The Famous “Dadbod”, or dad-body. It describes the body of a man whose belly suggests that he’s had a few extra beers while binge watching Sports on the couch.
The large broad shoulders suggests that he balances his pizza intake with bench presses and curls. So how does this body occur and how do you undo a “dadbod?”
Let’s say you, the once-fit-and-now-aging fella, have found yourself with this particular body type and don’t like it, and want to get a bit more in shape. What do you do? Rest easy: You actually have it easier than most.
How Fit-bods Turn Into Dad-bods
Many who gain weight over the years blame their metabolism.
With dadbods, however, metabolism usually isn’t the issue. Your resting metabolism (the amount of calories that you burn just living) accounts for 70% of total calories.
On top of that, 85% of this number can be explained by fat free mass, or more simply how much muscle you have.
Of course, metabolisms do decrease as people age, but only if there is an accompanied loss of muscle, in which you lose muscle mass each year after the age of 50.
The signature of a dadbod is that there is undoubtedly a good amount of muscle underneath the “flab.” So how do once-athletic bodies turn into dadbods?
There are three possible explanations:
- You’re burning fewer calories. Sure, we’ve talked about the fact that exercise is probably not a great means for weight loss. However, if you were a former athlete for example (which many dadbod-wielding folks are) and keep your original caloric intake while no longer playing sports, weight will start to creep on.
- You’re taking in more calories (due to your environment). Let’s face it. When many people get older and have more disposable income, that income gets spent on food. Social events too revolve around food, and there’s a lot more imbibing that occurs.
- You started lifting and there’s muscle under that flub. It’s possible that someone at a higher BMI started a lifting regimen, made no change to diet, then developed more muscle. While it looks like they deteriorated into a “dadbod,” it might have actually been an upgrade over what some would call “skinny fat.”