<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Alex Powerbuilding | Online Fitness Coach]]></title><description><![CDATA[Helping tech industry pros, entrepreneurs and software engineers go from exhausted to energetic and strong. With the power of strength training.]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:17:30 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Why Training for 4 Months Might Actually Mean 3 Weeks]]></title><description><![CDATA[Two clients start the same program on the same day. Same three workouts a week. Same two daily walks. Months later, one of them has changed shape and the other hasn't moved much at all. Both of them, if you ask, will tell you the same thing: "I've been training consistently for months now." Only one of them is telling the truth. Perceived training duration and actual compliant training volume are not the same number - a client who trains without interruption logs a fixed number of sessions...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/why-training-for-4-months-might-actually-mean-3-weeks</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a4e079ed173dba82bbac564</guid><pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2026 08:39:01 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_62735d4ad825497998b91f2bd4d0dc4d~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Stop Chasing Discipline: A Smarter Fitness Framework for Software Engineers Running on Low Time and Energy]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most people in tech and especially software engineers who are trying to get healthier think they're fighting a willpower battle. Wake up earlier. Eat better. Push through the tired afternoon instead of giving in to it. They're fighting the wrong battle. You manage four resources, all the time, in everything you do: money time knowledge energy  You almost never lack all four simultaneously. There's usually one or two you have plenty of, and one or two you're starving for. The fix isn't trying...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/stop-chasing-discipline-a-smarter-fitness-framework-for-software-engineers-running-on-low-time-and</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a43d0ed3c06bdad54297c30</guid><pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:30:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_2cea4cbd2e7a49b6b5cbc86f35d35e55~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fitness Coach for Software Engineers: What That Actually Means and How It Works]]></title><description><![CDATA[What it actually means to work with a fitness coach built specifically for software engineers - the structure, the approach to training and nutrition, and who it's genuinely a fit for.]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/fitness-coach-for-software-engineers-what-that-actually-means-and-how-it-works</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3cdfeb2a275e264a851803</guid><pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2026 08:22:34 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_48c8bcbf2d24497fa9991aa435a2e8a6~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Your Hip Flexors Are the Real Reason Your Back Hurts (Not Your Chair)]]></title><description><![CDATA[The instinct when lower back pain develops is to blame the chair. Buy something ergonomic. Add lumbar support. Spend money on furniture. This misses the actual mechanism in most cases. The chair is rarely the primary problem. The hip flexors are. Software engineers develop chronic lower back pain through a specific, well-documented mechanism that has almost nothing to do with chair quality and almost everything to do with what happens to a small set of muscles at the front of the hip during...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/why-your-hip-flexors-are-the-real-reason-your-back-hurts-not-your-chair</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a325bf5403edb8461f24c54</guid><pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2026 08:42:18 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_f371ec80637d45ee9d6c76154977fbfc~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Software Engineers Get Headaches Every Afternoon (And It's Not the Screen)]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most advice about developer headaches focuses on the screen. Blue light glasses, 20-20-20 rule, screen brightness adjustments. These help at the margin. They don't address what's actually causing most afternoon headaches in this population. The screen is a contributing factor. It's rarely the primary one. Software engineers who experience regular afternoon headaches are almost always dealing with a combination of four converging problems - none of which is the screen itself. Understanding...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/why-software-engineers-get-headaches-every-afternoon-and-it-s-not-the-screen</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a310870922d7e50d7cb12d5</guid><pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 09:00:02 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_8b7f81cf628545edb464277a6fa4613b~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Get 10,000 Steps a Day as a Software Engineer Who Works From Home]]></title><description><![CDATA[The average software engineer working from home gets 3,000 to 5,000 steps a day. The average office worker who commutes gets 7,000 to 8,000 - not because they're more active, but because commuting forces movement that remote work removes entirely. Remote software engineers have eliminated one of the few built-in physical activity anchors in the working day. The commute, the walk between buildings, the trip to lunch - all gone. What's left is a front door to a desk and a desk to a kitchen. On...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/how-to-get-10-000-steps-a-day-as-a-software-engineer-who-works-from-home</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3107e0da32d1fd4fced863</guid><pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:31:55 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_a05e2c71cb0a414fb3ce43cfa074a35f~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Best Whey Protein Powder for Software Engineers: What Actually Works and Why Most Options Are Overkill]]></title><description><![CDATA[The protein powder market is designed for bodybuilders and competitive athletes. The marketing features shredded physiques, extreme training volumes, and supplement stacks that cost more per month than a gym membership. None of that is relevant to a software engineer who wants adequate protein intake, good recovery, and a product that doesn't require a spreadsheet to use correctly. Here's what actually matters when choosing protein powder for this population - and why the decision is simpler...