Faith, Fitness, and Fatherhood (A Dad's Guide to Winning at Life)

You want to build muscle, stay healthy, show up for your family, and somehow get everyone to the next soccer practice on time. But how much is too much? Ben Barker is back for another Ask Us Anything with Jesse, tackling real questions from listeners trying to get stronger without letting fitness — or their kids' schedules — take over their lives. They get into overscheduled youth sports, why experienced lifters struggle to get bigger, and whether a deliberate muscle-building phase is worth trying. Jesse shares what happened when he bulked from roughly 190 to 220 pounds, got stronger, then cut it all back down. They also debate the tradeoff between sleep and early workouts, what changes when you cut back on alcohol, when kids should get their first phone, and whether yoga and Pilates belong in a strength-focused routine. And one of the most relatable questions of all: how do you find the energy to be present with your family when work has already drained you? Ben's answer reframes the whole thing. Then it's rapid fire — 1990s wrestling, unpopular fitness opinions, and a few parenting confessions. PLUS THIS WEEK'S HEALTH & FITNESS NEWS - A 47-year study of 427 people pinpoints when physical fitness peaks — and why it's never too late to start - Cold plunges may ease soreness but blunt the muscle growth you're training for - Exercise improves kids' metabolic health even when the scale doesn't move, across nearly 13,000 children - An FDA-approved nasal spray offers new hope for treatment-resistant depression - A 15-year study links warm, encouraging parenting to a child's developing ability to feel joy TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Cold Open & Intro 1:14 - The Weekly Health News Update 1:27 - When Does Fitness Actually Peak? 2:52 - Are Cold Plunges Costing You Gains? 5:29 - Why the Scale Isn't the Measure for Kids 6:46 - New Hope for Treatment-Resistant Depression 8:22 - How Warm Parenting Shapes Joy 10:29 - Ben Barker Joins 11:34 - Are We Overscheduling Our Kids? 15:16 - Why You Can't Get Jacked 19:38 - Jesse's Bulk: 190 to 220 and Back 22:11 - Six Hours of Sleep vs. the Early Workout 25:02 - Sober October and Fitness 30:02 - Social Media and Parent Responsibility 31:48 - Your Kid's First Phone 36:31 - Winter Bulking and Training Structure 37:58 - Tracking, Overload, and Planned Volume 45:27 - Where Yoga and Pilates Fit 50:43 - Coming Home With Nothing Left 53:11 - One Day You'll Miss the Chaos 58:30 - Rapid Fire 1:03:35 - High School Regrets and Close BEN BARKER: Fitness coach, father of four, and returning Stronger Weekly guest. Follow Ben: @benbarkerfitness | https://linktr.ee/benbarkerfitness Youth sports program Ben mentioned: https://www.upward.org Kids' device Jesse mentioned: https://gabb.com/gabb-watch/ SPONSORS - Nutritional supplements that work as hard as you do: https://www.puristnutrition.com/#strongerweekly - Build a world-class home gym with Rep Fitness: https://www.repfitness.com/#strongerweekly - Bulletproof your drinking with Clutch; medication-assisted treatment from Oar Health: https://bit.ly/OarStrength FOLLOW US ON ALL PLATFORMS - Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4at8Yhn - Spotify Podcasts: https://spoti.fi/3GAGVPJ - YouTube: https://youtube.com/@StrongerWeekly - Our website and newsletter: https://strongerweekly.com/ ______ Strong parents raise strong kids. Stronger Weekly is the health and fitness show for hardworking parents. Hosted by Jesse Carrajat, Stronger Weekly helps you get stronger, live healthier, raise great kids, and enjoy the ride along the way. Here's what you can expect: - Health & Fitness Headlines: The latest health news, research, and trends, broken down into what actually matters for you and your family. - Fitness & Nutrition That Works: Practical, science-backed advice to build muscle, improve your health, and make the most of your limited time. - Meaningful Conversations: Honest interviews with experts, parents, and everyday people about health, fatherhood, relationships, and life. - Real Talk A

