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Power, Screentime, and the New Informational Environment

Power, Screentime, and the New Informational Environment

Plus: A Newtonian joke

Geoff Girvitz
June 26, 2025

Today on Dad Strength

Dad Power?
The Screen-Time Continuum
The new informational environment
A book, a quote, a dad joke

Dad Power?

Power — as in the ability to move load quickly — is one of the first things to go as you age. “Dad strength,” in contrast, is pretty stable but it’s also pretty static. In other words, a lot of 40+ guys can produce stiffness and isometric strength but lose a lot of their ability to move dynamically. Is this inevitable? No. You can reverse this trend with deliberate practice.

Power is mostly neurological, as opposed to structural. That means it functions more like a skill. And how to you develop great skill? The same way you get to Carnegie Hall: you practice. Practicing well means starting with what comes naturally. That’s why we’re going to focus on jumping.

One of my favourite training methods is to load you up enough that a true attempt to jump high will only translate into a sliver of daylight under your feet — and a brief moment of hang time with your hips, knees, and ankles all extended, leaving you on your toes.

The simplest way to do this is to hug a sandbag or hold a dumbbell tightly to your trunk and jump.

A less simple way to do this is to place a barbell or other weight on the ground (elevate this several inches if you don’t have amazing squat mobility) and take all the slack out of it before jumping. What does that mean? It means that the second your hips move, the implement moves with them. To find this, imagine the weight sitting on a scale and make sure you have taken at least half of the weight off before initiating your jump.

If you’re not following Dad Strength on Instagram, jump on now because I’ll post a video on Saturday.

Need some help with exercise programming or execution? Book a time with me here.

Swiss shot-put legend, Werner Günthör

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The Screen-time Continuum

Screen-time is not a binary; it’s a continuum. On the awful end? Endless brain rot… combined with poor safety. On the wonderful end? Probably some kind of life-changing story or skill and during periods of recovery from physical activity. Is that a problem? I don’t think it is.

The same goes for parents. We can use screen-time to totally check out or we can use it for essential moments of self-care.

This is just a reminder that you don’t have to be perfect — and you’re probably doing just fine. BUT if you’re feeling a pang of guilt about plunking your kids in front of a screen, you can simply ask how to take one small step toward the wonderful end of the continuum.

The new informational environment

I’ve had a number of conversations with Gen-Xers and Elder Millennials lately. The consensus is that Gen Z employees are often less engaged in skill development. Do we blame the kids (and tell them to get off our lawns)? Or should we look upstream?

When I was just a young fella, information was hard to come by. I had to travel or search for it. There was always a cost but knowledge felt precious enough to me to make it all worthwhile. What about now? We are swimming in information. So much so that it has become harder and harder to differentiate what’s valuable — never mind focusing on it.

The conclusion I’ve reached is that if we want to see younger people invest in their own expertise, they’re going to need more support than previous generations. That means on what counts as quality information, how to think about things critically and how to apply it. It’s all about that magical combination of high standards and high support.

Engaged dads benefit from support and community. Curious about our Tuesday calls? Start here.