Lat pulldown machine exercises and variations: how to execute and implement them for your best back development.

Lat pulldown machines are a fantastic tool for back exercises. There are many different ways to use the lat pulldown machine and all it’s variations. Lat pulldown exercises can be varied by grip width, grip type, hand positioning, and angle of the pull. Even if you can do pull-ups and don’t technically need a lat pulldown machine, it can be a very great tool for back strength, size and development. 

What are Lat Pulldowns?

Lat pulldowns are typically a seated pulling motion that mimics a pull-up. Because pull-ups are basically all or nothing; binary; you can do one or you cannot, they are tough to practice well. If you cannot pull up your own body weight, you need to build strength at that angle first. Resistance bands and machine lat pulldowns allow you to do this. 

Lat pulldowns allow you to practice this movement well, using full control of the muscles around your shoulder blades and perfecting your form. Don’t get me wrong: to achieve the ability to do pull-ups, you have to do some ugly pull-ups. But, along the way, lat pulldowns are a great way to take steps toward pull-ups.

Why Are Lat Pulldown Exercises Important to Do?

Strong lats are crucial to building and maintaining good posture, significant upper body strength, and preventing biomechanical stress from muscular imbalances. Lats are one of the most interesting muscle groups, and one of the largest contributors to full body strength.

A strong back makes a statement; it is undeniable that a person with an impressive back lifts, and pulldowns are one of the best exercises to help with this. In men, this looks strong and powerful. In women, this looks strong and graceful. I often hear my clients tell me their goals include having a strong, pain free, and aesthetically pleasing back. 

Finally, if you are a bench only type of person, you’ll develop imbalances that the lat pulldown can help you fix. Excessive stress on the shoulders from a heavy bench routine can be helped by balancing out the chest work with back work. 

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Why Are Lat Pulldown Exercises Important to Do?

Lat pulldowns work the whole back: lower back, middle back, upper back, and even arms. We don’t really want this to be an isolation exercise, but the pull up does not work your back in isolation. The muscles used from doing the lat pulldown exercise are the latissimus dorsi muscles, rhomboids, upper and lower trapezius muscles, and rear deltoids. The grip muscles of the hands and fingers, and forearm flexors, and biceps also assist in these exercises.

Fun fact: the first time I achieved a pull up, my abs were the most sore of all my muscles. Isn’t that wild? I had prepared my back muscles well and built stronger lats by doing a solid strength training program and pull-down exercises, but my abdominal muscles had not fully joined the game until I did full range of motion, unassisted pull-ups. I point this out just to highlight how pulls are not an isolation exercise.

How to do the Classic Machine Lat Pulldown (Regular Grip)

• Adjust the Seat and Knee Pads:
  • Sit on the pulldown machine and adjust the seat height so that your feet are flat on the floor.
  • Position the knee pads so they sit comfortably on your thighs, holding you in place during the exercise. (This helps a ton! Don’t skip this!)
  • You’ll stand back up and start in a standing position while you get your grip on, next.
• Grip the Bar:
  • Reach up and grab the bar with an overhand grip (palms facing away from you), slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Not a super close grip or very wide yet.
  • Make sure your hands are evenly spaced on the bar. Don’t set up crooked, ain’t nobody got time for that.
• Starting Position:
  • Sit down with your arms fully extended and your torso upright. Think chest up, and allow your shoulders to stretch up.
  • Pull your shoulder blades down and move smoothly into driving your elbows down, into your hips.
• Pull the Bar Down:
  • Pull the bar to your upper chest or just below your chin, keeping your torso steady and your core engaged.
  • As mentioned above, think about your elbows retracting into your hips, not pointing back behind you. 
• Return to Starting Position:
  • Return the bar overhead. Control your movement upwards, extending the elbow joint first, and then letting the bar pull you back into the stretched position.
  • Keep your chest up as you are stretched back into your initial position. 

Lat Pulldown Variations

The classic lat pull-down, described above, is one you should practice first. It’s symmetrical and balanced, and will help you learn to recruit and connect to your lat muscles. From there, experiment with different variations on the pulldown machine so that you can truly begin to feel how you can use your lats to control your shoulder joint and your arms. Then, try to feel, individually, your lower lats*, upper back muscles, mid back muscles. 

Focus on learning this scapular depression and elevation first:

Start with light weights so you can learn that mind muscle connection. Don’t be afraid to go heavier though; the pulldown is pretty forgiving. It’s not dangerous to increase the weight as you’re learning. 