Most fitness advice assumes you have time you don't. Between work, children, meals, and the rest of life, parents are told to optimize everything — then left feeling behind when they can't. Britany Williams has a better starting point. A former Division I runner, certified fitness trainer, creator, and host of Filter Free Friday, Britany spent ten years in a high-pressure role at Under Armour before building a career focused on helping women pursue health without losing themselves. She joined Jesse for an honest conversation recorded just days before her second child was due. They unpack her "consistency ladder," why scheduling workouts matters more than finding the perfect plan, and a family-food strategy she calls ingredient prepping, not meal prepping. They also get into guilt, sleep deprivation, the endless maintenance work of running a household, and setting real boundaries with our phones — how to keep moving forward without making every day another test of your discipline. PLUS THIS WEEK'S HEALTH & FITNESS NEWS - WHO issues its first global guidance on childhood obesity, emphasizing family-centered lifestyle support - A Virginia Tech trial finds ultra-processed meals can prompt different insulin and brain responses despite closely matched nutrition labels - A JAMA Network Open study links higher daily step counts to fewer mental-health symptoms in adolescents - A supervised diet-and-exercise program puts 54% of younger adults with type 2 diabetes into remission after 24 weeks - A JAMA Pediatrics study links parents' device use to more missed toddler communication cues TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Cold Open & Intro 2:06 - Health Brief: WHO's First Childhood Obesity Guidance 4:03 - Same Label, Different Response 6:55 - Steps and Teen Mental Health 8:42 - 54% Diabetes Remission in 24 Weeks 10:42 - What Your Phone Costs Your Toddler 13:12 - Britany Williams Joins 14:24 - Which Pillar Gets Your Attention 17:16 - Ten Years at Under Armour 18:19 - Leaving Corporate for Coaching 24:00 - Showing the Hard Parts on Camera 28:37 - The Consistency Ladder 29:16 - Forget What's Optimal, Fix the Schedule 30:52 - Finding Your Time Leaks 32:40 - Non-Negotiables First 35:31 - How They Actually Feed the Family 36:32 - Ingredient Prepping, Not Meal Prepping 37:25 - The Plain Pasta Fallback 39:17 - The Guilt Over Not Doing More 40:33 - Adding Instead of Subtracting 42:48 - Protein, Creatine & Third-Party Testing 45:28 - Caught Not Taught in the Grocery Aisle 47:27 - The Back Half of the Day 49:21 - Your Laundry Can Wait 50:32 - Decoupling the Guilt and the Shame 51:38 - Maintenance vs. Forward Progress 53:11 - Why You Stay Up Too Late 54:52 - Taking Your Time Back 57:21 - Letting Your Kid See You Do It 1:00:08 - How Important Is Sleep, Really? 1:00:59 - The Asterisk for Parents 1:02:26 - Sleep Hygiene and the Brain Dump 1:06:24 - Same Wake Time, Every Day 1:07:39 - Jesse's Phone Rules 1:11:10 - The 20-Minute App Block 1:12:32 - Pick a Couple of Pillars SPONSORS - Nutritional supplements that work as hard as you do: https://www.puristnutrition.com/#strongerweekly - Build a world-class home gym with Rep Fitness: https://www.repfitness.com/#strongerweekly - Bulletproof your drinking with Clutch; medication-assisted treatment from Oar Health: https://bit.ly/OarStrength FOLLOW US ON ALL PLATFORMS - Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4at8Yhn - Spotify Podcasts: https://spoti.fi/3GAGVPJ - YouTube: https://youtube.com/@StrongerWeekly - Our website and newsletter: https://strongerweekly.com/ ______ Strong parents raise strong kids. Stronger Weekly is the health and fitness show for hardworking parents. Hosted by Jesse Carrajat, Stronger Weekly helps you get stronger, live healthier, raise great kids, and enjoy the ride along the way. Here's what you can expect: - Health & Fitness Headlines: The latest health news, research, and trends, broken down into what actually matters for you and your family. - Fitness & Nutrition That Works: Practical, science-backed advic

