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There is no strength like dad strength. It is quiet, patient, and persistent. Some would say stubborn, dammit. Dad strength rarely makes the highlight reel. It exists in the in-between spaces....The times when nobody—except maybe your kid—is watching.
The Dad Strength Podcast was created to support and encourage the best in dads like you. Authors, entrepreneurs, artists, and experts from all over share their wisdom with us. We discuss 360º health, doing work that matters, and—of course—fatherhood. These conversations are fun, informative, and always emphasize action and understanding.
The Dad Strength Podcast is hosted by Geoff Girvitz. Geoff is a father, fitness expert, and curious fellow. Based in Toronto, he has been featured in Vice, GQ, and multiple exercise publications. He is known for innovation and real-world success in the fitness industry. Now, Geoff is pointing a wide-angle lens at health and parenthood. Workouts and nutrition are just part of the program. He will be looking at relationships, critical thinking, motivation, and discipline. In short, anything you need to earn the mug that says “*World’s Greatest Dad.”*
“I want to be Mr. Rogers for men over 30,” says Geoff. “There is so much noise and confusion out there.” We *all* need a community devoted to the best we have inside of us. The Dad Strength Podcast is here to make the world a better place through our roles as fathers and as men.
One and done
If you’ve been reading Dad Strength for a while, you’ll know that I think of time and effort put into exercise like filling a cone-shaped container. The emptier the container, the quicker it fills up. This means that it’s tough to become world-class but getting kinda ok at stuff is incredibly accessible – and the early work put into most things is disproportionately valuable.
Single Set Protocols: There’s a research review that points to the same thing in a strength training-specific way. It says:
Performing a single set of 6-12 repetitions, two to three times per week, can produce significant increases in 1RM (the most weight you can move once) strength in resistance-trained men.
A few caveats:
You’ve got to reach failure on at least that last set
The loads used were 75-85% of 1RM
The researchers only looked at squat and bench press
The research only applies to resistance trained men.
This means a few things:
It almost definitely applies to women the same way
It will apply to most strength exercises in the same way
If it works for resistance-trained men, it can work even better for novice exercisers BUT there may be a skill component required to make this work
Takeaway concept: If you’ve ever found yourself running late for an exercise session and thought, “There’s no point because I won’t have time to complete all of my sets,” the value you’ll get from doing even a single, hard set will bring you most of the value that your full session would have provided.
A visual representation of the effectiveness of exercise frequency
Welcoming the unwelcome
It’s an illusion that you need to fix yourself to become enlightened. Or that you’re just one more self-help book away from inner peace. Mark Epstein, a psychotherapist, and longtime meditation practitioner says: “… The neurotic mind can become fodder for enlightenment… that liberation of the mind is possible without resolution of all of the neuroses.”
What he’s saying – or at least how I’m understanding it – is that there are things within you that can serve as launchpads for life-changing habits. And you don’t have to like them to benefit from them. These imperfect thoughts and impulses can become your allies. Even things that cause you pain or distress can be harnessed for positive action. It is the most incredible kind of mental judo.
If a thought or feeling – however unpleasant – shows up in your life with any regularity, you have the ability to tether a new thought or skill to it and practice that with equal frequency.
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The Relative Age Effect
The Relative Age Effect describes how two kids can be the same age – but almost 12 months apart. Malcom Gladwell famously wrote about this in Outliers. We segregate kids by age because… Well, it’s easiest way to do things. Yet this can exert a profound effect on abilities… Especially at ages where some kids are entering puberty and others aren’t.
There’s more to athletics than physical development, of course. Volume of practice, emotional maturity, cognitive advantages, social advantages… the list goes on. However, the most common result is that bigger kids – or ones with other advantages – are sorted into a stratified system, with the top performers receiving the best access to facilities, coaching, etc.
Systemic advantages like these can snowball into a self-fulfilling prophecy. We think we’re identifying talent but we’re really manufacturing it. This is cool in the sense of having more control over positive outcomes than we realize BUT it also creates a problem: some of the most talented late-bloomers are at a longstanding disadvantage. What seems like simple talent identification may ultimately hold more talented kids back. This ripples into their lives, as well as the “elite” teams who are missing out on these players.
What I’m reading
How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
Why a "Living Room Family" Is What Many Modern Parents Are Striving For
The 25 Most Important Recipes of the Past 100 Years
Also, definitely not a book but my son and I both enjoyed the hell out of Transformers One. This one was played for laughs but also got into the origin story in a really effective and authentic way. Some mature themes and mild language (mostly just proto-Bumblebee repeating “Baddassatron.”
A quote
“If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self - himself - he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it.”
― Oliver Sacks
A Dad joke
I saw a radio for sale at a huge discount because the volume was stuck at maximum. I thought to myself, “I can't turn that down.”
Take care of yourself, man!