Fat dads live longer!

drunkmonkey

Some good news for those of us sponsored by Heineken.
Not feeling so guilty now for not getting excited when I see a poster for the next 5k run event.

Middle-aged men sporting beer bellies also known as dad bods may be healthier than their skinnier peers.

Richard G. Bribiescas, an anthropology professor at Yale University, says that chubbier guys have lower levels of testosterone, which makes them less likely to engage in risky, life-threatening behaviors a la The Hangover and more focused on taking care of their families.

http://nypost.com/2016/11/04/fat-dads-live-longer/

Wibbs

If so, I'm fúcked. Been nice knowing you beer bellied bastards.

cantdecide

Wibbs wrote: »

If so, I'm fúcked. Been nice knowing you beer bellied bastards.

So long, Wibbs :pac:

Wibbs

I am surrounded on all sides by feckers. Feckers I tells ya.

cantdecide

Wibbs wrote: »

I am surrounded on all sides by feckers. Feckers I tells ya.

Jeez. No need to get aggressive.

Must be all that testosterone. It'll get you nowhere good that stuff, y'know.

_Brian

Last line of the article kinda poops on the party though

"these findings only apply to guys who are slightly overweight"

allthedoyles

_Brian wrote:

Last line of the article kinda poops on the party though "these findings only apply to guys who are slightly overweight"

This is definitely me . I've been working on it for years to keep the weight down .
Next thing they be saying everything in moderation is bad for the health

drunkmonkey

Everything in moderation including moderation.

Not only with skinny ass Wibbs be first of us on the slab he'll probably be demented before he gets there http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3067515/How-slightly-overweight-GOOD-health-Fat-tissue-boosts-brain-s-energy-levels-affects-metabolism-ageing.html

Musketeer4

Makes no sense to me.

How on earth could someone with a dad bod guy be healthier than a lean, fit guy?

Your typical dad bod guy:
- centrally overweight, pot belly which is a humongous risk factor for heart disease
- probably drinks a fair bit,
- likely takes little exercise and probably sedentary
- ropey enough diet.
- physically unfit, lacking strength, stamina and flexibility.
- more flab than muscle mass
- all the above make for a suboptimal hormonal balance.
- looks eww naked. (I almost vomited just thinking about it)

Typical fit lean guy
- Good body composition, lean. No excess unhealthy fat.
- good clean diet,
- physically fit, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and has plenty muscle mass and is strong and vigorous.
- looks good with their shirt off.

This article would appear to suggest that they would live longer on the basis of different behaviors as a result of lower testosterone. The whole thing seems like fairly watery voodoo science at best.

If women find dad bods more attractive then why didn't the lads in the Twighlight films get paid to flab out with beer bellies for their roles.

The only reason some women would find a flab man attractive is if she herself was on the flubbery side. Like attracts like I suppose.

And the same doesn't work in reverse.

To be honest I find the dad bod, flubber look to be absolutely physically repulsive. I think it just says "i don't give a crap about myself or my health". You hear of so many middle age guys on here complaining that their marriages are sexless. Given that a majorioty of our population are now overweight then its hardly any surprise - who would want to make love to a big sweaty mess!

silverharp

one logical reasoning might be the difference between someone who has been fat all their life since they were kids versus "fat dad" who only started being overweight in their 40's .the former is going to be infinitely worse yet I doubt medical stats differentiate this much?
not sure about the high T low T and risky behaviour, very few older men die from more risky behaviour be it sports or whatnot.

Musketeer4

I'd say any link between a fat, out of shape body and a longer life is tenuous at best.

Take 2 70 year old guys. One is unfit, unflexible, sedentary, overweight and generally out of shape. The other has kept up gym, has muscle mass, is cardio fit, has good balance and flexibility.

It just doesn't seem credible that the former guy has a better life expectancy than the latter fitter guy.
The latter guy, from being fit and healthy, probably also has a higher T level and could probably still be sexually capable.

GingerLily

Musketeer4 wrote: »

Makes no sense to me.

How on earth could someone with a dad bod guy be healthier than a lean, fit guy?

