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Any tradies who work out?

P

pez

Guest
while i'm not a tradie but my job involves carting a wheelbarrow around the site for most of the day. With the hot ass days of summer upon us by the end of the day the last thing I felt like doing was hitting the gym

My question, are there any tradies who workout? If so, how the hell do you manage it?
 
I used to do alot of labouring.
Same as you, last thing I wanted to do was train after a hard days work.
Couldn't gain any weight either.
You have to be really dedicated to achieve under those conditions, was too hard for me to do what was necessary at the time.

All I can suggest is to get up a bit earlier and do your workout while fresh in the morning.
Drink plenty of water and get plenty of calories throughout the day.
You need alot more than someone like an office worker.

A better tip is to try and improve yourself in the meantime, study a night course or something, because you don't want to be pushing a wheelbarrow around for too long.

I could only gain weight once I stopped labouring.
Age and experience also helped though.

Another thing to note is that genetics plays a massive part in this situation.
Some guys can still grow like crazy and others will have trouble recovering from the workload and may get injured.


Good Luck
 
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I used to bust my arse as a construction labourer/machine driver, and found I was a lot more pumped for the gym then I have been in my current job (electrical technician).

But yeah with the current heat no way i'd want to train out straight after work. Would have to do it early in the morning or at night or something. I work out at home now so usually just wait till it cools down.
 
I'm a Carpet Layer so my job is reasonably physical..i'm usually pretty good with keeping on top of my workouts and N.O helps me over the line most of the time.

As Hulk said, increased calorie intake is a problem, well for me anyway. I find it hard to find time to eat as it is and as some tradies will know that cooking a meal on site isn't really the easiest thing to do.

Shakes help me with my daily caloric needs but it still isn't enough most of the time.
I also find it difficult to determin my daily intake needs considering the nature of my work considering i'll be burning more than say someone with an office job.

And not having to travel to a gym helps too, got to love a home set-up
 
The Hulk said:
A better tip is to try and improve yourself in the meantime, study a night course or something, because you don't want to be pushing a wheelbarrow around for too long.
Click to expand...

Needed some money after the loss of my last job (sales assistant ) didn't like the idea of going onto the dole this job popped up so thought i would give it a shot until something else came along.

While the job is good but being out in the elements is a bit of a pain in the arse. I did check out a few tafe courses figured i could enrol and find a part time job somewhere

Thanks for the tips guy , greatly appreciated
 
I lost weight when I used to be a labourer, just too much work. I imagine to have bulked up I would have had to be having a couple of shakes a day, plus a whole chicken ontop of the normal 6 meals.

But you just don't have time to do that. We used to get a quick drink/smoke break at 10:30. lunch at 1:30 (as a guide, not always on the mark). That was it.
 
Yeah, with most builders or trades, time is money, they don't care about your bodybuilding efforts at all.
So you are often rushing to get jobs done on time, do a few extra hours here or there, sometimes there is not time to stop, sit down and take in a proper meal, always on the go. The atmosphere is not right to eat like you need to.

Makes it real hard.
When I was labouring, even though working hard, I had no appetite at all due to the nature of the work.
Just over Christmas break, I did a couple hard long days work on my house. When in the office, I can eat regularly, but over these 2 days, my appetite was gone because all concentration goes on the work and getting the job done, so the last thing you are thinking about is the next meal.

That's my experience anyway.
 
This is where the shakes or MRP's come in handy. You might get limited breaks but I'm sure you can stop for 1 or 2 mins to down a shake or MRP, I know I would.
 
I've worked as a concreting labourer and I must say my appetite was never diminshed and pushing a wheelbarrow laden with concrete is some of the hardest yaka you can do.
 
But you can't take in large amounts, or you feel full and bloated and it's difficult to get right back into hard work with a gutful of food/liquid.

And you only get limited breaks during the day, so you can't take in 4 or 5 small meals, just doesn't work out.
 
You do not need to eat large meals anyway. So if you work and average of 8-9 hrs you would have a meal right before you start then one about 3hrs later and another 3 hrs later and then right after you finish so really you only need 2 breaks and onme would be at least a scheduled lunch break. So is it really that difficult?
 
If you are strongly committed and dedicated, no, it's not difficult.

For those who are already just getting by and have other life comittments, it does become difficult.
 
But you are changing the subject now Hulk. When you say other life commitments are you suggesting money or lack thereof is the problem? The original question was about managing to workout in hot days after working as a tradie/labourer. I merely suggested that it's not too difficult to get your meals in creating a positive nitrogen balance and providing energy and to workout ofter a big day on the tools.
 
Ok, I can only give my personal opinion, as I have been there before.

If I went back to hard labouring for the next year or 2, I would honestly give up bodybuilding during that time.
This is because for my bodytype and recovery abilities
The efforts and cost of all that eating and training and extra sleep required is just not worth the tiny gains (for me).

Of course it can be done, but you have to consider dininishng returns.
 
Well I've only done minimal labouring, a day or so gere and there, but my brother did it for years (we used to train together) and it never seemed to affect him or me when i did the odd day helping him out.
The other option is to train Sat & Sun and maybe only one day during the week say Wednesday.
 
My mate is a cement contractor he doesnt lift weights himself but he has told me that some of his workmates do. They just do it basically. Same as with any other job if you want to gain you gotta work for it. Its interesting tho my mate did say working in a hot day doesnt really effect him much anymore after awhile he got used to it.
 
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