House Call Personal Training

11/26/2025

Thank you Talk Pittsburgh for having me on yesterday! Mikey Hood, Heather Abraham, and myself had a discussion on how to start or maintain a health and fitness routine during the busy holiday season.

It’s possible! As long as you’re willing to give yourself some grace and be realistic about what you can get done.

Check out the video for some tips on how to stay on the wagon, or get on it for the first time.

The holidays can be daunting. Here are some tips on how to be intentional with any workout. For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

11/26/2025

Thank you Pittsburgh Today Live for having me on today! With us covering balance for two months, I wanted to progress from that to carries, which we all do a lot of during the holiday season with groceries and luggage.

As always, David Highfield and Heather Abraham were excellent trainees. Try these exercises at home with dumbbells, luggage, or water jugs!

We’re learning some easy fitness moves to get our arms ready for the holiday haul. For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

10/30/2025

How to Do Hamstring Curls at Home 💡

You don’t need a machine to strengthen your hamstrings — you just need a little creativity and the right setup. Here’s how to build your own version using simple equipment:

Setup:
• Anchor a resistance band midway up a door using a door anchor.
• Back a bench up toward the door.
• Clip the band to ankle cuffs using two carabiners.
• Lie face down on the bench and perform prone hamstring curls, pulling your heels toward your glutes.

No Bench?
• Anchor the band high on the door and perform seated hamstring curls one leg at a time.

No Good Door Option?
• Wrap the band around something sturdy like a banister or basement support beam instead.

This simple setup trains the part of your hamstring most people miss — the one responsible for knee flexion and knee stability.

10/29/2025

Are Hamstring Curls Worth Doing? 🤔

A lot of people skip them, assuming deadlifts hit everything. But not every hamstring muscle works the same way.

One of your hamstrings — the short head of the biceps femoris — doesn’t cross the hip. That means hip-dominant movements like deadlifts neglect that muscle altogether. Hamstring curls directly target that “forgotten” portion of the muscle group through *active* knee flexion (think bringing your heel to your butt, not squatting down, which is passive knee flexion), something most strength programs barely touch.

And while you might not pull your heel toward your glutes often in daily life, active knee flexion strength still matters. It helps stabilize the knee when walking or running, supports balance when you stumble, slow you down when you’re going down the stairs, and protects against hamstring strains — especially as we age.

So yes — hamstring curls are worth doing. Not as the main event, but as the piece that completes the picture.

Check back tomorrow to see how we set these up for our in-home clients with resistance bands!

10/28/2025

“Why get strong if you don’t live an active lifestyle?”

It’s a fair question — and one we hear a lot.

If you sit at a desk all day, don’t play sports, and your biggest “lift” is carrying groceries, strength training can sound like overkill.

But here’s the truth: strength isn’t just about what you do — it’s about what you can do when life asks for it.

Strength is what lets you:
- Catch yourself when you trip.
- Get up easily from the floor, bed, or car seat.
- Carry luggage or grandkids without your back tightening up.
- Recover faster from injuries or surgeries.
- Age without relying on someone else for simple tasks.

Your muscles don’t know whether you’re “active” — they only know whether they’re being used. And when you stop challenging them, they start to disappear.

That’s why strength training is arguably MORE important for people with sedentary lifestyles. You’re not building strength for recreation — you’re building it for insurance.

Think of it as a rainy-day fund for your body - when you're in a pinch, it's good to have it.

Train now, so you’re capable later.

10/24/2025

Marching Walk Progressions 🦵
Rounding out our balance series, Marching Walks take everything you’ve built from single-leg balance and heel-to-toe walking — and challenge you to control your whole leg through a moving pattern.

1️⃣ Forward Marching Walks
• Cues: Lift one knee to hip height, pause briefly, then step forward under control. Keep your posture tall and core engaged.
• Regression: Run your hands along a wall or long countertop, or reduce the knee height.
• Why: Strengthens hip flexors and improves balance during gait — critical for walking with confidence and preventing trips.

2️⃣ Backward Marching Walks
• Cues: Step back while lifting your front knee toward hip height. Move slowly, maintaining balance and stability through your standing leg.
• Regression: Shorten your step or use a stable surface for support.
• Why: Enhances coordination, strengthens glutes and hamstrings, and improves stability when stepping back or downhill.

