questions about manual labour jobs and training

[silverback]

sup guys, I work in a stainless steel scrapyard. basically trucks drop off 30 - 40 000 pounds of steel in 1/4 inch to 1.5 inch plates, they range from 75 pounds and up, if theyre too big to lift or maneuver I cut'em with a concrete saw. I load these suckers onto skids and I load usually 12,000 to 20,000 pounds a day. anyways I stopped working out totally when I started this job a couple months back, cuz I knew I needed to save my energy. at first I was trying to deadlift this shit onto skids but some other guys showed me to use the weight against its self, balance and using your arms instead of your lower back etc. its kinda messed up because I was trying to use my back alot to get the excercise but these guys were tellin me that over the period of a couple hours your gonna wear out your muscles and than your gonna hurt it. anyways
I now started doing some workouts thru the week (I have weekends off) just tri's, upper back, chest, I have read somewhere on here a couple times that if your job is too strenuous you might not be able to get in good work outs. so where do I go from here? what would you do. its mainly my lower back and hams that get taxed hard. and its like I said, that hour after hour type of work. so not only what is a suitable workout to match my daytime work load but also what kinda workouts could I do to increase my stamina and endurance performance at work.

 

[Lokedogg]

Been there and done that several times. You gotta listen to your body. If you're really good you've mastered the weights' angles and momentum working for you instead of beating you up. Though it may appear you've used your arms(sure you have , you've probably found a way to throw your whole body in and use them as little as possible(especially after you've gotten stronger and adapted to those loads) - same goes with everything your doing. You just need some heavy working sets- short and sweet with good form. Need to be prepared from a break from the gym shit ever 3 weeks or so cause your adrenal system is getting taxed hard .

 

[black7]

Been there and done that several times. You gotta listen to your body. If you're really good you've mastered the weights' angles and momentum working for you instead of beating you up. Though it may appear you've used your arms(sure you have , you've probably found a way to throw your whole body in and use them as little as possible(especially after you've gotten stronger and adapted to those loads) - same goes with everything your doing. You just need some heavy working sets- short and sweet with good form. Need to be prepared from a break from the gym shit ever 3 weeks or so cause your adrenal system is getting taxed hard .

solid advice as usual loke... i would just monitor your self close... listen to your body... when its says its tired,, rest it... as loke said... keep ur diet on and work less in the gym the body groups you work most at work... put emphasis on what you need.. unless ur a beast and can take it all

 

[Dawgpound_Hank]

Its hard bro...thats been my gig on my past job for 25+ years. Especially as you get older, it REALLY takes a true LOVE for the game to kick ass with the iron year in and year out when working a strenuous job. Loke gave good advice...I will add to it that you wanna find a way to make the lifting easier at work...be creative, be innovative. I dont know your exact situation, but whenever/if possible, use overhead hoists, hand dolly's, carts, etc to move the weight instead of just "muscling" it up. I dont care how much your mind is into it, if you are physically draining your muscles at work, your workouts WILL suffer indeed, recovery too. So in short, do WHATEVER possible to make your job physically easier.

As for your workouts, try to do legs and/or back on your days off from work, as they take the most energy. Also, keep your workouts short...just a couple warmup/feel sets, then 1 or 2 all-out heavy sets...thats all you need to grow bro.