be slightly tucked; not right by your side, and not out wide at shoulder width.

From the start position at the top, whether you are pushing from knees or feet, think about squeezing your shoulders down away from your ears. Keep this lats-tight position the whole time. 

Extend your head straight so your neck is a natural extension of your spine. You’ll be looking at the floor from this position. 

Now with all that positioning clamped on, squeeze your abs, legs and glutes so you maintain this straight line all the way from head to knees, or feet. 

From here, bend the elbows and control the descent. Reach with your chest, not your chin! Don’t stick your face close to the floor! 

Keeping this straight line, push back to your start position. 

Whew! That’s a lot! A brief recap: 

  • hands under your chest and slightly wider than your shoulders
  • elbows should be slightly tucked
  • squeeze your whole body tight
  • head is an extension of your spine
  • bend your elbows to bring your chest to the floor and then push the floor away from you
  • reach with your chest

Modifications for an Easier Pushup

If a push-up is not doable for you right now, add in a modified push-up from a bar or countertop. Keep all the same points in mind: hands chest level, not face level. Body stays in a straight line with your position clamped on. And do not reach with your face. Neck stays in line and reach with your chest! 

Next, add in some push-up negatives.

How to do Pushup Negatives

  • position your hands under your chest and slightly wider than your shoulders
  • elbows should be slightly tucked, not directly out from your shoulders
  • squeeze your armpits (lats) so your shoulders stay out of your ears and your back doesn’t sag
  • squeeze your glutes and legs
  • bend your elbows to bring your chest to the floor and then push the floor away from you
  • keep your head a natural extension of your spine and don’t reach your nose toward the floor
  • control your descent, going as slow as you’d like
  • try to touch the ground in a straight line, not like a worm
  • you can push up from your knees

These will be HARD! That’s ok! Remember that is where the progress is made! Fight fight fight to hit the ground in a straight line instead of your hips falling to the floor.

Building up your triceps strength will help too. Try skull crushers,  triceps pressdowns, overhead triceps extensions, and triceps kickbacks. Videos below.

How to Incorporate These Exercises

Add these in to your chest day or upper body pressing day. If you do full body sessions, which are great if you are training 3 days a week or fewer, then you’ll add the push-up work near the beginning of your session, and add triceps work in as assistance work (after your big lifts). 

If you are doing a push pull squat style training plan, you can incorporate pushups as the push. Read about how to plan that kind of training program here: push pull squat training.

Advice For Women Learning Pushups

Practice at pushups with the belief that you can do it! You can! I often hear women say that their upper body is weaker, and pushups are hard. They are hard! But you can develop the strength and ability to do them.

Practice these different pushup styles in this article, and also work on your triceps, which help tremendously with upper body pressing. Here’s a great article on tricep exercises for women. Practice these exercises and you’ll see your strength increase.

You can also make progress on your pushups by practicing other horizontal pressing exercises. Machine presses, barbell and dumbbell presses will increase your pushup strength.

What Rep Ranges Should I Use?

Consider the push-up and push-up negatives work as heavy strength work. This means you’ll get warmed up, and then work in sets of around 5 reps, where 5 reps are challenging. 

For your triceps work, do progressively heavier sets of 8-12 reps. Challenge yourself to increase your weight, which will usually mean decreasing reps. 

This will look like: 

Chest exercises:

Triceps exercises (pick at least 2):

Strengthening your whole core will help with your pushups. Here are some of my favorite exercises to help strengthen your core.

You’ll be adding these in to your additional chest work, so remember to make time for it. It’ll be worth it! Need some inspiration for leg work? Try these quad exercises from home.

Let me know how your pushups practice goes! Work work work at it and keep going! If you get stumped and need more help, please reach out to me! kathryn@kathrynalexander.com.

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 Current Favorite Ab Exercise

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This is one of my favorite ab exercises! I call it my current favorite because I’ve been practicing it myself and with clients. You can’t do everything all the time, so I’ve been rotating this back in again. It is much more challenging than it looks and it is safe and effective. 

The Banded Leg Lift

The banded leg lift is a variation on the leg lift where you are also working your upper body. Leg lifts are usually classified as “lower abs” but the addition of the band tension on your upper body works your entire core. You’ll be working your deep abdominal muscles, the transversus, your lats, serratus, and rectus abdominis (the 6 pack muscles).

favorite ab exercise

How to do the Banded Leg Lift

First secure the band to something sturdy. Be sure it won’t slip off and pop you in the face. Please please. 🙏

From here, grab the band while you lay on your back. Don’t worry about the perfect set up distance. You can adjust in a second.

If you have a partner, have them hold the band while you lay on your back. 

Extend your arms straight, but stop short of locking your elbows out. 

Bring both your legs straight up toward the ceiling. It is ok if your knees are bent due to flexibility, but try to keep them fairly straight. 

With your arms and legs straight up, exhale and press your low back into the ground. At the same time, use your lats ( squeeze your armpits) and think about pressing your ribs into the floor. 

This is your start position. From here, shift your legs until your knees are over the bottom of your behind, not up toward your waistband. 

