Realistically, Can I Park at Planet Fitness & Work Out?

I’ve responded the same to this question... get 2-3 different size kettlebells. Grab a book by Pavel. WALK whenever you can. Movement is key here. More importantly as an OTR Driver is DIET. When you do get home, do traditional weightlifting, farmers walks, 2-3 mile weighted vest walks, sandbag carries etc. spread out over a few days. You’ll be fine. Personally, I hate gyms. I have a power rack and all of the stuff you’d find in a gym for under $1000 in my basement. I’m a local driver though. Don’t overthink it, have fun!

 

Getting a load delivered on time is your goal as truck driver

Here is an example. I had a drive 200 miles to pickup the load and then drive another 280 miles to deliver the load the same day. 480 miles total for the day. I drove the 200 miles show up to get loaded. They said back into door/dock 22. It took them 3 hours to get my truck loaded. Now we kinda have a problem because I still have 280 miles to deliver the load. I only have 6 hour left on my 14 hour day. I started driving like 8am so we have stop by 10pm 14 hour day limit.

I still have fuel the truck eat and bathroom break if you want one and drive 280 miles before 10pm. So that means no shower today because if you stop for shower you can't make delivery before the 14 limit. That would mean you have to take 10 hours off. So the load can not be 10 hour late.

That's how you as a driver get screwed out of a shower. They took 3 hour out of your 14 hour day loading the truck. You still have to deliver the load ontime. No shower and definitely no stopping at a gym.

 

I've been doing OTR about 4 months now, based out of Montreal but in the U.S.A. 4-5 days/week. Training has always been a big part of my life, so knew I would have to make adjustments to it.

From my short experience OTR, finding parking at a gym is your biggest issue, unless you truckerpath/research parking ahead of time.
Some truckstop ( love's/TA mostly), have "gyms". Pretty much a small room with a bowflex type machine and 1 or 2 cardio machines( no dumbbells/barbells)..you won't get much of a big workout done, but better then nothing.
I bought myself a 20, 35, and 80 lb dumbell (one of each) and keep them in the truck, so can get some back/shoulders/arms done on the road.

My 2 days back home I kill it at my local gym.

Don't listen to people saying it's impossible. It's different and sometimes challenging, but can work.
Do it mornings , after 14 hour on shift sometimes your energy ain't there.

 

Also like previous poster said sometimes you're stuck at a dock 2-3 hours... lift some dumbbells while you wait...
And bring your own food from home as they always say diet is key

 

Just a reminder, the OPs question was working out at a planet fitness. Having a planet fitness available is not going to happen much.

 

You will be limited regardless of load status. Even bobtail there are some places you will never be allowed to park. There are a lot of places across the US where you can park legally. What i would do in your case is try to get a listing of all the planet fitness locations and if you find you are close to one see if they might know of some parking nearby. However I would never advise a driver to go charging into a strange place in search of something driving a large CMV.

 

The main issue is practicality. People who are home every day cannot pull it off. OTR drivers with varying work schedules, varying driving locations, and irregular sleeping patterns will find it difficult to pull off.

If you want to successfully pull off a workout as an OTR driver, you are gonna need lots of determination and a very simple workout plan that can be done anywhere and anytime. Cardio (walking/jogging) workouts are what I recommend. If you want to increase the difficult, use a weight vest. Don’t forget to use a reflective vest if it’s dark outside.

There is also this recent thread that is relevant to your question:

Gyms at truck stops, do they have them?

 

Buy a kettle bell and watch this guy on YouTube: Keith Weber

 

I have a membership at 24 hour fitness.
It worked out ok when I worked out of one mill. Doing out and back, regional. And had too much time off in between.
Now? Really difficult to make it to one. Too many truck stops won't let you drop your trailer. Even if you did have time. Which you'll find is difficult. Only thing you have time for is waiting on the shipper and receiver. Concentrate on that time.
You get alot of bang for the buck with kettlebells. Even just one in your truck. You can get alot out of it.

 

Truck stop showers are very easy to find. I don't see how you are going to reliably and predictably be close to a Planet Fitness and be sure they either have truck parking or at least don't give you a ticket for parking there. Most of my days the 10 hour breaks just barely leaves me with enough time to sleep and do the pre and post sleep things I feel I need to do.I admit I need closer to 8 hours of sleep than many others.

The android app called Trucker Path will show you the various truck stops, Walmarts, etc and show the details of each location and even a pretty current status of parking at that location. I think you will be better off, if you truck, to find a way to use exercise gear you bring with you, than count on ALWAYS being parked near a Planet Fitness. BTW, using resistance bands instead of free weights doesn't make you same-sex attracted. But you will not have nearly as much room to store things as you think before you get into a truck.