*There’s truly no “lower lats” because the lats are one muscle group that originates from the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and fascia, ninth to twelfth ribs, and posterior half of the iliac crest. This means your lower back, and hip bones. From there, imagine the muscles attaching to your upper arm. 

Note that you do not have to MASTER the basic lat pulldown to move on to any other pulldown variations. Do your best to practice good form on all of them, and you’ll learn from each exercise to the next. For best results in building muscle and just learning the exercise, practice many variations doing the best you can.

Single Arm Lat Pulldown

The single arm lat pulldown is an excellent variation of the first exercise. In this exercise, you’ll use a single handle or ring instead of a straight bar attachment. You’ll perform your pull one side at a time. I like to stretch the whole side that I’m working. For example, if I’m pulling with my right side, I’ll grip the ring or handle with my right hand, and then skooch over in the seat, dropping my right leg closer to the floor. This creates a straight line stretch all the way down my right side, from my right arm, all the way down to my right knee, which is either close to or resting on the floor. 

This is a great exercise to feel one side at a time, and to make sure your arms are being worked symmetrically. 

Here are some barbell and dumbbell back exercises if you are looking to expand your workouts.

Wide Grip Lat Pulldown

The wide grip lat pulldown is an excellent variation of the first exercise. For this exercise, you’ll set up just like you would for the class pulldown, except you’ll take a wider grip. You can think about doing the top of the “Y” in the “YMCA”. This variation might feel a little tougher, so start light again. This is an excellent exercise to focus on that mind muscle connection, and really feel your lats. This is a great option to really challenge yourself to move into pulling heavy weights.

Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown

Neutral grip means that your hands face each other the whole time. You might not use a typical lat pulldown bar for this exercise. You can do this with a bar attachment that places your hands facing each other, or you can use two separate attachments like rings or handles that you can control yourself. For these neutral grip lat pulldowns, the primary difference is just hand placement. Focus also on the main technical points of the classic lat pulldown, above. 

Underhand Grip Lat Pulldown

Also called a reverse grip lat pulldown, this is also like a chin up. In this case, you’ll use an underhand position, meaning your palms are facing you. For wrist comfort, you’ll probably have a shoulder width grip, or even closer. This is one of the best pullup options to begin, because you’ll find you can progress on these faster than on a wide grip lat pulldown. Your biceps will really get a workout and help out with this movement. 

Pulldown Machine Exercises and Variations: Execution

With a couple of different attachments (tricep rope, straight bar attachment), the pulldown machine can be used like a cable machine for other exercises. These include cable face pulls, tricep pushdowns, the straight-arm pulldown, seated row and low rows (if it is a lat pulldown low row machine). Every weight machine is different, and you’ll typically find better options at a gym than at a home gym. So if you are a hybrid home gym/gym gym athlete, be strategic and take advantage of a few of these pulldown machine exercises while you have gym access!

Learning the basic exercises, working your whole body (full body push pull upper style), eating healthy cooking, and lifting with good technique will drive you to your goals the fastest you can go!

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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! 💪

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Y’all, it’s 107 degrees in Austin again, so you might want to move your session indoors. This is a full body workout you can do inside to escape the heat.

This full body workout focuses on calorie burn and conditioning. You’ll use medium weights but it won’t be heavy work.

Get Your Burn on Inside

Think of this workout like a steady flow session and rest as you need. There will be 2 parts, or circuits. Do all of the exercises in the first circuit, one time. Rest, and repeat. After you have done that circuit, you’ll begin the second circuit.

For example, you’ll do one set of reverse lunge, one set of bear crawl, one set of breaststroke, then one set of alternating toe touch. That is Circuit 1. Rest. Then repeat that circuit as many times as you’d like before beginning Circuit 2.

Each of the exercises below is a link to a how-to video.

The Exercises, Circuit 1

• Reverse lunge
• Bear crawl
• Breaststroke
• Alternating toe touch

The Exercises, Circuit 2

• 2 arm dumbbell row
• Squat press 
• Windmill

Modify, Don’t Miss

I wrote earlier this week about how you can modify but not miss a workout. This is a great example! It’s really not advisable to go train in the heat, so try the above session and let me know how it goes! If you need to move a little more weight than this session allows, check out the best gyms in Austin, and pop in one for a good session.

Would you rather a custom program? If so, I take into account where you will train and what equipment you have. I will not make you do burpees or exercise outside 🙂 Let me know if you’d like to do a free consult to see if we are a good fit!

