Gyms at truck stops, do they have them?

Stay local bro

Better yet get a job running a route where you stop a ton.

I hate sitting in the truck all day. If I work 12 hours in a mixer I’m good to go to the gym still because I stand 75% of the time.

At my old job if I ran 600 miles out and back home I felt like complete garbage.

People don’t like to admit it but driving a truck is horrible for you. Deliver booze, drive a ready mix truck, ups or fed ex.

Look at those guys compared to your average otr guy.

You don’t need to run 800 miles a day to make money.

 

I just found this thread. This is something I know a lot about so I’ll give some tips off the top of my head.

If you’re otr you will probably only have one day to do a full body workout. You’ll either get stuck on the weekend or you’ll run out of hours so you can do it then. You can maintain on the road but you won’t gain. At least I don’t. I work out one day a week on the road and then do a split on home time, one day chest one day back etc.

If your setup is too complicated you will be discouraged from training, especially in winter. The best dumbbells for your truck are Powerblocks and it’s not even close. I used ironmasters and spinlocks before and the problem is that the screws will always come loose and the vibrations of the truck will cause them to rattle against each other. This makes the paint come off on your hands every time you want to use them. It’s a big mess and not practical. Go with the powerblocks for sure.

I also use a TRX system in my trailer for body weight excercises. If you have a flat bed I’m not sure it will work but you usually can find a place to hang it from if you want to get creative. Google TRX if you don’t know what it is. It’s a name brand so there are cheaper options out there you could try.

I could go on and on but will leave you with this. About 8 years ago Snap fitness started a program where they planned to open gyms in Pilots throughout the country, they had about four open for a while that I used to use when I could. Had a Smith machine, dumbbell rack etc.. Their grand openings would be in the local paper and they talked about all the time on the Sirius trucking network. Probably the biggest flop in the history of American business. Anytime I went there there was literally nobody there. Even the salesperson stopped showing up after about a month. So if you want to train on the road you have to bring your own or you could get two gym memberships for chains in the areas you run most. Good luck.

 

Yeah they got fitness.... fitness whole pizza in my mouth...

 

Last year I did a lot of cardio at rest areas in Florida and I lost like 30 some pounds by doing it... A lot of drivers gave me the weird eye, but thats ok I still did it... I've seen guys at Loves jogging around the truck stop....
I was at a Walgreens DC getting unloaded last year in Florida and I got out to take a walk and did about 5 laps, security guy comes up to me and says you can't be doing that out here we frown upon it, so get back in your truck...

 

Last year I did a lot of cardio at rest areas in Florida and I lost like 30 some pounds by doing it... A lot of drivers gave me the weird eye, but thats ok I still did it... I've seen guys at Loves jogging around the truck stop....
I was at a Walgreens DC getting unloaded last year in Florida and I got out to take a walk and did about 5 laps, security guy comes up to me and says you can't be doing that out here we frown upon it, so get back in your truck...[/QUOTE]

Ever Seen Over the Top - you could arm wrestle those guys into tears! Stay Strong & drink Chocolate Milk for recovery! Hell yea, cardio, jumping jacks, Pushups/Situps in area behind cab & in cab sleeper, circle the yard,

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No. Truck stops generally do not have fitness facilities. Some Petros and TA's do, but not all.

 

On top of that some TA/Petros are starting to close their mini gyms because nobody uses them. They could rent that space to someone and make some money. If only OTR truckers had a predictable work schedule, the gym would work.

 

Some Petros have elliptical, stationary bike, and stepper things, but not a treadmill or weights that Ive ever seen. Probably to many drivers hurting themselves. I always get a chuckle as its obviously the least used room in the building. Some advertise fitness amenities, that means a sheet of paper with an outline on a map where you could walk a couple miles. Seriously though a lot of truck stops you cant even walk from cause they are on highways and you would have to walk the lot where 100s of trucks will be idling.

One time I remember a driver pulled in parked, pulled a small weight bench from passenger side, a bunch of weights and bars from the side compartment and proceeded to work out for about an hour. You can definitely do it if you are determined.

 

I belong to a local YMCA and they have a nationwide membership program. I talked to a guy at our Y once that was a regional dedicated route driver so his runs were fairly consistent and he'd figured out a way to get to a Y close to his stop about 3x per week. The trick is of course finding a way to park a truck within a reasonable distance of a location. I saw a video on youtube not long ago where a solo driver kept a foldable bicycle on the top bunk of his sleeper along w/ some other stored items which of itself could be a good form of exercise as well as general transportation when you're stopped. I also suppose you could Uber it to the gym if your really dedicated. The other upside of having a Y membership is that obviously they have showers there as well.