Joined a gym

Be sure to try and cook out of the truck as much as possible. I mix it up and either cook food or eat a smart ones/lean cuisine. Those are great for those 14 hour days when I'm dog tired and have to burn a 10 before rolling... most taste good and are low in calories. Even when I do go in and eat... I stay away from the buffet... an endless supply of food before you is never good... and most of it has been sitting out for hours and are rubber and tasteless by that point.

 

All the money in the WORLD is worthless,without your HEALTH.This rings in my head everyday.My Father told me this over and over and over and i never listened.

Well i am finally a believer.I went to the Dr's this week and i heard it.I was not to happy and it hit me like a ton of bricks.The sad part is i was ''warned'' by my father over and over..When we are young,we think we are indestructable.

I am 30 lbs overweight.I have a ''weasing'' in my lung from the Cigerettes.I also have Pnomonia/brochitis and i am off work for 2.5 weeks now.The Dr has sent me for blood work this Monday to test for many things.

I thank god i have vested my money well over the years and i can take as much time off and park my truck as needed.Maybe this is what i needed to have my ''wake up'' call.I am only 45 and i have been trucking hard since 17 years old.It was the very thing that did me in.

I am now a believer in ''healthy living''.I smoked only a half pack of cigarettes in 2 days.I am trying to set a date to stop and go through the withdrawls.I am on an ''eating healthy'' diet for 3 days now and i feel much better.I started to walk and got my new sneakers and a sweat suit..

I think this is the greatest topic on this forum...We truckers are very lazy and unhealthy.I am living proof of a man that has a pocket full of money and i destroyed my body getting it..Like my dad said.It is worthless if you don't have your health.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..

Wish me luck on this forever slow process of moving towards ''Healthy living''...I hope we can keep this one going on and on.God knows we truckers need this TOPIC...

 

Just watching those young hotties working out in their skin tight outfits gets my heart pounding.

 

Great topic! As others point out, you will probably struggle with the timing and logistics of a daily gym regimen once you start driving.

I was doing a 3x/week powerlifting routine up until October. My driver passed away and I've chosen to drive the truck myself. In any event, my work routine is finally leveling off enough that I will soon be resuming workouts at some level.

Fortunately I've been blessed with the tendency to eat only when hungry. When I'm out on the road I eat one good meal a day and snack on trail mix in the mean time. No sugary sodas, only water and Poweraid Zero or sugar-free tea drinks for flavor. I'm 6'-0" and was at 235lb when I started driving full time, and now down to about 200.

Most of that loss has been fat, but months away from the free weights has resulted in loss of some muscle tone as well. Thus the reason to get back on track. Maybe not the same one as before, but something greater than zero.

That's my plan right there. I have some weights and was planning to bring out two dumbbells and about 100 lb of plates. No substitute for 400+ lb squats and deadlifts, but still more than hiking into a truck stop from the back row or climbing around and sweeping out the trailer. One of these days (soon) I'm gonna figure out some clever ways to do some bodyweight exercises in or on the truck. A lot to be gained with old-fashioned stuff like push ups, pull ups, etc. I have a KW T600 with a 72" sleeper so the available inside space is not very accommodating.

Decline push ups with feet on the bunk and hands on the floor between the seats looks workable. Might even be able to figure out some hand hold for dips between the unused upper bunk and shelving. I figure that and some dumbbell work ought to be doable.

Incidentally the earlier gym work and healthy eating has paid off. My last medical card was barely a two year, missing the cut on elevated BP by only a few points. My recent renewal was much lower, 110/80 with a resting pulse at 65.

The funny thing about those truck stop gyms is that I would rarely have the time/energy to use them. I take breaks more often at shippers or in rest areas for the sake of scheduling. When I do get the opportunity to camp at a truck stop, I'm lucky to have enough time to use the shower and restaurant, while still getting enough sleep. I run my business from the truck, so even more precious time is not available.

On the other hand, I could make a better effort to do some working out while in the bunk. It wouldn't interrupt too much to do some exercises in between or even during phone calls, and those can be done anywhere the truck is parked.

