Oh no, thanks for the input, I can definitely agree. Mental stress doesn’t effect me strength wise, but it has put me in situations where I’ve just been really upset throughout the entire session.
That’s understandable. I think what causes the stress can be different, but perhaps effects us in similar ways.
Glad I’m not the only one who gets the cramps too. I usually can feel the intensity when I’m laying still in bed. Haven’t had much cramps as of late, but if I end up walking the same areas back and forth I get them.
I’ve had some times when I had to stand for 6-8 hours a day not really moving much. I definitely noticed some serious lower back aches that would come in from all of that. Funnily, my job normally has me on my feet all day, and I never really felt issues from that, but if I was just standing and not moving, then I began to have the ache. I could imagine it may be similar with cashiering?
Anyway, some good boots and gel insoles did wonders for me. Still delt with a little acheyness after getting off a shift, but nowhere near as bad
Having an old undiagnosed knee injury as my weak spot (dysfunction) and can experience my knee getting lightly swollen or even tenderness in surrounding soft tissues - when overdoing things. Not necessarily caused by lifting, more often from lighter repetitive duties (lifting toddlers/kids) and even from more steps at work (though I seldom walk more than 5000 steps/day).
Your problem is probably multifactorial, meaning you may need to change - or add - something in/to the equation.
Before doing any major changes you may try what I did, which resulted in a significant improvement. Try adding supplementation with collagen + hyaluronic acid for a couple of months. If it works you should be able to notice a positive difference after one month.
This for what it’s worth. Obviously less steps, better shoes, correction of spinal/sciatic issues, deloading, less stress, more sleep etc - will have an impact also.
It’s mostly when I’m standing still and have a tendency to lock my knees. Usually I just have to move around a lot, or opt to do the store walks. Between that and standing I don’t really have a much better option so to speak. The days I wear a brace it’s much better though. I try not to use it back to back each day.
I’ve worked this job for five years almost, so again it’s not an adaptation issue. @tlgains mentioned not weighing so much, and he’s not wrong. Im 5 feet, and clock in at 195-200lbs. Im not obese by any means, but I’ve done my best to pack on muscle over the years. Which is good for performance, not so much for me having to support that much weight. And yes I did mention that I’ll transferring to a WFH position in a couple of weeks.
Yeah spot on actually. I HATE standing completely still. I can feel everything fighting to stabilize.
I should note, our entire warehouse sits on top of solid concrete (no cushion, just straight up visible, buffed concrete), so standing still on that irritates everything.
I sometimes will favor my right side and lean on it, to which I’m promptly reminded that my sciatica is, for the most part, still there. It’s very calmed down now, but that was what I first had issues with for about 2-3 years when I first started working there.
Cashiering positions will usually have us rotating around one point, but we’re mostly in that one spot. I do work food court, and mostly front end (handling groceries, assisting cashiers), which has us going back and forth. I was pushing carts outside which was freaking awesome, but I ended up having to go back to other positions due to management.
I do have work boots and some specific shoes our job provides/suggests, along with gel soles, but I think I’m also gonna have to do more testing with the gel soles since I’m not sure they’re supportive enough. Just to have in the future.
I flagged for a paving crew and tree crew a few years back which made for an odd combination of either standing still for 12 hrs. a day or walking for 12 hrs. a day. I got a pair of Timberland Pro’s with vibram insoles, and they were like heaven.
By far the most comfy protective footwear I’ve ever had.
I find that most comfort mats used for cashier are too soft and create instability, same goes for shoes with a lot of EVA in the sole like Sketches.
I prefer harder soles with a gel insole.
I’m on my feet most of the day for work, but I don’t have a physical job. I think I wind up with a net benefit from it, because I naturally have pretty good posture standing but tend to slouch when seated at a desk. A good pair of shoes is the key though.
I also did trade work while I was in college and some of my post grad life, so just standing around and doing some walking is pretty easy in comparison.