Katie Prendergast

Certified Personal Trainer & Nutrition Coach

Katie Prendergast is a Certified Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach, and the Owner of KPxFitness. With over seven years of coaching experience, she has expertise in helping skiers, snowboarders, and hikers build strength and endurance to enjoy more outdoor adventures. Katie earned her Personal Training Certification and Corrective Exercise Specialist Certification from The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and is a Pain-Free Performance Specialist (PPSC).

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How do you increase your bench press?

If you want to bench more weight, train on the bench press more frequently. Hit the bench twice a week if you normally only do it once. Change the tempo, or the speed, you lift weights. Try to lower the weight to your chest for a 3-count, pause one second with the bar at your chest, then press the bar back up for a 3-count.

A proper warm-up can help you make the most of your training session, improve your strength progress, and reduce injury risk. Ramp up the weight between sets so you might start with 50% of your working weight, then 60-70%, then 80% before starting your working sets. Do just a few reps at each weight so you don’t burn out while warming up.

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How do beginners prepare for hiking?

Beginners can train for hiking by focusing on their baseline aerobic fitness. You can do this by spending a lot of time in heart rate zone 2, which is considered "light" cardio. If you have a heart rate monitor, you'll want to exercise at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. Plan for 2-3 weekly cardio training sessions in zone 2, slowly adding time each week as you go.

How do you strength train for hiking?

Squats, box step-ups, step-downs, split squats, lunges, glute bridges, and Romanian deadlifts are the best strength exercises for beginner hikers. Choose 1-2 "quad dominant" exercises like squads and lunges and 1-2 "hip dominant" exercises like bridges and deadlifts and do 3-4 sets of each exercise for 8-12 repetitions per set. Two strength workouts per week should be enough!

How can I get better at bench press as a beginner?

Incorporate "tempo" when you lift! Tempo is the speed at which you lift weights. Written as seconds down, the pause at the bottom, and then seconds up, tempo forces you to control the weights and increases your "time under tension," which drives the strength process. For instance, a 3-1-3 bench press tempo means to lower the weight to your chest for a 3-count, pause 1 second with the bar at your chest, and then press the bar back up for a 3-count.

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