Related: Check out the best ab exercises here and easy gym mistakes to avoid.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Options for How to Make Your Training Sessions Faster

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

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

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

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

Do Your Main Lift/s and Skip Accessory Work

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

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

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

1×5 @ 95

1×5 @ 135

1×3 @ 185

1×1 @ 205

3×3 @ 225.

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

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

Do Exercises That Don’t Take as Much Prep Time

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

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

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

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

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

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

Moving Faster Through Planned Session

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

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

1×5 @ 95

1×5 @ 135

2×5 @ 185

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

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

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

Change the Type of Exercise You Are Doing

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

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

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

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

Modify, Don’t Miss

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

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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.

• squat
• bear crawl
• lunge
• lateral lunge
• windmill

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:

• squat jump
• bear crawl
• Bulgarian split squat
• lateral lunge
• windmill

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.

• standing hip flexor stretch
• standing hamstrings stretch
• side stretch

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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

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!

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When I started this series about outdoor training for power, this was a supplement to gym training. This was pre-corona, pre-masks and social distancing. Now, it’s a viable training option for when you can’t, or don’t want to go to the gym.

If you missed Part 1, a beginning/intermediate protocol, start there. If you haven’t been jogging on a regular basis for at least 3 weeks, start with the conservative version outlined in Part 1. Trust me, it’s worth the time to lay down some ground work.

Read this: Outdoor Training for Power, Part I

This protocol, Part 2, is a little more plyometric, a little more powerful. The same rules apply, so let’s begin there.

Training Session Overview

Do this session in the order that follows. Exercises are covered in detail below.

• Warm up

• bleachers or stair run

• Bulgarian split squat

• box jumps

• pushups

• cool down

Training Session – Warm up

Walk a lap.

Jog a lap.

Do a few stretches if you’d like, but save the aggressive stretching for post training.

Bleachers or Stairs

If you can find safe, sturdy bleachers or stairs to walk or run, begin there. Begin by walking a lap or two. From there, set a goal. The stairs I walk are approximately 40 steps, so I go up and down them about 30 times. Each lap takes less than a minute, so it’s fairly easy to gauge how many more I have left in me.

I recommend doing 5 – 10 laps depending on the length of the stairs, and noting both how long it took you and how tired you feel after. From there, you can make appropriate adjustments.

A true recommendation of how many to do would vary wildly from person to person. For the first session, do that 5 – 10 range and continue with the workout. Based on how you feel later in the day and how you recover tomorrow, you’ll have a better idea how many to do in the future.

Total reps: 5-10 to begin

Bulgarian Split Squat

The Bulgarian split squat is also called the rear leg elevated split squat. Set up on solid footing on both legs, with the leg behind you elevated. Remember you are standing on railroad tracks, not a tight rope. That bit of lateral space between your right and left leg will give you stability. Do the first set without weight. You can hold a weight on the next sets if you would like.

Sets x reps: 2×10

If you’re repeating this workout, you can do a third and fourth set.

Box Jumps

You can use a box, bleachers, or stairs to jump onto here; anything as long as it is stable. Start at a very low height to begin. Remember, you can develop power without even jumping onto anything, so don’t go crazy with the height just yet.

Stand about a half a step away from the box, with feet about hip width apart. To begin, move into a half squat position, with your arms behind you. Explosively jump up, pressing yourself away from the ground, as you throw your arms forward. Arms move in the direction you are going.

Your legs and feet should move and land together. Absorb the impact by bending at the knees and hips as you land.

STEP down. Don’t jump.

Do small sets of the box jump so you can retain crisp, powerful movements. NO slogging through sloppy reps!

Total reps: 15, done in small sets of 2 or 3.

Pushups

Oh, how I love pushups! These are good for everybody and can be done almost anywhere! If you have bleachers, you can use them to modify pushups for more or less challenge. If pushups from your feet are too challenging right now, do pushups with your upper body elevated.

First, find your grip. If you are doing pushups from the bleachers, please do not stand far away from the bleachers and dive bomb forward to catch the bleachers! Place your hands a bit wider than shoulder width, and then step your feet back. Your hands should be straight forward from your chest, not your eyeballs. If you were doing pushups from the ground, this would mean your hands are at chest level, and not under your face.

From here, think about squeezing under your armpits. This will use your lats to stabilize your shoulders, and keep your shoulders from inching up toward your ears.

