Gaddour claims “Our father’s are now in the worst shape of their lives, many suffering from a very scary condition called Metabolic Syndrome X. This leads to a host of health concerns like insulin resistance, high blood pressure, cholesterol abnormalities, and an increased risk for clotting. Syndrome X is found mostly in people who are overweight or obese and have a large accumulate of abdominal fat. If you look around, there is no shortage of men over 40 years old who have a keg for a gut rather than a six-pack.”
The good news is that this scary trend can be remedied with the right combination of intensive exercise and a balanced diet. Gaddour shares four Father’s Day fitness tips to reverse the trend:
Tip#1- Lay off the brewskis
Alcohol not only stops fat burning in it tracks, but it actually creates fat within the body. If you want to lose your gut, you need to take it easy on the beers and limit alcohol consumption to once or twice a week in moderation.
Tip#2- Work your lower body
Most men just want to work their upper bodies since that’s what most people see on the beach or poolside. But the majority of your muscle mass, and thus metabolism, is contained within your lower body so you simply cannot afford to neglect training your legs if your goal is to torch your gut.
Tip#3- Seek professional advice from a fitness expert
Most guys are too stubborn to seek advice form others when it comes to their health and fitness. Dads need to learn from moms in that it’s best to seek the help of an expert when trying to reach their physical goals. Hire a personal trainer or save some money and join a local fitness boot camp to get the results you seek.
Obstacle#4- Do something besides bicep curls and bench presses
The typical guy only likes to work the mirror muscles- more specifically their arms and chest. Doing too many exercises that work the front of your upper body will lead to strength imbalances that worsen posture (think hunchback) and leave you susceptible to both short and long-term shoulder injuries. Do less benching and curling and more rowing and pulling exercises to offset this imbalance and to keep healthy.
BJ Gaddour, CSCS, YFS, is a local Milwaukee fitness boot camp instructor and personal trainer. To book him to speak at your local Milwaukee club, business, or organization, please contact him by email at getsexyinfo@
