How Becoming a Dad Redefined My Workouts

With my son, hours after becoming a dad.

How I Trained Before Fatherhood

Up until a few months ago, my workouts were as consistent as a cuckoo clock.

Everything was scheduled around training. Perfectly timed meals, 8–9 hours of sleep, carb cycling, and deload weeks — they all coordinated with the training plan.

For years, I followed a strict 6-day resistance training split. I’d go months without missing a day.

Each session lasted anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes, and I added cardio a few times a week on top of that.

Training wasn’t just my hobby. It was my lifestyle.

This was me at my peak as a competitive physique athlete.

I lived for continuous self-improvement. Heavier weights, more reps, bigger muscles, less fat. Progress was trackable, tangible, and deeply satisfying.

And while it worked for me at the time, I didn’t realize just how much of my self-worth had become tied to the structure and sheer volume of training.

That version of me had the time, energy, and freedom to chase physique perfection.

Fatherhood would change all of that. These days, I’m lucky if I even get started before cries erupt from the monitor.

Screenshot from my Oura Ring app showing that I was “in the trenches” of sleep deprivation.

Once we brought him home, everything revolved around feeding schedules, diaper changes, and bottle sanitation. I’d spend 90 minutes helping feed, cleaning bottles, and assembling pump parts — only to do it all over again before I’d even had a chance to catch my breath.

There was barely time to eat or shower, let alone train.

For a while, it felt like I was losing everything I’d worked so hard to build. The struggle was just as much mental as physical.

My identity as a bodybuilder seemed like it was being swept away in a raging river of sleepless nights and survival-mode days.

The hardest part wasn’t even missing workouts or losing hard-earned muscle. It was letting go of the version of myself that training had kept anchored for over two decades.

My structure was gone. But slowly, I started to adapt.

I stopped trying to cling to my old routine and started going with the flow, building something that worked in my current situation.

Not “ideal,” but real.

And that shift became the framework for everything that followed.

The Dad Bod Workout Plan

These days, my training doesn’t follow a strict schedule. There are no set workout days.

I train whenever I can slip downstairs for a quick jam session while the baby sleeps or my wife has things covered.

My current routine is loosely based on a 5-day “bro split,” which involves working legs, chest, back, shoulders, and arms on separate days.

But instead of building my week around the gym, the gym now fits into the tiny gaps in my life. It went from the bricks to the mortar.

To make the most of short windows— sometimes just 20 minutes — I do the following:

• Prioritize compound movements to work multiple muscles at once
• Keep rest periods under 60 seconds to minimize downtime
• Double up with supersets to work one muscle while another rests
• And group by equipment to reduce time spent setting up or moving weights

Now, let’s break down the details of each individual training day, including the specific exercises I choose, the number of sets I do, and the rationale behind the workout structure.

My workout log book.

Leg Day

• 5 sets of barbell back squats (60 sec rests)
• 5 sets of barbell calf raises (30 sec rests)

Leg day used to be my longest workout. Now it’s one of the shortest. Still, my legs are wobbling as I ascend the stairs afterward.

Instead of training quads, hamstrings, and glutes with individual exercises, I hit them all with focused sets of squats at an 8–9 out of 10 effort (RPE), or 1–2 reps in reserve (RIR).

Then use the same setup for barbell calf raises with just enough time to write down my reps between sets. The rapid-fire approach saves time and makes it more challenging for stubborn calf muscles.

This entire workout takes place inside the power rack. No wasted movement.

Chest/Triceps Day

• 5 sets of barbell bench press (60 sec rests)
• 5 sets of close-grip bench press (60 sec rests)
• 4 sets of dumbbell flies (45 sec rests)
• 4 sets of cable pressdowns (30 sec rests)

I set up the bench and bar in my power rack for the first two compound exercises: conventional and close-grip bench press.

Then I move on to isolation exercises for chest and tris. The easier the exercise, the shorter the rest period. It reduces time without cutting down your strength.

Back/Biceps Day

• 5 sets of pull-ups (60 sec rests)
• 4 sets of barbell rows (45 sec rests)
• 5 supersets of spider curls and cable curls (45 sec rests)

Before becoming a dad, I tested a pull-up-only workout routine, so I’m no stranger to minimalist back training.

Now I also do barbell rows and tack on 5 supersets to blast my biceps. Simple, yet my back is still sore the next day.

Screenshot of my back and bicep workout details from the Apple Fitness app.

Shoulder Day

My Oura Ring shows that this modest cardio routine has a positive impact on my heart health.

Dad Bod Workout Goals

My “dad bod” after 4 months of following this new workout routine.

What I Let Go — and What I Gained

With my engineering background, I used to obsess over optimizing everything from my training split to macro tracking and recovery.

I wanted each variable dialed in and every decision based on data. Every lift, every meal, was part of my master plan.

But fatherhood has a way of humbling even your best-laid systems.

In those early weeks, I had to let go of the idea that my routine — or my physique — would ever be “optimal” again. And honestly, it stung. Not because I care about beach muscles, but because I had spent years equating progress with things I could measure and control.

Now, the only thing in my control was how fast I could change a diaper or how streamlined I could make my pump cleaning operation.

But within that loss of control came unexpected clarity.

• Instead of optimization, I focused on efficiency.
• Instead of chasing more, I embraced minimalism.
• Instead of bulking and cutting, I made peace with maintenance.

My workouts got shorter, but more focused. My training plan had less structure, but more freedom.

And as our parenting rhythm began to sync up, so did everything else.

My wife and I learned to divide and conquer. Dialing in our feeding schedule, errands, and sleep shifts just enough to keep our heads above water. We still don’t have it all figured out — but gradually, we got used to the noise.

People kept telling us, “Don’t worry — it gets easier.” But I’m not sure that’s true.

It’s not that life magically gets less demanding. We just adapt.

We grow and we become more resilient. Soon, what once felt impossible becomes the new normal.

It’s the same principle I’ve applied in the gym for decades:

The weight doesn’t get lighter — you just get stronger.

The Greek legend of Milos exemplifies how we adapt to increased demands.

Redefining Routine and Showing Up Strong

For me now, “routine” doesn’t mean following a rigid schedule. It means showing up — consistently.

Even if it’s late at night and I’m exhausted from the day, I’ll sneak in ten sets of bench press before bed. Not because I’m chasing a pump or prepping for a show — but because I’ve made a commitment to myself:

Never go more than two days without training.

Lifting weights used to be about aesthetics. Now, it’s about function. It’s how I train my body to respond to stress, to stay ready, to be capable.

At 39, I’m not a young first-time father. I think about the long game now.

I want to be a dad who can still run, wrestle, and roughhouse with his son in my 50s and beyond. That doesn’t require a perfect program. It just takes one simple principle:

Subject your body to physically demanding work — regularly.

That’s really what resistance training is, even at the highest level.

It’s not about optimizing every variable. It’s about doing hard things with your body often enough that resilience becomes your default state.

Once you understand that, you stop stressing about the perfect plan and start taking action with what you’ve got.

For me, fatherhood reshaped my mindset. Training is now about building a strong mental and physical foundation for my family.

And even though having a child changed everything, I wouldn’t change a thing.

If you’re navigating parenthood or another life-changing transition, I promise you can stay strong, even in the chaos.

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