Now hold your left leg in place and slowly extend your right leg toward the floor. Only extend as far as you can without your low back popping off the floor. Once your right leg is back next to your left, then do a rep with your left leg. 

The hard part here is focusing on keeping your upper body tight and your low back on the floor during the whole movement of your legs. 

You can see in the above video I lose my focus around rep 3 and start moving both legs out of pattern. Ha! Try to focus on pressing your whole back into the ground, and focus a bit better than I did. 🙂

Here are my other favorite non-ab exercises, and killer hamstring strength exercises.

How to Make This Ab Exercise Tougher

You can do this alternating legs, which is where I suggest you start. Once you get the hang of that, you can do both legs together. This movement is harder, and you might have to shorten your range of motion to achieve the goal of not letting your back pop off the ground.

I suggest doing both variations, though. Even if you practice enough that this one is easy, continue to do both. Moving one leg at a time is a very natural movement pattern that is worth continuing to practice, and doing both is a good challenge.

Need more ab work? Here are exercises that will strengthen your whole core that you can incorporate into your next ab workout.

What Is Your Favorite Ab Exercise?

I’d love to know what your favorite ab exercise is! There are so many to choose from! There are a lot of ab exercises you can do at home, such as 5 of my favorites which I outline here. The others will allow you to load your abs a bit more with gym equipment. If you are in Austin and need a gym, check out my favorite Austin gyms right here.

Do you need a simple core workout you can do at home? Try these exercises, which don’t require any equipment.

Need some more core work in your life? Try this back extension machine, which is a fantastic complement to all the ab work from above!

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 Triceps Kickbacks

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Learn how to do triceps kickbacks and build your triceps with this simple exercise you can do nearly anywhere. This exercise demo uses dumbbells, but you could use kettlebells or a band. If you do these well, which you will after reading this, you can use pretty light weights and still make it effective.

What Does the Triceps Kickback Work? 

This answer is pretty simple. 🙂 The triceps kickback works the triceps. The triceps are a group of 3 muscles in your upper arm. They function to extend the elbow, and make up the majority of the muscle mass in your upper arm. 

If your upper arm jiggles, it’s probably unflexed triceps or fat on top. Working triceps can firm up your upper arm. 

Can’t get enough arm work? Try these biceps curls for more!

How to Do the Triceps Kickbacks

Start with a very light weight, like 3-5 pounds. You can always go much heavier; for now, I want you to learn to excel at doing this movement with lighter weight. 

Stand with a weight in each hand, and hinge over. The hinge allows your back to stay straight, and you bend at the hips. Imagine you had a rigid cast on your whole torso so you couldn’t bend your spine forward or backward, and then push your hips behind you. 

From here, press your elbows behind you, which will be up toward the ceiling. 

Your elbows will stay in this position. Think about your upper arm being parallel to the ground here. 

Now, straighten your elbows and squeeze hard at the top. Control the weights down, and repeat. 

Note that as you bring the dumbbells back down, you can bring them to just below your elbow. You don’t have to curl them all the way into a biceps curl with a big bend in your elbow. 

If you notice that the weights feel easier as you go, check your upper arm angle. If your arms are falling back toward the floor, the exercise will become less challenging and feel really easy. Simple remedy: just pull your elbows back up toward the ceiling. 

Add These In Your Program!

Where do you add these in your training program? Try triceps kickbacks on your arm day, or upper body day. I suggest doing them after you’ve done pushups, bench press, or overhead press. Start with 3-4 sets or 8-12 reps. Like I mentioned above, start very very light and get good at them. From there, increase the weight a small amount. Let me know how they go!

Triceps also help with pushups. Add these in your program to help strengthen your triceps, and get your first pushups with this plan.

Need Motivation?

Join my team programs, which my clients do at home or at their own gyms. Follow along and get fit together! Keep at it – you can do this!

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.

How to Break Through Your Bench Press Plateau

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Are you stuck on your bench press? Find out how to break through your bench press plateau. If you’ve been lifting for any length of time, you might find your progress stalling. You will feel like you are doing everything right – you are putting in the work, you’re resting. Maybe you changed your program and took advice from seasoned lifters. Maybe you adjusted your technique. You still find yourself not progressing at a pace that you think would be reasonable for the effort you are putting in.

You’re in a plateau. 

Don’t stress. This is common. This is some thing that every lifter will experience. Above all, don’t quit. Keep training. Read a few of the pointers below to find out how you can work through this and come out of your plateau stronger.

how to break through bench press plateau

What is a Bench Press Plateau

If you are wondering, “why is my bench press not increasing?” let’s first address if you’re actually plateauing, or just seeing stalled progress for some reason. Sometimes when you have a few suboptimal training sessions, it can seem worse than it is. 

Ideally you are following a training schedule. This would allow you to train hard and train smart, and actually track your progress. If you are following a program and not just haphazardly winging it, yet still not seeing progress, let’s look at other factors. 

These are my favorite gyms in Austin.

