Fitness Blog Episode 1 - The Dad Bod Issue

Fitness Blog Episode 1 - The Dad Bod Issue

Hey all! After a couple years of focusing on getting enough sleep and being productive at work and home, I finally am to the point where both of my children sleep through the night (well...mostly) and I'm going to be making some lifestyle changes. The thought of getting up early to go to the gym when my sleep was already being interrupted with baby cries made me cringe... so I just didn't do it. Going to the gym after my work day sounded great to me, but my wife was not a fan of that idea with all the responsibilities around the house that we had with our little ones in the equation. But now that we're both getting adequate sleep on a regular basis, I'm going to try to get back in better shape. I want to do this for me, but also for my kids. I want to be the dad chasing his kids on the playground, not the one sitting on a bench looking at his phone. Although we're finally sleeping and have a hint of flexibility, my life is still crazy busy overall. To make sure my goals are feasible, I'm going to start by planning on working out 3 days a week minimum.

Source: Pixabay

I don't want to lose track of this goal so I figured I'd do what any rational person would do and commit on an immutable ledger that anybody can view. So, here it is, locked in (or soon to be) for everyone to see. I'm going to workout 3 days a week or more until I've met the below goals. I'm a rather large guy by body type to begin with. I'm 6'4" tall and when I felt my healthiest I was sitting around the 245-255 lb range. That was when I was lifting 5 days a week and had no children yet. Now I'm up to 275 lbs. That's quite a bit larger than I had ever anticipated getting. This transformation has been noticeable in every day life. I get tired (mentally and physically) more often, I sometimes feel like my heart rate is elevated from things that shouldn't cause it to raise noticeably, sometimes I start to breath heavy from regular things like walking up a couple flights of stairs, and in general my 2 year old son is so full of energy that I feel bad when he wants to play and I feel like I need to relax for a bit. So, to combat this, here are my primary goals. I may add additional goals along the way, but I'll start with these.

1. Lose 20 lbs (get to 255)
2. Fit in size 36 pants again (I was at 38 for a while and actually have to get 40 in some cases now)
3. Bench 225 for 6+ reps (I think this is where I was when I was in better shape, I'm only able to bench 205 for 6 reps now)
4. Be able to do 5 pull ups unassisted (don't judge, to do 5 pull ups right now I'd be lifting 275 lbs, so if you weigh 150 lbs and think 5 pull ups is easy, strap on 125 lbs and try again please)
5. Get a score of 60 in our fitness assessment through work (quarterly, next one is end of September I believe)

• My fitness assessment at work consists of the following
  • Resting Heart Rate
  • Bodyfat (caliper testing)
  • Bike Vo2Max test
  • Push Ups
  • Half-Situp (these are a joke, they just have us move our finger tips from one line to another and at my height it's probably easier than a crunch)
  • Sit and Reach (flexibility)

Source: Pixabay

I would have more metrics for specific lifts, but the only one I really remember well enough is bench press. I'm either going to update weekly or monthly, I'll have to determine that based on what I have to report. My original plan is to focus on different parts of the body for each of the 3 days and then have a cardio session after each lifting session. I'll also be cutting down on sugars and focusing on eating more vegetables and lean meats. I'm not big into supplements, so I'll probably only start by taking some whey protein after workouts for now. I'm also going to be more cognizant about what sorts of foods I put in my body near the end of the day. That's where I'll focus the hardest on cutting back on sugars.

I know all of this is achievable based on previous results. Normally goals need a set end date, but in this particular case I feel that it's more important to keep myself accountable on the 3+ days a week working out and the eating healthier. The problem with fitness goal dates is it's easy to be "done" after you hit your goals on or before that date. I think building a better lifestyle is more important, so I'll just be improving each of my goals incrementally until I'm where I want to be and then I'll just maintain that lifestyle. The main thing I'll focus on is that I'm doing the work and that I'm trending the right direction. I'm absolutely open to feedback if any of my fellow steemians have recommendations, other than that, this post is mostly so I have something committed and public to make me feel accountable.