[Solved] What do you Dad's do for exercise?

Exercise is not gonna work if we eat like a monster. My piece of advice is eat as slowly as you can. You will end up eating small meals.

Swimming. The little one can enjoy it and you get a bit of exercise at the same time.........that and our local pool has a jacuzzi, which is a nice touch!

run

can be done practically anywhere

becoming a dad... changes everything about health for us. mine is only 13 months old, and i've had quite the time adjusting (with some success, many failures as well).

I'm a fitness professional who values being real, authentic, and walking the walk of what i teach.

i stepped into the shoes of a busy dad (which is WAYYYYY different than busy husband lol) and my methods have almost COMPLETELY changed!

To add into the equation the fact that you want to be #1 dad and husband makes things that much more difficult.

the take-away I'm trying to get to here... is that simplicity + consistency = more energy, better relationships, less stress, better work performance, and staying lean(ish!).

don't every convince yourself that a ten minute routine 'isn't enough to make a difference.' MALARKY.

Also, don't think that health is just exercising! Nutrition and meal planning (not the meal plan or calorie counting [censored]), there's your community of challenge and support, looking at your habits... so many things.

The second thing I wanted to address was your quote, "find the thought of starting again quite a thought?"

That's PURELY psychological. The reason it's a thought is because our self-determination (aka our intrinsic motivation) fades away. At some point or another, it does! that's just life. but we need things to do to spark that motivation and to keep the flame lit and raging on.

I've read that motivation comes from 1) autonomy, or our ability to take ownership of our decision; 2) being connected to a deeper purpose or something outside of ourself that's greater than just ourselves; and 3) the ability to master something - setting clear and consistent feedback of growth so that your wins compound and in turn encourage you to keep going.

Other things to consider - surround yourself with positive stories of similar people who by all means SHOULD have the same problem, but don't, or just success stories in general. The last piece is creating direct experiences - for example, if I eat something that's not so great quality late at night, i can take note in the morning when I wake up TIRED as all get-out. It's because eating [censored] before bedtime can mess with hormones as well as the quality of our sleep - all of a sudden, I'm associating this late night food with feeling super tired... and i no longer feel the need or want to eat it!

stuff like that.

does that help at all? i know i didn't give any specific exercises to do...

This is an interesting topic, not only from the point of view of physical activity but also mental health. Finding the time to clear your mind from other mental chatter is really important as a father.

I cycle to work and then do sprinting in the Tabata protocol which is 4 minutes long but is really intense and impactful. With a warm-up and cool-down either side I can get a really effective workout in, in under 15 minutes and then get to work. I do this 4 times per week.

The intensity of it means complete focus, something I wasn't finding with jogging where my mind could wander and bring me back to ongoing challenges. With sprinting my mind is totally on-task and the effect is a greater level of disconnection, which I find highly beneficial for my mental wellbeing.

It has also positively impacted my diet and sleep. I eat cleaner foods, raw vegetables, pulses, seeds, chicken, tuna and other items that are very healthy and I cycle the same few meals again and again so that I get the best nutrition I can. Eating unhealthily now has the impact of leaving me feel sluggish which pushes me to continue to eat healthily.

My sleep has improved because in doing the exercise before going to work, by the end of the day I am truly fatigued and need sleep. I do not wake up during the night as frequently as I did (though my children, 6 and 4, are also sleeping better which undoubtedly helps!!) and I wake up more rested.

Overall, I'd say it's the best adaptation I've made to my exercise programme in years.

On the back of my last response, I thought I would share a challenge I am mounting. The introduction video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYTk2tLot-0&t=44s.

Essentially I am trying to fit in my fitness regime into 4 minutes of work. By combining sprinting with Tabata I'll get all the workout I need in 2 hours of work over the month of Mach.

I hope to provide a little motivation with some information about what works for me.

Take care,
Chris