Getting “Dad Strong” For Fathers Day – TOP 5 Exercises

Have you ever noticed how freakishly strong we all remember our fathers being?   Dads are the ones in the family who have to push-start the car, haul gravel, and open up a can of whoop-ass.  I even know guys who have stories of their dads lifting a cars engine block out with their bare hands – seriously! 

I’m sure some of it is just the perception of a kid, but the fact is, for a lot of us, our first introductions to what it meant to be big and strong were the examples set by our fathers.

This was certainly true for me. 

I grew up a tiny kid.  I was both short and skinny … very short, and very skinny.  My “little” brother is three years younger than I am, but the entire time we were growing up we were the exact same height.  I always looked like a girl who was three years younger than I was.  Not the poster-child for macho!

But, my Mom always told me that someday, if I was simply patient (and ate my broccoli), I would grow up to be just as big as my dad.

Hey, that sounded pretty good!  My dad is just under 6 feet tall, he’s athletic, strong – you know, all the stuff a hobbit-sized boy wants to be. 

Interestingly, like me, he wasn’t born with big muscles.  He was a naturally thin guy, but he lifted weights, went running, and built up his muscles the hard way.  By the time I was in high school he was getting pretty big. 

I remember in high school some friends and I were playing video games in the living room, and my dad was outside doing some gardening.  At some point one of my friends looked out the window and saw my dad tearing a tree out of the ground with his bare hands!

“Holy shit, your dad has big arms!” he said.  Seriously, veins popping out, muscles all over the place, tree branches cracklin’ … OK, memory is a tough thing.  Maybe it wasn’t a tree.  But, the dude looked huge and he was doing something I couldn’t have done.  I was impressed.

It’s now more than a few years later, and I’ve built up some big arms of my own.  I’m not a dad, I’ve never tried to pull a tree out of the ground,  but I have tried hard to build up that crazy “Dad strength” we all remember.

What is Dad strength anyway?

If I had to break it down, I’d say that Dad strength is the kind of strength that is highly functional, and is able to impress people when they least expect it.  This is the kind of strength you need to rip a tree out of the ground, move an engine block, or just open a sealed tight peanut butter jar for your lazy children.

You need total-body strength to lift very heavy stuff.  You need it to look pretty for the wife.  And, you also need to have the endurance to chase down those mangy kids when they’re trying to get out of a beatin’.

The TOP 5 Exercises for Dad Strength

Let’s get serious.  If you’re ever going to be big and strong, you’re going to have to work at it.

My brother and I, when we went camping, liked to find heavy logs and rocks to lift and throw around.  We used to fight for the front seat of the car by arm wrestling.  We’d have push up and sprinting contests.  In short (unlike the pesky kids of today), we actually played outside. 

It turns out that we were doing what we might term today as strongman training, without thinking about.  We’d go out and find random stuff to throw around and test ourselves on.  This is a great way to train for strength and power. 

Realistically, though, most gyms don’t come equipped with logs and rocks. (A shame, I tell ye!)  So, instead you can use the following five exercises to build up your own dad strength.

• Power Cleans.  If you are not an Olympic weightlifter, then do these from the hang position.  Cleans (of all kinds) will do wonders for building the kind of explosive power in your hips and legs required to kick the ass of an unruly kid.  (They are also unparalleled in their ability to bulk up the upper back muscles.)
• Front Squats.  As most of you know, I prefer front squats to back squats.  Front squats are not only safer, and easier to do correctly, but they more accurately mimic the movement you’re going to have to do when you lift that engine block out of the car!
• Deadlifts.  If you can’t lift heavy stuff off the ground, you ain’t much of a dad.  Guys should strive for a double bodyweight deadlift for 1 rep, and 20 reps with bodyweight.
• Push Press.  It’s like a press, but you cheat it up with your legs.  This means you can use A LOT of weight.  And you should.  Someday, that cute son of yours is gonna grow up into a pain-in-the-butt teenager and you’re gonna have to throw him out of the house … physically.  Holding heavy weights above your head is a must.
• Chin Ups.  In addition to making your arms look all pretty for the wife, chins will keep your shoulders healthy and your back strong.  I don’t care who you are, if you’re a man and you can’t do at least a few chin ups, we got problems.

There you have it, people.  For fathers day, get strong and make him proud.  And every time you feel like quitting, just remember those immortal words, “Don’t make me take this belt off, boy!”

 

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