Lack of sleep or poor quality sleep, lack of adequate rest, and over- or under-training can all affect your lifting progress. Every person is different and in a different phase of life, so look honestly at your weekly schedule and assess all of these factors. Consider if you also have a physically demanding job or if you have children in a busy phase of life. You might not be able to alter these things, so consider how you can optimize your time in the gym to lift enough, and rest enough. 

Ensure you are eating well too. You’ll want to make sure you are eating enough calorically, and also eating enough protein. Estimates from experts who understand lifting are around 1.2-1.6 g/kg bodyweight per day. That sometimes takes some planning but is entirely possible. 

Bench Press Plateau Break Through Tips

I hope your lifting career is a lifelong one! It certainly can be. And as such, it is a constant game of working hard, adjusting, and learning as new challenges present themselves. 

Below are a number of ideas on how to break through your bench press plateau, ranging from technical tips, programming tips, and more. 

how to break through a bench press plateau

Work your Whole Body

This one may sound counterintuitive, but to progress as a lifter, you need to work your whole body. Hopefully this is not an issue you are having, but sometimes lifters skew toward their favorite lifts and train their favorites harder.

In the long run, this will not lead to maximal growth, size, or strength. 

Make sure you are getting compound lifts such as squats and deadlifts, not just leg press and isolation machines. Ensure you are doing heavy back work as well. 

Think about it: some people are bench specialists, or deadlift specialists, but the elite ones don’t have gigantic weak spots. When have you seen a 700+ plus puller with skinny arms? I don’t know a big bench presser with tiny legs. 

Train your whole body and you’ll be happy with your progress!

Work on Technique

The bench press is highly technical and improving your technique can increase your capacity. Several technical factors of the bench press will be unique to your body and your leverages, and some will be your preference. For example, if you have a thick chest and torso, and short arms, you are made for bench pressing. If you are tall with long arms, your bench press will have many more inches to travel. 

You are given the body you are given, so in the meantime, you can choose how you would like to set up. A very narrow grip will be a harder angle to press. A wide grip allows you to be in a stronger position, and a position in which the bar has a shorter distance to travel. Most people bench at a grip wider than shoulders, but it is your choice how wide you set up. 

Likewise it is your choice how much you arch in the bench press. The arched position allows for a stronger set up, increased utilization of the lower pec muscles, and again, a shorter range of motion. The arch is safe and will allow for higher bench press numbers. It is your choice how you would like to bench on the continuum between flat back benching and a high arch. 

Finally, there are many technical angles you can work on such as specifics of your set up, arch, grip, and optimal bar path.

Specialized Lifts

Bench pressing often improves from more bench pressing, but you’ll want to add in some supplemental lifts too. Partial reps, dumbbell work, board presses and Spoto presses can help grow your bench press. 

Continue working your bench press as you have been, but experiment with adding in  some of these accessory lifts. Be sure to add in triceps work as well. Stronger triceps will help with a stronger bench press.

Change It Up

Hopefully you are following a smart program that will take you through well designed progressions. This means some of your exercise parameters will change, but you will not be going through crazy, random changes each week.

For example, to change the stimulus, you might decrease your reps as you increase in the weight. The timing of this will depend on whether you are peaking for a meet or competition. If you have plenty of time away from a competition, experiment with changing the set/rep scheme, such as moving from a 5×5 to 5×3 with heavier weights. That is just one example, any how you adjust your sets and reps will obviously depend on what you are doing now.

As accessory work after your main bench work, you can add in paused reps or tempo work. These can increase time under tension, causing a different stimulus.

Pro tip: if you are working your bench press hard, don’t neglect back! Your shoulders and lifts will thank you! Get your rows and pulls in!

Find a Program

The best thing you can do for breaking up a bench press plateau, and making progress overall, is following a good program. A program will help you workin a way that challenges you, balances you (upper/lower body, pushing/pulling), doesn’t neglect any fundamental movements or lifts, and allows you to reach your potential. 

Don’t waste your time and energy hopping around the gym and guessing about what to do. Reach out to a trainer who coaches what you want to learn, and use their hours and hours of study, coaching and experience to get where you want to go faster. Even if you budget for a few focused training sessions, a coach can help you.

Check out my programs here or message me here about your specific situation. Good luck breaking through your bench press plateau! Here’s to many more years of lifting PRs!

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 Follow Gym Etiquette

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If you have ever wondered how to follow gym etiquette, you are not alone. Proper gym etiquette is not complicated; there are a few gym-specific things to know, but otherwise it is pretty much common sense and common courtesy. Be nice to people, share with people, and leave the gym clean and organized. Read on for tips on gym etiquette.

Gym etiquette tips for how to follow gym etiquette. Kathryn Alexander Personal Training in Austin, Texas.

How to Work With Others in the Gym

The most important etiquette tip of all is to simply be respectful of others in the gym. In a public space, people will differ on how they prefer to interact. Some lifters prefer to get their training in and leave with minimal involvement of others. When you see this preference in somebody, please respect it. Other people find the gym a great social situation and want to chat and lift with others. A general rule of thumb is to politely reinforce your boundaries (“great to see you! I’m going to go lift now. See you next time.”) and respect others. 

Check out the best gyms in Austin.

