Those that work physical oriented jobs, what do you do to stay fit for riding?

[bikerbill2021]

Hey everyone 

I'd like to hear from those who work physical/labor oriented jobs, that can be both mentally and physically draining, as to what you do personally to keep in shape and feel good on the bike? 

I'm more of a play rider/weekend warrior, but I play hard and love riding.  I'm also a mechanic working 50-60 hours a week, not the most physically demanding job as say construction, but I am def beat from cranking out cars all day.  I used to lift/cycle quite a bit a year or two ago and do all that food prep stuff/eat well and what not, but my workout sessions have become less consistent/frequent, maybe due to boredom/age/energy/loss of discipline etc., and the diet has gone more towards the lazy side of things, just need to get back into it again

So what do you all do in your free time to stay as fit as you can?  Yoga/running/cycling/free weights etc?  Whats your diet look like?  I want to be able to keep riding well into my golden years, so any input would be great!  

[CaptainKnobby]

I work in a prison so the job isnt hard physically just requires alot of walking at times and sitting M-F weekends and Holidays off.
I try to road cycle at the least 3 times a week with my Motobecan for 8 to 13miles each time. If I'm rushed for time I will use the Cannondale mtn bike around town for 5 or 6miles as fast as I can go.
I also incorporate free weights in at home through the off season to build up strength along with With my Rowing machine for cardio.
Eating however.....I try to eat right but sometimes I struggle with it but I try to somewhat eat right but dwell over it as much as long as I'm doing at least 30 min to 45 min of cardio 3 days a week.
I stay pretty much at 165 to 170 lbs all the time. 165lbs during summer and closer to 170 during winter

[Fatt_Tones]

This thread should read “those who do NOT have physically demanding jobs, what do you do to keep fit for riding?”.

[Hans Schmid]

I work landscaping. Pretty common for me to walk 10+ miles every day, with some days over 15-20mile. Most times I'm carrying something. Unfortunately for me to stay on some sort of level, diet has been more critical then anything...I do think yoga is probably more important then people give it credit... 

[bikerbill2021]

1 hour ago, CaptainKnobby said:

I work in a prison so the job isnt hard physically just requires alot of walking at times and sitting M-F weekends and Holidays off.
I try to road cycle at the least 3 times a week with my Motobecan for 8 to 13miles each time. If I'm rushed for time I will use the Cannondale mtn bike around town for 5 or 6miles as fast as I can go.
I also incorporate free weights in at home through the off season to build up strength along with With my Rowing machine for cardio.
Eating however.....I try to eat right but sometimes I struggle with it but I try to somewhat eat right but dwell over it as much as long as I'm doing at least 30 min to 45 min of cardio 3 days a week.
I stay pretty much at 165 to 170 lbs all the time. 165lbs during summer and closer to 170 during winter

Nice thats why I try to do on the weekends with my road cycle, recently I moved from an area that had a ton of canal paths to ride on and stay away from traffic to an area that is almost all cycle lanes on very busy one lane roads, so the cycling has reduced greatly for fear of getting mowed over from someone texting and not paying attention.  Ive given the rowers a go for a bit, and I know how great they are, but it just couldn't holy my attention sadly.  Same way when I used to run quite a bit, I couldn't use the treadmill, I had to be outside.  Although I have thought about joining a rowing team to get over that, being out on the water sounds like an awesome time.

Honestly tho since I stopped lifting and cycling so much I'm only up about 10lbs from my regular weight, how much of that is fat vs muscle I couldn't say

 

1 hour ago, Fatt_Tones said:

This thread should read “those who do NOT have physically demanding jobs, what do you do to keep fit for riding?”.

Haha I thought about that too, I haven't searched so much here, but over on reddit fit I was curious as to what people did for exercise aside from the job, but it seems more threads are aimed/from people who do not work labor intensive jobs, or ride dirt bikes for that matter, so I couldn't really relate or get what I was looking for.  

 

51 minutes ago, Hans Schmid said:

I work landscaping. Pretty common for me to walk 10+ miles every day, with some days over 15-20mile. Most times I'm carrying something. Unfortunately for me to stay on some sort of level, diet has been more critical then anything...I do think yoga is probably more important then people give it credit... 