 

Congrats on making some changes. If I had to name the two biggest "bang for the buck" things to do with improving my health in the last 3 years it would be (in order) 1. Quit smoking and 2. Avoid sugary drinks + diet improvements.

When I started working out at a gym over two years ago, I found that my 30 years of pack-a-day Camel filters was holding me back. Yeah that sounds brilliant, I know. You have to have been a smoker to get it. Nothing like a few minutes on an elliptical to turn an occasionally annoying shortness of breath into feeling what you've really done to yourself with all those years of smoking.

Problem is, I really enjoy smoking and just didn't want to quit. I opted for a less unhealthy habit with electronic cigarettes. Still have a habit to feed, but without all the nastiness of burning tobacco. I won't hijack the thread much further, other than to say the e-cigs they sell at the truck stops are not the answer. Overpriced and underperforming to the point that I'm sure many who have tried them gave up out of frustration and missed the benefits they could have enjoyed using better products.

 

I joined Lifetime fitness two years ago.They are open 24 hours so I try to do some workout at least two times per week.I feel much better.

 

Wish me luck.I am going on a 2 mile walk today down by the Lake Trail.It is a very beautiful walk.I hope i don't die.

 

I did it.It took my about an hour..

It was rough but worth it.I did 2.2 miles and i have to admit.It felt GREAT.!!!!!...My lungs opened right up and i felt my body saying,AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ABOUT TIME...

Tonight i am going to try another 2 miles...

 

So I'm sitting here at the Millard freezer in Ft. Worth basically just aging. Yeah, they're not fast loaders here. Instead of shopping for caskets and cemetery plots right away, I decided to trial some bodyweight exercises to kill a little time and share my findings.

My initial thought about decline pushups wasn't going to work. Space between my front seats is too narrow. Even those are just too low to serve as a perch for dips. Maybe with the armrests down, but I'd probably break those (not made to support all my weight). So I took a look around and did two exercises.

Three sets of 15 pushups on the bunk. Doing pushups into a mattress is like 25% harder than on a solid floor. Very tough to stabilize.

Next I dropped the upper bunk and used it for a hybrid sort of inverted row. Three sets of 15 of these too. Face up, head pointed toward the front of the cab. Stuck my feet into the upper bunk hinge area, grabbed the lip and use a pullup motion. It's just awkward enough to hit your entire upper body plus abs. Ordinarily you would do these stretched out on your back pulling up on a stationary bar and keeping your body rigid. Doing them in a sort of crunch position isn't much more actual work, but I did feel it hit more muscles than the regular kind.

I discovered that, yes, I have gotten way out of shape. Form experience, I know if I can stick with it at least every other day for a couple weeks, I'll get past that.

The good news is: when you're done, you're already in bed. No extra trip to go there LOL.

Looking around I see two more possibilities next time I'm home and think about it. I believe I could rig a regular pullup bar across the top of my cabinets. Looks like a 1" barbell will just about fit right and be strong enough to support my 200 lb body weight. Might have to fold my legs to get full extension, but that will just serve to hit the abs a little. That barbell weighs 15 lbs and could be used with some plates for other stuff. Just not much room. Maybe some seated overhead presses in case my shoulders need a little punishment. When not in use it can just store on the floor. In this truck there's a step down into the bunk area so no risk of it flying forward in hard braking.

Another thing I'm looking at is setting up a 2" motorcycle tie down strap across the upper bunk lengthwise. Something to hook my ankles under and hang backward off the front for some inverted situps.

If the body weight stuff gets too easy/boring, I'll have a few plates to use with them. Situps while cradling some iron hit pretty hard.

If I can manage to do those exercises once in a while, and remember to grab my dumbbells and plates next time I'm home, I ought to be able to curb further muscle loss and maintain my weight a little better while out on the truck.

 

I am up to 3 miles a day walking and i shed 7 lbs so far..I have been on a good diet and i am starting to feel ALIVE AGAIN...!!!!!..2.5 Today at Oak Grove Mo Petro.....I put an add in the Craiglist and i have 3 woman walking friends know.......