You can even think of pulling yourself to the bleachers or ground, so your back stays engaged as you do your pushups. Bend at the elbows, keep your chin tucked, and when your chest is bleacher or ground level, push back up.

You’ll find it helpful to squeeze your whole torso, glutes, and abs as you do pushups. Make your body a solid plank, not a wet noodle!

Sets x reps: 3 challenging sets. Save 2 in the tank. This means if you think you could do 10, do 8. If you’re rolling along and you could do 20, stop at 18.

Cool Down

Jog or walk two laps.

Stretch hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes and chest. This chest stretch can be done on flat ground without a foam roller (which the video shows).

Hold each stretch for 30 seconds and repeat.

Try this session out and let me know how it goes! Email me: kathryn@kathrynalexander.com

I can’t wait to hear!

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Do you ever feel like your training needs a bump? Are you in a rut more than you are in a groove? Take your training outside! It’s becoming better weather by the day and it’s a great opportunity to challenge your body in a different way. 

Power movements and sprinting increase calories burned, increase conditioning and cardiovascular capacity and build muscle. Have you ever seen a skinny fat sprinter? Probably not. These are all reasons to take your training to the track. 

I’m going to give you to protocols here, and I want you to take the more conservative one if you haven’t been including jogging in your program in the last three weeks.

Training Session

Walk a lap.

Jog a lap.

Build ups:

• 100 meters. Start at 50% and build to 60%

• 100 meters. Start at 50% and build to 70%.

• 100 meters. Start at 50% and build to 80%.

A build up is where you begin the distance at a certain sub-max pace and accelerate into a harder run. It is not a sprint.

Important: If running is new in your program, skip the hard runs and move right to skipping. (After you have done this program three times asymptomatically and pain-free, you can add the hard runs.)

If you are currently conditioned for running, then do two harder build ups:

Start at 70 and build to 90%. Repeat.

Skipping

Skip 50 meters, walk back, and repeat. These should be powerful! If you have to slog through these, your session is over! Moved to the cool down and stretch.

Broad Jumps

Want more? Still have some pep in you? Do 7 broad jumps.

Power! Fast! Commit! Big execution and stick the landing.  Knees as wide as feet, not caving in. Like skips, these jumps should be powerful. If you feel like this is a grind, stop there. Slogging through power exercises defeats the purpose. 

Cool Down

Jog or walk two laps.

Stretch hamstrings, quads, and glutes.

Try It!

Try out this session and let me know how it goes! Once you’ve done this session a few times, try Part 2. It is similar but slightly advanced. As always, email me if you have questions! Happy training!

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How do people get everything done? My to-do list is never ending. I’m not some special exception with a busier life; you can probably relate. Check this out: 

• program client workouts
• write thank you notes
• workout
• call my mom (she’s the best)
• write/edit blog post
• mow my lawn and trim those hyperactive shrubs that take over
• do 3 loads laundry (light, dark and purple, Geaux Tigers!!)
• workout
• research changing client programs (this is a big one, will explain later)
• encourage more consistent workouts to increase health such as developing bone strength, muscular strength and staving off heart disease and stroke
• experiment with different ways of increasing client compliance
• encourage all my clients, all my subscribers, and everybody I can influence to exercise smarter and live healthier
• blah blah blah
• are you still reading?
• decrease heart disease! avoid heart attacks! reduce early death! 

Ok WOW that escalated quickly. All my to-do lists begin with small and defined tasks before progressing into saving the world. I am being entirely serious. I want to save the world.

I even left off some things like going to the grocery store and watching LSU, UT, and the Saints play football (make fun if you want, but it requires some serious wardrobe changes and time management). I sometimes even write “drink coffee” or “shower” so I can put a couple more check marks.

Setting Expectations

I wrestle constantly with the decision of where to set the bar for my clients. It’s tough because everyone’s time demands are different, everyone’s affinity toward exercising is different. If you love exercise and see it as a blessed break in your day, it’s not a burden to do. If you’re slammed busy with a spouse and co-workers and kids depending on you, carving out another 30-60 minutes in your day to do something you don’t even wanna do is, well, tough.

So where do I set the bar for my clients? In the past, if I knew exactly how much or little exercise could get my client to his goals, I would suggest doing exactly that. The problem is, what if I estimate wrong, ask him to do too little, and he (obviously) don’t reach his goals? That’s a real problem.

It’s time I change my approach.

