Exercise and healthy eating for the OTR truck driver

hello everybody i am a trucker wannabe i start company sponsored training in august............the reason i have not been a trucker sooner is i did not want to sacrifice going to the gym on a daily basis i thought that no amount of money is worth not being able to go to a gym............. and than i came up with an initial over the road training program that i can start off with while i go on the road with my trainer until i switch the routine........the only equipment needed for this routine are elastic bands, a pair of adjustable dumbells i.e. the bowflex that goes up to 52.5 or the powerblocks or if u want to go cheap just some 15;s and some 25;s..............First I will list all the different bodyparts and the excercises you can do for them at a truck stop or in the parking lot of a mall........
CHEST: pushups (hands in a diamond shape infront of your chest, hands wide, hands normal, normal knuckles, hands wide knuckles, feet elevated, hands elevated)(this will help you tear up your chest fibers from all different angles to get a well developed chest) flys laying on the ground or on an excercise ball if you have one, and leaning over dumbell pullovers diagonally across your body
LEGS: calf raises, body weight squats(using elastic bands for both way resistance, body weight lunges(using elastic bands), jump squats.
BACK: reverse pushup(holding onto bottom of truck or finding some creative way to do it) (overhand, underhand, alternating) (as well as alternating how wide your hands are placed the wider the more you're working your outer lats) bent over rows, light weight deadlifts(using both resistance bands and light dumbells) pullups(if you can find some creative way to do them) pullups are the best workout for your back nothing compares to it...........
BICEPS: bicep curls, hammer curls, concentration curls, forearm curls, you can use both the elastic bands and the dumbells for a wicked resistance level. grab a dumbell tie to it an elastic band step on the other end of the band and do really good form going slow and really squeezing and contracting your bicep at the peak point of contraction. keep ur elbows close to your body and as stationary as possible.
TRICEPS: tricep overhead extension, tricep to the back extension, tricep dips(holding onto truck, or on the floor putting legs on truck).....
SHOULDERS: front delt raise, to the side delt raise, hands narrow upright row, hands shoulder width apart upright row, overhead standing military press, sitting on excercise ball military press.
FOR ROUTINE #1 I AM GOING TO START OFF WITH A 2 DAY SPLIT
this means that i am going to keep it simple and do all pushing movements on one day which includes the excercises for chest, shoulders, tri's, and legs. For the next day I am going to do back and bicep excercises with my main focus being on pullups if i can find some creative way to do them. on both days I will finish off with doing abs and jump rope a good way to do this is just do a super super set that lasts 10-15 mins where you work your abs in various ways (no need to list all the ways to work abs because this is the only area that won't suffer from not using a gym because there is so many ways to work abs without using gym equipment) and doing jump rope in between the ab sets..........i am not going to be getting any stronger using this routine but it will definetely help me shred my 5'8 205 lb 12% bodyfat frame.........i am going to do this routine for a while and than switch it up after a month or two which is very important to do to avoid having my body get used to this workout and stop responding.......for routine #2 i am going to switch up excercises as well as which body parts i work on the different days........more important than the excercise is the nutrition which was also a concern of mine lildaddy wrote many good things about nutrition in the beginning of this thread......if you are lifting weights good basic guidelines to follow are when you first wake up and RIGHT after a workout make sure to consume fast digesting carbs(to replenish muscle glcogen), as well as fast digesting protein for example white bread with jam, and a whey protein shake. Eat 5,6 small meals a days and if you are going to consume carbs at any other time other than when you first wake up or after a workout make sure it is slow digesting such as wheat bread to keep ur insulin levels in check....when i go on the road the basis of my nutrition is going to be hard boiled eggs, protein bars, tuna, oatmeal, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, white bread and smuckers(to consume after waking up and after workouts), raisins, flaxseed to mix in with my protein shakes before i go to sleep to get a slow digesting protein, cottage cheese for the slow digesting protein before i go to sleep, plenty of nuts, sunflower seeds. If you have the urge to have a buffet meal at one of the truck stops the best way to do that is when you first wake up put in a grueling workout and eat that food right after you work out that way it won't be as bad for you as it would had you not worked out before.........this is a really good thread something i've been thinking about ever since i started thinking about trucking and reading all the posts has made me be realize i don't have to give up living a healthy lifestyle while driving OTR. Thankyou lildaddy and redfox and everybody that has contributed to this thread.

 

Freshmaneur: You gave it a lot of though as I did, although I personally have no use for bread that is made white by removing the nutrients from it; the glycogen is easy enough to replace though. I even get the jitters after a workout and need something sugary right away. Occasionally I'll even eat the dreaded sugar prior to a big workout, but that's about the only time I will.
I posted a blurb in here somewhere about devices while OTR. One great toy is the PowerPushup II - about $25 on Fleabay - and I have two playground chain and hoop things I was going to put some snubber hooks on to hook them overhead in the trailer. This would give you push/pull bodyweight exersizes too many to mention. The hoops are a bit thin, so I'd have to tape some short lengths of pipe insulation around them at the bottom for grips. Use your dumbell when doing chins or pullups and hook it behind one knee, wrapping that foot behind the other knee for weight assisted work. I do this with up to 120 pounds on my M/E days. Really builds up the lats.
'you ain't got a thing if you ain't got no wings!'
BTW, I get from Coach Hale's book "Knowledge and Nonsense" that the old method of slow contraction is discarded by way of scientific testing with control groups. It seems that more power is developed and therefore more strength incrementations by going fast on the concentric (powerlifter style) and slow on the eccentric, about 2/3 more time. It appears that powerlifters are lifting slow, but they've trained the muscle to lift fast with lower weights, causing more muscle motor units to fire. The muscle on the big weight knows no difference, and therefore fires all the units at once, giving more power to the lift. More power, more ability, more weight, more mass.
At least it's working for me this year. I'm getting back to some old numbers, despite being much older.