Two major studies landed this week on what screens are doing to kids — one tying smartphone ownership at 12 to eating disorder symptoms at 14, the other pooling data on 2.8 million children across 64 countries and finding lower grades, weaker language, and more anxiety across the board. Every parent listening already feels it. Almost none of us know what to actually do about it. So Jesse sat down with his friend Will Stackable — co-founder and CMO of ArborXR, a VR company serving more than eighty Fortune 500s — who has spent ten years building the future and lives in a farmhouse outside Fort Collins with four kids under ten, no TV, no screens, and no Wi-Fi. This is his story honestly told: the moment on the floor with his son that started it, the year he threw out his smartphone entirely, why willpower was never enough, the firewalls he built instead, and what it gave his family. Then the part most people need — the version of this for a normal household that isn't about to rip out the router. How to talk to a kid about it. What to do this week. And what happens when they're teenagers and every friend has a phone. PLUS THIS WEEK'S HEALTH & FITNESS NEWS - Breast Cancer Awareness Month: 40 years of progress, and the free tool to know your own risk - A 2,700-child study finds warm, consistent parenting beats everything else — and inconsistent discipline hurts most - Creatine built muscle in adults 45 to 65 even without exercise in a new 12-week trial - Smartphone ownership at 12 linked to a 67% higher risk of binge-eating symptoms by 14 - An umbrella review of 2.8 million kids finds screen time tied to lower grades and more anxiety TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Cold Open & Intro 1:27 - The Weekly Health Brief 1:38 - Breast Cancer Awareness Month 3:16 - Warm and Consistent: The Parenting Study 5:03 - Creatine Builds Muscle Without Exercise 7:58 - The Phone at 12 10:01 - 2.8 Million Kids: The Screen Review 11:28 - Will Stackable Joins 13:40 - Reading the Post: "Dad, Why Don't We Have Wi-Fi?" 17:34 - Why He Finally Wrote It 18:17 - A 90s Kid, Then a Phone at 16 20:42 - The Moment on the Floor With His Son 22:21 - A Year With No Smartphone 24:19 - Whack-a-Mole: Apps and Infinity Pools 27:25 - Solitude Deprivation 30:50 - Driving Back in Time 32:25 - Atoms Over Electrons 35:42 - Why Kids Need to Be Bored 39:03 - The Adjustment, and the Projector 43:24 - When Their Friends All Have Phones 48:36 - Caught, Not Taught 49:53 - From Avoidance to Love 52:08 - The Playbook for a Normal Family 57:27 - Outro ABOUT WILL STACKABLE: Co-founder and CMO of ArborXR, which manages VR and AR devices for more than eighty Fortune 500 companies. Previously sold SpringboardVR and Scissortail Media. Lives outside Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife and four kids. Read the post that started this: linkedin.com/in/willstackable If the eating disorder segment hit home, the National Alliance for Eating Disorders has a free helpline at allianceforeatingdisorders.com. SPONSORS - Get nutritional supplements that work as hard as you do: https://www.puristnutrition.com/#strongerweekly - Build a world-class home gym with Rep Fitness: https://www.repfitness.com/#strongerweekly - Bulletproof your drinking with Clutch; medication-assisted treatment from Oar Health: https://bit.ly/OarStrength FOLLOW US ON ALL PLATFORMS - Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4at8Yhn - Spotify Podcasts: https://spoti.fi/3GAGVPJ - YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@StrongerWeekly - Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter: https://strongerweekly.com/ ______ The health and fitness show for parents in the trenches. You care about your body. You care about your kids. You care about your career, your marriage, your faith, your friends — and there's not enough of you to go around. Stronger Weekly is for the ones tired of parenting advice that ignores their health, and fitness advice that ignores their life. Every Wednesday, in about 30 minutes: - Health headlines, translated into what to actually do

