Could you give more information about what kind of gym you are using and if you are interested in changing that or not?

We have another father/son program at our parish, but if we didn't, I would be interested in starting Fraternus. I've been following their associated magazine Sword and Spade and other content for several years - also the book Leaving Boyhood Behind by Jason Craig.

Thanks for sharing your journey! What are your thoughts/plans about increasing cardio or other activity to be in more of a deficit? Do you feel like your current lifestyle would allow you to workout more days per week, or does that not seem feasible?

That all makes sense. My job has a really inconsistent schedule which allows me to workout often in the late morning or early afternoon, but I often think how I would struggle more if I had an 8 to 5. This is just my 2 cents, as obviously I don't know anything about what you are doing at the gym while there, but I would say the major issues I often see for guys are 1) lack of frequency and consistency of going to the gym as already mentioned, and 2) lack of intensity and know how while there. For me the intensity aspect came from working with a virtual coach for a year or two, which allowed me to more clearly understand movements for muscle groups, better technique, programming, etc. After I stopped working with him, of course I carried that knowledge forward, and I also started going to CrossFit for up to half of my workouts which added a new kind of intensity and cardio, variety/novelty, and more of a social aspect compared with working out by myself most of the time.

Awesome work!

I've been at 7 hours a night for many years, sometimes a little less, very rarely more. I just turned 40 and have great energy the majority of the time. Married for almost 11 years with 4 kids and a fairly busy/stressful job. Just my personal experience/two cents, of course.