Establish a Regular Exercise Routine While on the Road To Avoid The Most Common Trucker Injuries

As a trucker, your job is similar to sitting at an office desk all day. You’ve got deadlines to meet and you don’t have a lot of extra time to move around. Aside from the quick stretches, you might do when you stop for a bathroom break or to fill up with gas, you might not have a regular exercise routine.

While having the right tools and equipment, like the OPNBar tool, to reduce the risk of sprains and strains, or Safer Grip Work Gloves to help protect hands and utilize better grip, establishing a regular exercise routine while you’re on the road can also be beneficial.

Don’t Have Enough Time? Think Again

One of the main reasons why long-haul truckers don’t exercise on a regular basis is that they don’t feel like they have time. As a trucker, you’re up against some pretty big deadlines and if you’re running behind you can feel your stress rise.

Stress can force you to hurry, make careless mistakes, increase your risk of an accident, and affect your mental and physical health. Too much stress long term can be bad for your heart and even cause you to gain weight. If you are already working a relatively sedentary job, your overall health is a risk.

So, you don’t think you have enough time to exercise. You don’t need to invest hours a day in exercising. If you have a spare 15 minutes every day (or a few times a day during your route), you can not only reduce your stress but improve your health.

The Benefits of 15 Minutes of Exercise

The more time you have to exercise the better, but a trucker’s life is busy so 15 minutes is probably more manageable and easy to do on a daily basis. Studies reveal that exercising for just 15 minutes a day can make you happier, reduce your risk of cancer and heart disease, burn more calories, and keep your brain sharp.

Depending on the type of exercise you do, you can tone your muscles, improve your flexibility, and have better balance: which are all beneficial in reducing work-related injuries on the road.

Types of Exercise to Try

A set of lightweight dumbbells or resistance bands don’t take up too much space in your cab and are a great way to get a quick workout before you hit the road.

Yoga is becoming increasingly popular for truck drivers and various industries. While yoga may not seem like the traditional workout, it can improve your flexibility, mood, and reduce your stress. If you’re prone to stress and bad moods, choose an exercise that incorporates meditation or other stress reduction techniques.

Don’t be afraid to try a variety of exercises, but choose something that you can see yourself enjoying every day. If you get bored, change up your routine a bit.

Once you’ve established an exercise routine, it’s important to stick to it even during your downtime. It will be more difficult to exercise on the road if you only get a workout while driving.

Equip operators with the proper tools needed and promote safety to help them avoid injury.