"American Working Father," now what exactly does that mean? Coming from a small
town or a big town may mean different things. While we all face our own unique challenges on our journey to become our best selves, we also share many similarities.
How exactly do we balance time with family, food, training, work, and most importantly, sleep??? In this article, I will discuss my unique challenges and how I balance my overall life as a father, Nuclear Security Officer, Student, and in my relationships, and, most importantly, training.
As a divorced man freshly out of the Marine Corps, I faced challenges that we all as divorcées and veterans face. PTSD, anxiety, alcohol abuse, and depression. I delved into drinking 12 beers a night and sitting in my garage feeling sorry for myself. But what was I sad about? Was I sorry for a failed relationship? Missing my veteran friends? Or was it a more profound meaning??
In my past life before the hard times, I was a successful athlete, competing at high levels in High School Football, Basketball, Track, and Weightlifting. The deeper meaning after many trips to counseling was that I didn’t know who I was anymore. I developed my identity as Brian the broken veteran who came back from deployment divorced, with a daughter who passed away, not Brian Gallagher, a 26-year-old from Two Rivers, Wisconsin. I wasn’t myself; the more profound meaning was that I had to discover something I loved - I had to find my purpose. I thoroughly delved into
Strongman.
With this passion I've developed, I had to make do with childcare, since I have two children of my own. Not wanting to sacrifice time with them, I decided I would convert my entire garage into a gym. Now I'm not talking about fancy gym stuff. I had a multi-gym with a small squat rack, which made it challenging to walk weights out of the rack. Smith machine attached, with a lat pull machine on the back, a single barbell, one atlas stone, and 500 lbs. of weight plates. Not much to start with, right?? But what did I have? I had my kids watching me, learning, joining in. I had friends who came to help.
I set myself up, I had determination, and I slowly had myself. Now let’s back track, what was my list of who I am, I am a father. Check the gym created at home so I’m always with my children, what's next? Nuclear Security Officer, working a 2-2-3.
The schedule is less than ideal on the night shift. So, when do I train?? The answer is 1 o’clock every day. Although six hours of sleep isn't perfect for muscle growth, it is sufficient for recovery. Getting home at 6:15, I sleep until 12:30, wake up, and before my training, I have 16oz of water, fruit, and a protein shake. Work out, then the food comes. More on that in the training aspect. 3 o'clock comes kid pick up, 5 pm comes work. At work, I utilize my entire time to concentrate on recovery. Since I'm sacrificing 2 hours of sleep to get my training in, I must make up the difference in recovery, correct?? That’s where the food comes in.
As training time consists of a mix of heavy and fast movements (conjugate), I usually burn 600-800 calories just in my session. I have to replenish and maintain weight. Being 5-10 and competing at 220, I prefer to walk pre-comp weight between 220 and 228. 230 is heavy for my liking, as I'm very lethargic. My daily food intake is listed below. I prepare my food on my day off for two days, as it involves a lot of meat. Below will be listed as a single day, but I do not deviate from this until its cut time. All rice is cooked in bone broth.
- 16oz water and fruit pre-workout for fast-acting sugar, hydration, and potassium in bananas.
- During a workout, I've lost 32oz of water with just some mild electrolytes to help with hydration.
- Post workout meal, six whole eggs, unless it's cut time, then it's just egg whites, 12oz of water
- ½ lb of ground venison, cup of cooked rice, cup of cooked veggies, carrots, peas, green beans.
- ½ lb of ground venison, cup of cooked rice, cup of cooked veggies, carrots, peas, green
beans. - ½ lb of ground venison, cup of cooked rice, cup of cooked veggies, carrots, peas, green beans.
- 2 oranges, to help keep blood sugar levels in check, cholesterol in check, and Vitamin C
- Protein shake at 5 am to get one last fuel in before sleep at 6.
My meat portions will change from ½ lb to ¾ lb depending on my weight and how I'm recovering. This keeps my calories at about 3,000-4,000, depending on my weight. During the closer times to competition, I will reduce my carbs to virtually nothing, 4-6 days out, to help with a 5-6 lb cut. I feel that cutting only 5-6 lbs keeps me from losing too much energy, and that weak feeling many people experience when in a caloric deficit. Most of the weight I lose is water intake.
What I'm saying is, dads and moms with kids, there is no excuse - you can do it. You need a routine. Once you write the routine down, you will be more likely to stick to it. Writing down our goals and routines works. It will force you to make a mental outline of the program you are trying to follow. Make it a part of your life, because it's a lifestyle, not a diet. I'm not saying that my eating habits are perfect or correct, but I'm saying they work for me. Find the routine of foods that works for you!!! Red meat is an excellent source of micronutrients and fats, while rice is converted into glucose and carried throughout the body to fuel your cells. There is no greater meat than red meat. Want to cut weight, for example, take the rice out of this and eat red meat and water. The veggies are just fillers, a good source of Vitamin A, K, and Potassium. Peas are high in plant-based protein and BCAAs. Green beans are low-starch options for keeping you in that “full feeling.” Research foods, but this is very close to the Monster Mash done by Stan Efferding.
