Personal Trainer in Palo Alto - Steven Rice Fitness
Steven Rice Fitness provides customized personal training services to individual and group clients in Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos, emphasizing functional strength, mobility, corrective exercise, and High Intensity Interval Training.
Clients benefit by developing more strength, moving more freely, experiencing less pain, improving their endurance, gaining energy, losing weight, and achieving better overall health.
My Personal Training Services

Functional Strength Training
One of the greatest benefits of exercise is increasing strength. Ideally the strength isn't arbitrary numbers in the gym though- It also improves your ability move and perform in the world outside the gym. Functional Strength Training builds real, full-body, and multi-directional strength useful in both everyday life and sports.

Club Training
Develop strength and mobility in your shoulders, arms, and hands by swinging exercise clubs. Clubs are a great complement to heavy strength training to keep the shoulders mobile through the full range of motion with flowing, circular movement, and to build strength and stability for 'overhead' sports such as tennis, volleyball, and baseball.

Pain, Restriction, and Injury
Almost everyone has some limitations in movement, and occasional pain from past injury and over- or under- use of their body. This includes too much time sitting at a computer or emphasis on a single sport. Posture often declines, potentially causing problems. I can work with people who don't need medical help but still need expert guidance to improve their condition.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
High-Intensity Interval Training is an exercise strategy that alternates between short intervals of exercise and rest. HIIT provides the maximum amount of cardio training in the minimum amount of time, with a variety of possible exercises. Benefit your endurance, cardio-vascular health, energy production, recovery time, and burn calories in a fun and efficient way.