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/best-protein-powder-for-software-engineers-what-actually-works-and-why-most-options-are-overkill</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a294621b34d9652f55391eb</guid><pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2026 11:18:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_b23a5a19e5c446acbc3afe7c052cf61e~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Does Intermittent Fasting Work for Software Engineers? The Honest Answer]]></title><description><![CDATA[Intermittent fasting has been one of the most discussed nutrition approaches of the last decade. For software engineers specifically, it has genuine appeal - it's a system, it has clear rules, and it removes the decision-making around meals that consumes cognitive resources better spent elsewhere. But the question isn't whether intermittent fasting works in general. The question is whether it works for someone sitting at a desk for ten hours, doing cognitively demanding work, and trying to...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/does-intermittent-fasting-work-for-software-engineers</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1ffd32ae0d73d108807f9c</guid><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:25:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_e4544a062bd044bbae1fcd5b0e0b509a~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_688,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Software Engineer's Desk Setup for Less Pain and More Energy]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most desk setup advice focuses on buying things. A better chair. A standing desk converter. An ergonomic keyboard. The assumption is that the right equipment solves the problem. It doesn't. Equipment helps. But the real problem is that software engineers sit in the same position for hours regardless of what they're sitting on - and no chair, however expensive, fixes the consequences of that. Here's what actually matters in a desk setup for someone who works in front of a computer all day, and...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/the-software-engineer-s-desk-setup-for-less-pain-and-more-energy</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1fe0e943116cbc2f77e2b1</guid><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 08:20:42 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_5de767606ef64e569a4848a4c5117d03~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How Much Protein Does a Software Engineer Actually Need?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most protein advice was written for bodybuilders or endurance athletes. Neither of those is you. You sit for ten hours a day, train two to three times a week if you're consistent, carry more cognitive load than physical load, and eat whatever is closest to the keyboard when deadlines hit. The standard "eat more protein" advice doesn't account for any of that. Here's what the research actually says - and what works in practice for software engineers specifically. Software engineers need...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/how-much-protein-does-a-software-engineer-actually-need</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1fdd62800e2e1c2bb40715</guid><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 07:58:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_7bee0832f7e349ad9dd237bb8ff2fcc2~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Week in My Life: How I Train, Work in Tech, and Recover as a Fitness Coach for Software Engineers]]></title><description><![CDATA[ A real week in the life of an online fitness coach for software engineers - morning training, work structure, recovery habits, and why none of it requires extra hours or exceptional willpower.]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/a-week-in-my-life-how-i-train-work-in-tech-and-recover-as-a-fitness-coach-for-software-engineers</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1d6ae174254bcae0842933</guid><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 11:25:38 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_3f6d7fcdb05e4a108a7bbce0f99acf29~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Software Engineers Have Lower Testosterone Than They Should (And How to Fix It Naturally)]]></title><description><![CDATA[Software engineers hit almost every known lifestyle driver of testosterone suppression simultaneously - sedentary work, chronic stress, poor sleep, abdominal fat. Here's the mechanism and what actually fixes it naturally.]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/why-software-engineers-have-lower-testosterone-than-they-should-and-how-to-fix-it-naturally</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1d44d0750a0d733716078b</guid><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 08:43:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_7896fc48bf0f474a9c6b95b83b411629~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[4 Years on the Whoop: What a Fitness Coach Learned That No Gym Mirror Could Show Him]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most wearables tell you how many steps you took. Whoop tells you whether your body is ready to take them. I've been wearing a Whoop for four years. Not as a gadget enthusiast, not as a biohacker - as someone who has trained seriously since the age of 16 and wanted to finally close the feedback loop that years of hard training had left open. Here's what I learned. And why I think it's one of the most useful tools a software engineer can own. Software engineers and fitness coaches have the same...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/4-years-on-the-whoop-what-a-fitness-coach-learned-that-no-gym-mirror-could-show-him</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a19487a145da5e38308d7ad</guid><pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 08:12:35 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_c08bc9b5fac044aebd2440e9e782ef28~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Sitting All Day Is Destroying Your Health Faster Than You Think And What Software Engineers Can Actually Do About It]]></title><description><![CDATA[There's a post on Blind that gets reshared constantly. The title is something like "my doctor told me my job is worse for my health than smoking." The thread runs to hundreds of comments. Most of them aren't arguing with the premise. They're adding their own version of the same story. Persistent back pain that appeared without injury. Energy that collapses by mid-afternoon despite sleeping enough. A body that feels older than it is. The creeping sense that the work, not just the stress of it...