Yoga helped me out big time when I hurt my back, ironically, dead lifting haha, mobility is huge, so I still try to get a session in and make sure to stretch.  But you are spot on with diet being critical, comes back to those sayings "cant out train a bad diet", "80% diet 20% exercise" kind of thing.  I hate that feeling after eating just a bit too much then you should of, or eating crappy food, always in the back of my head, like "why did I just do that"?

 

Ive also thought about some form of martial arts as well, or maybe boxing?  Anyone into that?  

Edited September 16, 2018 by bikerbill2021

[Fatt_Tones]

41 minutes ago, bikerbill2021 said:

 

Haha I thought about that too, I haven't searched so much here, but over on reddit fit I was curious as to what people did for exercise aside from the job, but it seems more threads are aimed/from people who do not work labor intensive jobs, or ride dirt bikes for that matter, so I couldn't really relate or get what I was looking for.  

 

I mean I guess it doesn’t matter the answers you’re looking for would be essentially the same.  I felt compelled to comment because I was a carpenter who did very physically intensive work for nearly 20 years.  Then 7 years ago I went back to school and now I have a highly sedentary job with high mental stress.  

 

I’m finding it more challenging than I ever have to do active things and my health has certainly suffered.  What I try to do is ride my dirt bike every chance I get.  80% of my riding is essentially training, 20% actual riding.  I have begun riding a stationary bike in front of my control panel in the control room at work.  I cue up a moto on NBC sports on my work computer and watch it in it’s entirely (30mins + 2) while riding the bike, then I go into the gym adjacent to the control room and have a quick weight lifting session.

 

Things are getting better but it took me years to adjust.  Having worked a laborious job and now working the polar opposite of a laborious job, I can honestly say the current job provides challenge beyond belief as far as keeping fit.  A body in motion tends to stay in motion and 12 hour shifts of sitting glued to screens makes me lazier and more exhausted than anything I have ever done.  

 

But anyway most recently I have become more of the mindset that the best training for riding the dirt bike is actually simply riding the dirt bike.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Fatt_Tones

[bikerbill2021]

1 hour ago, Fatt_Tones said:

 

I mean I guess it doesn’t matter the answers you’re looking for would be essentially the same.  I felt compelled to comment because I was a carpenter who did very physically intensive work for nearly 20 years.  Then 7 years ago I went back to school and now I have a highly sedentary job with high mental stress.  

 

I’m finding it more challenging than I ever have to do active things and my health has certainly suffered.  What I try to do is ride my dirt bike every chance I get.  80% of my riding is essentially training, 20% actual riding.  I have begun riding a stationary bike in front of my control panel in the control room at work.  I cue up a moto on NBC sports on my work computer and watch it in it’s entirely (30mins + 2) while riding the bike, then I go into the gym adjacent to the control room and have a quick weight lifting session.

 

Things are getting better but it took me years to adjust.  Having worked a laborious job and now working the polar opposite of a laborious job, I can honestly say the current job provides challenge beyond belief as far as keeping fit.  A body in motion tends to stay in motion and 12 hour shifts of sitting glued to screens makes me lazier and more exhausted than anything I have ever done.  

 

But anyway most recently I have become more of the mindset that the best training for riding the dirt bike is actually simply riding the dirt bike.

Thanks for sharing, thats very interesting.  I too have shared a similar mindset/epiphany that it seems the best training is just getting out and riding.  If I could do it everyday I would, and in a way I guess I could If I wanted to plate my bike and ride it on the street, but a close call (actually many close calls) on my old 1000RR led to my decision to hang up the street bike gear and stick to the dirt.  

[RawbW]

Roids and mtfu

[EnglertRacing]

I crank out 8 to 10 miles in 40 mins 3 times a week, climb hard then hammer it down.

[EmpireofDerp]

50 burpees on break, double pushups one day, double squats the other. Takes ten minutes tops. Also ride my bike 15 miles RT commute to work 3-5 days a week. 

[SparkinPegs]

Well..I'm a mechanic too, so I know exactly what you mean about working out. I found that working out in the morning BEFORE work is best. Now, keep in mind, were not training for Force Recon here. 3 days a week is plenty. I prefer a 45min circuit with 10min cardio. Dont forget your core and Pull ups/chin ups are VERY important to include aswell, I think anyway, even if you can only do 1 of each, over some time that 1 will turn into sets of 10..Diet is simple, no sweets or snacks. Eat light, small but important portions. Nothing after 8pm. Maybe a shake or bar IF your hungry after 8. I eat like this everyday. Except Saturday, which I call a binge day lol. I eat as much and whatever I want, only on Saturdays. My 2 cents from a fellow mechanic. 

