The archive
Field Notes
Thirty years of coaching men over forty, written down. Some of this first appeared on LinkedIn between 2015 and 2024 and is republished here with its original date. Where I got something wrong, I have said so on the page rather than quietly deleting it.
Start here
How to lose a dad bod
A coach's plain plan: the four behaviours, the first 28 days, and how long it really takes.
Strength training for men over 40: where to start
Why lifting matters more after 40 than before, and the simplest week that works.
Can you build muscle after 40?
Yes. What changes with age, and the three things that decide it.
Why your joints ache after training (and what to change)
Too much, too soon, and the warm-up you skipped. How to train without the ache.
Warming up after 40: ten minutes that save the session
Raise, move, ramp. The ten minutes most men skip and pay for later.
How to sleep better as a busy dad
A fixed wake time, a real wind-down, and the drink you do not need.
Alcohol and sleep: what one drink really does
It knocks you out, then breaks the second half of the night.
Why you wake at 3am
Alcohol, bladder, a busy head, or your breathing. What to try first.
Recovery days: what to actually do on them
Walk, move gently, eat your protein, sleep. Not the couch, not another workout.
Eating for fat loss after 40: a plain plan
Protein first, fewer liquid calories, and a deficit you can live with.
Why you're hungry at 9pm
Too little food earlier, too little protein, too little sleep, or plain habit.
Eating well when the kids eat chicken nuggets
One base meal, your own protein on top, and stop finishing their plates.
Weekend eating: why Monday to Friday isn't enough
Five good days, two loose ones, and a scale that never moves.
Low energy, low drive: what men over 40 should get checked
Blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, your breathing at night, and when testosterone is worth testing.
Stress and your waistline
Poor sleep, stress eating, less movement. How the week shows up on your belt.
Blood pressure in your 40s
No symptoms, very common, and very changeable. Know your number.
The annual check-up worth asking for
What to bring, what to ask, and the screening you should know about.
Mobility after 40: how to stop feeling stiff
Why you stiffen up after 40, and the plan that actually loosens you.
Lower back pain from a desk job: what helps
Why rest makes it worse, and what the evidence says to do instead.
Tight hips after 40: why they matter and what to do
Why so many men have them, and three ways to open them up.
A 10-minute mobility routine for busy dads
Hips, upper back, shoulders, ankles. Ten minutes, no equipment.
Drinking less after 40: a plain guide for dads
What the guidance says, and how to cut back without losing your social life.
Does alcohol cause belly fat?
It is not just the calories. Here is how the beer belly really forms.
How to drink less without missing out
Barbecues, work events, nights out. How to cut back and still show up.
What happens when you stop drinking for 30 days
Sleep, energy, weight and mood. What a month off usually shows you.
Cardio for men over 40: how much you really need
How much you need, why it matters, and a simple week that covers it.
Zone 2 training explained for men over 40
What it is, how to find it without a lab, and how much to do.
How many steps a day do you really need?
Where 10,000 came from, what the research says, and how to get there.
VO2 max after 40: what it is and how to raise it
Why it is linked to a longer life, and the training that raises it.
Hormones and weight gain in men over 40: what actually matters
What hormones really do to your weight after 40, and what to do before blaming them.
Cortisol and belly fat: the stress-weight connection, explained plainly
Why stress lands on your waist, and what lowers cortisol in a real week.
How to stop stress eating without white-knuckling it
Stress eating is a pattern, not a flaw. Here is how to break the pattern.
Testosterone after 40: the lifestyle levers that actually move it
The five levers that move testosterone, ranked, before you spend a dollar on boosters.
The weight loss plateau after 40: why it happens and what to do
Stalled after a good start? Here is why, and the calm way through it.
Why diets fail after 40 (and what works instead)
Diets fail by design, not by willpower. Here is the slower thing that works.
Why you're tired all the time
Most men over forty who feel exhausted are not sleep deprived. What is actually going on.
What do you actually want?
A coach asked me what I wanted for my life and I had no answer.
You do not need an hour
The least exercise that actually does something, and the part everyone leaves out.
Eating fat does not make you fat
What held up from my 2016 column, and the part I oversold.
Why starting over keeps failing
You have done it five times. It is not discipline, and the fix is unglamorous.
The DadBody project: what it is, who it is for, and why it works
Seven years ago I went looking for four dads over 40 to test an idea. What it became, and what it refuses to promise.
How long it really takes to get back in shape
The real timeline, and every number from a sixty-day cohort of twenty-three men.
The Whole Life Fitness Manifesto
Thirty minutes a day. Fifteen of movement, five of stillness, ten of reading. The framework everything here runs on.
From the archive
Earlier pieces, republished with their original dates and light editing only. Where something was wrong or has aged badly, it is corrected on the page rather than removed.
Four simple phrases for thriving relationships
I am wrong. You are right. I am sorry. I love you. Saying them first is the hard part.
Dancing with Mom
My mother, a VHS tape, and the reason I think fitness is allowed to be fun.
Five life lessons from Ted Lasso
Five things worth keeping, including the Walt Whitman line the show made famous.
One year of putting my mental health first
The origin of MERGE60, republished from LinkedIn.
Someone is knocking at the door. Open it.
Two things to notice if you know you are in the wrong place.
Do we hate the words, we need to talk?
Half of men have two or fewer close friends they can talk to about something serious.
I was scared, but I did it anyway
My coach suggested Toastmasters on a Friday. I joined on the Monday.
Are you over 40 and a father? Then the #DadBodyProject is for you
The post that started all of this. Republished unedited.
The Monday morning challenge
A conditioned belief about one day sets the tone for the whole week.
Quality of life far outweighs quantity of life
Losing basic functional movement means losing the ability to care for yourself.
No longer fat, sick and nearly dead
The earliest written record of the two percent framework.
More coming. I am working through a decade of writing and only republishing the parts I actually wrote.
The 2%
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