I love my dad strength. Lifting weights has changed my life, but it definitely has also been a game changer as a dad.

• When our whole circus travels through an airport and we have three car seats, a stroller, two full size suitcases and 1, 2, 3 kids (good, none wandered off)- well it just helps to be able to manhandle more stuff.

• When the kiddos start using protester physical resistance tactics (going entirely limp, grabbing onto things) and you gotta be the muscle- I can still pick up all three of them, all almost 12 years of kiddo, and carry them where they need to go.

• When you’ve got a stroller, no elevator and a whole bunch of stairs, you gotta be able to pick it up and go! (Even with wheelchair ramps, and the ADA- this happens a lot more than you’d think).

• When you’re on hour 14, 15 or 16 of your day and you’re ready to collapse. Having the physical stamina to keep going when your brain desperately wants to shut down... if your body doesn’t get tired, your feet don’t stop moving.

But with each kid- The job of being a dad gets physically harder.

I challenge myself, and try to get a little stronger with each new addition to the family.

To that end- this weekend I took Magnus with me to my first-ever strongman competition. I’ve competed in power-lifting meets before but for those of you unaware of the distinction, powerlifting is focused on three specific exercises: deadlift, squat and bench press using traditional weightlifting equipment. On the other hand, Strongman has a more diverse training style, focusing on lifting or pulling real world objects.

Here is a shot of me (captured by Magnus) doing the keg over bar event, my best performance of the day. I wasn’t breaking any records, but had a lot of fun and tied for fourth .

It was a great time, and reminded me of Magnus’s first strongman competition (a world championship when he was a tiny toddling two year old):

I’m not sure whether Magnus will pick up an interest in feats of strength. He definitely has a name fit for it— but I see things in his personality that point both ways- but I hope that regardless he enjoys and appreciates dad strength. That he feels protected and well-cared for, by his big ‘ole dad. And some day, when he is my age, that he will find dad strength of his own.