Programming Difficulties for New Dads

Having a newborn changes your life, and training has to change as well.

For a dad, the change is different than for a mom. For the mom, she undergoes physical changes for 9-10 months leading up to the birth, so her training has to change prior to birth.

For fathers, however, their changing (mostly) does not change before the birth. At birth it changes drastically.

This is an especially busy time for fathers, and part of it is the lack of predictability. When will the baby sleep (when will mom sleep). You might think you were going to train and then mom falls asleep and you're watching the kid.

Flexibility is required in your training for these programming difficulties for new dads.

Programming Solutions for New Dads

If you have a coach, it's important to talk to your coach prior to the birth about what is likely realistic (this will change). Lower your expectations for how long training will be. You might also have to cut training sessions short.

Both Andrew and Niki have seen many clients train with their babies in the gym. This is fine.

Something like a one life a day program is probably what is called for. It helps if you have a home gym or at least some equipment at home.

If you don't have a home gym, you need to make your gym as convenient as possible. Something that is on the way to work and open early so you can workout early is likely ideal.

Working out before bed affects sleep.

Overcoming programming difficulties for new dads also tends to involve more autoregulation and lifter control. The client might decrease the weight and volume a bit if they're exhausted. If they're feeling good, they might go for extra reps or an extra set.

Aim for at least 3 workouts a week. Think about getting in a training session over a series of workouts, as opposed to one longer workout.

Mindset Shift for New Dads

How you define training and training sessions and how you identify that will have to change. 4 sessions of 90 minutes a week is probably over. Uninterrupted training sessions and full body training sessions are probably on hold for a bit.

Productive, useful training, however, does not have to look like that. Planning, preparing, and completing something each week is massively better than taking weeks or months off.

Here are some thoughts on overcoming programming difficulties for new dads.

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