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/why-sitting-all-day-is-destroying-your-health-faster-than-you-think-and-what-software-engineers-can</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1832c3cc403ab10fbf40c2</guid><pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 12:26:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_066e20d333794747a4528194ed352936~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Burnout or Overtraining? Why Software Engineers Can't Tell the Difference (And Why It Matters)]]></title><description><![CDATA[You've been exhausted for weeks. Motivation is gone. Sleep doesn't restore you. The gym sessions that used to help feel like another item on a list you can't get through. Everyone around you says it's burnout. You've read the articles. You've nodded along to the symptoms. Maybe you've even taken a week off and come back feeling exactly the same. But what if the diagnosis is wrong? Software engineers are uniquely positioned to confuse burnout with overtraining - and to treat the wrong problem...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/burnout-or-overtraining-why-software-engineers-can-t-tell-the-difference-and-why-it-matters</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1827e9cc403ab10fbf27f3</guid><pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 11:40:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_9a7ca6bfa96f4d2884ffacb4c282c8d3~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Software Engineers Crash at 3pm: The Cognitive Load Problem Nobody Talks About]]></title><description><![CDATA[You've had a productive morning. Standup done, two tickets closed, a solid code review finished before lunch. You eat something, sit back down, open the editor - and nothing. The screen is there but the brain isn't. It's 3pm and you feel like you're thinking through wet concrete. This is not a caffeine problem. It's not a sugar problem. It's not laziness. It's a predictable biological response to how software engineering work actually loads the nervous system - and almost nobody in the...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/why-software-engineers-crash-at-3pm-the-cognitive-load-problem-nobody-talks-about</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a16aecdae3e4a2623f8a844</guid><pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 08:51:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_69b0ef4370e04ba3958116e9fd429cfe~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Software Engineers Shouldn't Count Calories (And What Actually Works Instead)]]></title><description><![CDATA[Every few months, a software engineer messages me with some version of the same question: "Should I start counting calories?" They've read it somewhere. A Reddit thread, a fitness app, a YouTube video from someone with six-pack abs and apparently unlimited free time. Count your calories, hit your macros, track everything. It sounds logical. It sounds like a system. And software engineers like systems. The problem is this one was never built for them. Where calorie counting actually comes from...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/why-software-engineers-shouldn-t-count-calories-and-what-actually-works-instead</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a16aa1fd715e4cc2ae39a93</guid><pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 08:36:18 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_02c863b3f53140c0aca727a2c76179b1~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fitness for High-Performing Tech Professionals: A Different Approach]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most fitness advice is written for people with predictable schedules, moderate stress, and a straightforward relationship with their body. That's not a software engineer. That's not a tech lead. That's not a founder running a company while trying to maintain some version of a healthy life. The people I work with are high performers in a specific way - not gym high performers, but cognitively demanding, chronically overstimulated, perpetually connected professionals whose relationship with...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/fitness-for-high-performing-tech-professionals-a-different-approach</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a155ac75053032b84b99de8</guid><pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2026 08:47:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_3d77ad2336994b19bf422ec97b4f2d95~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Software Engineers Can't Switch Off After Work]]></title><description><![CDATA[The laptop closes at 6pm. Dinner happens. The evening passes. And somewhere around 10pm, lying in bed, the solution to the bug from this afternoon arrives uninvited. This isn't dedication. It's not even productive. It's a nervous system that doesn't know it's supposed to stop. Software engineers experience this more than almost any other profession, and the reasons are specific enough that generic advice - take a walk, practice mindfulness, leave work at work - almost never addresses what's...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/why-software-engineers-can-t-switch-off-after-work</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0eea12f0529c74999552f4</guid><pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2026 11:26:02 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_a0f2b76fd30349658355bc33f5b6cf17~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Software Engineers Feel Anxious After Work (And Why AI Is Making It Worse)]]></title><description><![CDATA[The workday ends. The laptop closes. And somehow, the anxiety doesn't. This isn't burnout in the classic sense. It's something more specific - a low-grade, persistent unease that follows software engineers into their evenings, their weekends, their supposedly quiet moments. A background process that never fully terminates. For most of tech history, this was explained by deadlines, performance pressure, and the general intensity of the industry. Those things are still real. But something has...]]></description><link>https://www.alexpowerbuilding.com/post/why-software-engineers-feel-anxious-after-work-and-why-ai-is-making-it-worse</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0d9effcb0791383ec27609</guid><pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2026 11:51:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/442d9a_df5a6d0449be4e879e843cc812d12387~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alex</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>