This means do NOT offer unsolicited advice to people. No matter what. People who want help will seek it. This goes for trainers as well. Despite what your sales lead tells you, do not go tell someone they are doing something wrong. There are other ways to open up conversation and offer support, but unsolicited criticism/advice/suggestions are not the way to do that. 

Other things that I consider to be both common sense and worth saying are to give people personal space and be aware of what people are doing around you. 

How to Use Cameras and Videos in the Gym

Trending right now is the use of cameras and videos in the gym. People are videoing their lifts, either for form checks, for their coach, for social media, etc. Inevitably there are issues with the use of video in a public place. Just this week, a girl posted a video of a guy “hitting on her” and reposted it to shame him. In this situation, he didn’t appear to be rude. Of course, there are situations where people are creepy, where people aren’t, where people are misunderstood. 

A good rule here is that videoing others in the gym is an invasion of space. It’s rude; don’t do it. Sure, videoing your lifts discretely is fine, but a public gym is not your production room. Remember, other people just want to lift without dodging a million cameras walking through the weight room. 

How to Choose the Right Training Program For You

Etiquette of Cell Phone Use in the Gym

Exercise tracking is becoming much more popular, and it’s a great way to log your training. My clients, workout partner and I all use Train Heroic to train our workouts. You’ll see us in the gym inputting our numbers quickly between sets. I’m certainly not entirely anti-cell phone use, and I highly encourage the use of phones for logging your training and form check videos.

But please remember no one (literally no one) wants to hear your conversations or your music. Save your chatting for after your session and use your ear buds. Just don’t hog equipment for 20 minutes between sets because your Insta is fire today. K? Get your work in and get out.

How to Work in With Someone

This is “how to follow gym etiquette” 101. Working in with others allows gyms to flow when it’s busy. In this case, you might end up sharing the equipment. People call this “working in” with someone. Resistance training typically has a lifting period and a resting period, which s conducive to sharing. When I lift, my set takes 30-60 seconds. I’ll rest for 1-3 minutes. This is a great time for someone else to work in. 

How to Share Gym Equipment

The best situation for working in or sharing equipment with someone is if you don’t have to change the equipment too much. Generally speaking, if someone is doing something like squat, deadlift, bench, cleans, or jerks, it is probably better to wait. Unless your program is very similar to theirs, and your set up (ie height, seat position) is as well, there will be so many variables that it is easier on both of you to not share. 

Accessory work is a bit more conducive to sharing. Pin selectorized equipment is easy to share, as it doesn’t require loading and unloading weight plates. Dumbbells and the free weight benches are also conducive to sharing, as you can quickly move your weights in and out of the shared work area.

Sometimes, if you need a machine that’s not easy to share, you can add in an exercise you can do anywhere, like these calf raises, while you are waiting.

How to Clean Gym Equipment

Wipe down equipment before you use it if it’s dirty. Wipe down equipment after you use it. Clean up any sweat, chalk, blood, or whatever else you left behind. After that, you should still wash your hands, wash your clothes, and shower off. You don’t have to be a germ phobe, but just know you probably want to change clothes before you sit down on your couch at home. 

How to Treat the Equipment and Use it For What it’s For

The number one benefit of having a fully stocked gym is access to all the great equipment. This is contingent on the integrity of the equipment, which is contingent on taking good care of it. Do not drop the dumbbells. Use the bars for what they are designed for. Each gym will typically explain this to you. Some gyms have specialty bars like squat bars, deadlift bars, and specific bars for rack pulls. Using them in the wrong setting can injure you or ruin the bar. 

Additionally, remember that there are certain things you can do only in certain areas. There are typically just a few squat racks, but you can do curls anywhere in the gym. Ergo, don’t curl in the squat rack. Don’t do lunges on a deadlift platform. You’ll appreciate when other people give the same respect so you can get your lifts done as you’d like. 

How to Put The Weights Back

Pick ’em up, put ’em back. Haha! Seems easy to me. Like camping, pack out what you pack in, and leave it better than you found it. This means if you bring over bands, chains, straps, specialty bars, or anything else, you have to return it. Do not leave a plate on a machine because you think it’s someone else’s starting point. It’s probably not. This is one of my biggest gym pet peeves. People leave a 45 pound plate on a machine often. The people who do not start with a 45 pound plate on it are the people who can’t move a 45 pound plate. Rude rude.

Return equipment to its starting point and put your own equipment up. Do not leave the dumbbells out either. And don’t expect me to not chew you out if I catch you leaving the gym a mess. 

Other Tips on How to Follow Gym Etiquette

There are many many other things I could write about how to follow gym etiquette. Again, may of them are specific to each gym, and are common sense.

  • Don’t jump rope inside. 
  • Don’t claim an entire area as yours.
  • Wash your clothes, and lift in clean clothes. Please.
  • Don’t bring your dog. 
  • Wear deodorant.
  • Follow the rules specific to your gym.

Finally, speak to the owners/staff if someone is being rude to you. Gym owners are among the most passionate and compassionate people I’ve ever met. It’s not a lucrative field, and it’s one they usually go in for the love of it. They want to help you and they want you to succeed. 

