FitdadX

My thoughts on developing a great back. 

To get you up to speed on my life - this is the story of my back. My obsession with having a powerful fit body began at the age of 12 for reasons which I will not go into in this post and you don’t care, plus no one reads my stuff anyway. To be honest, I never really cared about my back. Nevertheless, muscle magazines and Arnold Schwarzenegger told me that I needed to have a balanced physique. Thank god I listened and I always exercised my back. I never enjoyed it though because I never actually cared. I was 12, then I was 18, then I was older, and older, and now I’m even older and I just want HUGE pectoral muscles. 

What changed? I had kids. I have two boys. The youngest is 5 and about 40 pounds and he likes for me to carry him on my shoulders. Hello! - the importance of a strong back. My 8-year-old falls asleep on our bed at night and I have to pick him up (65 pounds), walk to the kids room, step onto the 5-year-olds bottom bunk bed, fork-lift the 8-year-old gently over the side barricade of his top bunk bed, and land him gently down so as not to wake him. HELLO BACK!

The only aspect of working my back muscles that has ever evoked the slightest interest in me has been the ability to perform any manner of pull-ups. Like most of you, that has proven to be very difficult throughout my life. Well, recently I decided that not only would I like to be able to do - oh, let’s say - three sets of ten - but how cool would it be to be able to do 50? In-a-row!

I found the following website: http://www.50pullups.com/ I began the program about a month ago and it works! I am nowhere near the end of it but the approach is great because it takes you through a very logical and sequential progression over time and your progress. In addition, built into the program, there are milestone points at which you are asked to perform an assessment test to see how you have progressed and to make sure you are on-track to your goal.

The only variation that I have added to the program is that every set, I change the type of pull-up/chin-up that I do. I feel that targets various muscles in my back differently giving me both thickness and width. The above picture shows that this program is not only making me stronger but also impacting the look of my entire back - for the better I think.

Being a parent is such an irony sometimes. A daily cacophony of bittersweet thoughts and emotions. Yesterday, both of my boys had  a “bad day.” My little one - Nicolas - who is not to be messed with received a sad face on his daily behavior calendar for not listening to a teacher at lunch. On top of that, he mimicked her when she asked him to sit down. My oldest son - Santiago - was practicing for his cold read tomorrow and he is struggling with reading comprehension.

Of course, I think that they are amazing and full of potential. I was trying to convey to both of them how amazing they are and that challenges in life are huge blessings that make us who we are and make us strong! They get it and at the same time I can see that internally they struggle with doubt and fear just as we all do.

What is the irony? Today, after I dropped them off at school I noticed that internally I was dealing with doubt and fear. Ha! That is so funny. I’m sure if my mom were here she would tell me how amazing I am. So, after 42 years of wrestling with ‘who am I s,’ ‘what do I want s,’ ‘what is my purpose s,’ and ‘why can’t I get my shit together s,’ I have learned one important lesson. And it has taken me literally 42 years to learn but since I’m going to live well into my 200s, I guess that it oik. What have I learned about soul searching?

by Sebastian Ortega

First, this blog is for dads who are primarily concerned with the wellbeing of their children. I will focus on raising men. Why? I only have boys. Second, fitdadx is a blog for family, health, and fitness. Everyone is welcome. Allow me to illustrate an example of the modern day dilemmas that dads are faced with in raising sons that are charming, intelligent, polite, physically and emotionally healthy.

Recently, we have been struggling with achieving the “right” amount of media time for our boys. My seven-year-old son has an old iPhone that he uses to play games on. He requested that we let him take the phone with him to summer camp. We said ok. We gave Santiago guidelines. First, use it responsibly. Second, share with your little brother. What was the outcome? If you have kids - you know - disaster!

When I picked Santiago and Nicolas up that day, I discovered the phone was shut off because the battery was completely used up. That night, when we opened his lunchbox, we discovered that he had not eaten a single snack or drank any of the water we sent. He had become so stupified by the video games that all else was forsaken. I'm sure his little brother did not partake either.

What did I learn? First, the summer camp we put the boys in is garbage. Second, “be responsible,” is a phrase we tell our kids that has no context in their brains. What did we do? We found a new summer camp where Santiago and Nicolas could not play more than a few minutes with the iPhone not matter what. Also, when Santiago takes his phone somewhere, I give him a specific battery life target to hit. If the phone starts at a 100% charge, he must shut it off when it gets to 60%. It’s an old phone and that should last him 30 to 45 minutes. We are trying to achieve 30 minutes or less per day. I give him a little cushion taking into account that he may play for a few minutes, put the phone down to do something, and come back to it later which will also use the battery life.

Santiago does not like the new plan. I want him to understand my rationale so I give him examples of behavior that he exhibits when he plays too many video games or watches too much tv. Then, I explain that his well being is my first priority. I ask him to describe what his well being is. We discover food, shelter, cleanliness, physical, and mental development as key factors for his lifelong success. Santiago does not use those exact words of course. Finally, I let him know that his happiness is my second concern and that if the first protocol is being met, happiness becomes a priority. He still does not fully understand that overuse of electronic devices can be bad for his development but I trust he senses that I care for him and do things for his benefit and not to hurt him.

First, this blog is for dads who are primarily concerned with the wellbeing of their children. I will focus on raising men. Why? I only have boys. Second, FITDADX is a blog for family, health, and fitness. Everyone is welcome. Allow me to illustrate an example of the modern day dilemmas that dads are faced with in raising sons that are charming, intelligent, polite, physically and emotionally healthy.

Recently, we have been struggling with achieving the “right” amount of media time for our boys. My seven-year-old son, Santiago, has an old iPhone that he uses to play games on. He requested that we let him take the phone with him to summer camp. We said ok. We gave Santiago guidelines. First, use it responsibly. Second, share with your little brother, Nicholas. What was the outcome? If you have kids - you know - disaster!

When I picked Santiago and Nicolas up that day, I discovered the phone was shut off because the battery was completely used up. That night, when we opened his lunchbox, we discovered that he had not eaten a single snack or drank any of the water we sent. He had become so stupefied by the video games that all else was forsaken. I'm sure his little brother did not partake either.

What did I learn? First, the summer camp we put the boys in is garbage. Second, “be responsible,” is a phrase we tell our kids that has no context in their brains. What did we do? We found a new summer camp where Santiago and Nicolas could not play more than a few minutes with the iPhone no matter what. Also, when Santiago takes his phone somewhere, I give him a specific battery life target to hit. If the phone starts at a 100% charge, he must shut it off when it gets to 60%. It’s an old phone and that should last him 30 to 45 minutes. We are trying to achieve 30 minutes or less per day. I give him a little cushion taking into account that he may play for a few minutes, put the phone down to do something, and come back to it later which will also use the battery life.

Santiago does not like the new plan. I want him to understand my rationale so I give him examples of behavior that he exhibits when he plays too many video games or watches too much TV. Then, I explain that his well-being is my first priority. I ask him to describe what his well-being is. We discover food, shelter, cleanliness, physical, and mental development as key factors for his lifelong success. Santiago does not use those exact words, of course. Finally, I let him know that his happiness is my second concern and that if the first protocol is being met, happiness becomes a priority. He still does not fully understand that overuse of electronic devices can be bad for his development, but I trust he senses that I care for him and do things for his benefit and not to hurt him.