Strenuous occupations

[Rackmaster77]

How many of you have highly physical occupations?

I'm a self employed carpenter here in southern MO. We do all kinds of carpentry work, this week we prepped and poured a concrete floor inside a house that had a rotten wood floor system and next week we will be installing a residential metal roof. Without even a trace of bragging, it's hard work. I often wake up the next morning with sore muscles. Most of this is done with a 15+lb tool belt on.

If this sounds familiar, how does that affect your preparation for hunting season? Sometimes a hard workout after a tough day at work seems like asking for an injury, but maybe I'm just paranoid. Obviously, I stay in pretty good shape, but is it the same kind of shape that a guy working out for 30 min a day at a gym is in? How does it translate to mountain shape? From my experience hiking here in MO, it means I have plenty of muscle capacity but my cardio needs maintainance. I don't know how that will work in the Rocky's, though. For reference, I'm 5' 8'' and 150 lbs, with very little body fat.

And if you drive a desk for a living ( using Randy Newburg's terms), please don't read any superiority here! I have plenty of guys in my phone contacts that drive a desk for a living that make it possible for me to do what I do!

I'm north of you in Iowa, 5'11, 165lbs, been a self employed carpenter for 21 years and residential framer for most of that and about 5 years prior, I do fine out west, cardio is the toughest. Best thing is to allow a couple days of acclimation, I've hit it hard early before and by day nine I was toast. Did 16 days last year avg 12 miles a day in Northern Idaho, the occupational wear n tear on my body is definitely showing, but I ain't dead yet lol. I actually feel better in the morning out there sleeping on a cot than I do here at home, perhaps I should stay out there, ya know, for my health

 

[Will_m]

I started driving nails framing 31 years ago. My dad and uncles make a living that way. Framing is hard work. We hustled at it. More cardio than anything. When we fiberglass shingle roofed, it was brutal. Wore me out EVERY single time I did/do it. The heat, the work, it's tough stuff for small crews. Knees always hurt on roofs. Mason work is rough too when you are mixing and carrying for two mason's. Which seemed to be the norm. Concrete work is equally as bad. It doesn't seem to matter much what it is, I most always ended up stiff the next day. No problems working it out and some days were worse than others. But, it's my opinion that it wasn't the physical strain as bad as it was the joint and ligament strain. It's hard on the knees. My dad is knocking on 70 and his knees are shot. His brothers are all older than 55 and they are in or, headed for the same fate.


I am a forester now. Just do that on the side when they need help. It wears me out worse now. So, there was definitely a time when I was used to it. Cruising timber can be very straining but, I can always stop when I'm getting tired and rest. We never did that doing carpentry work. I worked for several companies and such growing up and while in college and, they all went at a much slower pace then my dad and uncles. 4 man crew in my late teens and early 20's was expected to have a 1800-2000 square foot house dried in, in a 5 day work week. It was ignorant really but, we did it all the time. It was what made me decide to go to college though so, not all was lost. I hate it though.



Carpentry work makes you a kind of hard that nothing else can if you work hard at it. It will also break you down too. My dad and uncles never trained to hunt. When we 'd go before they got broke down, they'd go for miles and miles a day. Day after day. I was training hard and, had to dig deep to find the drive they had. Just watch your longevity. That kind of work is really hard on your joints and ligaments. God Bless

Lot of truth in this post. People that move all day generally don’t need to “train” to go hunting. It’s really kind of silly to think exercising for an hour or less a day is really the best way to get ready to hunt all day, but time constraints usually make it the best option by default. It certainly is for me.
I’ll also point out that blue collar workers like your family are hard as woodpecker lips. They don’t need to eat every few hours, they don’t need some special diet plan, and they’ll hydrate with anything that won’t kill them. Probably never get crippled by hangovers either. Ultimately, they get the damn job done without all the ridiculous theatrics the rest of (including me) “require.” Back when men were men, I reckon.

 

[woods89]

Hadn't seen this post for awhile!

Yesterday I was setting tile in a shower. My tile saw was probably 60-70 yds from the bathroom where is was working. Time is money so I make that trip in and out as fast as I can, without actually running. If I ever stop doing this kind of work I will have to crank up working out or I will go downhill fast.

I've been to Co twice since this was started. Altitude is never easy but strength wise I feel I did fairly well. I definitely benefit from some cardio work though.

The mental aspect has been brought up and I think blue collar work does help with mindset to a certain extent, but this differs a lot from person to person.

 

[JP7]

Nutrition and sleep will be the two biggest things to successfully couple a strenuous job and fitness. I’ve been in oil and gas for 6 years with mostly physical jobs but varying degrees of physical strain at work depending on the job and the day. You’re body can build a pretty incredible work capacity if you’re giving it the proper nutrition and rest which seems to be where I struggle. I find some days I can’t eat enough to recover and with rotating shifts I often have less than ideal sleep.

Listen to your body, and if you’re feeling especially beat down after work skip the workout. And if possible work out before work.