Your typical dad bod guy:
- centrally overweight, pot belly which is a humongous risk factor for heart disease
- probably drinks a fair bit,
- likely takes little exercise and probably sedentary
- ropey enough diet.
- physically unfit, lacking strength, stamina and flexibility.
- more flab than muscle mass
- all the above make for a suboptimal hormonal balance.
- looks eww naked. (I almost vomited just thinking about it)

Typical fit lean guy
- Good body composition, lean. No excess unhealthy fat.
- good clean diet,
- physically fit, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and has plenty muscle mass and is strong and vigorous.
- looks good with their shirt off.

This article would appear to suggest that they would live longer on the basis of different behaviors as a result of lower testosterone. The whole thing seems like fairly watery voodoo science at best.

If women find dad bods more attractive then why didn't the lads in the Twighlight films get paid to flab out with beer bellies for their roles.

The only reason some women would find a flab man attractive is if she herself was on the flubbery side. Like attracts like I suppose.

And the same doesn't work in reverse.

To be honest I find the dad bod, flubber look to be absolutely physically repulsive. I think it just says "i don't give a crap about myself or my health". You hear of so many middle age guys on here complaining that their marriages are sexless. Given that a majorioty of our population are now overweight then its hardly any surprise - who would want to make love to a big sweaty mess!

I would find a nice guy with a small belly far more attractive then a brawny gym head obsessed with his own weight/ muscle and those around him.
There's obviously a happy medium, but if they're my two options I know what I'd choose......

Musketeer4

Well if I had to choose between 2 women I'd favour someone who lives a healthy lifestyle, is physcally fit and of a healthy weight over someone who is all out of shape, eats poorly and doesn't take exercise.

I'm hardly alone in thinking that health and vigor are attractive. Dad bod just seems to be totally at odds with health and vigor.

FortySeven

Sounds to me like the fatties are trying to find one thing they can say is good about it.

I'll trade you those extra few months for all the riding you're not getting lads!

GingerLily

Musketeer4 wrote: »

Well if I had to choose between 2 women I'd favour someone who lives a healthy lifestyle, is physcally fit and of a healthy weight over someone who is all out of shape, eats poorly and doesn't take exercise.

I'm hardly alone in thinking that health and vigor are attractive. Dad bod just seems to be totally at odds with health and vigor.

That's fine, but this is about dad bods, not what women you find attractive.

Musketeer4

GingerLily wrote: »

I would find a nice guy with a small belly far more attractive then a brawny gym head obsessed with his own weight/ muscle and those around him.
There's obviously a happy medium, but if they're my two options I know what I'd choose......

If padded physiques as so attractive then why don't we see them in the popular media? Batman bursting out through the side of his costume, superman costumes with a "regular fit" to accomodate his gut, a wobbling Jacob Black who starts puffing and panting and sweating like Christy Moore after running 50 meters.
Spiderman not being able to lift his own bodyweight or climb because he has no muscle and is inflexible.

Personally, I could achieve a dad bod if I wanted to but I would feel awful. I would feel mentally crap from not exercising and I would feel physically sluggish and unfit. I would feel ashamed that I'd let myself go and get out of shape.

There is few feelings better than that you get when you've shown to yourself that you can run fast without tiring, can lift heavy things with ease, jump over things, have the flexibility to climb things, etc etc. All those abilities would be at odds with the dad bod lifestyle and physique.

kunst nugget

_Brian wrote: »

Last line of the article kinda poops on the party though

"these findings only apply to guys who are slightly overweight"

Yeah, I wouldn't call having a beer belly as slightly overweight. I've a stone or so of extra weight on me but it's pretty evenly distributed. A beer belly is not a good look or a good sign imo.

challengemaster

Musketeer4 wrote: »

The whole thing seems like fairly watery voodoo science at best.

Musketeer4 wrote: »

- looks eww naked. (I almost vomited just thinking about it)

Well, you've won me over there with your scientific argument. :pac:

kunst nugget

Musketeer4 wrote: »

If padded physiques as so attractive then why don't we see them in the popular media? Batman bursting out through the side of his costume, superman costumes with a "regular fit" to accomodate his gut, a wobbling Jacob Black who starts puffing and panting and sweating like Christy Moore after running 50 meters.
Spiderman not being able to lift his own bodyweight or climb because he has no muscle and is inflexible.

