Exercise and healthy eating for the OTR truck driver

Haha! Every time I plan to stow away some buffet food or whatnot, I end up eating it all right there!
I should really stay away from buffets.

 

What type of programming do you do, Red Dog?

ME Days?

Sounds like Westside to me, no?

Do you do dynamic work (DE) too? -Or just stick to reps??

Always inspiring to hear guys older than me still making gains...love to hear that! -yeah!

 

My old line of work was like a daylong workout so staying in shape was no problem. Now that I no longer work that hard & am in my early 50's I have to workout more just trying to maintain. I have one of those little fold-up gyms you see advertised on TV a lot and love it for the low impact workout it gives me. I use to love to jog but now my knees & feet cant take the pounding like when I was younger. It is very important to get some form of exercise daily, get the old heart rate up and you'll feel better. I know it must be hard to eat right on the road but give it a try. Your body & your Loved Ones will Thank You!!!!!! PS. could you carry one of those little gyms & have a place to set it up and use it????

 

Some of the Westside stuff I use, but I go mostly by instinct and how my body reacts to stimuli. My philosophy:
You have 3 muscles: chest, back and legs.
If you work them once a week, you need to blitz them, but twice a week is best overall.
Chest day includes triceps.
Back day includes biceps.
Leg day includes shrugs.
Occasionally I'll do push/pull for arms with reps for fun pumps.
Arms are done with light/heavy alternate days, 15-20 rep lights, 1-6 rep heavy, and I do mean heavy. The light days give a break for the joints and build lactic acid, which heals.

When asked how I do some of the stuff I do, I relate my own little catchphrase:
"I do because I can. I can because I do."

 

I like that catchphrase.

 

Bump

 

HHMM beed at it exercising since December 28, 1994 Had gained 40 pounds but lost 32 by increasing my mileage on the treadmill from 2 miles to 5 , 4-6 days aweek for 4 months. Now I do one mile running on the treadmill 6 minutes 36 seconnds my best time, stay on for ten minutes then work out in the gym. I must say that it gets better with time. Felt relly good to exercise today. I wear 3 pound legs weights a few days a week even while working. helps build leg muscles, tightens part of the abs and helps build endurance. Of course I still have my stretch band and hand springs that i use often . I signed up years ago at a totaly free web site called Spark People They don't ask you for a billing address or credit card number.

 

You're doing it backwards. If you MUST do cardio, you should do it AFTER the resistance training. When you do it first, you burn up ATP stores and needed glycogen for strength and wind up with a wimpy workout that could have put on some fatburning muscle on you.
Of course, I'm assuming you're weight training, and not just playing with machines, bands and springs. Bodybuilders and powerlifters don't let friends do Bowflex.

 

I'm back and glad to see that my thread is still going and helping some of you guys out. As long as people are talking about their health, they will be more apt to think about the things that they do on a daily basis that affects their health and well being.
In this day and time ones health and well being is extremely important given the present state of our healthcare industry........well, don't get me started with that one........anyway I'm glad to be back and if anyone has any questions or needs advice on health,fitness or diet and nutrition feel free to ask. Thanks

 

You know everywhere I go I run into drivers who ask me, "man how do you stay in such good shape driving a truck", and I always tell them eating clean, excercising and getting the proper rest on a daily basis. They always reply " man I don't have time or I got to deliver there at xxx and I can't or Im too tired after a days work or some other excuse.

Is it easy, no...Are there days when I just want to skip a workout or eat some junk food? Sure but I don't. Sometimes when I really don't feel like working out, and I do anyway, afterwards I always feel great, and that feeling is priceless. Sometimes I awake in the morning and sit up thinking, "man I really don't feel like it today, hhhhhhmmmm maybe I'll just skip this mornings workout, besides it's cold out or it's raining". And about that time I'll see another driver walk by my truck overweight, smoking a cigerette and looking like he just dreads another day on earth. And then I snap out of my stooper and get too it .

The only thing that seperates me from this other driver how we approach our lives. Now I don't know these drivers personaly and I can't even began too tell you who they are or what they've been through in life, but I can look a man and tell when he's pretty much given up. I learned early on in life that, IF YOU DON"T PROGRAM YOURSELF, LIFE WILL PROGRAM YOU".

I don' t think that I'm any better than or worst then the next man, but we all have to program ourselves for success or failure. For me success starts with good health and me doing everything that I can too maintain this gift and help others. Good health and well being is the greatest gift that God has given to each of us, and most of us never realize how precious it is until it's gone.

When I see drivers doing things to ruin their health(smoking cigerettes,eating fried processed junk food, never getting the proper rest, always angry or stressed about something, never getting any excercise) it motivates me because I see what I don't want too be everyday. It also motivates me when one of these drivers ask me for help with their diet or with excercise, I just love helping others reach their goals and that is a big part of why I love being a Fitness Trainer and a Truckdriver. It's my way of helping my fellow truckers to live better healthier lives.