<Note to other coaches: I would LOVE your input about your philosophy here. What do you ask of your clients in terms of work demand? Email me: kathryn@kathrynalexander.com>

Heart Disease and the Very Real Implications

I was rocked this week by the death of a gym-goer and friend. Heart disease, way too young. He exercised and ate healthy, which illustrates that we aren’t in control of all of our risk factors. For this reason, we should do the best we can with the risk factors we can control. 

Why don’t we do better, when we can control SO MUCH of our health status? It takes so much time. In addition to all the other things we have to do, going to the gym or getting out the door for a walk really cuts into our day. I get it. But we have to do better!

After all, we won’t get to put any checks on that to-do list if we are dead.

AHA Recommendations

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

You can read more details here.

What To Do Next

The takeaway is that we must start taking the time to add more exercise in, despite how busy we all are. Be creative with how you can fit it in. If you truly can’t fit in 25 minutes of activity 3 times a week, you probably need the stress relief most! 

• Lace up your shoes and walk right out your front door. 15 minutes out, 15 back. 
• Try new hikes or routes in your city. Window shopping on South Congress? Yes please. 
• Ramp a treadmill up to a high incline and walk at a high speed for a vigorous aerobic session if you don’t like walking. Vary the speed/incline by minute to avoid boredom. 

To my clients, expect to see some changes in your workouts soon, and be thinking about how you can fit in 2 more homework workout sessions.

If you have more ideas on how you sneak exercise into your day, please let me know! I hope every one of you finds a way to make healthier decisions and life better! 

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Last week I attended the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Tactical Strength and Conditioning Annual Training, a meeting of leaders in the police, fire and military community. Recognizing the commonalities in their units, programs, and experience allows for faster learning and implementation of effective programs. 

In short, when our police, fire, and military departments are fitter, we are all safer.

So, we meet, listen, learn and talk a lot!

You might wonder why, as a personal trainer in Austin, Texas, I chose to attend the TSAC Annual Training.

Continuing education is a huge component for trainer’s integrity. The chance to meet and learn from other strength and conditioning coaches is hugely beneficial to me.  

But, I could have attended a general fitness conference or a personal trainer specific conference. Why a tactical conference? Last year, I was employed as an exercise physiologist with the Austin Fire Department. We attended the TSAC Conference, and I was taken with the people I met and the experiences they shared.

And how does this apply to my clients? Let’s back up and minute and consider the goals of a large scale military training program. The individual soldier will be most effective when he or she is strong, conditioned, agile, and healthy. Healthy includes recovery, diet, and sleep. 

Similarly, the optimal firefighter will be able to meet unexpected physical demands, understand how to recovery properly, and generally be fit. Police officers also must be quick with their feet and their mind, and conditioned to run and wrestle if necessary. 

Add in the extra stresses these populations face. They do not have the luxury of knowing what specific abilities they will need, or what exact situations they will encounter. Nutrition will certainly not be planned and perfect; hello, fleeing suspect or box alarm at dinnertime.

They don’t always have the best training circumstances either. Deployments don’t necessarily lend themselves to regular and consistent training in perfectly equipped gyms.

Certainly, the rest of us can learn from these tactical athletes. If they are able to get their training in with an uncertain schedule, potentially limited equipment, and limited meal options, the rest of us civilians can do it too.

There are 6 gyms or personal training studios on the 1.2 mile “commute” from my home to my second home. That is, Hyde Park Gym for those of you who don’t know me. Granted, I live in the fitness crazed town of Austin, but the point remains: we who are lucky enough to live in a major city have every opportunity to be fit and well surrounding us.

Several of the talks I heard were about mental toughness, a crucial skill to develop, with wide application from soldiers to civilians. Matt Wenning, one of the strongest powerlifters of today, taught my favorite hands-on session, which was the sumo deadlift, a major foundational lift for strength. 

I got to listen to Eric Cressey, Dan John and Dr. William Kraemer, none of whom need an introduction to those familiar with the training community. 

Many more names that you would know shared their experience with us, and some you would not. All in all, it was a week of great learning, ideas, and doing. I’ll leave you with one last thought.  Mark Taysom, who is a strength and conditioning coach responsible for thousands of soldier’s training, said in his opening remarks, “A lot of people are great. They just don’t know they’re great.”

My job is to bring out the greatness in people.  Some of them are performance athletes or public servants. Others are civilians like me. If I can learn from those coaching individuals whose hurdles are higher and responsibilities are great, I can help my all my clients better.

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