- Dad Strength
- Posts
- The Surgeon General’s warning on fatherhood
The Surgeon General’s warning on fatherhood
Plus: Lock in your range
Geoff Girvitz
September 12, 2024
Today on Dad Strength
The Surgeon General’s warning on fatherhood
Lock in your range
Wrong thing, right use
A book, a quote, a dad joke
Welcome to the newest edition of Dad Strength. I’m trying out a bunch of new stuff – very possibly too much all at once. I do that sometimes. In any case, I’m on a new platform and I thought it would be cool to start releasing audio versions of the newsletter. I think of the audio version of Dad Strength as the two of us going on a walk together. So, if you could use some movement, let’s head out.
The Surgeon General’s warning on fatherhood
One of the things that nobody told me about early fatherhood was just how often I’d get hit in the groin. It wasn’t in the brochure, for some reason. Other stress-related details were notably absent too, However, the U.S. Surgeon General recently course-corrected by releasing an advisory about parenting-related stressors, from sleep deprivation to mental health struggles with kids. Loneliness was on the list too.
Loneliness and depression are significant problems for dads but we have it within our power to take action through community-building. Reach out to friends. Take walks together. Find community. It’s up to us to build what we need. Community is the beating heart of Dad Strength.
Want in on that? Get access to our weekly calls and connect with other dads by upgrading to the Dad Strength Community Edition
From Parents Under Pressure: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on the Mental Health & Well-Being of Parents
Exercise: Lock in your range
More is not better; better is better. So, if you’re working on technical mastery in your movement, selecting the right amount of weight is an art form. It can’t be so heavy that you are merely surviving the set but it also has to be heavy enough to demand precision of movement.
Sometimes, the feedback you really need about your position and technique can only come from one place. Not from a coach, or guru. Not from a book or even from a newsletter. Adding weight to a movement can amplify your awareness and shine a light on which positions and strategies make sense – and which ones don’t.
“The iron will always kick you the real deal.”
Below is an example of me taking my existing shoulder range and and pressure-treating it with weight. Instead of an all-out focus on flexibility, I’m taking things toward the edge of my existing range and then building greater stability and endurance there. It’s a patient process… and an investment in future progress. The weight I’m using isn’t ridiculous but it’s definitely too heavy for shenanigans. My position has to be locked-in, which narrows my options and automatically creates good movement decisions.
Wrong thing, right use
There is a story about the Daoist philosopher, Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu) visiting a friend who is having some trouble. He has been gifted seeds for huge gourds and assumed that he’d have some good eating to look forward to. Or at least be able to fashion the things into containers (as was the style at the time). But the damn things were too big and too hollow for either. He is overcome with frustration.
As he paces and complains to Zhuangzi, he fails to notice that Zhuangzi has lashed several of the gourds together with some planks of wood. By the time he finally looks up, it’s to the sound of Zhuangzi’s laughter as he floats down the river on a makeshift raft.
If something you’ve created or been gifted isn’t working, the problem may not be what you have – but how you’re using it. Something that appears to be useless may, in fact, be close to perfection.
“We kept our water in our gourds and our gourds on our belts…”
What I’m reading:
British journalist, Jon Ronson, joins extremists of all flavours in a quest to find the shadowy rooms and secret cabals at the apex of conspiracy theories. It’s fun and funny and offers a very self-deprecating flavour of gonzo journalism.
Article
How to monetize a blog
This is awful and hilarious and effectively lifts up the hood on a good chunk of the internet so that you can see its ridiculous engine. “Your lumberyard awaits, my lord.”
Quote
“Reward and punishment is the lowest form of education.
― Zhuangzi
Dad joke
“Those who believe in telekinesis, raise my hand.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
Take care of yourself, man!
Geoff Girvitz
Father, founder, physical culturist
dadstrength.com