Buff Daddy is a complete program for helping the family man stay in great physical condition while in the trenches of parenthood. Being a family man is an honor and takes total unselfish undying commitment. In order to have a successful marriage a couple must balance their lives in accordance to their families needs, while still taking care of themselves. Raising a family is demanding and can wear you down physically and emotionally. One of the greatest things you can do for yourself and your family is to exercise. Exercise will help you keep up with the demands of parenthood and will keep you looking healthy and younger. Buff Daddy is a must have for anyone man who wants to have a great looking physique. Buff Daddy is a complete body building program.

Buff Daddy

Bodybuilding For The Family Man By Daryl Conant

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Daryl Conant, M.Ed.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4567-6726-6

Contents

Dedication.................................................................................1Preface....................................................................................2-3The Desire To Build Muscle.................................................................4-5Why Men Feel The Need To Develop Their Muscles.............................................6-13My Main Influences.........................................................................14-20The Balancing Act..........................................................................21-23The Twelve Steps of Becoming A Buff Daddy..................................................24-55No Time For Anything: Babies, Diapers, Sleepless Nights, Stress............................57-63The Buff Daddy Exercise Programs...........................................................64-126Non-Bodybuilding Weight Training Program To Develop Strength and Power.....................126-130Primal / Unorthodox Training...............................................................132-140Quickies: For The Busy Daddy...............................................................141-148The Travel Daddy...........................................................................149-151Buff Daddy Nutrition.......................................................................152-162Conant's Triad For Achieving Your Fitness Goals............................................163Record Your Progres: How to Use The Weekly Record Sheet....................................164The Buff Daddy Exercises...................................................................167-263Unorthodox / Primal Exercises..............................................................264-340Chronological Photo Album..................................................................341-342Contact Information........................................................................343About The Author...........................................................................344Glossary of Exercises......................................................................345-350

Chapter One

The Desire To Build Muscle

Bodybuilding Changed My Life

When I was around ten years old I remember watching a bodybuilding contest on television. I saw these huge muscle-bound men flexing on stage. At first I was totally freaked out at what I was seeing. They didn't look normal, even grotesque to me. The whole concept was foreign to me. The idea of looking like that never entered my mind. Over the next few years my perception would change.

I began training with weights when I was twelve years old. A friend of mine, who was a semipro baseball player, told me that weight training would help me get stronger for baseball. I knew nothing about the muscles of the body and how to train. My curiosity grew the more I messed around with the weights. I definitely noticed a difference in my strength within the first couple of years of training. My athletic ability improved tremendously. Though I loved baseball, I began to get more into weight training. The more I trained and saw my muscles become more defined, I began to have a greater appreciation of bodybuilding. When I watched the bodybuilding contests on television and looked at the muscle magazines, I wasn't freaked out anymore. I actually began to have a greater respect for well developed physiques. Three men that made an impression on me were Steve Reeves, Vince Gironda and Don Howorth. These three guys possessed quality classic physiques. They developed muscle within their own genetic limits. They were not freaks like you often see in the muscle magazines. A true, natural, and well defined muscular body is what I admired and wanted.

When I would look at the guys from the muscle beach era they seemed to have a certain charisma about them. They seemed to posses youth, strength, good health vitality, and confidence. They were like Greek statues frozen in time leaving a never ending impression on society. They were artists who used their own body to sculpt a masterpiece. I wanted to look like those guys and to be a part of that mystique.

For me bodybuilding has become a way of life. There is something about it that becomes a part of you. When you bodybuild naturally you become more aware of how you eat, you have more confidence, feel more attractive, your self esteem gets a boost, you sleep better, you become physically and mentally stronger, and you reduce the effects of aging. I just love the way I feel and look from bodybuilding. I have everything I want and enjoy it all. I believe that bodybuilding has made me a better person and a better Dad. It helps instill positive qualities in me that my kids can learn from. Eating healthy, abstaining from drugs and alcohol, stress reduction, anger management, and achieving greater consciousness are only some of the benefits I receive from bodybuilding. I couldn't imagine my life without bodybuilding. Bodybuilding altered my life for the better.

Chapter Two

Why Men Feel The Need to Develop Their Muscles

When I do something I want to know about every aspect of it. When I started weight training and seeing results I was obsessed with learning as much about the body as I could. There wasn't an anatomy book or kinesiology book I wouldn't pass by without picking it up and reading it. I had an insatiable hunger for knowledge. The more I delved into the books for answers, the more I began to understand that we are more than what we appear to be. We are a collection of intricate sophisticated cellular complexes that have been developed over thousands of years. We are apart of a gene pool that has survived from the beginning of human kind. This genetic coding is instilled in every human on Earth.

