Fit Dad Life
Helping busy dads learn how to get strong and live strong. Weekly newsletter with practical fitness tips, wisdom, and encouragement (plus the occasional LEGO).
🎸 Day 4: Fatherhood never "clicks" and that's ok
Day 4: Fatherhood never "clicks" Featured Dad: Gannon Nordberg What’s the last lesson you learned as a dad? Little girls talk. Constantly. About everything. 😜 My two boys would answer a question with three words and call it a conversation. My daughter will give me a full documentary — complete with dramatic pauses, plot twists, and a surprise ending I didn't see coming. I've learned to just listen. Not fix. Not redirect. Just be an audience of one for whatever is on her mind that day. Turns...
🎸 Day 3: The difference between being "present" and giving true presence
Day 3: The difference between being "present" and giving true presence Featured Dad: Robby Miles When it comes to fatherhood, presence is more important than anything else. Presence with your wife. How you treat her will show your boys how to treat women and show your girls how they should expect to be treated. Presence with your kids. I have seven kids, and there are more days than I care to admit that it’s hard to give each of them the attention I feel they deserve. But I have a strict...
🎸 Day 2: What your kid really cares about
Day 2: What your kid really cares about Featured Dad: Joey Cofone If you subscribed to this, you think about being a good father. Probably a lot. Our little girl just turned two and, combined with the pregnancy period, it’s been close to three years that I’ve been thinking about: What kind of dad I want to be What I want to teach my little girl What lessons to pass on Which habits to form (and which to break) It can be overwhelming at times. Then, one morning when she was fully taken care...
🎸 Day 1: How to actually rest with kids
Day 1: How to actually rest with kids Featured Dad: Thom Gibson Sundays are typically a day to take it easy. But for a long time, my Sundays looked a whole lot like my Saturdays, except with church thrown in there. For years, I’d get up before the family to work on my side business, I’d try to get a workout in when the kids would nap later in the day, and maybe I’d even get a head start on the work week (which was particularly easier to fall into since I work from home) To NOT do those things...
Breaking up with the gym after 21 years
I've got a confession to make. I cheated on the gym. Specifically 24-Hour Fitness. After 21 years and 3 different gym locations. It's over. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm still working out. It's just in my garage. No more 4am alarms. No more 25-minute "commute" to the gym before breakfast. I was a bit worried about quitting the gym. It was weird because it really felt like I was breaking up with someone. Definitely one of those "It's not me, it's you" situations. But after getting some gear...
Bad dads don't ask this question
I worry about being a good dad a lot. Am I a good example?Am I working hard enough?Am I teaching them the right values? Do I let them watch too much TV?Do I make sure they get enough sleep? Should I read to them more?Should I give them more chores? Are they going to be ok when they move out?Are they going to be successful and happy? And so on the list of worries spirals out of control until my wife wraps her arms around my neck, looks romantically into my eyes, and says: "Did you shower yet...
The hardest worker in the room
FIT DAD LIFE Fitness, Family, and Beyond “KC is the hardest working person I know.” A client said this about me several years ago. And he repeated it recently when we reconnected. You see, I’ve worked out 4x a week on average for the last 20 years. That’s over 4000 times. It looks something like this. I’m so disciplined with exercise that I don’t even think about it. I just get out of bed, put on my gym clothes, and head out the door. But discipline is funny, and here's why... One would think...
Do you feel lucky?
FIT DAD LIFE Fitness, Family, and Beyond It’s Friday the 13th. Do you feel lucky?Do you feel unlucky? I’m not a superstitious person, but we narrowly avoided our middle daughter turning 13 on Friday the 13th. Feel like that would be the plot to a cheesy 90s horror movie or something. Not that the teenage years aren’t a little terrifying for everyone involved. Luck is a matter of perspective. I once heard someone say they don’t believe in luck. My first thought was “That’s the dumbest thing...
I should be dead right now
FIT DAD LIFE Fitness, Family, and Beyond Hey Reader, Two weeks after our wedding, we were in a near fatal car accident. Long story short, I fell asleep at the wheel on the highway doing 70 mph and veered off the road. Instead of the standard metal version, we went through a cable guard rail that would have decapitated us, but the cable snapped before it reached the cab of the truck. Thank God! Anyway, my new wife and stepson get out with minor injuries, but I was stuck in the driver seat for...
The hardest part of any habit
FIT DAD LIFE Fitness, Family, and Beyond Hey Reader, How many times have you worked out in your life? Recently, I got into a little debate about the pros and cons of the 75 Hard challenge (we'll dig into that another time) and it caused me to do a little math. I've consistently worked out at least 3 times a week since my junior year of college. Multiply that times 52 weeks in a year times 20 years and you get: 3,120 workouts Not bad, right? Now, I'm not insane about my fitness like David...
Helping busy dads learn how to get strong and live strong. Weekly newsletter with practical fitness tips, wisdom, and encouragement (plus the occasional LEGO).