Personally, I could achieve a dad bod if I wanted to but I would feel awful. I would feel mentally crap from not exercising and I would feel physically sluggish and unfit. I would feel ashamed that I'd let myself go and get out of shape.

There is few feelings better than that you get when you've shown to yourself that you can run fast without tiring, can lift heavy things with ease, jump over things, have the flexibility to climb things, etc etc. All those abilities would be at odds with the dad bod lifestyle and physique.

Plus you get to kiss your guns and tell them how much you love them every night before you go to bed. Fat bastards can't do that.

GingerLily

Musketeer4 wrote: »

If padded physiques as so attractive then why don't we see them in the popular media? Batman bursting out through the side of his costume, superman costumes with a "regular fit" to accomodate his gut, a wobbling Jacob Black who starts puffing and panting and sweating like Christy Moore after running 50 meters.

They're probably aimed at selling to men rather then women. It's funny you keep talking about "Jacob" from twilight, "Edward", the skinny one, was the heart throb and much more popular one with girls/women.

Similarly, a lot of high end female models aren't conventionally attractive, they're selling to women and not to men.

Musketeer4

Well I will admit that I posed last night before going to bed. It was late and i meant to go to the gym
this morning but I didn't cos I was tired and now I feel ashamed.

GingerLily wrote: »

They're probably aimed at selling to men rather then women. It's funny you keep talking about "Jacob" from twilight, "Edward", the skinny one, was the heart throb and much more popular one with girls/women.

Similarly, a lot of high end female models aren't conventionally attractive, they're selling to women and not to men.

No I think they are aimed at women. They are chick flicks.
I find edward to be too skinny. I think Jacob looks way nicer, he's muscular but has got that sweet spot bf% where you can see muscles but doesn't have all the veins and striations.

kunst nugget

GingerLily wrote: »

They're probably aimed at selling to men rather then women. It's funny you keep talking about "Jacob" from twilight, "Edward", the skinny one, was the heart throb and much more popular one with girls/women.

He was talking about Twilight?!?!? Ewww, I nearly vomited thinking about it/

Carlos Orange

Musketeer4 wrote: »

Your typical dad bod guy:
- looks eww naked. (I almost vomited just thinking about it)

This is the picture that the article that went viral popularising the term had. You must have a delicate stomach.

beertons

Have an assessment in the gym later for a new programme, just going to cancel the whole membership now. Wohoo.

Musketeer4

The guy on the left looks ok. He's got a nice chest and you could guess he's strong and fit.
The other two just look rather shapeless, especially the guy on the right.

There's just nothing there to either like or dislike, they've got an inert body.

Day Lewin

Yez are missing the point, lads: it's the other way around....

Gentlemen that are good fellows, devoted husbands and kindly dads, are properly looked after by their womenfolks and fed good dinners which are specially cooked for them, tasty fresh sandwiches and bickies with their tea.

Eventually this VIP treatment leads to the natural result...a little extra padding to cuddle.

So you see, good all-round dads just become a little rounder as the years pass...nothing to worry about...it's all good news.

;-)

Musketeer4

I wonder is it an evolutionary psychology kind of thing? Like are women wired to take good care of their men by feeding them after initially attracting them so that they become unattractive to other women and are thus more likely to stay with them?

There seems to be a thing where younger women are attracted to youthful muscular guys but then you have the 40s age women who seem to be more inclined towards relaxed body types. Maybe women have evolved to like different physical attributes at different life stages and are wired to make it so if they are with someone.

I know when I was with my prior ex she was always feeding me bad food and I began to make the bad gains. When I broke up with her I started to trim down again and tone up.

H3llR4iser

Not sure how to take the whole thing, maybe there's a level of truth in the form that many "active" older gentlemen actually end up overexerting themselves quite massively, which is also not good for you.

I can notice it even with myself; while being far from "super fit", I try to keep as active as possible; To many "uber-active" people it won't seem like a lot - 3/4 times a week in the gym (cardio and weights), walk daily at least 5/6 km (sometimes up to 11/12, depending if I go somewhere after work / during lunch break), try to eat as an healthy diet as possible with fruit & vegetables, fish, white meat cooked at home and avoiding takeaways and such as much as possible, don't smoke and don't drink (never actually did either of those, so it's no real effort).