 

Thanks for the useful post. I know how hard it is to eat and be healthy on the road. Been through the gamut....healthy and strong (210 lbs) down to fat and weak (285 lbs). Personally, I like the healthy and strong Mastadon better.
I have found that buying a fridge to put in the rig has helped my health and my wallet. I stop at Super WalMarts to restock thruout the week on fresh fruit and veggies.

I agree with giving the first hour to yourself. I tend toward bodyweight excercises (pushups/situps) but, I also have a portable benchpress and 120 lbs of dumbbells that I work into the mix. Granted, sometimes I'm too friggin tired in the morning from 600 miles of driving the previous day to want to excercise, but, as long as I eat good healthy meals for that day I manage to keep the weight down. (current:218 lbs)

Good health on the road can be attained: it just takes a solid commitment
to do the right things on a regular basis. Things like enough sleep, exercise and eating right. Although, if you have driven enough miles you know that sleep can often be the deal killer towards keeping yourself healthy. Creative Logging 101 sure can help the wallet, but at the risk of being sleep deprived, which in turn kills any motivation to exercise, eat right, etc. Judicial logbook fudging is the key.

Enough said.

*Keep the sunny side up and the greasy side down*

 

Remember that losing weight and building muscle is not the only measure of fitness. Every time you eat a piece of fruit instead of a donut, and every time you take a 10 minute stroll instead of sitting and feeling miserable; you are doing yourself far more good than can be measured in a mirror.

 

That's a Big 10-4!!

 

I look much younger than my 56 - almost - 7...and they look on goggle-eyed when I do my ME day lifts. But I don't get too proud. Although I'm much stronger than I look, I need to do cardio (I don't, trying to keep on some muscle) for fitness, and there are always some thin little guys who show up now and then and warm up with your maxes.
You never really know who you're messin' with, and they might not even lift weights! Sheetrock hangers, carpenters, even stockboys...I've seen some amazing strength in these wiry little guys. And never mess with a real farmboy...he probably does more work before breakfast than most do in a day.
I suggest lumping frieght if you can and take the money. It's a win-win. I wasn't big when I was driving, but that plus pushups/situps to keep awake kept me in fighting trim.
I sometimes feel like a big, powerful slug...proven if I have to climb 2 flights of stairs with this muscle weight. (huff...puff)

 

Since I bought my coleman cooler in Jan I've lost 45lbs. The working out part is harder for the same reason..get too tired sometimes. My saving grace is I have a monster dog that needs more exercise than just a walk to the end of the trailer and back,so at least I walk 1 to 2 mi per day.
Recently I was at Sunny D in Anaheim and I was walking behind a KLLM driver. He was in GREAT SHAPE..wearing shorts and a tank top and I figured him to be about 35yrs old(hey,I can look too!). When we both got to the window I was shocked to see that he was..well,uh..mature. As old as me or more. I couldn't take my eyes off him. He had to leave the site..but I did something that I would never do..off the internet,that is. At the risk of him thinking I was coming on to him(which I wasn't) I had to let him know that he was an inspiration to me! That we don't have to be young to have a fantastic body. I'm just shooting for healthy don't need to impress anyone anymore. I told this driver that I am someone that has to fight my weight everyday since being in the truck and I can appreciate seeing what he has accomplished. He told me he was married..haha. Lucky wife. He has no idea how much he inspired me to not give up on getting to my optimum health.

 

WOW what a great thread this is. You ALL are very inspiring to me.
I'm sure that it is MUCH harder for some than others to do what's right for you, like eating right or even just walking. The mental or inspiration thing would be the hardest thing to beat. I like to put up pictures of the things I like or the goals I like to acheive. Pictures of my daughters, my significant other or material things that make me feel good. Whatever it takes to keep your spirits up. Because we all know how it gets out there on the road.
If you can get a jump on eating properly and even walking for half an hour, it would be like a chain reaction on the feeling better/mental aspect. All the money in the world or being able to lift 4,000 lbs wouldn't mean anythinhg if you weren't happy inside.
So I want to thank all of you who have given their 2 cents here. Happy truckin and happy livin. Maybe I'll see you out there walking around the truck stop one day, instead of seeing you with your lunch spread out on top of your belly, scarfing it all down. LOL that kills me when I see that.
Later

 

I morphed a picture of myself last year and put it on my desktop. Thinned the waistline and added a bit of beef, this is what I see when I boot up. Getting a mental image has helped me to go in that very direction. I've added size overall, and my strengths are becoming hard to believe for someone my age - I actually acquire an audience on the big lifts.
But life isn't perfect, and I'm not completely happy.
However.
I can always focus on my loving wife (when she's not talking), my general health despite a pacemaker, food on the table and a table to put it on.
After that, I can rejoice in goals being met, and breaking new ground like 17-1/2" arms after ten years of trying. Had I returned to trucking this year, I'd be facing the same difficulties you guys are, and would have to be content with just keeping what I could.
But even that is praiseworthy, is it not?
It's a lot better than just letting everything go! If you don't use it, you lose it.

 

I've never had a problem with weight...but being thin is no garuntee of health. Towards the end of my driving stint (hopefully I'm done with otd, more on that later) I started going into the buffet areas and ordeing plates to go...load it up with good healthy stuff for $7-12 dollors and be on my way...and the tray would last for at least 1 1/2 days...

There was a time I was pulling out $20 bills from the atm twice a day to eat junk...
Chips, possum dogs, energy drinks, that stuff adds up...
I like flying J's cause they have decent fresh food 'to go' right at the counter...
And so do some petros at the fueling iland.
But nothing beats frying or grilling liver and onions and potatoes from your own stove top...