Other/Mixed How do all you fellow manual laborers juggle exercise and work?

[JW513]

I'm up at 4:30am. 3 days I lift, 3 days I run and try and do anywhere from 10-45 minutes of yoga 7 days a week.

I've injured and burnt myself out a lot. But it took those to make me realize that, warming up and cooling down is very important... Yoga in the morning when there is time is great but after work it is vital. Kinda common sense really. I've also learned that, I chip away at my goals. What progress someone might make in 2 weeks takes me 5 weeks.. To me, slow and steady, tendons and ligament strength is vital. Maybe not the best advice, but couple beers at the end of the day helps my muscles relax too.

How to you guys juggle it all? Like I said, yoga has been a game changer for me. I've a very tense person so maybe its more important for me.

 

[Anna C]

yoga has been a game changer for me. I've a very tense person so maybe its more important for me.

I'm a desk worker, so I can't help with the manual labor question, but I like your point here...

I think the ability to relax the tension throughout the day is a great lesson from yoga -- I feel like I learned it through yoga myself when I first started 12 or so years ago.

I think it's the reason a travel day (especially flying) is so exhausing, even though we're not working or exercising -- it's just that we get tense and hold that tension for so many hours.

I also feel like the ability to let tension go was one of the "secrets to success" when I attended SFG I. So much work, so much tension practiced... if I hadn't previously learned to shake that tension off and relax in between tension efforts and on breaks, I would have been fried and exhausted. As it was, I was tired, but felt great.

Pavel's "Fast & Loose" is a great resource for learning to shake off tension immediately between hard efforts. And yoga is a great resource for learning to find and release tension in your body when you get a chance to really relax. Both are super important and useful for recovery, for better breathing, for feeling better, and for being generally healthy and happy!

 

[offwidth]

Also, not a manual labor guy here... so my comments should be taken lightly... but I typically start any type of day with Qigong and Tai-Chi. I find that it helps me set the stage for success.

 

[JW513]

Also, not a manual labor guy here... so my comments should be taken lightly... but I typically start any type of day with Qigong and Tai-Chi. I find that it helps me set the stage for success.

I may start doing that.. Is Tai Chi, something I can sorta learn on youtube? Nothing beats real classes obviously.

 

[offwidth]

Some people say you can...
But I really don't think so.