At 36 I'm fitter than I've ever been in my life - I can run longer and faster than when I was 20, It takes way more than a few flights of stairs to get me short of breath and generally think I feel great.

Yet, when say I go on holiday and "suspend" it all for a week or two, it's when I realize I actually feel tired all the time, and when I eat whatever I want and exercise less, I feel way more energetic.

Of course, long term I'd just pile weight on and become unfit if I just decided to sit on my arse and eat burgers and my health would suffer, but clearly if even a relatively paltry amount of activity can have mixed effects, seems to me that it'd be very easy to overdo it.

psinno wrote: »

This is the picture that the article that went viral popularising the term had. You must have a delicate stomach.

Mmm...if those are "ugly and fat", we're all screwed. First and second guy from the left clearly work out at least a bit. Third guy probably doesn't, but he ain't a fat blubberball. These lads would be considered "normal" or even "fit" 20 years ago, when nobody had any muscle tone...

Musketeer4

You gotta be kidding me? The middle guy doesn't look like he works out at all! He has no tone and is slack looking. The left guy looks like he works out a bit, he's got decent pecs.

Pat Mustard

This article doesn't actually come out and say that those with Dad bods live longer, definitively.

The article says two things:
1. Those with lower testosterone take fewer risks and the author argues that they have lower incidences of heart attack and prostate cancer.
AND
2. Those with Dad bods have lower testosterone.

Taking from those, he extrapolates that those with Dad bods may live longer. He also states this only applies to those who are slightly overweight.

However, we already know that being overweight leads to the following issues in men:

Regardless of your overall weight, having a large amount of belly fat increases your risk of:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
• Colorectal cancer
• Sleep apnea
• Premature death from any cause
• High blood pressure

If that article is not correct, then it is dangerous. Even if it is correct, I suspect that it is of limited value in relation to healthcare.

Did you ever see any old guy of 80 plus years who is still in good health and then check to see if he is sporting a beer belly? It's not likely that he would have lived so long if he did.

Leaner guys tend to live longer.

silverharp

silverharp wrote: »

one logical reasoning might be the difference between someone who has been fat all their life since they were kids versus "fat dad" who only started being overweight in their 40's .the former is going to be infinitely worse yet I doubt medical stats differentiate this much?
not sure about the high T low T and risky behaviour, very few older men die from more risky behaviour be it sports or whatnot.

Out for dinner with my father recently and he was talking about the cycling trips him and his friends used to do in the highlands. Cycling 80 miles in a day and all that jazz, back when a bicycle was a bicycle. No gears, or fancy suspension. He made the point all the guys he used to cycle with in his late teens and early twenties are all still alive. He was 80 late last week. Now he's put on a bit of weight in recent years but he's still reasonably healthy(and still working nearly fulltime).

Just an anecdote, I know, but I do think theres a difference between people who put on weight in their forties(around when most people start to slow down a bit)and people who have been heavy all their lives.

Musketeer4

Where does this "slow down when you're 40" thing come from? Is it mostly just a societal construct?

I even see it myself in that guys start to give up on physical activity once they get past 30. And start to stack on the fat.

On the other hand I see articles about guys in their 70s who are jacked to shít and would but most 20 somethings to shame.

I think age is bandied about as an excuse a lot of the time.

I have a boss in his early 60s who runs ultramarathons on a regular basis and it seems to be nothing to him.

R P McMurphy

Musketeer4 wrote: »

I wonder is it an evolutionary psychology kind of thing? Like are women wired to take good care of their men by feeding them after initially attracting them so that they become unattractive to other women and are thus more likely to stay with them?

There seems to be a thing where younger women are attracted to youthful muscular guys but then you have the 40s age women who seem to be more inclined towards relaxed body types. Maybe women have evolved to like different physical attributes at different life stages and are wired to make it so if they are with someone.

I know when I was with my prior ex she was always feeding me bad food and I began to make the bad gains. When I broke up with her I started to trim down again and tone up.

Did your ex get a bit annoyed with the Jacob posters hanging on your bedroom wall

Musketeer4

Musketeer4 wrote: »

Where does this "slow down when you're 40" thing come from? Is it mostly just a societal construct?

I'd put it down to stress in the workplace. Workplace stress nowadays is in orders of magnitude what it was 30 years ago.