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[*zap*]

Everyone's idea of 'hard work' is different. I would say it is good to track average heart rate when you exercise and when you work. For work track it constantly for the periods when you going hard for at least 1 hour. If that rate is the same as an hour ruck with 30# rate then you need to learn to allow for that in your training program. Work does not substitute for training but if you track stuff and are smart about how you train it can really augment your training program and avoid burn out. Age is also a big consideration or not depending on your age. Then you have ambient temperature, either end of the extreme scale with that and you really need to be aware of what is going on......

I wear a hr chest strap and track things whenever I do harder work which is generally at least a few hours every workday. Even a not so hard few hours if you moving the whole time can be like an active recovery workout......

 

[FLATHEAD]

I dont have a strenuous job, however being a DIY guy makes me appreciate those who do the hard stuff on a daily basis.
Laying floor tile, anything with a chainsaw, building a pole barn, etc.... really makes me realize I could not do that every day, for a living. NO way.

 

[Poser]

Lot of truth in this post. People that move all day generally don’t need to “train” to go hunting. It’s really kind of silly to think exercising for an hour or less a day is really the best way to get ready to hunt all day, but time constraints usually make it the best option by default. It certainly is for me.
I’ll also point out that blue collar workers like your family are hard as woodpecker lips. They don’t need to eat every few hours, they don’t need some special diet plan, and they’ll hydrate with anything that won’t kill them. Probably never get crippled by hangovers either. Ultimately, they get the damn job done without all the ridiculous theatrics the rest of (including me) “require.” Back when men were men, I reckon.

There’s certainly truth here, but be fair in your analysis: most these folks are beat to pulp by their mid 40s and look 15-20 years older than they actually. Tough, but decrepit and prematurely old. There’s always a few who age well, but they are the exception by far. My observation is that many hit a wall and hit it hard. I saw an old friend awhile back who was a wiry stone mason most of his life: lean, big veins, tough as nails. At 43, he was on disability and couldn’t lift a coffee cup without pain. Joints worn out, head full of grey hair. He aged 15 years in that 3 year gap. Saw him at 40 and he was a stud. 43 and he might as well been in a wheel chair. Washing the dishes or doing laundry are painful tasks for him.

 

[woods89]

There’s certainly truth here, but be fair in your analysis: most these folks are beat to pulp by their mid 40s and look 15-20 years older than they actually. Tough, but decrepit and prematurely old. There’s always a few who age well, but they are the exception by far. My observation is that many hit a wall and hit it hard. I saw an old friend awhile back who was a wiry stone mason most of his life: lean, big veins, tough as nails. At 43, he was on disability and couldn’t lift a coffee cup without pain. Joints worn out, head full of grey hair. He aged 15 years in that 3 year gap. Saw him at 40 and he was a stud. 43 and he might as well been in a wheel chair. Washing the dishes or doing laundry are painful tasks for him.

While I agree with most of this, is it the occupation or the lifestyle that makes this happen?

I think it's been discussed already in this thread that nutrition and sleep are quite important for those of us working in a physical fashion every day. Most blue collar guys are not doing very well along these lines. Many of them are spending their weekends up late and drinking so when the work week rolls around they are trying to recover from that.

I've thought a lot about this and don't pretend to know. I plan to keep doing the work I do until retirement. I also don't drink, eat better than most of the population, and am trying to do better on the sleep front. It's also true that I have backed off the pace I set in my early 20s, not because I feel bad but now I have kids that take time and I'm also trying to hit a pace that's sustainable later into life. I'm 32 now, and so far so good as far as joints, etc.

Seems like there's risk both ways. Lot's of debilitating back pain out there that may be from too much time in a desk chair as well.

 

[woods89]

Everyone's idea of 'hard work' is different. I would say it is good to track average heart rate when you exercise and when you work. For work track it constantly for the periods when you going hard for at least 1 hour. If that rate is the same as an hour ruck with 30# rate then you need to learn to allow for that in your training program. Work does not substitute for training but if you track stuff and are smart about how you train it can really augment your training program and avoid burn out. Age is also a big consideration or not depending on your age. Then you have ambient temperature, either end of the extreme scale with that and you really need to be aware of what is going on......

I wear a hr chest strap and track things whenever I do harder work which is generally at least a few hours every workday. Even a not so hard few hours if you moving the whole time can be like an active recovery workout......

I've been resisting the idea of getting a smart watch/fitness tracker but maybe it would be a good idea to track some of those stats.

Most days are lower intensity/ long duration activity, which isn't how people usually work out. I guess hunting is that way too a lot of the time.

 

[*zap*]

low intensity/long duration is what builds aerobic capacity and many endurance athletes train that way but they are keeping it within a certain heart rate....

 

[Jacobo2012]

Electrician and I’d say it’s pretty strenuous. Might just be that at my fairly young age (27) and having bad knees and a bad back from genetics and a bad shoulder from an injury and being taller at 6’4” at 200 lbs. the constant working over your head which is bad on the shoulders and the hunching over all the time. But I must say it provides a living for me and my fam. Looking forward to about 30 + more years of it lol


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