Tomorrow is October 1st, and Jesse is going to try to talk you into Sober October. Thirty-one days, no alcohol. Not because you have a problem — most people don't — but because the research on what one month off does to your body is better than most people realize, and almost nobody talks about it. Five reasons, each backed by real studies, with Melissa West — who built a TikTok following by telling her own sobriety story honestly — reacting to what it actually felt like. You'll feel less anxious (the next-day dread is chemistry, and it compounds). You'll feel more rested (alcohol sedates you, then wrecks the second half of the night). You'll give your body a chance to heal (a UCL study of 94 drinkers found insulin resistance down 26%, blood pressure down 6%, and cancer-related growth factors down in one month — with no change to diet or exercise). You'll have better workouts (alcohol cuts muscle rebuilding after training by a quarter to a third). And you'll just feel... happier. Plus the part nobody expects: six months later, people are still drinking less. Even the ones who didn't finish. PLUS THIS WEEK'S HEALTH & FITNESS NEWS - Kratom: what parents need to know after two Ole Miss student deaths put it in the spotlight - A study of 8.8 million adults finds no safe amount of ultra-processed food — every extra small serving raises risk - Thirty years of exercise leaves you with more reserve at 64, and it's never too late to start - Seven days of strength training shrinks fat cells before the scale moves - Americans are drinking less for the first time since the pandemic, led by Gen Z and millennials TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Cold Open & Intro 2:14 - The Weekly Health Brief 2:27 - Kratom: What Parents Need to Know 5:07 - One Bag of Chips a Day 7:56 - Start Now, Cash In at 70 10:16 - Your Fat Cells Already Know 12:26 - America Is Drinking Less 15:31 - Melissa West Joins 17:48 - The Gray Area Drinker 20:43 - Going Public on TikTok 25:45 - Sober October, No-Nicotine November, Decaf December 27:53 - Reason 1: You'll Feel Less Anxious 36:43 - Reason 2: You'll Feel More Rested 43:30 - Reason 3: You'll Give Your Body a Chance to Heal 48:30 - Reason 4: You'll Have Better Workouts 53:00 - Reason 5: You'll Just Feel... Happier 57:00 - The Challenge 59:31 - Outro THE 5 REASONS: 1. LESS ANXIOUS - Next-day anxiety is a chemical rebound (GABA drops, glutamate surges, cortisol spikes), and it compounds. A 1,192-person Sussex study found real gains in wellbeing after one month off. 2. MORE RESTED - Alcohol sedates you, then suppresses REM. Higher intake is linked to ~25% higher sleep apnea risk. 71% of Dry January participants slept better. 3. YOUR BODY HEALS - UCL study, 94 drinkers, one month: insulin resistance down 25.9%, blood pressure down ~6%, liver enzymes and cancer-related growth factors down. 4. BETTER WORKOUTS - Alcohol after training cuts muscle protein synthesis by 24-37%, raises cortisol, drops testosterone. 5. YOU'LL JUST FEEL HAPPIER - Six months later, people who took a month off are still drinking less. Even the ones who didn't finish. ABOUT MELISSA WEST: Content creator who built an audience on TikTok by sharing her sobriety story openly and honestly. She works with Oar Health. @melissarosewest If you're concerned about your drinking, talk to your doctor. If you're in crisis, call or text 988. SPONSORS - Get nutritional supplements that work as hard as you do: https://www.puristnutrition.com/#strongerweekly - Build a world-class home gym with Rep Fitness: https://www.repfitness.com/#strongerweekly - Bulletproof your drinking with Clutch; medication-assisted treatment from Oar Health: https://bit.ly/OarStrength FOLLOW US ON ALL PLATFORMS - Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4at8Yhn - Spotify Podcasts: https://spoti.fi/3GAGVPJ - YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@StrongerWeekly - Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter: https://strongerweekly.com/ ______ The health and fitness show for parents in the trenches. You care abo