Sunday, April 26, 2020
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Mobility and Warming Up
Mobility is the ability to control the movement of the body through its full ranges of motion. Flexibility, balance, coordination, and some strength are all required, and dynamic stretching is included. Mobility drills do not attempt to increase range of motion at a joint, but do prepare a joint to safely move within the range already possible. Mobility is fundamentally a dynamic process- it is being able to deliberately move your body.
Improving mobility means improving the interplay of muscle contractions and elongations to allow strong, graceful, and safe movement. The complex, multi-joint exercises that are the focus of modern exercise require this. As with other warm-ups, as the tempo of the drills increases, the body is warmed and blood flow increased.
The videos show three phases of a mobility warm-up. The entire sequence is intended as a continuous flow taking about ten minutes. If a stage is easy, go through it quickly. If a movement is challenging spend time trying to improve instead of struggling. Work to do each movement well, do not practice doing anything poorly. Movements where balancing is difficult can be practiced while lightly touching a wall or sturdy object. There are many other possible mobility exercises, these are some I have found that work well together.
Done for higher reps, some of these drills will make excellent cardio intervals. For some people they will also be good for building strength and can be performed more deliberately for that purpose. Many can be done holding a moderate weight such as a medicine ball, or something heavier such as a dumbbell, kettlebell, or sandbag.
Three areas where most people have postural tightness are emphasized: hip opening, chest opening, and upper spine extension(bending backward). The advantage of mobilization over passive stretching for posture improvement is the neurological integration of releasing the tight area with the contraction of the opposite area while the body is moving.
After the mobility warm-up is finished, foam rolling on problem areas can be done. As you transition to the rest of your workout, some specific preparations may be needed before each exercise, including light weight practice sets.
I have to ask for some tolerance for my video recording and performance skills. The material is good even if the production isn't. There are three stages, shown in two videos shot in two locations.
Stage I & II
Next, work on improving mobility while standing and walking. Do ten to fifteen big steps of each drill. Here I take only a few steps in one direction just to stay in the camera frame.
Stage III
The video shows differing numbers of reps in each direction or of each movement. In practice each part of the drill would be done for anywhere from four to eight times, unless accelerating from an easy variation to a hard one.
I'm not doing these perfectly. There is one point where I unintentionally switch which arm I raise(0:46). I also don't do a smooth progression of the final drill, and do one of the moves only once.
A good plan for the kick throughs would be:
-Step forward with the left leg, kick through with the right.
-Step back, then repeat on the other side. Repeat.
-Next instead of stepping one foot back and then other forward, simultaneously switch feet.(the video does this from the beginning). Repeat.
-Increase the stability challenge by kicking the moving foot back and forward again without touching the ground(1:45). Repeat twice.
-Add a frontal stretch and posterior push by planting the foot and going into a bridge(2:06). Repeat the entire sequence four times.
The kick throughs work really well combined with a bear crawl. I like to have clients bear crawl sideways a few steps, kick through on one side, then crawl the other direction and kick through with the other foot.
Do these drills at the start of your workout, and you'll be ready to be awesome for the really hard exercises.
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Better Planks, plus a Leg and Hip Extension Exercise
Holding stability in the midsection is useful though. The core is what connects the arms and hands to the legs and feet, and commonly in sports and general life, forces get transmitted from one set to the other through the core. To work on core stability more realistically, I suggest changing how the midsection is stressed while holding your plank position. Here are some plank variations help with that.
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High Plank |
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Forearm Plank |
Here is the Three Corner Plank. From a high plank position, lift one extremity off the ground for a second or two, put it down, then do another. Eg. left leg, right leg, left arm, right arm, repeat.Try to keep the body still, but some movement is perfectly OK. Start with feet only if you can't support yourself on one arm. Touching the hand to the shoulder is just a way to get a nice rhythm and define a rep. The uneven support from having one leg or one arm off the ground introduces diagonal forces through the torso, requiring the core to resist twisting as well as bending. The Three Corner Plank has a lot in common with the Bird Dog exercise often used for lower spine therapy.
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Three Corner Plank |
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Side Plank |
A very good sequence can be built by combining Forearm, High, and Side Planks. Start with forearms on the ground, raise yourself to High Plank, turn in one direction to Side Plank, turn back to High Plank, turn to do Side Plank on the other side, return to High Plank, down to Forearm Plank, repeat. The movement should be done slowly with control, working to keep the torso steady throughout.
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Side Plank |
The last word on planks- The standard, static plank can be improved by varying the forces and angles through the body while keeping the torso steady. Technically, this makes the plank isometric but not isotonic. That said, it is still not an important exercise in my opinion. The same concepts of transmitting force from the upper to the lower parts of the body through a stable center are present in many exercises which are also better for building strength and increasing your capacity to move.
The Resistance Band Run(or Walk) in Place is an exercise to build endurance and strength in your legs for driving the body forward or upwards. I use it as one part of a High Intensity Interval Training routine because it also gets your heart and lungs working hard, and it works better timed than done for reps.
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Resistance Band Run |
Many sports require short bursts of movement on your feet, and this will build your capacity for them. Lateral movement can also be included, there just wasn't room to show that on the sidewalk.
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Equestrian Fitness and Cross Training
Thanks!
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Strength and Stability |
Training can be of three types, which is similar for any sport:
- The most important is time in the saddle, both for learning skills and increasing your body's specific capability to ride.
- The next priority is a foundation of strength, conditioning, and movement important for people in all sports and fitness pursuits, This foundation provides improved fitness and health well beyond riding. See Functional Strength.
- Finally are exercises that emphasize the physical demands encountered while riding. This includes building strength, dynamic stability, and developing good posture. A good example is being able to recover smoothly on landing after a jump. Trying to exactly imitate riding isn't attempted though- the movement patterns and coordination of muscles can't be recreated on the ground.
Squats are a key exercise to improve your riding:
Coaching at the barn... |
...better riding in the arena |
Squats with a lateral pull integrate legs, hips and core:
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Pulling and core strength combined |
Another exercise that combines upper body strength and core stability is an inclined row using a suspension device. The movement is in the arms and shoulders, and the entire body is involved down to the feet.
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Core, hips, and balance at once |
Training is available at your barn or home.
Some excellent research:
Core fitness training for riders boosts symmetry in the saddle – research
"The physical influence of the rider is increasingly being recognized as an important contributor to equine back pain and lameness, and research demonstrates that asymmetrical loading in particular can be damaging to the horse."

Thanks to riding instructor Deborah Mendelsohn of Redhorse Equestrian in Woodside, California for her help with photography.
"Redhorse Equestrian Training provides high-quality personalized horse training and lessons focusing on dressage and ground schooling."
Member of the Bay Area Equestrian Network
Monday, August 1, 2016
Hip and Back of Leg Mobility Drill
The sequence of movements described are used in a warm-up to improve mobility in the back off the legs. Because it looks like a familiar hamstring stretch that people 'know' how to do, details are given.
Most of the focus is on the hamstring muscles, but many others including the adductors and abductors are included. Another way of saying this is that hip flexion is being trained.
Important concepts:
- The hip joint is a ball and socket. It can turn in multiple directions, and should be stretched that way to address the full range of motion(ROM) in which the muscles can move it.
- The big muscles in the back of your leg are the hamstrings -there are three. All start at the ischial tuberosity(except the short head of the biceps femoris), aka 'sit bone', but they end at different points on the inside and outside of the knee.
- The hamstrings, like all muscles, do not work in isolation. Changing hip alignment changes which muscles are included and to what degree.
- This is called a mobility drill because of the emphasis on moving into full elongation of multiple muscles at various angles. The central nervous system is being trained along with the muscles.
- The hamstrings cross both the hip and the knee(bi-articulate) so both joints should be utilized for full ROM mobility.
- There are no hamstring attachments to the spine, nose, or fingertips. How far those bits go is not a good measure of hamstring elongation. Keep your spine in neutral and don't round forward when stretching the back of the leg.