The gym really is a friendly place! You’ll find many many people are cheering for you at a gym, and you’ll feel very supported.

Where to Start

If you are brand new to the gym, my program called Square 1 takes you though exactly where 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. 

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 Goblet Squat

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Learn how to goblet squat as we cover the benefits, variations, and training techniques to implementing the goblet squat.

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. Fun fact, I felt my abs work harder than I ever have in my life, during a heavy front squat. More than a crunch, hanging leg raise, or any ab workout style class I did; it was the front squat that required so much from my abs.

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.

How to goblet squat by Kathryn Alexander of Alexander Training

How to 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 Many Goblet Squats Should You Do?

Since the goblet squat can be used as a main lift or an accessory, you have a lot of parameters to choose from. If your goal is to use it as a strength exercise, you’ll work up to heavy weight in the 5-8 rep range. If you’d like to use it as assistance work (typically after your heavier, bigger lifts), then you can do more like 10-20 reps.

Remember to use the goblet squat to serve you and your goals! If you have questions about how to add it in your training program, please feel free to comment or email me! kathryn@kathrynalexander.com

If you’d like to learn more about working together on a custom program for you, please message me here and we can schedule a free consult.

See More From the “How-To” Series Below

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 Begin Lifting Weights

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In case you were wondering if this is a good time to begin lifting weights: any time is a good time to begin lifting weights! You are not too old, and you are not too weak, you are not too busy.

Lifting weights truly can change your life! It is like a cheat code – if you are stronger, everything feels easier. If you are healthier, the good times feel great. You don’t have to be strong to start, and you don’t have to want to be a bodybuilder or meathead.

Additionally, there are many ways to practice resistance training: lifting weights with free weights, kettlebells, dumbbells, or using band resistance or even bodyweight exercises. All of this is lifting. You can do this at the gym or at home. 

Related: learn how to overcome gym intimidation. Short term mindset shifts for long term confidence.

I recommend going to your doctor to get a baseline physical before you begin. From there, remember: you can lift weights! 

How to begin lifting weights. Kathryn Alexander of Alexander Training swings a kettlebell in her garage gym. Photo by Ben Porter.

What Do You Need to Start Lifting Weights

The great thing about lifting weights is that you can begin with very little. You can start at home with bodyweight exercises. If it suits you, you can start at the gym with machines and free weights. The gym is for beginners and advanced lifters alike, and so are all the means by which you can lift: bodyweight exercises, bands, machines or dumbbells. Any of these methods of training can increase strength.

If you enjoy lifting at home, you can lift at home as long as you’d like. The options for home gym builds these days are amazing, from basic and utilitarian to truly incredible training facilities. Check out Garage Gym Reviews for inspiration and information about how to build the perfect home gym for you. It’s very fun to have training equipment at home, but it’s not a necessity. Many of my clients prefer to keep their home home, and commute to the gym. 

A word of warning: a home gym won’t save you money. There’s a good chance you’ll get hooked, and you’ll want one more barbell, then a few more weights, then that fun new accessory, and then a garage renovation to house it all. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya! 

The most important thing to remember is that you start where you start. It is relative to where you are in your fitness and strength levels. Start with an appropriate amount of weight, like Goldilocks (not too much, not too little). Actually, err on the side of too light. Rest, repeat, and add a bit of a challenge next time.

Beginners Weight Lifting Tips

In the next section, I’ll give you concrete starting points, such as what exercises to learn for a solid foundation of good form. Remember mindset is very important too, so keep these quick tips in mind as you begin your weight lifting career. (Note that when I say weight lifter, I am referring to one who lifts weights, not only one who competes in the sport of weightlifting.)

  1. Just do it! Just get started! Even if you are a bit apprehensive, confused, or timid. Nobody knows everything, and nobody starts as anything but a beginner. Just do it; trust me, it’ll get better! 
  2. Start light. Whether it is a machine you aren’t familiar with, or free weights that offer a gazillion weight options; start very light. Feel out the movement with the light weight and think about it as you go. Your analysis of the movement will tell you how to proceed as far as adding weights.
  3. Building off the last point: focus on the feel of the movement and the muscles that you are using. Studying anatomy will help this but is not a prerequisite. Even if you don’t know anatomy, you can learn from your body as you move. 
  4. Identify your sticking point if you are having a hard time moving forward. Is it lack of confidence in you routine? A tight schedule? Need some new equipment? There is an answer to all of those, whether it is working with a training, following a training program to maximize time spent (try a free week on any of my programs here) or hitting up craigslist.com to get you started with equipment. 
  5. Try this to learn more about your shoulders and posture in less than two minutes.
  6. Remember all the benefits of lifting weights! The health, physique and mental benefits will always work in your favor. 
  7. Back to number 1: just do it! 

Get a Trainer

If you do your due diligence, you can find a professional trainer who truly views this industry as a profession. This means he or she will teach you well, help you move quickly and not waste time, prevent injury as much as possible, and write a specific program for what you are working for. 

A trainer can help you find modifications so exercises fit your body best, help you work through your sticking points, and even help build your confidence and keep you accountable. 

