LS. I’m a journalist who’s also a fitness professional. Before I started at Men’s Fitness in 1992, I’d had a fairly conventional journalism career, working at daily and weekly newspapers and regional magazines. I worked at MF for six years, the last three as fitness editor, and then moved to Men’s Health for the next six years, first as fitness editor, then as fitness director.

The Testosterone Advantage Plan, my first book as an author, came out in December 2001. That was followed by Home Workout Bible, Book of Muscle, The New Rules of Lifting, and The New Rules of Lifting for Women. The third book in the New Rules of Lifting series will come out in January 2011.

SB. I hear you are also a busy dad and husband as well. How many kids do you have and what is your favorite part of being a dad?

LS. I have three kids, who are 13, 11, and 9. My favorite part of being a dad is not being anything like my own dad, who was a wreck physically and disengaged emotionally.

SB. Lou, how did your fitness philosophy change once you became a father?

LS. Most of the changes in my approach came about because of the research I was doing for the books I wrote. My diet changed from low-fat to one with balanced macronutrients while writing Testosterone Advantage Plan. I also got my CSCS in 2001, and that coincided with more of an emphasis on training for strength and performance. Coincidentally, I found it was more efficient to train that way.

SB. As a fitness author, what are the 3 biggest mistakes you see busy dads trying to staying fit make with their workouts?

LS. I can’t really say what other guys do or don’t do. I really just see the guys in my own gym, and most of them seem to have pretty solid workout programs. And I also hate to criticize the minority of adults who’re actually making an effort to stay in shape. I could find ways to improve most of the routines I see, but I’m sure at least a few of those guys are thinking the same thing about my workouts.

SB. What do your workouts currently look like?

LS. I do full-body workouts every time in the gym, so if I have to miss a workout because of an unforeseen problem, I don’t have to worry about unbalanced training.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, I’ll start with a lower-body exercise — a squat variation one workout, a deadlift variation the next, and a lunge variation the next. My upper-body work alternates between bilateral and unilateral movements. I like to do almost every exercise from a standing or kneeling position, to keep the core muscles engaged.

I also move pretty quickly from one exercise to the next. I’m not trying to add size — in fact, I’ve lost a few pounds in the past year — so I minimize rest periods and aim for more of a conditioning effect.

SB. What are some of your favorite healthy meals and snacks?

LS. My favorite is one I got from TC Luoma of TMUSCLE: natural peanut butter mixed in a bowl with low-carb chocolate protein powder and low-fat milk. Really hits the spot, and satisfies my hunger for hours.

SB. Why do you think it’s important for us dads to stay fit?

LS. Our kids should see that fitness is a lifelong pursuit. If they see us make time for it, and invest energy in it, they’ll understand that it’s an important part of life.

In our parents’ generation, there wasn’t much of an organized structure for fitness activities. You played outside as a kid, then maybe you played on sports teams through high school or even college, if you were one of the lucky ones. Many of our dads also did physical training in the military, where it was used as a punishment as much as a tool for activity-specific performance. Once you were out of the military, and presumably finished with sports, there wasn’t really any structure in place to encourage lifelong fitness.

But with our kids, everything is structured. There’s almost no such thing as backyard sports, or neighborhood games. If you play something, you play it on a team. If you do pure exercise, it happens in gym class. So it’s important for them to see their parents using those same structures to pursue lifelong fitness, and doing it voluntarily.

We all know as parents how important it is to read to our kids, and to have lots of books around the house. But it’s also important for kids to see their parents reading books for pleasure. That helps them understand that they aren’t just reading because adults say they have to. They’re reading because it’s such an important part of a fulfilling life.

Now we apply that to sports and fitness. At a certain point, I think kids start to ask themselves if they’re playing sports because they enjoy it, or because their parents expect them to play. If Dad is still playing something in middle age — golf, bowling, slow-pitch softball, or anything else that involves competition and some degree of coordination and focus — it reinforces the idea that sports are something you do for yourself.

If they understand that Dad goes to the gym three times a week because he enjoys it and considers it important, it sends the message that structured exercise isn’t just something you do in gym class because the school says you have to.

SB. Anything you would like to add? Any favorite tips you learned from other experts over the years?

One thing I’ve learned from experience is that you have to place as much importance on your wife’s fitness program as you do on your own. That is, you make sure she has as much opportunity to get to the gym or get outside for a run as you do. You can’t pressure her to train if she doesn’t want to — I think that’s obvious. But you have to make sure there’s equal opportunity within your household. Sometimes that means skipping your own workout when something comes up, rather than forcing her to miss hers.

During those times when you simply need to train more often than she needs or wants to train, you have to negotiate the opportunity to do that, rather than just assuming you deserve it by virtue of the fact you’re more ambitious or disciplined.

The benefits come back to you in two major ways. First, of course, is the health and stability of your relationship. You don’t want your wife resenting your desire to be healthy and fit, or to see it as a wedge you use to shift the priorities of the marriage in your direction. Second, your kids see that fitness isn’t just a priority for one individual in their house, but for everyone. If Mom and Dad have fitness pursuits that make them happier, that’s the most positive message we could possibly send to our kids.

SB. Where can people find out more about you and your books?

Website: www.louschuler.com

New Rules of Lifting Books

http://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Lifting-Women-Goddess/dp/1583333398/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

http://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Lifting-Maximum-Muscle/dp/158333338X/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

SB.Thanks Lou for showing us that as a busy dad and fitness author you also practice what you preach!

LS. My pleasure.

Lou Schuler is an award-winning journalist, certified strength and conditioning specialist, author or coauthor of many popular books about diet and strength training. His books include The New Rules of Lifting for Women (with coauthors Cassandra Forsythe and Alwyn Cosgrove), The New Rules of Lifting (with Alwyn Cosgrove), The Book of Muscle (with Ian King), The Home Workout Bible (with Mike Mejia and many other contributors), and The Testosterone Advantage Plan (with Jeff Volek, Mike Mejia, and Adam Campbell).

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