The human body is designed to be a physically laboring and an emotionally intelligent being. For this reason I feel that physical activity is essential for proper health and psychological balance of the human being. This is a primal code that is embedded in our DNA.

Subliminally men have an innate need to develop their body. This is based on the development of the ego. I like to call it Primal Dominance. I feel that most men feel better about themselves when they are in good physical condition. Here is an excerpt of a section I wrote in my book InVINCEable™ that sums up why men weight train and how primal dominance plays a role in our need for building muscle.

Primal Instincts

Why do we bodybuild or power lift? Why do men desire so much muscle and strength?

One day I was training and someone came up to me and asked me, "why do you bodybuild?" It was a very good question and after a moment of thinking about a response I answered with, " I am fulfilling the primitive instincts (the primitive DNA coding) that is innate in all of us to keep staying strong to survive." The person looked at me as if I was crazy and walked away. We live in a very different world than our ancestors did years ago, but we still posses many of the same characteristics as they did. We are not dependent on hunting for food as a means of survival like they had to years ago. Today we have all the conveniences and easy access to food and shelter making our primitive instincts less dominant. However, no matter how intelligent or sophisticated we become, primal instincts will always be in our DNA structure. If the world were to experience a catastrophic event resulting in the destruction of the modern day world (loss of electricity, transportation, food, etc), then we would be forced to live off the earth like our primitive ancestors did. Our primal instincts would dominate. The weak would perish and the strong would survive. Such is the natural process of life. We all have the survival of the fittest gene inside of our cells. Your own perseverance and discipline will dictate whether or not you develop them.

When we experience a threat to our survival, our primal instincts kick in and take over to help respond to the threat. This is known as survival mode. Primal instincts can surface no matter what the threat may be. My threat came when I was trying out for the high school baseball team. The smaller guys did not make the team or would never get to play because of their weak stature. My only desire at the time was to play baseball and to get a scholarship. My need to survive was high. My primitive instincts kicked in and I lifted weights to develop more strength and power to be among the fittest and to have a starting position on the team. For me the fear of not being able to play baseball was overwhelming. Fear was my main motivating factor. I lived in survival mode all through high school. In survival mode a person becomes hyper-focused on achieving and staying disciplined in their physiological needs. They constantly think of ways to succeed every day as a way of life. Many people weight train because they are fulfilling their innate need to survive— survival of the fittest.

As the years passed by, I continued to find myself still in the survival mode and used my primal instincts to stay on top and beat the competition. Struggling to make ends meet forces a person to constantly fight for survival. Most Americans have this underlying fear of losing their security. Security is having an abundant supply of food, shelter, living without debt, and financial independence. When people are under a security attack (threat to their lifestyle) they will do whatever it takes to survive. For some people doing the wrong things and partaking in negative habits (drugs, abuse, cheating, lying) is their way of surviving. These people live in the unconscious realm of existence and usually live in a perpetual cycle of fear. Desperate times call for desperate measures. In another spectrum, if a positive and conscious person is faced with having to fight for their survival, they find better ways to fend for themselves. They might go to college, work more than one job, live within their means, and/or exercise. Exercise is a great way to release stress and to enhance creative thinking. Blood delivers and nourishes more oxygen to the brain allowing for better concentration and thinking. I have found that most successful people are usually the ones that are living in survival mode. Listen to the stories of famous athletes, actors, businessmen, and you'll discover that many of them lived in poverty when growing up and ended up being a superstar or very successful. When living in a desperate situation they found a small piece of hope in a world of despair. Their consciousness was transformed into a focused and disciplined being. They found a way to survive and used their talent to get them out of hardship.

I weight train because it helps keep me grounded, strong and healthy, and to protect myself against the harshness of this world. It has helped me fight against the "rat race."

Human beings are animals that posses the same characteristics as any other species on Earth. Like all animals we have primal instincts. Primal instincts are in our collective and innate DNA structure. These primal instincts are the cohesive elements of our modern day existence. Our civilization was built upon the fact that the strong survived and the weak perished. The survival of the fittest has always and will continue to move the human being into the future. Even though we are more civilized today with modern technology and do not have to go out and hunt sabertooth tigers, or defend ourselves from being lunch for a T-Rex like our primitive ancestors did, the cornerstone of all human behavior is primal in nature. Why do we exercise? Because we do not want to be society's weakest link. Survival of the fittest, as primitive as it seems, is the underlying theme of our civilization.

