For those of us who prefer a Netflix marathon to an actual marathon, the dad bod was one of the most appealing trends to hit the globe.
For months, women and other guys everywhere started to embrace the flabby beer-bellied guys that shared the image of the average dad.
Unfortunately, a lot of guys started to see the dad bod as a get-out-of-jail-free card. Men everywhere quit their gym subscriptions and replaced their daily PT sessions with 5-hour Xbox sessions.
While we’re all about lads feeling great about their bodies here at Blitz’d getting into the dad bod trend could be much more dangerous than you’d think.
It turns out that the abdominal fat that builds for the average couch potato isn’t just a handy cushion for your girlfriend; it’s also a hormonally active fat that increases your risk of everything from diabetes to heart disease and cancer. Yeesh.
The more visceral fat you have, the more your muscles degrade, making it harder to regain your abs after months of inactivity.
The good news? We’re going to teach you how to get rid of dad bod, once and for all.
Let’s get to work.
What is a dad bod anyway? Dad bod meaning:
To start, let’s answer the question: “What is a dad bod?”
Technically, you could say anyone who has a kid has a dad bod. That includes Steve from your local gym and Barney from the office.
However, the dad bod trend has a much more specific definition. The most common dad bod meaning is:
A slang term to define a male body with flabby arms, a soft round mid-section (beer belly), and limited energy.
The term “dad bod” doesn’t have to be synonymous with overweight. However, most guys with dad bods aren’t as fit as they could be.
While we think this term is a little unfair to some of the healthier dads out there, the phrase is meant to refer to guys who let themselves go after having a few kids.
Guys are likely to have less energy after they become dads. Looking after children is hard work.
Unfortunately, inactivity and ignoring your ab workouts means that you start to gain fat around your stomach. That fat puts you at higher risk of various chronic diseases, like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and more.
The good news? Learning how to get rid of dad bod doesn’t mean you need to spend your whole life exercising and face-timing your kids from the gym.
Taking a few simple steps to update your nutrition, improve your workout routine and even relax more often could make a big difference to that excess weight.
Start with an anti-dad bod workout
First, you’re going to need the right exercise routine to tackle your dad bod issues.
Experts tell us that the fastest way to get rid of dad bod, is to make sure that you’re still training. A lot of dads stop going to the gym because they’re tired or busy.
However, you don’t need a gym membership to slim down and shape up.
Proper exercise and nutrition at home is fine too.
When you’re designing your anti-dad bod workout, start by making sure that you warm up thoroughly before each workout.
Remember, you’re not going to be able to achieve the same things that you could when you were in your teens.
Your late-night Netflix sessions are going to be catching up with you. It’ll take time for you to rediscover the endurance and strength you used to have.
It’s also worth focusing on exercises that you actually enjoy.
After a period of inactivity, it’s going to be much harder to convince yourself to stick to a routine that you don’t want to do.
So, choose your favourite exercise instead, like running or biking, and structure an interval training strategy around it.
Interval training helps to boost your metabolism and ensure that you don’t get lazy with your routines. Our top tip is to implement as much calorie-burning cardio into your interval training sessions as possible.
For instance:
- Warm up for about 5 minutes, using jumping jacks, jogging on the spot, and stretching.
- Spend 5-10 minutes in high-intensity exercise. This could be cycling as fast as you can or using hill sprints to push you further during running.
- Slow down for 5-10 minutes, catching your breath without stopping completely.
- Switch between high-intensity and low-intensity workouts for a period of up to 30 minutes.
An example workout to get rid of dad bod
Remember, you’re going to be out of practice, so it might take a while for you to reach your full potential. You’re probably not going to be able to handle a full 2 hours of cardio a day.
Instead, start with about 30 minutes of cardio, and another 10 to 20 minutes of full-body workouts.
Full-body workouts are any routine that engages a number of muscle groups at once.
For instance, a strength session with squats, deadlifts, and presses will help you to target your arms, legs, and stomach all in one go.
