Going Strong: Training Goals and An HIIT Workout Routine During Naptime

Remember how I posted my workouts from last week a whole 2 times? Yeah, that didn’t last too long. Not that I quit working out, far from, but that typing it all out took too long. Honestly, keeping myself in check is hardly an issue, just ask my wife, so other than sharing my workouts with all who care to read, it felt pointless.

Sorry to anyone who seriously looked forward to knowing my workouts from the prior week. Instead, I hope to share strength & conditioning routines created either by yours truly (that’s me) or found elsewhere.

High intensity routines are perfect for the time-strapped parent (or anyone short on time) as they provide a superb training stimulus in 30 minutes or less. That is, of course, assuming you push yourself out of your comfort zone. If there’s one carry-over from my years of marathon training to strength training, it’s learning to push far beyond my level of comfort to reach and/or surpass my goals.

One thing I have trouble with in my strength goals is actually doing less to gain more. With marathon training, it’s all about doing more; more miles, more time on feet, and essentially, more running! When training for strength, you focus on lifting “more” weight (i.e. get stronger), but not much else since your muscles need to rest and recover in order to repair themselves and grow stronger.

Strength training is obviously more detailed than that, but that’s an extreme Cliff Notes version. Lift heavy, eat a caloric surplus, rest, repeat. I’ve done better with this over the years, but still have a major problem with creating a caloric surplus. I’ll admit I have this fear of getting fat, like I used to be, and anytime I actually eat what I think is a lot, I have this urgent “need” to go run or do some form of exercise. It’s borderline OCD if not worse, but like I said, I’m getting better at accepting I MUST eat more to actually get stronger.

Even with my diet comprising of almost all whole foods that I prepare, I still find ways to be hard on myself as if I’m not doing enough. I think it’s time I get over it and eat more peanut butter! Love that stuff!

I could blabber on and on about this topic, but it’d become more redundant than it already is. Plus, I have an HIIT routine I created that I want to share with you and hopefully you’ll find it effective.

Although this is mainly a blog about my life as a stay-at-home dad, fitness/nutrition plays a major role in our lives and is a field I want to get into when Avery starts going to school. Plus, parents need to keep fit too. If not for their own health, for the sake of leading by example for their little ones!

Once your kid goes down for a nap or you’re graced with a patient child, try this routine for a full-body blast that’ll have you full of endorphins once finished.

I'm waiting for you!!
I’m waiting for you!!

6 Rounds for Time

6 *Pull-ups or Chin-ups

10 Burpees

15 Push-ups

10 1-arm **Kettlebell Swings (each arm)

15 V-Ups

*If you can’t do pull-ups/chin-ups, try inverted rows or dumbbell bent rows
**If you don’t have a kettlebell, use a dumbbell or anything you can old and securely swing

I was feeling this the next day and loved it! If you really push yourself, expect to take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. I added 5 minutes of biking before and after but it’s not required.

Give this routine a try and let me know how you liked it (or didn’t like it) in the comments below. This is also a great finisher after pure strength training with compounds exercises like squat, deadlift, bench, etc.; just shorten it to 3 rounds.

Do you struggle with getting motivated to exercise or are you like me and struggle with doing less to gain more?

Do you like crossfit style “WODs” like this?

This post is part of the #FitFamilyFriday Link Party. Click below to find posts by other health-minded bloggers and be sure to share with your friends and family!

Papa_Tont

Avoid Awkward Silence as an At-Home Parent: Six Ways to Develop Early Vocabulary Skills

Me: Hey Avery, are you hungry?

Avery: ……..

Me: Okaaayyyy, how about we try walking?

Avery: …….

Me: What’s wrong, did you poop?

Avery: ………

And so on and so forth. Thus is the typical conversation most parents have with their babies.

When you start life as an at-home parent your infant, silence is inevitable and expected. Sure, there’s crying and cooing, but unless you’re caring for other kids at the talking age, you have no one to actually converse with when at home.

We only have one kid, so it’s just Avery and me spending every day together, learning and growing along the way. I love it. It’s fulfilling, rewarding, better than sitting in an office (to me), way better than daycare (financially and physically), and it sometimes drives me INSANE!

Oops, did I say that? It’s not when she’s extremely fussy and screaming out loud, or when she’s pulling out my leg hair as I’m trying to cook meals for day; it’s the silence. Crying, I can take, but sometimes it gets quiet, a little too quiet.

Don't mind me, I'll just sit here and stare.
Don’t mind me, I’ll just sit here and stare.

As I first mentioned, it’s expected from an infant, but at a year old and close to making actual words with her babbling, it’s just awkward when she turns silent. I’ll be working in the kitchen as she’s happily pushing her boxes across the floor (yes, we’re classy) or we’ll be playing in the front room, but all too often, she turns silent and stares into space.

