New Dad Training Program

In February of last year, my world changed when our son Layne was born. I also soon realized that things were now different in our schedule and energy demands. I have worked out for most of my life. Scheduling training sessions was never an issue because there was nothing else to schedule around. This less than ten pound child had altered my training program and desire to train more than any injury or plateau than I had ever experienced. By the time he had turned one, I felt confident in my training and schedule again. For my wife and I, training has always been one of the top priorities in our life. Becoming a parent doesn’t take the need to train away, but you must adjust accordingly to avoid severe frustration or injury. Everyone will have a different situation based on work and house roles, but during this time we both found some very helpful ways to navigate learning to raise a new person and maintaining a level of fitness. If you feel like you’re losing it during this time, you’re not alone. Many of the people I talk to informed me they struggled with their training during the first year of a new child. These recommendations might not be perfect for you, but for me it gave me a new outlook on training and has created a new style of training and consistency that I’ve never had before. I hope this period of difficult time allows you to see a new horizon also. 

Expectations

I think it’s important to have expectations with your training during the new born phase. This might not be the best time to pursue all time world records or begin a higher intensity training plan than you’re accustomed to. Even on days where you mentally want to tackle these tasks, your energy might not be there because of a bad night of sleep. I first had to adjust my expectations of myself and my training goals for the time being. This wasn’t a pass, but rather making a realistic plan that I could stick to consistently without zapping any leftover energy or becoming frustrated I wasn’t getting all my weekly sessions and accessory exercises in. This lead to the first change of dropping down to three lifting sessions each week. For years I had done the traditional Westside rotation of training, but I wasn’t consistent in getting all four days. Dropping to three sessions brought relief immediately. Next was the realization that I needed to drop to one barbell exercise per session. This was all I had the focus for after our son was born. If I used a second barbell exercise, results were always a let down and it tanked my recovery further. Next I decided to drop my training maxes on every lift. Lower than I wanted. This was a blow to my ego, but I needed to lift weights that on my worst day I could still complete all the reps with competency. Missing lifts due to low sleep or high stress that you know you can hit doesn’t help the mental game, which is a big part of why many of us train to begin with. Lastly I set a timer for all sessions. Each workout I can have up to 15 minutes for warm up, pre hab, mobility, whatever exercises my wife prescribes me (perks of being married to a Physical Therapist), and lastly my jumps, throws, or jump rope. Then I can have up to 45 minutes to train. I will admit as this goes on, most of my training days have dropped to around 40 minutes total with 10 minutes for warm up drills and 30 minutes of training. The stopwatch has been one of the biggest assets during this time. 

Goals

When I competed in powerlifting, goals were easy. Lift five more pounds than before. I struggled with goals a lot after our son was born. Honestly, it wasn’t enough to say “I’m training for my kid”. Maybe it’s selfish, but training is for me. Asking for three hours a week for your own thing isn’t too much. I needed to find new ways of making training difficult. In a conversation with my friend, Dan Fosselman I realized I had no goals that I actually cared about to direct my training. I set my training goals all based on bodyweight. This means, instead of saying I wanted to squat 500lbs, I wanted to squat 1.5x my bodyweight for 10 reps. This helped me to think about keeping my bodyweight in check and maintaining a base line of strength to go with it. Many people will say they don’t need goals to stay on track, but we have found with many of our clients that goals help to keep them engaged in what they’re doing. Without a destination in mind, you’ll never get where you want to go. 

Frequency over Intensity

I learned early on that if I pushed my intensity too high, I slept awful that night and felt sluggish the next day. I began experimenting with increasing my frequency of training. This reduced most of my workouts to 30 minutes each day or less. After some adjustments with the volume each day, it’s become one of the best things I’ve done for my training goals, mood, energy, and mental head space. I have no specific on what a workout HAS to be. I decided that three barbell sessions a week was perfect for me and reduced general pain and anxiety around HAVING to get four sessions in weekly. Here are a few examples of what a workout could be.

1/4 Mile of Lunge

100 Meter Lunges, 20 Push Ups 3-5 Rounds

Step Ups 20-30 Minutes

5 Push Ups, 2 Pull Ups Every Minute for 20-30 Minutes

Stair Climb with Weight Vest 20-30 Minutes

75 Rear Foot Elevated Split Squats/ Leg, 100 Push Ups, 50 Pull Ups

These aren’t done in a crazy fatigued state, but they are challenging. I started with lower volume on all of these and progressed to where are the staple baseline sessions on days without a barbell. Again these sessions take no more than 30 minutes. If I feel run down either from training or life, I’ll simply do one our warm up (Watch Here) circuits and then walk our dogs without the weight vest. 

Have Fun

There is enough to stress about with a newborn. Don’t make training a stressor to your life. I created a lot of fun training protocols and challenges just simply to keep me engaged. There is no lift you HAVE to hit or exercise you must do. You have to enjoy the training you’re doing or else you’ll stop doing it. If doing a quick arm and shoulder pump session gets you to train that day, then that’s what you need to do, but don’t skip. The habit of consistency is a superpower during difficult times like the new born phase. 

A new child is one of the biggest changes you’ll experience in life. As the parent you can show your child how to be consistent even when life isn’t convenient. I’m not sure at which age a child starts taking in your habits and behaviors, but I know our son Layne wanted to start carrying mini bands and a 2lb medicine ball around our gym, Showtime Strength & Performance pretty early on. During difficult times, training can always be a positive if we use the right approach. This phase of training brought me new challenges which has broadened my thinking and made training incredibly enjoyable. 

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