I agree with SunKing1, you don't have to link everything up using alternate picking, it's all about keeping a good efficient flow. So sometimes it's probably more suitable to pick down twice in a row than alternate.

When i started out i hated alternate picking, so just constantly strummed down, which is something i definately DON'T recommend lol.

A little training exercise i do every now and again is to perform a downstroke on the 6th then pick up on the 5th then down on the 6th again then up on the 4th and then back to the 6th ... And so on down to the 1st string, then again in reverse.

Hope that helps buddy!