I know you’re thinking, “Must be poop!”, and I used to think the same, but that’s usually accompanied by grunting and a strawberry-red face. I’ll check anyway because you never know (right?), but 8.3 times out of 10, there’s no poop in sight……or smell.

Luckily, there are solutions to most problems in the world, and I’ve found six that help combat the awkward silence as an at-home parent. As she grows, many of these will act as a wonderful base to build upon and hopefully expand her vocab skills and mind.

1. Explain what you are doing. When I’m in the kitchen (it’s a lot!), I’ll catch Avery staring at me as I work. Instead of just carrying on in silence, I’ll explain to her exactly what I’m doing as if she’s a student anxious to jot down all of my notes. I do this for everything from the exercises I do when working out and even during diaper changes. This gives me the pseudo-conversation I sometimes miss and helps keep her engaged in daily activities.

2. Explain what they are doing. Since it would be narcissistic to only talk about yourself, describe the actions your kid is making too. This goes along with number 1 above, and will help them begin to understand their capabilities.

Yes dear, you are accurately portraying Chucky, the killer doll.
Yes dear, you are accurately portraying Chucky, the killer doll.

3. Make eye contact when speaking to your child. In doing so, your child may be more inclined to communicate. Of course, watch what you’re doing too; like changing dirty diapers!! I’ve tried looking into her eyes while explaining how I’m cleaning her bottom and next thing I knew, well, you know. #ParentingFail

4. Read to them often. Even when they can’t stand still and try to tear the pages from your hands as they scream, keep reading! Avery does this to Going Mom and I daily, but trust me, you’ll help build vocabulary skills and maybe even have them reading before others their age. Make sure to choose books with big, bright colors and fun pictures. Moby Dick is not the best book to start with. 🙂

5. Acknowledge their sounds and actions. When Avery started blowing raspberries, we made sure to return the action and let her know what she was doing. Now that’s she’s babbling a lot, we repeat (as good as we can) the string of “words” she spouts out and encourage words like “momma” and “da da”. Lately, Avery has become an expert at sticking out her tongue on queue and it makes my wife and I so proud!

6. Play music. You don’t have to have “The Wheels on the Bus” on repeat, play actual music, whatever you like, and it’ll be fine. This is a big one for keeping sane and having some kind of background noise at all times. Almost every day, I turn on Pandora with a mix of my favorite channels and frequently sing out loud with Avery staring at me in bewilderment. Despite the strange looks you might receive, have no doubt that your kid will pick up on words that help expand their vocabulary. For this reason, I tend to stay away from the Eminem station….

Although you can never fully escape the awkward silence when you’re an at-home parent with only one kid who’s not yet talking, these six solutions will help get you through this time and help build your child’s speech and learning skills as well.

Have you made use of any of these before?

Do you have other tips/advice to share?

Pictures of the Day Our Baby Turned Into a Toddler

Phew, we survived her first birthday! Better yet, so did she! There were more people around than Avery was used to and way too much going on, but she eventually warmed up to the crowd.

The cake, being the first time she’s had sugar, might’ve helped a little. Her cake was actually a pumpkin brownie recipe I used as a base but cut out some of the sugar called for  and used stevia in place. This is what we served as dessert to our guests and no one said they didn’t like it, so that’s good, right?

We are still in recovery mode after the long weekend, so I’m cutting it short and just making this a photo dump of the big day. Enjoy!

You spend hours creating my cake, I'll reduce it to rubble in under a minute!
You spend hours creating my cake, I’ll reduce it to rubble in under a minute!
Ummm, dad, your nose is in my eye and both of you are in the way of my cake!
Ummm, dad, your nose is in my eye and both of you are in the way of my cake!
While demolishing her cake, it suddenly hit her......"I'm one!!!"
While demolishing her cake, it suddenly hit her……”I’m one!!!”
It only makes sense to be in your birthday suit, opening birthday gifts, on your birthday, right?
It only makes sense to be in your birthday suit, opening birthday gifts, on your birthday, right?
Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies for the guests. We had a lot left over!!
Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies for the guests. We had a lot left over!!
Seriously, anything that lights up is an instant win!
Seriously, anything that lights up is an instant win!
Going Mom opens gifts, I write who they were from, Avery plays with wand and paper. Sums up most of the party!
Going Mom opens gifts, I write who they were from, Avery plays with wand and paper. Sums up most of the party!
I hope she always feels this way about sugary food!
I hope she always feels this way about sugary food!
We made cake from the chocolate pumpkin brownie batches I baked and Kelley used Greek yogurt for icing and blueberries for the "1"
We made cake from the chocolate pumpkin brownie batches I baked and Kelley used Greek yogurt for icing and blueberries for the “1”

 

Fun times indeed! Hoping to post a follow up with a quick summary of events and more photos of the fun Avery has been having with her new toys. Maybe she’ll even be walking by then. Hmmm, how long have I been saying that now???