Hard Labor plus working out

[sirskeletron]

I have a pretty physically demanding job and I am pretty much beat every day I get home. I still force myself to workout no matter how tired I am but I feel like I am not working out as hard. I just got this job a few weeks ago. Does anyone else have this problem? What Do you do? I think I may try waking up before work early enough to workout and then go to work, but that might affect my job...

Thanks

 

[Mithrandir]

Sorry to say, but it WILL affect your working out...I have this job (have not been in one month though) where I lift limestone all day, it feels hardcore and I get paid well, but I go to the gym after 8 hours of manual labor and I can't lift shit..I go anyway, but I know I do not get much done...Def. eat b/f you workout, and drink ALOT of water...have a banana about one hour before...but I feel your pain, hang in there...

now that I thikn about it, I have had more gains in the past month than in the three months before that...could be a diet thing though...goodluck anyway..

Mith

 

[camshaft]

i was in the same boat for a while. i would end up getting home from work around 5, rest and eat, and hit the gym around 9. it worked out better for that way.

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

That's pretty much how I do it now too. I have too dig dirt, jack hammer and hilti crap all day. Also a fair amount of concrete and rock picking up.

What I have found helps me the most is too make sure I eat enough and get enough protein and carbs, sleep 7-8 hours a night(all I can cram in), drink plenty of gatorade while working and when I get home from work, take a long bath and read to relax and eat a solid meal meal right before the bath. Then drink a small protein shake before I go to workout. I get off work at around 4:30pm, but don't hit the gym until around 7:30-8:30pm. After my workout I eat another big meal and go to sleep.

That's how I do it. Other than sore hand muscles I haven't had any problems in the gym.

You also gotta realize that it will take a couple months before your body is totally acclimated to the new work load. I thought itwould take me 2-3 weeks, but it's been almost 4 weeks now and even though it's getting better I'm still not 100% adapted to the work.

Another tip is not to rush yourself at work for 8 hours straight. That will wear you out. Go at a steady pace. I don't mean lolligaggin, but a pace that you can comfortably keep up for 8 hours. Take a 10 second breather every 5 minutes. Drink some gatorade when you take your breather. try not to over-exert yourself.

You'd be surprised at how much you can get done if you just work steadily with focus rather than trying to bust shit out and tire yourself into a funk.

 

[curgeo]

After an amount of time you will build up your GPP or General Physical Prepareness....This is almost the same as your work capacity. Your body will get used to the load and you will be able to function on a normal level. It's like imagining a person who works in an office all day to start working out....In the beginning he is tired, but after a while he can function on a normal level. Same with you when it comes to your body adapting to the work load put on it.

This is just an example, but look at the Finnish people. They are known for having the greatest deadlifters in the world. They are also a people of loggers. Logging is hard as work, but they have the work capacity to do it over an amount of time and it actually helps their deadlift and their strength training with all the pulling they do.

It will take some time, but the body will adapt.

 

[WalkingBeast]

Welcome to the boards brother!! When I did furniture moving and construction I still lifted continuously as well. I didnt have a car when I moved furniture so would bike 7 miles to the gym and back to train. Was around 16-17 at the time. If I would rest at all Id often fall asleep, so I would just train right after work. Caffiene didnt hurt. It was harder to gain with all the calories being burned. My gains were definately slower then usual Id say. By the time I was doing construction I made some decent gains cuz I was more dedicated with my meals. Writing it all down and pre packaging tuna, plus the lunch truck. Still I was always more difficult to gain that way. Like curgeo says you build up a tolerance for high volume of work and lifting. I beleive thats why I can take so much abuse with the weights and keep going. I built that endurance just from pushing myself not leaving the gym until I was fully exhausted. For someone who hasnt built the tolerance it can be severe overtraining, for me it may be undertraining on some days. Youll definately build a tolerance with that work and lifting ontop of that. If you can eat enough good gains can definately be made. KEEP KILLING THAT SHIT!!

 

[WalkingBeast]

Drink some gatorade when you take your breather.

Reminds me. I used to freeze a large container of gatorade and it would thaw throughout the day. That and tuna with mayonaisse in a cooler since it was easy to prepare.