3️⃣ Weighted Marching Walks
• Cues: Hold a light dumbbell, water jug, or similar object in one hand. March forward slowly, switching the weight each round.
• Regression: Perform unweighted or reduce range of motion.
• Why: Adds real-world asymmetry — improving your body’s ability to stabilize while carrying uneven loads.

10/23/2025

Heel-to-Toe Walk Progressions 🚶‍♂️
Building on last week’s Single-Leg Balance series, this drill takes your stability training on the move — improving foot control, ankle strength, and overall coordination.

1️⃣ Forward Heel-to-Toe Walk
• Cues: Walk in a straight line, placing your heel directly in front of your toes with each step. Keep your eyes forward and your core braced.
• Regression: Lightly touch a wall, counter, or chair for balance.
• Why: Reinforces controlled, deliberate foot placement and ankle control — essential for confident walking and fall prevention.

2️⃣ Backward Toe-to-Heel Walk
• Cues: Step slowly backward, placing your toes to your heel each step. Stay tall and move with intention.
• Regression: Use a hallway or railing for guidance and safety.
• Why: Challenges coordination without visual aid and strengthens stabilizers that protect your knees and ankles when moving backward or downhill.

3️⃣ Weighted Heel-to-Toe Walk
• Cues: Hold a dumbbell, water jug, or similar household item in one hand. Maintain posture and slow, even steps.
• Regression: Perform unweighted or reduce load.
• Why: Adds an anti-rotational challenge that improves real-world balance — think carrying groceries or uneven loads.

10/22/2025

Single-Leg Balance Reach ⚖️
Once you’ve mastered standing on one leg, it’s time to add movement. The reach builds dynamic balance — the kind you use in real life when shifting your weight, catching yourself, or reaching for something.

✅ How to Perform
Do this 10 times each direction on both legs, reaching your free foot forward, to the side, and behind you while maintaining control.

• Cues: Keep your chest tall, hinge slightly at the hips, and tap your foot lightly in each direction without losing balance. Move slow and controlled. Keep all your weight on your supporting leg. Only shift onto your reaching leg if you need to catch your balance.
• Regressions: Use fingertip support on a wall or countertop, or shorten your reach distance until you build confidence.
• Why: This variation adds motion and direction change — training your legs, hips, and core to stabilize through movement, not just stillness.

10/21/2025

Single-Leg Balance Progressions 🦵
This simple drill improves your balance, ankle stability, and overall body awareness — no equipment needed. Try these three variations and see how your stability changes with each one.

1️⃣ Single-Leg Balance
• Cues: Stand tall, engage your core, keep your eyes fixed on a single point.
• Regression: Lightly touch a wall, countertop, or chair for support.
• Why: Builds ankle and hip stability — the foundation of better balance.

2️⃣ Single-Leg Balance + Head Turn
• Cues: Maintain your posture while slowly turning your head side to side.
• Regression: Keep your head still or reduce the range of motion.
• Why: Challenges your vestibular system, teaching your body to stabilize even when your eyes and head move.

3️⃣ Single-Leg Balance + Eyes Closed
• Cues: Keep your posture tall, engage your core, and lift through your standing leg.
• Regression: Start with eyes open, then close for just 1–2 seconds at a time.
• Why: Forces your body to rely on proprioception — improving true balance without visual cues.

10/20/2025

Thank you Pittsburgh Today Live for having me back! If you're shaky on your feet, check out this simple balance progression to begin working on your foot and ankle stability. David Highfield and Mikey Hood were excellent trainees, as usual!

Come back this week to see three more exercises to challenge and build your balance!

If you’re ever tripped over nothing or lost your footing putting on socks, don’t worry, you’re not alone. To help us keep life’s little stumbles in check, we...

10/16/2025

Our client has screws in both ankles and can barely bend them.

Instead of skipping leg day, we rebuilt his strength with movements that work around his limitations — not against them.

If your mobility isn’t what it used to be, you can still train effectively. Here are 4 ankle-friendly ways to build your legs.

06/23/2025

Thank you Pittsburgh Today Live for having us on the show today! David Highfield put out as always and Mikey Hood made an excellent first showing throwing some weights around. Thanks for giving it your all, you two!

If you're looking for some high-impact exercises to improve your physique in a short amount of time this summer, check these out. Regardless of where you are on your weight loss journey, these exercises are easy to execute at any fitness level, build strength, and can change the way you look in a very short amount of time.

Got questions? Send us a DM or email! Instructional videos incoming later this week.

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