I’m starting a job for the summer this week and it involves liftng heavy shit all day, carrying stuff, sledge hammering stuff for an average of 5-6 days a week (50-60 hours a week.)
I’m weak compared to alot of people on here but I’m a pretty hardy person. Do you reckon I should treat this job as GPP and do a once or twice a week full body workout? or should I just focuss on resting between shifts and get back onto weight training in september when I’m at uni?
Cheers
What are your goals? If you are focused on physique improvements you could do an abbreviated body part split. You could also look at doing 5/3/1 and sticking to the main lift and just one assistance exercise. I wouldn’t give up lifting all together and I would think that it would be hard to put enough effort into a full body workout if you are doing that much manual labor.
Overall, your body will adapt to whatever you decide to do (within reason) as long as you are getting enough sleep and eating enough. Whatever program you decide on, start out low volume and gradually increase as your body gets used to the work. Good luck.
My goals are to gain strength and some muscle, I only weigh about 75kg lol. Yea my main worry is that I wouldn’t be able to put enough effort into it cause of tiredness. I eat LOADS so the food shouldn’t be a problem.
I like the Idea of 5/3/1 and easing into it. And I don’t want to give up lifting cause I love it, even if I aint very strong
Thanks for the advice!
Do nothing for the first two weeks of the job and then start back on a less dense routine you have done before for a month. Then work into where you were before. I worked hard physical labor several summers during college and this approach worked great for me
I took some time off from the gym then started my 531 cycles again with a lot less accessory work. I have my best workouts on the weekend.
[quote]pgtips wrote:
My goals are to gain strength and some muscle, I only weigh about 75kg lol. Yea my main worry is that I wouldn’t be able to put enough effort into it cause of tiredness. I eat LOADS so the food shouldn’t be a problem.
I like the Idea of 5/3/1 and easing into it. And I don’t want to give up lifting cause I love it, even if I aint very strong
Thanks for the advice![/quote]
No problem. I think if you stick to the minimum reps on the main lifts you’ll be alright. If you don’t have the book, get it (I believe the 2nd Edition is out). You can always just do the main lifts for a couple of weeks until you get used to it.
Awhile back, during a very busy time, I often just hit the main lift and called it a day. Wendler called it the “I ain’t doing shit today” template I believe. It’s not the best idea to do it for a long period of time as you could develop imbalances, but you should be fine for little while. If you do just the main lift you should be done in twenty minutes tops. Anyway, good luck.
Lots of people seem to be doing this 5/3/1, It must be good. Its great hearing from poeple who work/have worked physical jobs thanks alot.
I’ve just done a bit of reading into 5/3/1 and I’d love to start that, even more so cause I’ve been spinning my wheels since I quit my gym membership a few months ago.
The only problem with 5/3/1 is the ammount of times I’d need to go gym, (Can only afford once a week)and my equiptment at home os pretty shitty so the “I’m not doing jack shit” version sounds perfect.
How does this sound?
5/3/1:
3 days a week:
Front Squat - I have no squat rack and I suppose I’ll gte some extra work by power cleaning it up.
Deadlift - My favourite, for the day I go gym
Overhead press - No worries about running out of weight to add at home cause its my weakest lift.
No bench press due to no bench plus I just hate doing bench lol
Face pulls and pendlay rows for assistance
push ups and pullups whenever I feel like it at home
[quote]pgtips wrote:
Lots of people seem to be doing this 5/3/1, It must be good. Its great hearing from poeple who work/have worked physical jobs thanks alot.
I’ve just done a bit of reading into 5/3/1 and I’d love to start that, even more so cause I’ve been spinning my wheels since I quit my gym membership a few months ago.
The only problem with 5/3/1 is the ammount of times I’d need to go gym, (Can only afford once a week)and my equiptment at home os pretty shitty so the “I’m not doing jack shit” version sounds perfect.
How does this sound?
5/3/1:
3 days a week:
Front Squat - I have no squat rack and I suppose I’ll gte some extra work by power cleaning it up.
Deadlift - My favourite, for the day I go gym
Overhead press - No worries about running out of weight to add at home cause its my weakest lift.
No bench press due to no bench plus I just hate doing bench lol
Face pulls and pendlay rows for assistance
push ups and pullups whenever I feel like it at home[/quote]
5/3/1 is a simple program with built in progression. It is well designed, but as with any program, is only as good as the amount of effort you put into it. If you don’t have the e-book, get it. There are two, three, and four day templates in the book. If you really can only go to the gym one day a week, I would do both Deadlift and Front Squat on that day (something Wendler covers in the FAQ section) and then try to buy a cheap bench and some used weights when you can.
5/3/1 2 day a week template…
day 1/Gym day: bench, squat
day2: Deadlift, Military press
add direct arm work, face pulls etc as assistance when can be bothered. Yes it can be that simple.
Maybe consider taking an amino drink or BCAA pills with an aftenoon snack at work
Or even better from the horse’s mouth…
EAT!!! I wouldn’t stop lifting.
The job is busier this summer than last summer. I started on Tuesday and have a much needed day off today. In four days I have worked 62 hours. This was 62 hours of physical work (lots of sledgehammering 2 foot stakes into the ground and carrying lots of metal and canvas on topm of non stop moving) I feel like a zombie, although I quite enjoy it. I’m not gonna lift till the hours calm down, which I have been informed will calm down (relatively) in a couple of weeks because I have been leaving the house at 7 am and not getting home till about midnight.
on the subject of eating, I only really get the chance to eat in the Landrover between jobs, I’m thinking of buying some protein powder and downing a couple of them a day.
Thanks for the advice! I really can’t wait to get to university when I get a free membership for the campus gym so I can actually start lifting properly.
[quote]pgtips wrote:
on the subject of eating, I only really get the chance to eat in the Landrover between jobs, I’m thinking of buying some protein powder and downing a couple of them a day.
Thanks for the advice! I really can’t wait to get to university when I get a free membership for the campus gym so I can actually start lifting properly.[/quote]
If you can, for now until it slows down, just hit two of the main lifts on your day off, i.e.-Squat and Bench or OH Press and Deadlift. Do the minimum reps and don’t go for a PR. As far as the eating goes, the protein shakes sounds like a good idea. Take care and good luck.
[quote]ryno76 wrote:
[quote]pgtips wrote:
on the subject of eating, I only really get the chance to eat in the Landrover between jobs, I’m thinking of buying some protein powder and downing a couple of them a day.
Thanks for the advice! I really can’t wait to get to university when I get a free membership for the campus gym so I can actually start lifting properly.[/quote]
If you can, for now until is slows down, just hit two of the main lifts on your day off, i.e.-Squat and Bench or OH Press and Deadlift. Do the minimum reps and don’t go for a PR. As far as the eating goes, the protein shakes sounds like a good idea. Take care and good luck.[/quote]
Thanks, I’ll do this, in fact, I already started it today.