Gentle parenting. Strict parenting. Free-range, attachment, screen-free, let-them-be-bored. Every philosophy has a following and a comment section, and for parents, it can be overwhelming. Meanwhile teachers are reporting a generation of kids who can't handle boredom, can't hear the word no, and fall apart the first time something doesn't go their way. Jesse sits down with Todd Sarner — a licensed marriage and family therapist, former Neufeld Institute faculty, and the author of The Calm & Connected Parent — for a 101 on what actually works. Why you don't have to be a perfect parent, and why perfectionists often struggle the most. What attachment science actually says, and the difference between a secure and an anxious kid. Todd's framework of connection, regulation, and guidance — and why your kids need you to be an alpha, calm, and aligned parent. Why the gentle-versus-strict pendulum on Instagram misses the point entirely. And Jesse gets honest about what happens inside him when three kids get loud at once. Then it gets practical: a fifteen-second breathing reset you can do in the car with the kids in the back seat, why giving a hug bigger ends a meltdown faster, and how to fill your kid's tank before things go sideways. No perfect scripts. No shame. Just a proven, research-backed framework to help you raise happy, healthy kids in an anxious generation. PLUS THIS WEEK'S HEALTH & FITNESS NEWS - Six minutes of reading tied to a 68% drop in stress — and kids' reading is at a record low - Over half of men in high-stress jobs report a private health problem, and it's reversible - The 2026 school lunch report card: which states feed their kids best and worst - ER visits for gambling nearly doubled after online sports betting expanded — mostly men and boys - Twenty-four teachers on the modern parenting trends doing the most damage TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Cold Open & Intro 1:54 - The Weekly Health Brief: Six Minutes of Reading 3:30 - Stress and Men's Performance 6:28 - The School Lunch Report Card 8:16 - Gambling and the ER 11:16 - The Teachers Speak 13:25 - Todd Sarner Joins 13:56 - 22 Years and the Framework That Changed Everything 15:19 - What Attachment Science Actually Says 16:41 - You Don't Have to Be a Perfect Parent 19:32 - Present Over Perfect: Who Struggles Most 23:47 - Secure vs. Anxious Attachment 26:56 - When the Chaos Makes You Feel Like a Failure 32:15 - Regulation Comes First 35:09 - The Framework: Connection, Regulation & Guidance 40:34 - Alpha Parents: Not a Best Friend, Not a Dictator 42:20 - Gentle vs. Strict Is the Wrong Debate 45:39 - "There's No Such Thing as a Confident Five-Year-Old" 48:07 - Calm Parents and What Happens in Your Brain 52:06 - Aligned Parents: Getting on the Same Page 57:44 - Discipline Means Teaching 1:03:30 - The Stress Response Behind Parental Blowups 1:07:34 - 4-7-8 Breathing: The 15-Second Reset 1:13:05 - Why a Bigger Hug Ends the Meltdown Faster 1:17:32 - Filling Their Tank: Proactive Connection 1:24:40 - The First Step: Say No, Mean It, Stay Kind 1:26:51 - The Weathermaker: Todd's Book for Dads 1:29:03 - Outro: Repair Beats Perfection WHAT WE COVER: - Why perfection isn't the goal, and why perfectionist parents often struggle most - What attachment science says kids need from us, and what a secure base looks like - Todd's framework: connection, regulation, and guidance - Alpha, calm, and aligned — the three conditions kids need from their parents - Why gentle vs. strict is the wrong debate - What's happening in your brain when you blow up, and a fifteen-second breathing reset - Why "give it bigger" works better than holding back affection - How to proactively fill your kid's tank before the meltdown ABOUT TODD SARNER: Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, founder of Transformative Parenting, and former faculty member at the Neufeld Institute, where he was personally mentored by Dr. Gordon Neufeld. Author of The Calm & Connected Parent. 22+ years, 2,000+ families. And a dad. Todd's book: The