Hey y'all. Just wonderin' if any of you think it's a reasonable option to consider a health club membership (i.e. Bally's or Gold's) to keep in shape? Would it be possible for the professional driver to "regularly" make it to a gym while away from home? What do you think is the most accessible gym while on the road?

I lift weights quite a bit and am considering a move into trucking but am afraid that I'll give up quite a bit of the strength I've gained if I don't continue to push weights regularly. I would like to enter some powerlifting competitions soon, and want to be able to meet both my personal interests (exercise) while I'm away from home. If I'm home on the weekends, I can lift weights in my basement, where I have a power rack and LOTS of weights... on the road though, I would like to be able to get into a gym twice during the week for about an hour. A little exercise in the morning, either walking or light lifting with dumbbells, etc. is a great idea, but I would be plumb happy if I thought I might be able to get into a Bally's or something twice a week. What do you think?

Great question, If you're running a dedicated route or running regional in the same areas every week then a gym membership may be a great way to regularly make it to a gym and keep your cost at a minimum. If you are running all over the country and have little or no control over when and where you run, it's really not wise to be paying on a membership that you will rarely get a chance to use.

I run basicly the same areas of the country year around and I know where certain gyms are that are easily accessable in a big truck. Another problem is that most gym chains are regional, meaning that if you join for example Golds gym, they're alot of Golds gyms in the southeast, but they are few and far in between in the northeast or midwest and vice versa. If you make a delivery in an area and you spot a gym in a near by mall thats easily accessable in a big truck, are you going to drive all over town looking for a Golds not knowing when you get there if they have truck parking or not?
You should be able to find gyms fairly easy anywhere in the country and normally it'll cost no more than $10.00 bucks a day. If you are into powerlifting, than the dumbells in the truck as I mentioned earlier in my post are better than nothing ,but it will not help you to maintain your strength levels. Getting under some heavy steel is not an option when you are doing heavy squats,benches and deadlifts as these are the staples of the powerlifters.
Hopefully the folks that you decide to run with will understand your lifestyle and be accomidating to your needs. Good luck.

i believe powerhouse gyms offer a "traveling" membership (able to use facilities across U.S.). may want to check them out, too.

when i was a flight attendant, i always made sure to bring a bag of sunflower seeds, dried fruits (cherries, cranberries, raisins...), and maybe throw in some chocolate chips. nutitous and kept my cravings for sweets in line.

YOU will be my best friend for including the chocolate chips!

__________________



The Truckers Report Merchandise

this is a GREAT thread! but i'm curious... didn't see anything about running. does anyone find this a viable option? i know you have to be aware of your surroundings (and sometime those around you. lol) and concerned with personal safety, but when i rode with my ex there were lots of times we'd unload at some rural spot and i could run/walk for miles with no traffic, or we'd be in a small town and i could wander or run. any thoughts?

i consider dark chocolate a staple! and a necessary mood elevator... and mood leveler (if you know what i mean. giggle)

My Husband is a walker and when he get's to his destination, it's sleep time first then he get's up and takes a real long walk.

He looks over his surroundings and asked other's about the area before he goes out and always takes his cell phone and is always near buildings and such.

I started out jogging first and ended up walking due to sore knees. But this helps to clear the mind from sitting for such long periods of time too.

__________________



The Truckers Report Merchandise

Bittersweet88, Walking and running are great if you can do them safely. Walking is good if theres nothing else, it's great for getting the circulation going in your legs, but unless you're walking at a really fast clip(almost running) it has little or no benifits as far as cardio goes. Running is a great form of cardio exercise, but most truckers are not in the type of shape to be running for any length of time, jogging maybe.
You have to really be careful running and jogging, as both are impact exercises and if you are carrying extra weight, it can create all sorts of problems with the knees and joints from the pounding jarring motion of running, especially on hard surfaces like concrete or asphalt.
If jogging or running is something that you would like to try , I suggest starting slowly. Always stretch first and begin by briskly walking for a few minutes to warm up the muscles and joints before beginning to jog. This will decrease the likelyhood of injury. If you do run or jog , try to do it on a soft surface like grass or sand, this will reduce your chance of getting shin splint injury's.
Running can be a great form of cadio exercise if your health is up to par. If it is'nt than you may want too find a less strenuous form of cardio like cycling or walking stairs(stairmaster). I have seen drivers jogging and walking around truckstop parking lots from time to time so it is fairly common, just watch out for the big trucks.

good points - all of which i'm aware of . i guess i was just wondering if there are many runners/joggers out there who run/jog when they're out. my ex would never go out with me, so for the short time i was out with him i usually didn't go out unless he was going to be a while unloading (dry bulk tanker), etc. i just know i need to get out and move after sitting in a truck for hours on end. lol