It is my goal to educate my clients as we go so they can be independent. I don’t ever want to quit working with my clients, but I always want them to have a plan and the ability to do it on their own. Often, people need just a few months to get their feet under them and have all the tools to proceed independently. In that case, I’m happy happy to hear their progress reports as they break off onto their own.

Form

Study form as you begin lifting weights. Good form will apply to exercise regardless of what kind of implements, weights, or bodyweight exercises you are utilizing. Good form will allow you to move faster toward your goals, prevent injury, and get the most out of each exercise. Don’t let fear of perfection slow you down, though. There is a wide gray area of safe and acceptable form. Do your best and plan to improve as you go. Remember Tip number 1: just do it! 

Beginner Body Weight Exercises

The following exercises are foundational to movement. That means these should be practiced by beginners, and continually utilized through your lifting career. They’ll become easier, but I want you to always practice them deliberately. They’ll become more like warm up and reinforcement work than hard working sets as you progress. 

Watch these videos and practice the movements. Please reach out to me if you have questions!

Basic squat with no weight

basic squat with no weight
Y for rear delts
plank walk out
reverse lunge
hinge
dead bug

Beginning Resistance Training with Bands

Resistance bands can help you develop strength at different angles. Please be careful to buy good bands, keep them inside, and check frequently for potential tears. Also be certain that your anchor point is secure so that you won’t pop yourself in the microphone you are wearing on your face as you teach a group exercise class in front of 25 sorority girls at LSU circa 2004. Hypothetically, haha, that would be sooo embarrassing.

band pullaparts
band row
band deadlift

Beginner Weight Exercises

goblet squat
dumbbell overhead press
machine row

For a full post about how to do the goblet squat, click here.

Create a Routine

Building exercise into your routine and following a plan will help you maintain your lifting habits. Remember, lifting weights will help you as long as you are able to lift, so find a way to lift for many many years. It is about consistency and progress, not perfection and knowing-it-all. Nobody knows it all, and nobody is perfect at first, if ever. Please don’t let that stop you from getting started on an enjoyable hobby that can save your life! 

For an in-depth look at how to find or develop a training plan, read here.

Begin Lifting Weights Today!

Lifting weights can make your life better almost immediately, with very little cost or equipment necessary to begin. I hope you try some of these exercises linked above and begin your strength journey. I wish you the best of luck, and invite you to please email me kathryn@kathrynalexander.com with questions, progress updates, and my favorite, your wins! Happy lifting! 

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 Bear Crawls

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If you have done bear crawls, you might be having flashbacks of sweat and tears and punishment from a high school coach. The bear crawl is a full body, energy intensive exercise that lends itself well to group application. It’s also fairly simple, equipment free, and luckily for us over the age of 18, has many modifications to suit your goals, ability, and space.

The bear crawl is a great exercise that is beneficial to almost everybody, not just young athletes. As you can see, you’ll be working your arms and legs, but it’s a killer ab & back exercise too. Core work, as it’s trendy to say. The bear crawl also reinforces athleticism and coordination, since it works the whole body as a unit.

Learn how to do bear crawls and add them into your program today!

What is the Bear Crawl?

The bear crawl is a traveling movement on all fours. It can be done quickly, like a run, for conditioning goals. It can be done as I’ll show you here, with smaller movements for a focus on the trunk. There are many ways to do a bear crawl well. In this case, you’ll take smaller steps and more precise movements. This will also allow you to do the bear crawl inside, where you might not have as much room as on a large turf.

How to do the Bear Crawl

  • Set up on all fours (4 point position)
  • Keep an active, neutral, flat back
  • Pick your knees up off the ground about an inch
  • Travel forward, taking very small (2 inch) steps
  • Deliberately keep your trunk engaged, as opposed to loose and flopping around
  • Reverse and travel backwards

Try the Bear Crawl and Let Me Know How You Love It!

Try out the bear crawl and let me know how it goes! It is tougher than it looks so be prepared to work!

Happy training!

Related: My 5 Favorite Exercises

Check Out More How-To Videos Below

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 Band Pullaparts

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Band pullaparts are a fantastic exercise for nearly everybody to do, and it is well worth the time to learn how to do band pullaparts. They work your posterior upper body, something we need to be cognizant of in a very forward facing society. We look at our phones, we type on the computer, leaning in and stretching our neck. 

The truth is, we need to do this anyway. It’s not just modern times. It’s because our eyes face forward. If not for a smart phone, it would be a book, a newspaper, a magazine.

It’s also very important to make sure your back is strong if your front is strong. Do you bench press? Do you do pushups? You need pullaparts then, to maintain shoulder health. 

It’s simply a good habit to get in to work the muscles behind you, no matter your profession or physical demands during the day. 

Band pullaparts are one way to do that. They work your rear delts, traps, and rhomboids, among other supporting musculature. 