Primal Dominance

Another reason why men weight train is because they are acting upon their innate need for dominance. Primal dominance is the innate characteristic of the male to become intimidating by using their physical stature as a threat to others. In all species the male has a defining characteristic that makes them more intimidating. Male peacocks exhibit dominance by showing the beautiful array of colors on their feathers and when they are being threatened. They open their feathers to make them appear bigger and become more intimidating. Male Gorillas stick their chest out to make them bigger and they bang on their chest to show dominance. The size of the Gorilla dictates the leader. Male Lions that have big, beautiful manes and are bigger in overall size become the leader of the pride. Human males are no different from other animals. The male who makes themselves bigger will appear to be more intimidating. This is a built-in defense mechanism that all males share. When a male is under attack by another male they tend to get into a stance that makes them appear bigger to help defend the attack. The arms come up, chest raises, stance widens, and eyes become bigger because they are preparing themselves for the attack. The bigger, more muscular the male, the more intimidating and domineering they appear. Look at the guys in any gym across the country as they walk around between sets. They parade around the gym with an exaggerated raised chest, arms slightly spread, and shoulders wide. They are claiming dominance in the gym. Primal dominance is an innate characteristic in all species and is another reason why men are so compelled to weight train.

Feedback Loops

Feedback loops are patterns linked between the subconscious and stream of consciousness. The stream of consciousness is all the information that our brain processes from conception to present day and stores in our long term memory and subconscious mind. Thoughts of our existence (memories, experiences, trauma) are constantly firing in a feedback system. These thoughts are looped over and over slipping in and out consciousness. When a person has a conflict within a feedback loop, they lack the ability to resolve it or turn it off.

The loop gets distorted and can eventually set off other patterns that can cause conflict and possible disorders such as addiction. Addiction is a cramp in consciousness that enables a break in the feedback loop. We all search for ways to shift our consciousness. When we feel like we are in a rut or "dragging through the mud" we tend to search for ways to pick ourselves up. Drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, doing hard drugs or taking prescription drugs all help to shift our consciousness. The negative habits become addictive because even though we are temporarily solving an acute problem we are not solving the chronic problem. Therefore, the person remains in an unresolved state of unconsciousness.

If a male has a conflict within his subconscious, he can develop distorted thought patterns which can lead to disorders. Many of the mental issues that plague so many people begin to surface during the hormonal maturation phase of life. This is because the triggers that open during this stage can set off unwarranted thoughts and behaviors that the person cannot control or resolve. This interferes with his/her stream of consciousness. The feedback loops misfire and disconnects. Feedback loops go in a continuous pattern. As long as the pattern is not disrupted the loop can pass through the stream of consciousness without conflict. If there is a disruption or misfire in the feedback loop then conflict arises. As an example of what I mean, I want you to think of a happy thought from your childhood. Sit back, close your eyes and think of that happy time. This memory is locked into your stream of consciousness and when you want to recall it, you just have to think back to it. Now that you can visualize the happy time in your childhood you can go through the whole memory to its completion without conflict. The feedback loop is preserved and is intact. All of your brain neurons will fire in the same pattern as when you were actually experiencing that joyous time. Now I want you to think of a bad experience in your life, perhaps an experience that you never resolved. When you think of this negative experience your blood pressure may rise. You might develop anxiety or even feel anger. Whenever you go into a memory or thought pattern that makes actual changes to your neurophysiological systems, you have an unresolved feedback loop that is misfiring causing a negative internal response. Many brain disorders are based on unresolved feedback loops. Some people do not have the ability to change their chemistry and must resort to drugs to make them balanced. If the condition is extreme enough the person will never be in a normal state of mind. The brain is a very complex and powerful system that produces thousands of chemical reactions per second. If for any reason these reactions are compromised, then dysfunction can occur. Our own thought patterns can trigger undesirable effects resulting in a disruption in our homeostatic processes. By taking control of your psychological health, you then have the ability to do great things. All negative unresolved feedback loops must be fixed in order to allow for greater higher consciousness.

Ideal psychological health is having balance between your emotions and responsibilities as a human being. When a person has complete balance in their life, they are able to process things much easier than someone who is under constant turmoil or stress. Often times when a person gets "stressed out" they lack the ability to control their own cognitive state and will allow the situation to get the best of them. Acute stress is normal and we all must go through it during our life. It is when the acute stress becomes chronic that we let it control our lives. The short acute stress causes a conflict in a feedback loop disrupting the flow of consciousness. This develops into chronic stress.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Buff Daddy by Daryl Conant Copyright © 2011 by Daryl Conant, M.Ed.. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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