Getting a good blend of full-body workouts and cardio into your routine will help you to lose dad bod weight fast while getting back into the habit of daily exercise.
Here’s a strategy to try:
- 3-5 minute warm-up session with stretches and jumping jacks
- Full-body training with 20 push-ups, 20 squats, and 20 sit-ups
- 1 minute of rest
- 5 minutes of high-intensity running
- 1 minute of rest
- 10 minutes of jogging
- 1 minute of rest
- 5 minutes of up-hill running
- 1 minute of rest
- 10 push-ups, 10 squats, and 10 sit-ups
As your fitness level improves, you can add more to your routine, incorporating longer high-intensity sessions, and even a few weights. Trust us, you’ll get used to this routine a lot faster than you’d think.
How to get of dad bod with diet
Exercise will make a huge difference to your ability to get rid of dad bod weight.
However, you can only accomplish so much with exercise alone. Eventually, you’ll need to add nutrition and diet into your routine too.
Yep, that means putting the pizza down and starting to watch what you eat.
We’re not saying you can’t have a cheat day from time to time. But for at least 5 days out of 7, you need to make sure you’re reducing your carbs and getting plenty of protein in your meals.
Have a protein-rich breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That’s particularly true for people with dad bod issues.
If you’re used to eating sugar-laden cereals or bacon for breakfast, try getting some morning protein from eggs instead.
A quick egg-white omelette will give you the protein you need to energize for the day. What’s more, eggs contain choline, which helps to stop fat accumulation.
Cut back on the carbs
It’s probably no surprise that bad carbs are the foundation of dad bod issues. Pizza, bread, and pasta are delicious, but they’re not great for your figure.
Instead of loading up on empty carbs, focus on getting your nutrition in other ways, through fresh fruits and veggies and lean meats, for instance.
Banish the beer belly
Liquid carbs might be worse for you than the solid ones. Every can you drink contains up to 100 calories.
While you don’t need to stop drinking entirely, it might be worth switching to whiskey or gin with low-calorie mixers instead.
Stay hydrated
Just because you need to drink less beer doesn’t mean you should drink less altogether. You should be ramping up your water intake if you want to get rid of dad bod.
According to one Utah University study, adults drinking eight cups of water each day had a higher metabolism rate than guys drinking half that amount.
Other tips to lose dad bod weight
Nutrition and exercise are the cornerstones of success when you’re learning how to get rid of dad bod. However, there are other steps you can take too.
For instance, making sure that you get enough sleep will help to reduce hunger and reduce your risk of stubborn belly podge.
A study into twins and visceral fat found that better sleep led to less abdominal fat. Aim for about 7-9 hours a night, leave your smartphone out of your bedroom, and stick to a schedule (even on weekends).
While you’re working on your sleeping patterns, think about finding better ways to relax too. For many guys, stress is a massive barrier to eating healthy and exercising more. High levels of stress make it harder to make the right choices.
Your way more likely to have an extra donut (or a couple of dozen) if you’re feeling stressed about stuff like work and relationships. However, comfort eating leads to much less comforting weight gain.
Find a way to deal with your stress through yoga, meditation, or even just taking your angst out on a punching bag. You should be doing at least one thing to lower your stress every day.
It’s time to lose dad bod status
Deciding that you want to ditch your dadbod once and for all doesn’t mean that you need to get super-shredded. There are more body types than just chubby and body builder, after all.
Learning how to get rid of dad bod means improving your exercise and nutrition strategy so that you can be a healthier and happier version of yourself.
Plus, let’s face it, the girls are losing interest in podgy stomachs these days.
If you’re a single dad, or a non-dad with the dadbod physique, creating the right fitness strategy could work wonders for your dating game too.
Blitz yourself better!
This article contains general nutritional tips and advice. However, no diet or exercise program should be started without consulting your physician or other industry professional first. For more information read our full disclaimer here.
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