Working out OTR

2,500 miles a week is my average. They make us to that in 6 days. So we use most of our 70 hours a week. Then we do a 34 hour restart. If you park a truck for 34 hours it will reset your log book back to 70 available hours. So they like use to be parked by Saturday night say 10pm. Then 34 hour later on Monday morning at 8 am we can go back to work driving again. Not every company does this, that how my company runs their trucks.

 

I lift weights about once a week with adjustable dumbbells that I keep in my truck. When I do work out, it’s for the entire body, so it takes me about 2 hrs and 15 min. I do rest for 1.5 to 2 minutes per rep. I have found that I do not lose strength if I work out once a week. Heck, even once every 2 weeks won’t weaken you, but you will feel the muscle soreness the next 2-3 days.

For those starting to lift weights, you want to do it twice a week initially to increase strength. Then after about 2 months, you can reduce it to once a week.

I’ve posted quite a bit on this topic here:

Gyms at truck stops, do they have them?

 

Starve yourself.

 

And none too easy to get into with a 53 foot trailer.
Much less getting out of in the morning.
Get real!

We are not in a car that can pull in to anything.

Some of these responses are (so much) less than intelligent.

 

I run my own truck, and as a company driver.

They do not tell me how to run. I decide.

They are not in the chair, I am.
It is not their job, or life, that is on the line
I am the one responsible for the safe operation of my truck, in the end. And I will decide when and how I can move safely.


Too many drivers think they have no control.
It is the drivers that have ALL the control!

 

get a jump rope it’ll be your best friend. Areas where I could I went on runs. But creativity and eating right is your best bet

 

Walking is the best exercise for a trucker. I pace back and forth from the tractor to the rear of the trailer when I'm getting loaded or unloaded every chance I get. Make yourself walk.....period!

Buy a set dumbbells for the truck and use them at your convenience. Push ups in the trailer or the ground when you have time. Most important is what you eat and trucking is not conductive of healthy choices at the truck stop, for the most part.

 

This. It was a big part of my decision to go with them when I got my gym membership this year, the ability to use their other locations besides the one I live near if I chose to go back OTR at any point. It's about to be a moot point once I ship for BCT, but still

 

To this I say, line 5 is a thing. Put your trailer in a proper place, such as a truck stop, check out with the staff at the fuel desk if necessary, and bobtail to the PF.

You have tools available to you, driver. Using them to their fullest potential is the difference between a decent OTR experience and a great one

 

Humans grow because of calories. If you don’t take in the calories you will never get fat. Don’t over eat, that’s cheaper than joining a gym.