Three Dad Bod Exercises You Can Crush In 10 Minutes Or Less

You’re a new Dad. Congrats! You used to go to the gym every day and you tried to adjust your fitness routine, but it just ain’t happening. So when and how often should you workout as a new dad?

Just because you’re a new dad, it doesn’t mean that your fitness routine has to be thrown to the side. After all, if you can’t take care of yourself, how can you be expected to take care of the newest addition to your family? 

So we have a few workouts for you to think about. All of them will take less than ten minutes (some are even done in four minutes) and all of them will help you not only stay in great shape as a new dad, but might even help you level up your dad fitness. 

Because Dad Bod doesn’t have to be your destiny. It just takes a little more planning and commitment, which we know you’re capable of. So let’s do this. Here’s a list of three exercises for dads that you can do on your own, with no gym membership, in ten minutes or less:

Dad Bod Exercise #1 - Tabata Style Workouts

What is a Tabata workout? Four minutes is all you need. To keep this simple, we are going to go 20 seconds as hard as you can and then take ten seconds of rest. What type of exercise are we talking about? You pick! Pushups, squats, box jumps, straight up and down jumps, lunges, pull-ups, and any other bodyweight exercise you can think of and do it as hard as you can for 20-seconds. Then take ten seconds of rest. Then do it over again with a different exercise. You will do eight total rounds of this on and off. Four at first, then repeat what you just did again for round two. How do you time it? There are a ton of free apps around Tabata timers, including THIS one that is totally free in the App Store that we love.

Dad Bod Exercise #2 Calisthenics - Your own body weight, optimized

Are you ready to lift your new little person? Awesome! Now you can sustain it with the help of these strength endurance exercises.

You don’t need to bang around heavy weights in order to stimulate muscle growth. It’s all about that core strength. That same core strength your partner had when she was able to carry your family’s newest addition for nine months.

So what type of exercises are we talking about? Consider a plank. Start on the floor like you are going to do a pushup position and then put your elbows down and tighten your ab muscles by slightly lifting your butt, yet keeping your back straight. HOLD it there for 30-seconds. Then rest. Then try again.

Start off with three sets of 30 seconds. Keep trying each day until you get to five sets and then extend your plank in 15-second increments. How long can you hold your plank? We would love to see it. Show us your stuff. Upload your video and tag us on Instagram or Facebook by using @highspeeddaddy so we can cheer you on.

Dad Bod Exercise #3 - Not even an exercise at all. 

Get enough sleep, brother. What does this mean? Well, before we can talk about what it means, we have to talk about what it DOESN’T mean.

It doesn’t mean sleeping all night in a different room so you can “get to work” the next day while your partner stays up all night, with no sleep, just because she is off work and “is the only one that can feed the baby” because she is breastfeeding. No. Last time we checked, the definition of a partnership was working together. And working together is the key to staying focused and crushing the new parent game.

So set a plan with your #1 (aka your wife or partner) and no matter what type of plan you make, be a 50/50 partner. The first six months of the new baby phase are tough, but if you make a plan together, you can get enough sleep to make it through work, dad duty and maybe even a little quality time with your wife or partner. (A little caffeine never hurt anyone either!)

How much sleep should a new dad get? Check this out. 

If you are worried about your workout and body image as you step into this next level of Dad-dom, you are not alone. We not only understand what you are going through, we’ve been there.

So if you are experiencing a bit of anxiety around this, not to worry. Dip your face in cold water and keep going. To demonstrate (and elaborate a bit) on what we mean, check out this short 1-minute read on how to help reduce anxiety for dads. 

Join A Group Of High Speed Daddies, Just Like You!

Challenge yourself and join a brotherhood just for you...a group of husbands, fathers and men who provide, protect and connect with their families. You will always be welcome and it will always be free. You can find the group here: “High Speed Daddy: Provide, Protect, Connect.”