The term “Dad Bod” has made its way to be a buzzworthy phrase on the internet and across all social media platforms. It’s tribute is to men, especially fathers, who have hints of lean muscle hiding beneath a noticeable layer of body fat, typically around their bellies. There have been significant amounts of research that show in the United States, that men tend to gain weight after they aren’t bachelors anymore, and when they become dads. Typically the change of not being a bachelor anymore means a man has now moved in with a partner, he got married, or become a parent (see where the term dad comes from now in “Dad Bod”?).
Sure, life changes events like these can cause a lot of change when it comes to if you have time to prepare a healthy meal or if you have time to go to the gym, etc but the shift to a dad bod is more than just a physical change, there is a biological change that happens too. When a male increases the fat on their body, the additional fat also changes the testosterone levels too. Testosterone is replaced with estrogen when men put on fat. Estrogen is a hormone that promotes more of a caring behavior. It’s fair to say that men who develop a dad bod can be thought of by some as having developed these new attributes for being nurturing, caring and empathetic but that doesn’t mean you can’t have those attributes with less fat either.
Whatever it may be, it is important whether you are a father or not, to not completely ride the “Dad Bod” wave.
Here are tips and tricks to keep your body healthy and ready to take on whatever milestone you may be crossing soon on your journey-
For the dad who wants some healthy habits guidance:
Quincy France, an EBOOST Ambassador suggests:
1. Exercise more often, try HIIT workouts
2. Lower your sugar intake drastically
3. Eat more protein
4. Drink more hot tea especially after meals (preferably green tea)
5. Get better sleep!
6. Take a good daily probiotic
For the dad who is a dad and wants health tips from an expert, that happens to also be a dad:
Joe Roseberry here and as a fellow dad, I have had a chance to chuckle at the concept of the “Dad Bod.” Above is a picture of one of my favorite dads, Larry Connelly, a 54-year-old business professional who has dropped from 238lbs to 172lbs since training with me a year ago.
With the privilege of training over 100 dads, what I’ve found are the following tips:
- Remove gluten & sugar: Your measurements will reflect it and an additional benefit is your joints will feel better too!
- Focus on total body movements: the more lower body exercises you do the more testosterone you generate increasing your total body as well as your libido.
- Get some exercise every day: Try this exercise, 10 sets of 10 pushups, 10 squats, and 10 sit-ups in less than 10 minutes!
- Get more veggies: I love a fresh veggie smoothie and SPRUCE is my go-to when I’m on the go!
Pro tip: For energy, pick up something low in sugar and high in natural energy – I choose EBOOST POW!
For the dad who wants to workout with their teenager:
Although not all teenagers like to play sports, it is definitely the age where the love for playing sports really starts to kick into high gear. A large part of playing sports means that your teen is probably hitting up the gym too. Joining your teens in the gym just as a chaperone can be a great memory to reflect back to on its own, but if your teen is down with it, the two of you could also work out together. This is the chance where you can share some workout tips you received in your younger years. We suggest starting with the bench press, as that is an exercise that is a very common exercise and one that works very important muscles for building strength and athletic performance.
Flat Bench Barbell
Warm up very lightweight 12 reps
65% of 1RM 10 to 12 reps
75% of 1RM 8 reps
83% of 1RM 5-6 reps
90% of 1RM 3-4 reps
After the flat bench barbell is mastered, add in other variations like the decline bench barbell, incline bench barbell, flat bench dumbbell, and then you can work on complimentary exercises like dips and shoulder presses.
For the dad who wants to keep up with their young ones:
Working your cardiovascular system will be important to keep up with your younger children, as they are most likely always on the go. This is where the HIIT style of workouts that Quincy France recommended above. To learn more about what HIIT means, check out our article here that goes into details about what HIIT is and its benefits. A couple specific workouts we recommend for upping your cardio – HIIT on a treadmill and a HIIT kettlebell workout. Doing a HIIT style workout with a kettlebell will add a strength element to your workout too, making it easy to carry your kids around too.
All in all, it is important for a male to want to be healthy and maintain a healthy lifestyle, but it is even more important for a dad to be healthy because he has to live a healthy life for others now too.