When he was my age my father had a secretary and an assistant. I have a laptop. He worked 9-5 and got an hour for lunch. I work 9-5.30 and get an hour for lunch, half of it is paid and the other half is "free", but its assumed I'll keep an eye on emails until about 8pm and over the weekend. He got a mortgage from his employer to buy a house in South Dublin and paid it off in about 15 years on one salary. My partner and I both work and are struggling to save for a deposit. For lunch they had a canteen where you got a 3 course meal everyday for free. I bring a sandwich.

Things have changed in the workplace, and not necessarily for the better. You have to wonder what the effect is.

Blacktie.

Musketeer4 wrote: »

Where does this "slow down when you're 40" thing come from? Is it mostly just a societal construct?

I even see it myself in that guys start to give up on physical activity once they get past 30. And start to stack on the fat.

On the other hand I see articles about guys in their 70s who are jacked to shít and would but most 20 somethings to shame.

I think age is bandied about as an excuse a lot of the time.

I have a boss in his early 60s who runs ultramarathons on a regular basis and it seems to be nothing to him.

Test levels and recovery ability drop as you age. It's no reason to stop exercising and if anything is more of a reason to keep it up but it is something to consider as you get older.

On the note about jacked guys in their 70's. TRT. Lots of it.

pwurple

Yeah, newsflash, decent parents don't have time to spend aons in the gym preening themselves in front of mirrors, because they are doing stuff with their family.

I think big biceps are the saddest things to see on a fella. Major turn-off. Repeatedly lifting something for hours to make a lump on your upper arms? Talk about a waste of a life.

And I'd imagine having a family increases your lifespan, not because of your shape, but because you have someone looking out for you. Someone saying, hey, you've got this weird mole on your arse, get it checked would ya.

Pepe LeFrits

cantdecide wrote: »

So long, Wibbs :pac:

Who knew all those canyon-jumps and harness-less tight-rope walks would eventually catch up with him.

Cianmcliam

Musketeer4 wrote: »

I'd say any link between a fat, out of shape body and a longer life is tenuous at best.

Take 2 70 year old guys. One is unfit, unflexible, sedentary, overweight and generally out of shape. The other has kept up gym, has muscle mass, is cardio fit, has good balance and flexibility.

It just doesn't seem credible that the former guy has a better life expectancy than the latter fitter guy.
The latter guy, from being fit and healthy, probably also has a higher T level and could probably still be sexually capable.

Improving diet and decreasing heart disease doesn't tend to increase average life expectancy in the population of first world countries, people that avoid heart attacks and stroke die of cancer instead.

The cancer rates go up as life expectancy increases due to 'healthier living' since cancer mostly affects the very old, so people believe modern living and diet 'causes cancer'. There are just more people alive to develop cancer who would otherwise have died of heart disease.

Musketeer4

I get the thing about work stress. Personally I've made it my career goal to dispense with work related stress by abandoning the private sector bull crap and taking up a nice cushy number in the council that will leave me with time to do what I enjoy rather than working till 8pm and having workaholics sending me emails at 1am.

Blacktie.

pwurple wrote: »

Yeah, newsflash, decent parents don't have time to spend aons in the gym preening themselves in front of mirrors, because they are doing stuff with their family.

I think big biceps are the saddest things to see on a fella. Major turn-off. Repeatedly lifting something for hours to make a lump on your upper arms? Talk about a waste of a life.

And I'd imagine having a family increases your lifespan, not because of your shape, but because you have someone looking out for you. Someone saying, hey, you've got this weird mole on your arse, get it checked would ya.

Nice judgement on people you know nothing about.

kunst nugget

pwurple wrote: »

And I'd imagine having a family increases your lifespan, not because of your shape, but because you have someone looking out for you. Someone saying, hey, you've got this weird mole on your arse, get it checked would ya.

I've been telling you to get that weird mole on your arse checked out for ages. Tsk, sometimes us stalkers are so unappreciated…

H3llR4iser

Musketeer4 wrote: »

You gotta be kidding me? The middle guy doesn't look like he works out at all! He has no tone and is slack looking. The left guy looks like he works out a bit, he's got decent pecs.

