This week’s Addicted to Fitness is an on location, interview and throwback episode all in one. I return to the conception site of the podcast, which is also the home of Tyler, my former cohost. Tyler reached out a few weeks ago with a concept for a podcast that related to his new found vocation, fatherhood. He wanted to discuss life after having a kid and how it impacts willpower in terms of nutrition and workout out. Being that I’m about to become a dad, and we’re less than a week away from Father’s Day, I thought this would be a great topic for us to explore on the podcast.
Before we get into the dad centric discussion, I had to recap my week of training with Tyler. I’ve really been putting a lot of effort into doing more hypertrophy (fancy word to build muscle) training in between clients at Tampa Strength. I’d like to think with these workouts and the addition of 500-1000 quality calories a day, I could add 5 lbs of muscle in 8-12 weeks. Tyler got a real kick out of hearing this and quickly accused me of “BULKING BRO!” I’m only a few weeks into the process, but have still yet to see any significant muscle gain and the workouts are starting to take their toll. I’ll keep you updated on my progress as time goes on.
After discussing my workouts, we move the conversation to how Tyler’s new baby boy has affected his fitness. A lack of sleep and free time has drastically reduced Tyler’s ability and desire to workout. However, he is a big fan of Dr. Eric Goodman’s Foundation Training (workout example above) which incorporates a lot of isometric exercises that help participants increase mobility and alleviate common ailments like lower back pain. Tyler mentions how helpful these workouts have been to improving his posture and they take less than 15 minutes a day, which is perfect for a new dad. Unfortunately, Tyler has yet to find a solution to the obstacles fatherhood has created in regards to his nutrition.
Tyler works full-time and when he comes home, he looks forward to spending as much time as possible with his son and wife. This leaves very little time for meal prep and/or cooking, which has resulted in Tyler eating more “ready to eat” foods. He realizes that eating more processed foods can have a negative impact on his fitness, but believes that spending time with his infant son is paramount. I agree and anticipate I’ll be faced with the same predicament in a few months.
Tyler and I go off on a couple other topics, some fitness related, some not, in this episode. I found it extremely beneficial not only because I’m about to be a dad, but because it allowed me to reiterate the idea that everyone’s fitness is different. Physical limitations, circumstances at home and access to resources can all affect how fit a person can be. It’s important to remember that you need to set a level of fitness that is customized to you, not to the bodybuilder you see on Instagram or the crossfit athlete you see on ESPN. It’s great to use those individuals as motivation, but don’t let them set your level of fitness.
I truly hope that this podcast is a resource you can use to help determine where your level of fit should be. We really want to provide useful health information that allows you to enhance your quality of life by improving your fitness. We’d love to hear your opinion on whether or not we’re achieving that goal or not. Send your feedback to elementaltampa@gmail.com or reach out to us on social media (Facebook, Instagram or Twitter). Your comments and support continues to help us grow and we are extremely grateful. Keep rating, reviewing and sharing the podcast!
Links to this week’s episode
Android: http://subscribeonandroid.com/addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/rss
Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/how-being-a-new-dad-affects-your-fitness-0
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