How to do Band Pullaparts

  • stand tall

  • extend your arms in front of you, gripping a light band

  • keep elbows straight but not locked as you press your arms straight around your side

  • I prefer palms down but you can experiment with different hand positions

  • squeeze your shoulders behind you as you make a big wide sweep with your arms

  • press until the band touches your chest

  • control the return to your start position and repeat

Execution and Incorporation of Pullaparts

Pullaparts are great as a warm up, finisher, or even between exercises. I sometimes do pull-ups between sets of bench press as a reminder to scapular control. You can do sets of 10-15, or do a larger set. Use a fairly light band, as this isn’t an exercise you’ll aggressively progress. It’s a reminder and reinforcement of shoulder health. Let me know if you have questions about your pullaparts!

Need another arm tutorial? Check out how to work your triceps here.

Check Out More How-To Videos Below

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 Lunges and Lunge Variations

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Lunges are a fantastic exercise because they are effective, versatile, and can benefit nearly everyone. There are so many ways to do lunges, so learn how to do lunges in a way that best serves you and your goals.

You can do lunges without equipment or with equipment. You can make them harder or easier by adjusting the distance and load. They can work on strength, endurance and even balance. 

How to Do a Lunge

  • From a tall standing position, step one leg forward in front of you

  • Step as if you are on railroad tracks, not a tight rope

  • Aim to land with a 90 degree angle in both knees

  • Knee should be close to the floor but not touching

  • Press into the ground through your heel and big toe and squeeze your glute to stand back up

  • Repeat with your other leg, alternating as you stand back up

When to Use Lunge Variations

You can do lunges many different ways, depending on what you are looking to gain from them. 

To work balance, do walking lunges. 

If balance is restricting you, stationary lunges or reverse lunges will allow you to get good work in. You strength will build and you’ll be able to add back in walking lunges for a new challenge.

To improve work capacity, do walking lunges a greater distance to get more volume. To add a challenge on the greater distance hold dumbbells.

In fact, to improve strength, hold dumbbells, kettlebells or any kind of weight in any lunge variation.

Related: here’s a how-to for a quick arm exercise.

For all around increased challenge, try the Bulgarian split squat. These are challenging! Adjust these as you would any lunges: with something for balance, without, with weights or without. Let me know how you like them!

And as always, feel free to email me if you have specific questions!

Check Out More How-To Videos Below

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.

How to do the “Y”

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The “Y” as I call it, is an exercise primarily for your rear delts, or the posterior muscle of your shoulder. This is a small, nuanced movement, so you can even do it effectively without weight. In fact, I want you to master it without weight first, so read below how to do the Y well.

Holding the position also reinforces a healthy hinge, which is a crucial movement to master to prevent back pain. Read the directions below about how to move into the hinge position. If this is troublesome, spend some time working on the hinge too!

How to do the “Y” for rear delts

Start with no weight at first. Remember, if you can do this and recruit the muscles you are trying to feel, you’ll do better at it when you do introduce weight. Start with a set of 10 reps, then stand and assess where you feel it.

  • hinge at the hips with back neutral and straight

  • extend arms with palms facing behind you

  • bend at the elbows as if you are elbowing the ceiling

  • rotate your arms up into a “touchdown” position

  • extend your arms into a “Y” shape

  • bend at the elbows, rotate arms, and straight elbows to return to the start position

Try another how-to: how to do the banded leg lift, one of my favorite ab exercises

How to do the “Y” with a Bench at the Gym

If you have a bench or would like to do this at the gym, you can follow the same directions. Watch the video below for a demo.

When To Do the Y

You can use the “Y” as a warm up exercise, in which case you’ll go fairly light in weight and do 2-4 sets of about 10 reps. If you’re using them as an exercise that you’d like to progress in, you can increase the weight and drop the reps slightly to about 8. Remember this exercise will generally be about the mind muscle connection and not about how heavy you can go. Work on feeling what you are aiming to feel (rear delts), and doing quality reps. Happy training!

See More How-To Videos Below

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 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 it. Read below and watch the videos to learn how to do the dead bug and its variations.

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.

How to Do 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 what I could have done better.

How To Incorporate The Dead Bug In Your Program

Add this exercise in last, or with your ab/core work. You typically don’t want to exhaust your trunk musculature and then go do an exercise that requires core stability for safety, like the barbell squat. For this reason, you’ll often see more focused ab and core work at the end of a session. 

Start with 5 well executed reps per side. If that’s easy, add more reps up to 10. At 10 high quality reps, you can start incorporating the harder versions. The goal is always quality over quantity, so you can drop back to 5 reps again when trying a more challenging version. 

Happy training! Let me know how you incorporate the dead bug into your program! As always, feel free to email me with questions! Kathryn@kathrynalexander.com.

Learn More New Exercises Below

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 Floor Press

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You have probably done some sort of horizontal pressing, such as pushups, bench press, dumbbell press. But have you done the dumbbell floor press? Often overlooked for other presses, the dumbbell floor press also develops pressing strength and works the pecs, triceps and shoulders. It helps with lockout strength because it has a shorter range of motion than a traditional bench press. Read on for videos and descriptions of how to do the floor press.