[bikerbill2021]

On 9/26/2018 at 10:04 PM, EnglertRacing said:

I crank out 8 to 10 miles in 40 mins 3 times a week, climb hard then hammer it down.

Very cool, I've always thought about picking up a mountain bike to mess around on, I'm on the other side of the spectrum with my road cycle, but riding anything with two wheels in my mind is the best practice/training other then actually being on the dirt bike.  

On 9/28/2018 at 3:04 PM, SparkinPegs said:

Well..I'm a mechanic too, so I know exactly what you mean about working out. I found that working out in the morning BEFORE work is best. Now, keep in mind, were not training for Force Recon here. 3 days a week is plenty. I prefer a 45min circuit with 10min cardio. Dont forget your core and Pull ups/chin ups are VERY important to include aswell, I think anyway, even if you can only do 1 of each, over some time that 1 will turn into sets of 10..Diet is simple, no sweets or snacks. Eat light, small but important portions. Nothing after 8pm. Maybe a shake or bar IF your hungry after 8. I eat like this everyday. Except Saturday, which I call a binge day lol. I eat as much and whatever I want, only on Saturdays. My 2 cents from a fellow mechanic. 

Thanks for the input, good to hear from another mechanic.  You are totally right in working out before work is the best, as after work I'm usually pretty beat to want to do anything but lay on my couch.  I used to workout in the AM all the time, but not so much anymore.  I think the trick for me was that my gym was right next to my work, and my house was about 20 mins or so from both, so I could wake up, drag my groggy ass out of bed, slam some pre workout, and by the time I'd get to the gym I'd be ready to roll.  Now that I have a home gym, in an ironic twist, Ive found it much more difficult to climb out of bed in the morning and use it, or use it at all, a slump I'm trying to get out of.  I've tried all sorts of tricks too, set my alarm across my room so I have to get out of bed, wake up and slam pre workout/caffeine pills a half hour before Im supposed to wake up etc, to no avail.  It's all in my head I know, just have to do it and get back into it.

How do you go about eating during the work day if you don't mind me asking?  I've always followed a loose intermittent fasting approach, usually just a cup of coffee in the morning at work, then I dont eat anything until a quick lunch break.  As I'm sure you know, waiters and impatient writers/managers make taking a lunch break longer then 10 mins a pain, so its nothing too elaborate, just eat and get back to work kind of deal.  Then usually another cup of coffee and a bar in the afternoon to hold me over until dinner.  

[Sierra_rider]

Wildland firefighter here, needless to say I often get a lot of hiking in at work...either for PT or on a fire. For the few times I'm at home during the summer, I like to do harder rides on the road bike. I live in a mountainous area, so a lot of climbing. During the winter, I'll ride my road bike on nice days and throw it on the stationary trainer on the ugly days. I also have a spin bike at our little "gym" at work. I prefer cardio and my resting HR of 48-52 reflects this. I do some resistance training, nothing crazy, just a little core work. Also throw in some yoga, although that's for my mind as much as it's for the flexibility. After a long season, I'm physically pretty shot out ATM.

The biggest hurdle for me, is actually getting the motivation to start my exercise session. Once I get on the bike, 99 times outta 100 I'm having a blast. My diet and lifestyle habits also remain healthier when I force myself to work out. When I start skipping workouts, I also make poorer diet choices and become a lazier person overall.

Diet-wise, I try to stick to whole, un-processed foods...I do have a weakness for sweets and alcohol. It's also hard to eat good food if I'm on a fire. I definitely eat a high-carb diet, not a big believer in the low-carb craze.  

