By MSc Gvapo Tripinovic
A fundamental way to be a good dad after your 40th birthday is to be healthy and to take your diet and physical health seriously.
Dads after 40 should at least regularly do 60 minutes of walk (5 km / 3.1 miles) per day or better three times 60 min walk and three times muscle strengthening exercising of all major muscle groups.
Some dads are blessed with perfect genes, more money, or both. Yet, many of us can take health seriously and with that done to be a better parent and more successful on the job.
The first thing to start with is to stop or drastically reduce alcohol, smoking, and wasting time with others or in front of the TV. Start to pay attention to your diet and some basic exercises. To play with your kids after 40, you will need your stamina more than ever. I am currently 45 and have a kid of 8. I am in excellent health now, but I sometimes have difficulty keeping up with him. I need at least 1 min to rest from a run, and he needs less than 10 seconds. You get the idea.
If you are like me, you must have one thing in mind. You will have a teenage kid when you pass 50. Would you prefer to go out and play basketball, football, go hiking, and have a great bonding time with your child, or do you like to have excuses why you can’t do either? If you care for your kids, the answer should be very straightforward. Kids will see those changes, appreciate them, and learn from them. After all, one of the fathers leading roles is to be an example for his children.
Also, remember that a child needs his dad’s support and longevity. Despite that fact, men aged 40-50 are the ones with the highest suicidal (Men and mental health | Mental Health Foundation) rate and depression (Mental health and new dads | Ask DadPad | support for new dads (thedadpad.co.uk)). Healthy eating and exercising can help tremendously to mitigate that and be there for your kids when they need you in the best shape you can be. That will help your partner too, as the study (The impact of paternity leave and paternal involvement in child care on maternal postpartum depression: Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology: Vol 30, No 2 (tandfonline.com)) has shown that mothers are less likely to be affected by depression if the fathers are more involved in child care as early as possible.
To the point now. What exactly and how should a dad be healthy and fit after 40?
Ten tips to help a dad over 40 to be healthy and fit:
1. Commit to taking better care of your health.
Dads must commit to taking their health seriously. Their health and fitness can be one of their greatest assets or worst liabilities related to their life, family, and work.
2. Start with exercises.
Do not have high expectations from the beginning. You will not have time for that, you will be tired from other daily activities, and your strength will be smaller than you think.
As Chris Baugh told in an interview with Men’s Health magazine (How to Stay Fit When You Become a Father (menshealth.com)):
“Keep your expectations super-low and aim for 20-minute workouts. Still push yourself, just in small bursts. Don’t expect to immediately go back to how you were before your break, because it’ll just knock your confidence and you’ll be more likely to quit.”
Start with some basic exercises at home or the gym. My personal experience is better with the gym. The chances of getting injured are less with a couch nearby. It is enough for them to be there. You don’t need to pay anything else except gym membership. Also, the motivation is better while other “big guys” are around you. Watch them, see what they do, and try something similar, but with much less weight.
3. Get it done regularly.
Dads after 40 should regularly do three times 60 min walks and 30-45 three times muscle strengthening exercising of all major muscle groups. Do not forget to warm up properly before the training and to stretch after. Injuring yourself will not help.
4. Be patient and consistent.
Results will not happen overnight. It will take time to see your fat diminish and your strength and stamina increase. Patience and consistency are crucial.
5. Find a fitness partner if possible.
Find a friend in the gym or another dad to join you for a walk. Someone similar to you, so you can compare your progress, motivate and support each other. It is much more fun than going through everything alone. Each of you will learn something new and sharing experiences and progress will always be motivating.
In my case, I have two. One for the gym and one for walks. Both of them are in their 40’s, as I am, and with kids of similar age.
6. Set goals and rewards.
Set some realistic goals you would like to achieve every three months and track the progress.
Reward yourself each time you achieve your goal or are at least close to it. Big goals are great, but you need small victories to keep yourself motivated and satisfied.
7. Track your progress.
Comparing your new self to one from a few months or years ago is absolutely satisfying and motivating if you are consistent and persistent. Use some app for easier tracking. I prefer to use Google Fit (Google Fit) as it is easy to use, free, and every android and iOS phone supports it.
8. Introduce healthy food to your diet.
Find what you like. Before you start ditching some foods, you should try to introduce healthier options and recipes. Once you find what you like, start swapping bad food for at least the better and healthier options you are happy to eat regularly. If you switch your unhealthy food with more nutritious, but the one you don’t like, it will be forced and will not last. Remember, nothing needs to happen overnight. This is not a trend you will follow for some time. This is a new lifestyle you are adopting.
More about this you can find in my article “What healthy food should a good dad eat and why?” The more knowledgeable you are, the easier it will be to continue and find better ingredients and recipes you will like to continue this journey.
The same goes for fitness and exercise.
9. Study fitness.
Same as for food, you should study how to exercise better, how to do more in less time, and what exercises are safer or better than the other. In my article “How a fit dad should train better,” you can find more about it.
As someone who inherits a significant number of injuries from a younger age, it is crucial for me not to get hurt and to perform the safe and most effective exercises I can within the time I have for it.
10. Make time for your workout and have no excuses.
Day has 24 hours. I know you see them always filled. But take half an hour and write down how you spend your time. Yes, with a pen and on paper. Start with your morning and finish with the moment you go to bed. Write down each thing that takes you more than 10-15 min regularly. You will likely find at least one to two hours wasted on non-essential activities. It would help if you swapped them with the time dedicated to your walks and gym. It will be a better way to spend your time.
If you are so busy at some moment that you can’t find that one hour six times a week, then practice HIIT three times per week (High-Intensity Interval Training, High-intensity interval training – Wikipedia). HIIT is more intensive, requires less time to perform and more time to recover, which will keep your muscles “working” even while you are off the gym. It can be helpful in periods of busy schedules or when you are trying to reorganize your life. Every sweat counts. Don’t have excuses. Everyone has 20-30 min per day to work out, at the gym or home.
