Exercise and healthy eating for the OTR truck driver

Use the rest areas. The Picnic Tables are good for push ups or push aways... you don't have to push up all your body weight. Walk, do sqauts. toe touches, stretches, lunges and enjoy the outdoors. I take my little buddy with me. He's a Yorkiepoo dog. We stop several times a day to releive fluid pressure and to get the blood flowing. Get out of the truck every 2-3 hours for 15 minutes. The rest areas are a good place to eat lunch and smell the fresh air.

 

Do websearch for resistance bands.

dave

 

Or the Power Pushup II - it's a whole gym in a way, for $30, sold also on Fleabay. I'm proud of you folks walking, riding, lifting and stretching: You don't use it, you lose it.
Exersize is useless by itself, but done consistently does wonders as it becomes training.
Progression is necessary though due to the body accustomising to effort.
Exersize: activity beyond that to which the body is accustomed.
Training: consistent and progressive exersize.
That means that the total couch potato gets exersize walking around a parking lot.
Next week he/she has to walk either faster or farther.
Next he may carry weights or go uphill.
Next he may begin to trot back.
Then trot both ways.
Then trot out and jog back. And so forth. As the lungs and blood vessels clear of crud and cholesterol, the abilities increase. Somewhere in the progression, endorphins begin being produced, giving that elated feeling that makes you love doing it.
Then...there's the mirror. Oh yeah. DAT'S what I'm talkin' about!

 

Alright I'm waking up the thread. I skimmed though the thread but I was just wondering...how often might you drivers find a stretch of dirt/road that you could run down? I'm talking like 10-20 miles total, out and back. It looks like I'm hopping in the truck to get my CDL and will be visiting any gyms along the way. Nothing beats the good long run, though.

Personally, I might use 50lb. dumbells eventually, but I would stick to pushups and other bodyweight exercises.

 

M the bad thing is that when you are paid by the ton, you've always got 25 tons on board. This means that the amount of fuel in the tanks by itself makes a big difference. After that, your own body weight and anything else brought along for the ride, extra person, weights etc could mean the difference between getting pulled behind the scale house or not.

Just FYI.

 

Gotcha. So that might be another reason NOT to ride along. Still awaiting reply of my first pick driver. I think it might behoove me to just toss him the keys after a quick "aptitude test."

If you really wanted to though, could you find a stretch of dirt road or pavement to safely run down? I know how farmers carry guns.

 

"There is land as far as the eye can see."

Unfortunately, most of it already belongs to someone else. Ha!

Don't let the unnecessary become the necessary. Protect yourself at all times.

Many choose to walk around the Mall parking lots. If at night, then, tell the guard what you are doing.

I have a membership to the YMCA. I can go to any YMCA and use their facilities. If you are not a member, the cost is usually $15.00, per visit.
They have indoor/outdoor tracks to walk/run. Swimming!!! Hot tub, massage... Ummm, Ummm GREAT!

I have made some great friends at the different YMCA's. They expect me to show up each week.

This is a great stress reliever for me. Not to mention the pamering. Ha!

The loneliness of the road can be overwhelming. I always feel at home when I go to the "Y".

 

Hey guys, Im starting school next Tuesday, June 2nd. I was wondering how does one try to eat healty on the road?

 

When you figure it out let the rest of us know. been trying to figure it out for a long time.

 

I have a 12 volt cooler which I stock with fresh fruit, I buy tons of the tuna in water and eat it out of the can. Try to limit eating truck stop food. Occasionally your going to want a super sized meal or a candy bar but make it a treat not your diet.

experiment with healthy food and you will find a way to eat healthy...for instance if I go to a wendy's or taco bell I get unsweetened iced tea not soda....If I eat a big hamburger for lunch thats the only big meal I eat that day.

You need to incorporate some type of exercise along with the diet. I walk as often as I can even if its in circles at a truck stop...prefer to use my watch and walk for an hour...do push ups and always park as far away from the truck stop as possible.

If I have a reset or down time I walk, walk, walk....then I treat myself to a candy bar and a movie in the truck...be creative.

I've lost 17 pounds in 4 months.