 

[speer1993]

I am 43, and also a mechanic at a dealership,  have been on a 3 month vacation, I had a bicep distal tendon tear at my rt elbow area, which means I pulled my bicep tendon off my radius bone, yes it happened at the shop, I had surgery to re attach it the last day of June.  I had to relearn how to use my arm, it took me 2 months to touch my nose after surgery.  I have gotten out of my normal way of life, my wife has been cooking way too good and way too much take out food, going to Dallas tx for Dr appointments and PT, I have gained about 10lbs over the summer.  My normal work day  is wake up and go walking with my wife for 30 min or more, then breakfast is a fruit smoothy with super foods, beets, maca, and more, not always the same, when I add the super foods I do not get hungry till noon.  My day is always go go go. I  eat either tuna or salmon for lunch, of course fruit, grapes, apples, or banana's, usually eating while I am working, Yep never can get away from waiters.  I had a step counter at 1 time and My steps were close to 8 miles of walking at the shop.  My weakness is sweets, everybody at the shop knows this as well, when they want something sweet they come to my box, always have a stash. At 1 time I would eat at Mcd's and after I eat I just felt like garbage, that is when I started to eat fish, it gives me energy and I was able to feel good the rest of the day.  weekends we are riding either mountain bikes or dirt bikes, go hiking, canoeing. we live a very active life. We also do not eat processed foods. To me eating processed food was like eating Mcd's food, just felt like garbage afterward's.  Getting plenty of rest at night helps me as I get older.

[bikerbill2021]

22 hours ago, Sierra_rider said:

Wildland firefighter here, needless to say I often get a lot of hiking in at work...either for PT or on a fire. For the few times I'm at home during the summer, I like to do harder rides on the road bike. I live in a mountainous area, so a lot of climbing. During the winter, I'll ride my road bike on nice days and throw it on the stationary trainer on the ugly days. I also have a spin bike at our little "gym" at work. I prefer cardio and my resting HR of 48-52 reflects this. I do some resistance training, nothing crazy, just a little core work. Also throw in some yoga, although that's for my mind as much as it's for the flexibility. After a long season, I'm physically pretty shot out ATM.

The biggest hurdle for me, is actually getting the motivation to start my exercise session. Once I get on the bike, 99 times outta 100 I'm having a blast. My diet and lifestyle habits also remain healthier when I force myself to work out. When I start skipping workouts, I also make poorer diet choices and become a lazier person overall.

Diet-wise, I try to stick to whole, un-processed foods...I do have a weakness for sweets and alcohol. It's also hard to eat good food if I'm on a fire. I definitely eat a high-carb diet, not a big believer in the low-carb craze.  

 

Wildland firefighter thats cool stuff!  Theres a guy in our shop thats leaving to go be a hot shot in Cali, which sounds like a hell of an experience.  

1 hour ago, speer1993 said:

I am 43, and also a mechanic at a dealership,  have been on a 3 month vacation, I had a bicep distal tendon tear at my rt elbow area, which means I pulled my bicep tendon off my radius bone, yes it happened at the shop, I had surgery to re attach it the last day of June.  I had to relearn how to use my arm, it took me 2 months to touch my nose after surgery.  I have gotten out of my normal way of life, my wife has been cooking way too good and way too much take out food, going to Dallas tx for Dr appointments and PT, I have gained about 10lbs over the summer.  My normal work day  is wake up and go walking with my wife for 30 min or more, then breakfast is a fruit smoothy with super foods, beets, maca, and more, not always the same, when I add the super foods I do not get hungry till noon.  My day is always go go go. I  eat either tuna or salmon for lunch, of course fruit, grapes, apples, or banana's, usually eating while I am working, Yep never can get away from waiters.  I had a step counter at 1 time and My steps were close to 8 miles of walking at the shop.  My weakness is sweets, everybody at the shop knows this as well, when they want something sweet they come to my box, always have a stash. At 1 time I would eat at Mcd's and after I eat I just felt like garbage, that is when I started to eat fish, it gives me energy and I was able to feel good the rest of the day.  weekends we are riding either mountain bikes or dirt bikes, go hiking, canoeing. we live a very active life. We also do not eat processed foods. To me eating processed food was like eating Mcd's food, just felt like garbage afterward's.  Getting plenty of rest at night helps me as I get older.

My foreman had a similar injury to his shoulder I believe and he was out for a while, wasnt even doing anything crazy either, just let go.  And I hear ya on the sweets at work, its always a will power battle when someone brings in a box of donuts not to eat 1, b/c 1 turns into 2 and what not, then you feel like crap, same with like you said about eating Mcdonalds and the like for lunch, just slows you down and feel terrible!  

[speer1993]

I was dumping trash in the dumpster, nothing heavy maybe 20lbs.  I normally have smarties in my box, everybody at the shop loves smarties, they don't make me feel bad if I eat a couple, if I eat a bunch yeah my head feels bad, every Wednesday is donut day at the shop it is hard not to eat more than 2. 