How to Properly Execute the Dumbbell Floor Press

  • grip your dumbbells from a sitting position and roll back to lay flat
  • lay on your back with your elbows to your side
  • elbows should be slightly tucked, not directly out from your shoulders
  • press the dumbbells toward the ceiling until your elbows are straight and above your chest
  • do not let the dumbbells make contact with each other
  • control the return to your start position
  • from here, press the dumbbells into your legs to roll up
  • do not flop your arms out to your side to set the dumbbells down. That’s unnecessarily hard on your shoulders

When to Floor Press

The floor press can be your main lift if you would like it to be. In that case, warm up well and then begin with a medium weight. You can increase the weight each set.

If you will also be bench pressing or heavy dumbbell pressing in your session, I recommend doing the floor press after, as an assistance exercise.

how to do floor press

How Heavy to Go On the Floor Press

Since I consider the floor press an assistance or accessory exercise, and you won’t do it in competition like the bench press, I suggest keeping the reps between 6-12. No one’s going to ask you at a party, “How much you floor press, bro?” Keeping this in mind, consider it’s utility to you: to help with your bench press or pressing strength. You can go fewer than 6 (and therefore heavier than that) IF you can do this safely. Have an exit plan and/or a spotter. Remember that it’s not necessary to max out on these. 

Can’t get enough of how-tos? Check out this super challenging leg exercise.

Let me know how you like floor presses! If you have questions about how to use them, feel free to comment below or email me! kathryn@kathrynalexander.com

See How to Do More Exercises Below

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 Band Deadlift

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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!

Are you nervous about getting in the gym? Read some short term mindset shifts for long term confidence in the gym.

See More How-To’s Below

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.

Tips for Meal Prep for One Person

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I love cooking and hosting, so sometimes I’m cooking for a table full of people. Other times, it’s just me. Even then, I actually plan to cook a bit more than I need now, because I’ll always have enough for someone else to drop in, or I’ll have leftovers. Even so, sometimes you just need to meal prep for one: you.

I previously published a giant how-to on meal prepping for an entire week. It makes a crazy amount of food, most of which you can freeze if you don’t use. It’s a great option that shows how to realistically cook a lot of food with just a couple hours.

Read it here: How To Meal Prep for a Week

But what about the times you overcook, or make too much? You’ll figure out systems that work for you, but maybe some of these tips can save you time when cooking food in advance and saving it for later.

Do you train alone too? There are some great benefits to training alone. Read here!

Meal prep for one.

More Tips for Easier Meal Prepping

Meal prepping absolutely makes the week go easier if eating healthy according to a plan is important to you. Here are some quick ideas for cooking enough and not wasting food:

  • Batch your time and cook a few meals. Plan on having chicken breasts and veggies in the oven, and rice and ground beef on the stove. This way your prep and cleanup time is batched, too. 
  • Invest in good food storage for leftovers. I love Pyrex. It’s glass, so you don’t have to worry about any weird staining or warping. It freezes and cleans easy, too.
  • You can freeze meals you won’t eat for a few days, and refrigerate the rest.
  • Keep a can of tuna or chicken, and frozen vegetables as a backup. If you run out of food or forget to plan, you can always pop open a can, saute the vegetables, and there you have a meal. If you don’t have guests, you don’t have to impress anybody but yourself.
crab boil

Read next: My Favorite Recipes

Related: Grilled Venison Fajitas Recipe

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.

Improve Your Mind Muscle Connection to Get More Out of Your Training

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Mind Muscle Connection

Developing and utilizing the mind-muscle connection is one of the most overlooked lessons to learn about training. If you are able to develop the mind-muscle connection, all your training will yield greater results.

The mind-muscle connection is basically the internal dialog of the brain and the muscles involved in the movement. Instead of focusing on the task (bending the elbow) you focus on the process (squeeze the biceps). This allows your movements to be more effective and to actually develop what you are aiming to develop. For example, shallow, unfocused squats will not develop the quads, hamstrings or glutes to the full potential. Focusing on what your body is doing and what muscles are contracting and assisting will allow you to recruit and stimulate your muscle fibers most effectively.

How to Develop Your Mind Muscle Connection

To develop the mind-muscle connection, focus on the muscle group you are using. For instance, in a squat, feel the stretch as you sit deep, then think about squeezing your glutes and legs as you stand back up. This is much more effective than just bending up and down.

It helps to brush up on the major muscle groups so you understand what muscle groups cause specific movement. Think about what muscle you are working as you move, and if you don’t know, look it up beforehand. 


Here, I am focusing on the muscles that actually do the movement of the pullapart, called the prime movers.

Here, I am focusing on the muscles that actually do the movement of the pullapart, called the prime movers.


The prime movers are rear delts, traps, and rhomboids. I focus on feeling these rather than focusing on what the band is doing.

The prime movers are rear delts, traps, and rhomboids. I focus on feeling these rather than focusing on what the band is doing.

What To Do Next

Working on moving your body deliberately with the mind-muscle connection is a lifetime goal; you’ll always be practicing and improving it. But once you have an understanding of it, then it will be especially effective to add more sets and reps. From there, you can even add  progressively increasing challenges, such as heavier weights, pauses, tempo reps, etc. 

It all begins with understanding what you are working though. Once you have that, you’ll see the effects of your training improve greatly!