- Step forward with the side being addressed about the length of your foot or a bit more. The back leg supports most of your weight, and is bent at the knee.
- At all times, keep the spine neutral, and keep the pelvis and shoulders pointing in the same direction.
- Pivot the pelvis and all the body above the pelvis straight forward and down. The body is folding at the top of the front leg. This is often called a 'hip hinge'. Keeping the spine straight will help anteriorly tilt the pelvis.
- Hold for only a couple seconds. This is not static stretching.
- Slightly reduce the forward angle.
- Turn the pelvis together with all the body above the pelvis to one side as far as possible.
- Repeat the forward pelvic tilt at this new angle.
- Reduce the pelvic tilt, turn to the opposite side, and tilt again.
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Stretching the back of the leg. Hands show the angle of the torso. |
- At each angle, stretch as much as possible without pain or losing alignment.
- Straighten the knee(extend).
- Hold 2-3 seconds, release the knee, and turn to new angle, and repeat.
Using a prop for the foot as shown adds a stretch to the big posterior calf muscles, especially the gastrocnemius, which is also bi-articulate, crossing both the ankle and knee.
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Side view of the back of leg stretch, with calves included |
- Remember to keep flowing at a slow but steady pace, and don't prolong any one position.
- The foot can also be elevated, for instance onto a chair or step.
- Some extra variety is possible by shifting the hips side-to-side at each angle, and by twisting the leg.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Gaining Muscle While Losing Fat

This article from the New York Times gives a great discussion of recent research on the topic:
A Diet and Exercise Plan to Lose Weight and Gain Muscle
From the article:
"The routine had succeeded in incinerating pounds from all of the participants. The men in both groups weighed about 11 or 12 pounds less, on average.
But it was the composition of that weight loss that differed. Unlike most people on low-calorie diets, the men on the high-protein regimen had actually gained muscle during the month, as much as three pounds of it. So in these men, almost all of the 11 or 12 pounds they had lost over all had been fat.
These results strongly suggest that extra protein is advisable during weight loss, Dr. Phillips said, to avoid stripping yourself of muscle.
But exercise is also key, Dr. Phillips continued, particularly weight training, since it is known to build muscle. Even the men on the lower-protein diet lost little muscle mass, he pointed out, which was unexpected and almost certainly due, he and his colleagues concluded, to exercise."
Higher compared with lower dietary protein during an energy deficit combined with intense exercise promotes greater lean mass gain and fat mass loss
- The comparison is made to the RDA of protein, which is a minimum, and does not consider additional needs from exercise, especially strength training(good discussion here).
- Carbohydrates still accounted for 50% of the calories. This is not a high-protein, ketogenic diet.
- Overall calories were restricted by 40%. That is huge cut, and unrealistic for most people even for a short time.
- The subjects were novices. Well trained individuals will find this harder.
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28 g protein powder(20 g protein) |
Gaining muscle is easier in a calorie surplus- eating more calories than are used by your metabolism and activity, but if you want to also try to lose fat, add even more protein while decreasing overall calories.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
The Advantages of the Kettlebell Snatch
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The kettlebell snatch: Swing, pull, press, pause |
Another benefit of the snatch that is lacking in many strength building exercises is the skill and neurological demand. Since so many elements of movement and coordination are involved, and at high speed, the nervous system is challenged to put it all together.
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Kettlebell anti-rotation loading |
Primarily the movement is in the sagital plane- straight ahead to behind. However holding the kettlebell in one hand also creates a strong torque on the body in the transverse plane, making this an excellent anti-rotation exercise. With the weight overhead the load is on only one side, so lateral bending must be resisted. These twisting and bending forces strengthen the smaller muscles within the spine, the obliques, quadratous lumborum(QL) and other muscles between rib cage, spine, and pelvis, plus improve neuro-muscular control in these directions.
Progression
Single arm press |
The Turkish Get Up deserves mention here- It alone would be nearly perfect to complement the snatch. The Get Up incorporates a wide variety of body positions, is slow with more stability challenge, and has more anterior emphasis. But since it is so good it will get its own article(soon).
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Expanded look at the kettlebell snatch |