[Wait a while]

Nothing. I typically work 10-12 hours in temperatures that get up to 120F. I drink water all day long, on the hottest days it's so much water that I can hardly eat any food. Then I kept drinking water in the evening and throughout the night to catch up my hydration for the next day. Sore joints and tendons, and muscle cramps were telling me that was enough, no exercise on top, thanks. 

I thought that I was being soft and getting too old, my boss and co-workers treated me like I was lazy when I was tired at the end of each day. Then the workload got easier as everything was winding up. The company ended my contract to give my job to one of my co-workers. She got heatstroke on the first day and had to have 3 days off! The boss even had to go and cover for some of the time. A guy from one of the contracting companies was telling me all about it. The boss saw me outside of work after that and had a much more positive attitude toward me. 

In hindsight, I think yoga or some form of stretching routine would've been good. Not like it's going to sap a lot of energy and hydration and I could've done with working on flexibility. I think weights or cardio would've interfered with my work performance and give me over-training problems. 

[bikerbill2021]

11 hours ago, Wait-A-While said:

Nothing. I typically work 10-12 hours in temperatures that get up to 120F. I drink water all day long, on the hottest days it's so much water that I can hardly eat any food. Then I kept drinking water in the evening and throughout the night to catch up my hydration for the next day. Sore joints and tendons, and muscle cramps were telling me that was enough, no exercise on top, thanks. 

I thought that I was being soft and getting too old, my boss and co-workers treated me like I was lazy when I was tired at the end of each day. Then the workload got easier as everything was winding up. The company ended my contract to give my job to one of my co-workers. She got heatstroke on the first day and had to have 3 days off! The boss even had to go and cover for some of the time. A guy from one of the contracting companies was telling me all about it. The boss saw me outside of work after that and had a much more positive attitude toward me. 

In hindsight, I think yoga or some form of stretching routine would've been good. Not like it's going to sap a lot of energy and hydration and I could've done with working on flexibility. I think weights or cardio would've interfered with my work performance and give me over-training problems. 

damn that sounds intense, I see you're from Australia according to your avatar, so I'm assuming you were out in the desert, what were you doing if you don't mind me asking?  

[Wait a while]

I'm on the edge of the desert, in a town called Kalgoorlie-Boulder (where the white square is). The other picture is at work, on a lovely spring day. 

I was the geologist on the reverse-circulation percussion rig. It's not a hard job, it's lots of pacing, lifting, carrying, squatting, kneeling, and standing. It's just the long work hours that make it exhausting. Then there's the weather, and the heat from the engine (a noisy old Detroit 2-stroke V8 diesel). 

The drill rig offsiders' job is much harder than mine. They are always men, and loads of them don't last long. 

Heat stress is a regular occurrence and we all get at least a bit of it here and there. But at the time there were some hospitalizations and deaths of other workers, most of whom were otherwise healthy. So then there was a push from the Mines Department to educate us all about hydration and heat stress. 

The worker who got heat stroke was about 18 years younger than me, fit, healthy, and a bit narcissistic. She would've ignored all advice. 

 

The work goes roughly like this:

As the rig drills a hole (about 15mm in diameter), each metre of pulverized rock is pulled up by the compressed air that drives the hammer. It goes up the mast through a hose and down to a cyclone and splitter.

The cyclone slows the velocity and the splitter separates 3kg (the sample) out of the 30kg metre (the spoil). The offsiders have to carry each bucket of spoil out of the way and put them in lines of 10. They put the bag of 3kg sample on top.

I come along and help the field assistant to pick up all of the 3kg samples and put them in bags of about 3. Then we throw them all onto the Landcruiser ute, to be taken to the lab for analysis (for parts per million of gold).

Then I get 10 sieves and take a sample from each 30kg spoil. I give each sample a good shake to get the dust out of it. Then I tip it into another sieve in a big bucket of water. Give it another good shake to wash the rock chips. Then I throw the sample onto the ground with a flick of the sieve. I do these in rows of 10, just like the spoils are laid out. Then I kneel beside it and examine the chips and enter what each sample is like into a laptop. 

 

 

[bikerbill2021]

Bumping my old thread, buddy told me about this vid, super cool, this is ultimately what my goal is, to be able to stay in shape and ride well into my golden years