The last I will discuss is training. As the great Louie Simmons said, getting stronger is a mathematical formula, not a mindset. F=MA, Force, or strength equals Mass(weight)X acceleration(speed). And I utilize this in my training every week. My days are broken up into a Conjugate method, but not specifically a conjugate program. Press days or upper days consist of 6 exercises, 2 of which are barbell movements. Compound barbell movements use more muscle fibers. The purpose of Compound barbell movements is to utilize more muscle units on that day.
For example. Strongman means overhead pressing. I will do four sets of 2 at a heavy weight; you must not miss any reps. Ninety-five percent of your max overhead pressing. Then, into a heavy single-arm seated dumbbell press, four sets of six. The compound barbell movement for the shoulder was first with the barbell.
Now we are tearing the muscle with a slight increase in volume and set ranges, but keeping the weight heavy. Then, there are two upper back movements for the same style of training. Heavy bent over rows, then into chest supported rows. Keeping the weight heavy. This is utilized on all Max Effort Work, whether it is an upper day, a deadlift day, or a squat day. The only thing that will change is the exercise and the barbell, but the style of training is the same.
Dynamic days are for speed, remember the formula??? Speed days consist of exercises like box squats and tempo eccentric squats to explosive concentric movements. There are hundreds of examples, but one I recently did is the following.
- 15 sets of 3 box squats with grey bands attached, safety bars 135 bar weight, hands out wide, pulling the bar in to tax the lats. 30-45 second rest in between
- Then into sets of 10 on the belt squat
The purpose of this day is to get the weight moving as quickly and explosively as possible. Once achieved, you can work on accessory movements. Accessory
movements throw blood into the muscle. That pump feeling, while it's painful, it is healing the muscle. It is a filling of all the blood that carries oxygen into the muscle. Speed days are more important for developing strength. As the weight increases, we tend to press or push only to equal it. We are meeting the weights resistance with our own ability; speed days help us achieve maximum velocity to the barbell and push past sticking points.
While I am by no means an expert or a professional, I have had experience in the field of strongman and life. Being a student of strength at the University of Concordia Exercise Science program, a Marine Corps HIIT instructor, and a competitive Men's Open Competitor in USS Strongman, these are tips and tricks that work. I will list basic rules to follow when following the conjugate below. This helps readers and subscribers of Elitefts develop strength.
- And more understanding of strength. Feel free to reach out to me via email or follow me on Instagram @0311b_gallagher. Strength is my life; I want others to achieve happiness and virtue in their life, as I have in my own. Thank you for your time. Stay strong, stay motivated. We can all navigate life together and create our own happiness, our own dreams.
Basic Conjugate Guidelines
- Speed days keep weights at 75 percent of max, get the volume in with moving as fast as possible, 15 sets of 3, 20 sets of 2, for example
- Accessories are just that - they are accessories. Get two compound barbell movements in, for example, on a press day, do a compound press and a compound row movement, then do different accessory movements.
- Change the bar, change the exercise. After 3 weeks or so, your body will adapt to
different exercises and barbells. You will have a detraining effect. CHANGE THE
METHOD.
- Max Effort days 95 percent of max, DO NOT MISS REPS. Back-off sets are nice, but they are those back-off sets. Fewer muscle units are used; they are employed to generate more work after the main maximum effort is utilized.
- Hamstring development is more important than you think. While everyone works those pretty muscles, the hamstrings are the primary movers of movements like squats and deadlifts. It is not quad-dominant; it is hamstring-weak squats.
- Utilize bands and chains. Bands are an inexpensive way to increase bar weight; they allow the bar to move faster than gravity. Forcing out muscles to develop speed to overcome the kinetic energy produced by the band. Chains are great for overloading the bar at the top end of movements, but they do not force the bar down faster.
- Tricep power is more important than chest development; don’t just train pec flys for big bench presses. Press the weight!!
While this covers the basics of conjugate, to prevent taking up too much time, follow these guidelines. It's your choice, just things that, as a competitor, I have found helped me over the years. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope it helps. Research this system, Westside Barbell and Elite FTS provide in-depth information on these topics. Keep positive, keep
strong, and thank you.
Brian Gallagher is the owner of Darkside Strength in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Strength training saved his life and is his passion. He hopes this article finds you well and sheds light on how to balance strength training on a limited schedule for all those dads out there who try to balance life.