He has relatively developed arms and some tone in the shoulders - you can't see it because he is not "ripped" (read - skinny) like it's in vogue today. Maybe he doesn't necessarily "pump iron" 4 hours a day, maybe he doesn't go to the gym at all but happens to have an active job - construction, mechanic, mover, but certainly he isn't a completely inactive dude.

We've completely lost the plot when it comes to "healthy" vs. "insanely, pointlessly skinny and pumped up". I've seen powerlifters being called "fat" because they don't have muscles bulging through a leathery taut skin. Even if they could lift the average guy and toss him 20 feet down the road.

smacl

Musketeer4 wrote: »

Where does this "slow down when you're 40" thing come from? Is it mostly just a societal construct?

Putting on muscle mass as you grow older is difficult, even maintaining muscle mass takes far more effort. Recovery similarly takes much longer, hence you don't see professional rugby players or boxers in their 40s for good reason. Hitting 50 this year, no way could I compete at lose to the level I was at when I was 35, even though my cardio is hasn't changed much (still cycle the WW200 every year).

kunst nugget

Blacktie. wrote: »

Nice judgement on people you know nothing about.

Yeah, because nobody else in this thread has been judgemental…

Blacktie.

kunst nugget wrote: »

Yeah, because nobody else in this thread has been judgemental…

Well if you mean Musketeer then ye agreed. Yours seemed a hell of a lot more high horse than the rest of the posters though. Again bar maybe Musketeer.

kunst nugget

Blacktie. wrote: »

Well if you mean Musketeer then ye agreed. Yours seemed a hell of a lot more high horse than the rest of the posters though. Again bar maybe Musketeer.

I think you might have me confused with pwurple. I hope…

Blacktie.

kunst nugget wrote: »

I think you might have me confused with pwurple. I hope…

Yep!

Musketeer4

I've read studies that involved weight training young and old people with a similar regimen. The study measured increase in bicep cross section in response to training. They showed that gains were comparable for 20 somethings and 50 somethings. So according to that it should be well possible to make gains in your 50s even if recovery takes longer.
The whole diminishing testosterone vs muscle thing can be a vicious circle. If you lift heavy your body will produce more testosterone at any age. If testosterone is low and you've low muscle mass and higher bf% then if you start to lift your T will increase and you will get gains in mass and strength. Its fairly well established at this point from research in the health and fitness sector.
Even slower recovery times can be boosted up through supplementation and metabolism accelerators. There's a lot of research going on too with regard to enhancing the production of collagen and elastin throughout the body by means of MMP inhibitors as collagen and elastin cycles become skewed when you get up a bit in the years.

Those guys in the shorts, in terms of bodyfat % the guy on the left is about 20%. That's probably at the upper end of what could be considered acceptable in my view. The guy on the right is probably closer to 30% which is waayy to high for a man. The optimum bf% for a guy is about 15-18% and that both looks good and provides a reserve.

smacl

Musketeer4 wrote: »

I've read studies that involved weight training young and old people with a similar regimen. The study measured increase in bicep cross section in response to training. They showed that gains were comparable for 20 somethings and 50 somethings. So according to that it should be well possible to make gains in your 50s even if recovery takes longer.

Link please? Personally, I find more reps at lighter weights work better these days, but no way can I gain or maintain strength at 50 as easily as I could 20 years ago. Younger, with a lot of exercise I could also eat and drink all sorts of crap and still keep a washboard stomach, but those days are gone.

Musketeer4

I don't know, I can't find it right now but I read it last week.

How big are you now compared to 20 years ago? Do you lift more often or less often compared to then?
Any chance of a comparison picture?

When did you notice your ability to lift started to decline? Was there any other lifestyle chance associated with it?
Maybe your testosterone is diminishing or something at your age?

I see a lot of talk of 12-15 reps with one left in the tank as being the ideal amount of reps.

GingerLily

Musketeer4 wrote: »

Well I will admit that I posed last night before going to bed. It was late and i meant to go to the gym
this morning but I didn't cos I was tired and now I feel ashamed.



No I think they are aimed at women. They are chick flicks.
I find edward to be too skinny. I think Jacob looks way nicer, he's muscular but has got that sweet spot bf% where you can see muscles but doesn't have all the veins and striations.

Chick flicks rarely have muscley leading males, the body builder looking actor is usually there for the male audience, in action films.