all posts post new thread

Busy Dad Training ideas

chrisnewbery

Level 2 Valued Member
Certified Instructor
Hi Everyone,
I have a 3 year old son and twin 10month boys. As you can imagine my days are full on. Been doing Tim Almonds Hardatyle Method for close to a year now and simply cant find solid time to set aside for training anymore.
Today I started a Grease the groove style training. Wanted to get some feedback.

Goals are double 48kg press, 32kg Snatch test and 100kg Sandbag clean and Press (long way off that one but ive got the clean)

Thinking - grease the groove
Press - chinese food for rapid pressing gains (Double 40s)
Snatch - focus on swings for a while, daily 10sets of 5L/5R with heavy bell
Sandbag - pick a movement, shoulder/clean/bearhug squat/carry variety and perfom a couple sets over the day

Layout -
Day one
Press and swings

Day two
Press and Sandbags

Just keep alternating them over the week. Rest days thinking mayne just go 5 out of 7 days. Take a days rest when busy in the week.

Anyone got any feedback on this or tried anything similar?

Thanks,
 
chrisnewbery said:
Hi Everyone,
I have a 3 year old son and twin 10month boys. As you can imagine my days are full on. Been doing Tim Almonds Hardatyle Method for close to a year now and simply cant find solid time to set aside for training anymore.
Today I started a Grease the groove style training. Wanted to get some feedback.

Goals are double 48kg press, 32kg Snatch test and 100kg Sandbag clean and Press (long way off that one but ive got the clean)

Thinking - grease the groove
Press - chinese food for rapid pressing gains (Double 40s)
Snatch - focus on swings for a while, daily 10sets of 5L/5R with heavy bell
Sandbag - pick a movement, shoulder/clean/bearhug squat/carry variety and perfom a couple sets over the day

Layout -
Day one
Press and swings

Day two
Press and Sandbags

Just keep alternating them over the week. Rest days thinking mayne just go 5 out of 7 days. Take a days rest when busy in the week.

Anyone got any feedback on this or tried anything similar?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
That looks pretty good, you have the right idea and a good plan. When my twins were1-9 months and weren't all over the place I would do something like 20 lying leg raises, 15 squats and 10 push-ups during every commercial break of a game or show that I'm watching. It wasn't great but it kept me moving.
 
The advice I would give any new Dad is to plan out little 10 min workouts. If you have time, do 2 or 3 of them in one session, if only 1 you've done yourself good for the day.

An idea I've been kicking around: I am pretty sure I could just run Rite of Passage with double KB and include some front squats and Chin Ups and be all done in 10-20 min and have a pretty good workout. eg Clean and Press ladders 1,2,3, Chin Up 4, Front Squat 5... repeat and add sets ala ROP. If I had more time or energy on a particular day, add in some Snatches, Carries or Get Ups. Obviously, stage 2 would be ladders 1,2,3,4, Chin Up 5, Front squat 6... and so on.
 
Last edited:
Do what you can. I liked doing EDT workouts when my kid was little:
squatrx.blogspot.com

Understanding EDT (Escalating Density Training)

"Escalating Density Training" is a training method devised by strength coach, Charles Stanley . What distinguishes EDT from other methods is...
squatrx.blogspot.com squatrx.blogspot.com

I thought this was some of my best writing. Reviews were mixed:
squatrx.blogspot.com

Training For New And Expecting Fathers

The other day, I was talking to a colleague who is a new father. It goes without saying that he was feeling a bit overwhelmed. In a nutshell...
squatrx.blogspot.com squatrx.blogspot.com
 
chrisnewbery said:
Hi Everyone,
I have a 3 year old son and twin 10month boys. As you can imagine my days are full on. Been doing Tim Almonds Hardatyle Method for close to a year now and simply cant find solid time to set aside for training anymore.
Today I started a Grease the groove style training. Wanted to get some feedback.

Goals are double 48kg press, 32kg Snatch test and 100kg Sandbag clean and Press (long way off that one but ive got the clean)

Thinking - grease the groove
Press - chinese food for rapid pressing gains (Double 40s)
Snatch - focus on swings for a while, daily 10sets of 5L/5R with heavy bell
Sandbag - pick a movement, shoulder/clean/bearhug squat/carry variety and perfom a couple sets over the day

Layout -
Day one
Press and swings

Day two
Press and Sandbags

Just keep alternating them over the week. Rest days thinking mayne just go 5 out of 7 days. Take a days rest when busy in the week.

Anyone got any feedback on this or tried anything similar?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
I've had good results doing gtg only training. I've done gtg for grinds and for ballistics also.


