Life can get hectic sometimes

Dad life can get hectic sometimes. One minute, you’re breaking down boxes on Christmas day then the next thing you know it’s mid-February, your weekends consist of soccer games, kids parties, and household chores. By the time you get to relax, it’s Sunday evening. During the week you’re trying to balance kicking ass at work with being present for your family. Add in all the fun changes in a man’s life as he nears 40 and you have a perfect recipe for a lack of motivation.

We all know what we need to do; eat well, get enough sleep, and move around a little bit at the very least. These are the basic requirements for us to stay around for our families. Unfortunately, for some of us, there simply isn’t enough time in the day to do it all. Sacrifices have to be made. Couple that with little to no motivation and things can get doughy real fast.

One of the easiest ways I’ve found to make up that time is to simply skip the gym. It’s that simple folks, just don’t go. 

Obviously, I am kidding, sort of. I don’t mean to skip your work out, but ditch the gym itself. For me, I live about 10 minutes away from Planet Fitness, (Oh I know, but it’s cheap and I have 4 kids). This means, I spend 20 minutes just driving, and at least 30 - 40 minutes working out.

Instead, I take that 20 minutes of drive time and 10 minutes of warm up time and I turn it into a morning walk with the dog. We go about a mile and half, I sip on my pre-workout, let my mind wander and enjoy the quiet. Once we get back to the house, I either go for a quick run, or do a simple, yet effective HIIT workout. All in all I get about an hour of movement in each day, sometimes more. 

Obviously, the more I do this, the more I need; heavier weights, more reps, longer workouts. I was contemplating going back to Planet Fitness, or starting Crossfit again with the guys from work but I didn’t want to lose seeing my kids before school.

Then I saw my Atlas Trainer sitting in my closet. 

I started wearing that thing while walking the dog. It took some courage for me, I’ll admit I felt like a total dork walking around my neighborhood with that thing on. But the benefits vastly outweigh the dork factor. After a mile and a half with 45lbs on an Atlas, my legs feel like I did a decent set of kettle bell swings. I simply get more out of my walk than I do without it. I’m able to maximize that time. It turns one mile into ten

Further, I now incorporate it into my HIIT workouts when I can. I only have up to 45lb dumbbells so I add the Atlas when 90lbs just isn’t enough: front squats, alternating dumbbell lunges, weighted step-ups, and when I’m feeling really good, I wear it while doing push-ups.

It feels like a cheat code, I am getting so much more out of the little time I have. The Atlas has literally added time to my life and so far, nothing else can make that claim.