Exercise While Trucking....

I used to be an avid runner. Slowly, I am getting back into it. My question is, when you are on the road is there time and opportunity to exercise. Would it be possible to go for a run on your breaks? How do you guys get in exercise while on the road? I must say when I was exercising everyday, I had much more stamina, was more alert, and just felt better in general.

You can work in short-ish runs. Depending on where you park. If you park all the way to the back of the lot, then you can run to the truck stop. Sometimes on your 30's you can run if you get a rest area that has the room. And a lot of truck stops have running paths.

Biggest issue I have been having recently is you can't run on ice and snow. Lol, well you can but you don't seem to get very far without sliding over.

We are here in Riverside Ca at the CRST termial. We took a nice long walk while waiting on repairs. So long that we called a cab to get back. Lol.

It can be done. I've found rest areas are usually pretty good places for running. I've done many 1/4 mile laps around rest areas as well as found some that are about a mile around. Some of our terminals are close to a mile around the yards. You just have to make time for it. The new 30 minute breaks help. I managed to do a few hundred miles of running while OTR last year. Hell, I shut down at a rest area one night planing to just do a short run because I drove all day and ended up doing almost a half marathon. And it was only about 3/8 mile around. Many laps. When it started getting cold I bought a mini stepper for my truck. $50 and fits under the bunk.

And if you're interested in working out in general, I've found that with a few resistance bands, a couple of weight plates, a chain, some carabiners and some ingenuity you can turn the cab of your truck into a gym and get a full workout. I'd also recommend a book called You Are Your Own Gym for a program that's almost all bodyweight exercises.

Hope this helps.

Helps a lot! I was a distance runner. My last marathon was at 3:30 the day after running a half in just under 2 hours ( I took it easy on the half).

Anyway, do you get crazy looks from people or other truckers as you run your laps? Also, what about shower after the run / workout. I guess at a reststop you could clean up in the sink. Thanks for the insight.

Lastly, do you have enough time each day to at least get 3 to 5 miles in? Can you run while at a loading dock and you are waiting? Just trying to figure out how to fit some exercise into the routine.

I've never done any "official" distance runs. I keep wanting to sign up for them and then can't get the time off. Heck, 2 years ago I started getting into running with the lofty goal of running a 5K, maybe possibly a 10K. I told people I'd never run a marathon or even half marathon because that is just crazy. One night I stopped off at a rest area in TN after driving all day and decided I'd just do a couple miles because I didn't feel up to it. Felt good so I decided I'd at least do a 5K.Then it was "I bet I'm up for 5 miles tonight." At 5 miles I thought, "That's too close to a 10K I'll keep going." (I hadn't ever completed a 10K before without walking part of it.) Then every mile I kept deciding to do one more mile. By the time my legs were so warn out I was losing my balance and I decided to stop I had run 11.2 miles. That was when I decided maybe I could get into this running thing. Still, I really prefer obstacle course races and trail runs to straight distance running.

As for weird looks when I'm running around rest areas or trucks tops or terminals? Don't notice, don't care.

Obviously it's going to depend somewhat on how fast you run, but I've found its not hard to make time to do at least 3 to 5 miles a few times a week. Sometimes you don't get quite as much sleep, though. And I'm not a fast runner, so it takes me longer to get it in. My fastest 5K so far is like 28 minutes and my fastest 10K is right at an hour. I do try to always do at least 5K on every run.

Showers can be a problem but that's workable, too. Run in the morning or on your break and you can get a shower at a TS when you shut down for the night. Or find a park or school or something near the TS, do your run and then shower. As a truck driver wet wipes are your friend. But Cabelas and Walmart and some other places sell no rinse shampoo and body wash. (The brand I buy is actually called No Rinse.) You lather up and then towel off and you don't need water. That's actually a helpful tip for any truckers out there.

Oh, almost forgot. You're not going to be able to run at most customers, unless you actually leave the property, which usually isn't an option. But I have gone for runs around Walmart, Costcos, KMart, etc. while I was being unloaded. Just make sure they don't mind you being away from the truck while they are unloading you.

I used to go jogging and had dumbbells with me in the truck for some strength training. Personally, I hate the idea of treadmills or running in circles. It's entirely too boring. So I never ran around parking lots or rest areas or anything. My favorite thing to do was find a truck stop way outside any city and go for a jog on a nice, long two-lane road or through a quiet residential neighborhood. I used to love running anywhere I happen to be at in my travels. It always made it interesting to see new sites and all.

Well that sounds more like what I am talking about. How often were you able to find a place like this Brett?

You can get a Gold's Gym membership they are everywhere or do it jail house style push ups & sit-ups get it how you can...but a Gold's Gym membership would be your best bet & safer than jogging in strange places...stay safe out there

I had been planning on looking into Golds or Anytime Fitness or something along those lines. Seems like it would work out nice since you could work out then be able to take a shower. My concern would be scheduling time to get into these places and how hard it will be to find parking reasonably close. Any of the drivers out there currently using fitness centers care to share what they have found?

Woody

The Gold's Gym I go to have a large parking lot for tractor trailer truck. Maybe the companies should invest in a fitness wellness program for us truckers to stay fit & sexy. That's my scare of becoming a trucker is getting a pop belly....LOL