Based on your goals, it appears that the 40 kg bell is compatible for your snatch and your press weight. You could consider doing gtg double presses with double 40 and when you finish the set you do 5 snatches with the 40 each hand. If you do that 5 times a day it will keep you progressing towards your goal and it will only take you about 4 minutes each set.
 
Not exactly related to your goals, but my favourite way to find the time to exercise when my kids were small was to put one of them in a good quality child carrier backpack and go rucking. The kids adored it and the load slowly increased with time as they grew. (Was still doing this when they were 20kg+) Sometimes I would drive to a local national park and make a real outing of it. Other times it was just a walk around the neighbourhood.

The bonus was it was a practical day to day item as well. The degree of improved mobility you have when transporting a child in a backpack compared to a pram is significant.

A genuinely good child carrier which is comfortable for both the carrier and the passenger does not come cheap, but after years of use I was able to sell mine second hand for about 2/3 of what I paid for it.

Weight limit is an important factor. I knew I had found the right one when I asked the weight limit, and was told that if I could carry the child, so could the backpack.

Also when the kids were old enough to walk some distance themselves, it gave me the option of taking them both on a walk that would have been too long for them, and just swapping which kid walks and which kid rides every so often.
 
Lots of workable options suggested above. I have enjoyed density training in the past but do recall finding it frustrating when my second child was born as my energy levels sometimes weren’t there to power through the sessions and other times some mini nappy related crisis or similar would come up and I’d have to pause the session. Which annoyed the hell out of me

Gtg, practice type mentality and auto regulation ended up being my friends there.
 
chrisnewbery said:
Hi Everyone,
I have a 3 year old son and twin 10month boys. As you can imagine my days are full on. Been doing Tim Almonds Hardatyle Method for close to a year now and simply cant find solid time to set aside for training anymore.
Today I started a Grease the groove style training. Wanted to get some feedback.

Goals are double 48kg press, 32kg Snatch test and 100kg Sandbag clean and Press (long way off that one but ive got the clean)

Thinking - grease the groove
Press - chinese food for rapid pressing gains (Double 40s)
Snatch - focus on swings for a while, daily 10sets of 5L/5R with heavy bell
Sandbag - pick a movement, shoulder/clean/bearhug squat/carry variety and perfom a couple sets over the day

Layout -
Day one
Press and swings

Day two
Press and Sandbags

Just keep alternating them over the week. Rest days thinking mayne just go 5 out of 7 days. Take a days rest when busy in the week.

Anyone got any feedback on this or tried anything similar?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
I have a 1 mo old and two older boys. I do not find grease the groove to work for me - I need time to warm up of I'm stiff and things don't move well, and constantly taking time away to out to the garage and lift just doesn't happen. My wife and I have come to a schedule that allows me to take 30-45 minutes away to train, just about daily. Obviously things happen, training times gets interrupted sometimes, etc. but that works a lot better for us. So while I'd say feel free to try GTG like you've said ... it doesn't work for me.

Like @Boris Bachmann said, timed blocks work better for me - e.g. 10 min, 20 min, 30 min. For instance, 10 minutes of swings followed by 20 min of presses, or 20 min of presses followed by 10 min of sandbag work. Alternatively, since you seem to want to go daily, you could just alternate one lift a day for 20-30 min. Spend 10 min warming up, getting some get ups in, do some lighter weight sets of whatever movement you're going to do, then do 20 min of your movement.

TLDR: GTG Boo. EDT Yay.
 
chrisnewbery said:
Anyone got any feedback on this or tried anything similar?
Click to expand...
I have tried something similar.

Thread 'My Busy Dad protocol - a GtG success' My Busy Dad protocol - a GtG success

I think it'll work out just fine. But the snatch test goal, if I was chasing that, I'd throw in an AMRAP set of snatches every once in a while.

My experience with greasing the groove tells me that it's not necessarily the easiest way to focus on something with a conditioning aspect.
 
@chrisnewbery, one of my favorite things to do when time is really short - pick up a heavy kettlebell and swing it for 20-25 reps non-stop - that's it. For me, it means something around half bodyweight. You're started and finished in 30 seconds.

-S-
 
puddleduck said:
I have enjoyed density training in the past but do recall finding it frustrating when my second child was born as my energy levels sometimes weren’t there to power through the sessions and other times some mini nappy related crisis or similar would come up and I’d have to pause the session. Which annoyed the hell out of me
Click to expand...
Yeah, you have to be flexible. With EDT (if you do it for any length of time), you have to learn to deal with very sub-par performances. It can be a blow to the psyche if you're not used to it.

Actually, as a new parent, that's kinda one of the biggest challenges in general - dealing w. huge spikes and valleys in energy/strength levels.
 
This is going a different direction so take it for what it’s worth …

Consider flipping the script and looking at all you do through out the day as training and find more ways to engage with your kids and family though your movement:
- how many times can you get down on the ground to play with your kids
- how many times can you pick them up and hold them and carry them around
- take time to follow them around and mimic them (this is what original strength was built on, the human developmental sequence)
- can you take on an extra chore or two to help your wife get some time/relief?

Here’s a quote from another thread I started on Tiny fitness habits that has resonated with me (I have a 6 and 8 year old):

Benjamin Renaud said:
Also, have children, lots of them.

Carry them around in your arms, on your back, push them around, roll around on the floor with them, crawl, climb trees with them and just play with them as much as possible. That'll get you moving with and without purpose, but a whole lot.
Click to expand...

The mindset here is to look for ways you can move more intentionally as you engage in this amazing time as a dad.

Getting away for some solo time is of immense value so figure that out too. But you may also find creative ways to train if you flip the script.

Enjoy it!
 
puddleduck said:
but do recall finding it frustrating when my second child was born as my energy levels sometimes weren’t there to power through the sessions and other times some mini nappy related crisis or similar would come up and I’d have to pause the session. Which annoyed the hell out of me

Gtg, practice type mentality and auto regulation ended up being my friends there.
Click to expand...
I can relate to this … I’ve been frustrated many times applying the same approach and intensity I did back when I was running track in my 20s, single, few responsibilities.

Now 40, with an injury history, wife, kids … many more stressors and demands.

Has been helpful to reset my mentality. @Geoff Neupert talks a lot about this. He has a great podcast on the Hammer cast about it a while ago that helped me reset. Still a work in progress though.
 
Last edited:
Steve Freides said:
@chrisnewbery, one of my favorite things to do when time is really short - pick up a heavy kettlebell and swing it for 20-25 reps non-stop - that's it. For me, it means something around half bodyweight. You're started and finished in 30 seconds.

-S-
Click to expand...
I understand this. Your body feels like it did something. And as someone said elsewhere - if you do that 3 times a week for a year, well - no way you do 3,000 swings without seeing something good come of it.

When I'm stuck, I do 50 dead bugs sets. That also feels like I've done something.

On a related note - I just picked up 4 Hour Body, and he used 75 2H swings, twice a week, for his program minimum.
 
Great thread for me right now.

After hitting my head against the wall for the past six months, I've accepted reality. At 40 with a toddler and a hectic life, I can't train like I used to.

So this past week I decided to do this: one day of clean and press and chin-ups during the week, repeat on Saturday. Then 20 minutes of front squats and 10 minutes of loaded carries on Sunday. That's about all I have time and energy for right now.

I've felt like I got good work done without feeling sore three days later. This might change; it might not. I'll see how it goes.
 
Great feedback from everyone.

I suppose the theme hear is to simply do what you can. Dont let perfection get in the way of progress.

When you come from a background of intense training sessions, which are disciplined and a large aspect of your life then toning back with kids can at times be a hard pill to swallow.

I have noticed that less can be more. Back in my powerlifting days 10 years ago we would train for hours multiple days a week. Just the thought of that makes me feel nervous haha.

As a busy parent of three. I find keeping to key exercises and reducing the time involved is key. Whether you do 20minutes of circuits. Or daily 10 sets of one or two movements.

Bluecollar_brett on instagram is a great resource for this.
 
First post ever from me however I like to add by suggesting an early bird workout - I know this is not for everyone, however I came to realise as a new father that working out before everyone wakes up is pretty damn awesome and sets you up for the day :) I can definitely squeeze in a good 1hr plus if I get to bed early enough!! Please bear in mind I have no social life as most of my friends are also parents lol
 
chrisnewbery said:
Hi Everyone,
I have a 3 year old son and twin 10month boys. As you can imagine my days are full on. Been doing Tim Almonds Hardatyle Method for close to a year now and simply cant find solid time to set aside for training anymore.
Today I started a Grease the groove style training. Wanted to get some feedback.

Goals are double 48kg press, 32kg Snatch test and 100kg Sandbag clean and Press (long way off that one but ive got the clean)

Thinking - grease the groove
Press - chinese food for rapid pressing gains (Double 40s)
Snatch - focus on swings for a while, daily 10sets of 5L/5R with heavy bell
Sandbag - pick a movement, shoulder/clean/bearhug squat/carry variety and perfom a couple sets over the day

Layout -
Day one
Press and swings

Day two
Press and Sandbags

Just keep alternating them over the week. Rest days thinking mayne just go 5 out of 7 days. Take a days rest when busy in the week.

Anyone got any feedback on this or tried anything similar?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
Where are you at in terms of what you can do at the moment??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom