I’m an electrician and a lot of the older guys at my job have so many knee and back issues but I always see older people who went to the gym every day look and feel great
In: Biology
Many reasons:
* Being is weird positions.
* Much longer hours vs typical gym workouts.
* Doing many of the exact same repetitive moves.
* Gym workout switch around. Doing a leg day, and then letting those muscle recover.
* More likely to work with injuries, where a gym workout might take it easy on a muscle or limb that has been injured.
* More likely to get injured tripping, having things fall on you….etc. A gym is stable, secure, and everything stays the same. Job sites can be all shapes and sizes, with varying levels of safety.
I do both. I’m a qualified PT and work in a construction trade. Gym equipment and exercise is designed to target and strengthen natural bodily movements, the equipment is ergonomic and correct form is (supposed to be) paramount. Everything is tailored to keep you safe and make you stronger, that’s the whole reason you are there.
Working on a building site is quite the opposite, things such as materials or kit isn’t necessarily designed to be handled easily it’s just designed for whatever purpose it has. I work with some equipment that feels like it weighs twice as much as it actually does because of this. Not to mention you are expected to get into awkward positions, work for extended periods without proper rest and get a lot of dangerous jobs done without asking questions.
IIRC Ronnie Coleman, 8 times winner of Mr. Olimpia is wheelchair bound, after 2 sugeries in his hips, 2 on his neck and 9 on his back, resulting in a fully fused spine.
Hitting the gym 24/7 for 8 hours and doing extreme stuff will hurt you as bad as a full time manual labor job and that is not counting the ammount of juice some of those guys get.
If you had to do your manual job for only a couple of hours (or less) and take care of your posture and movements you wouldn’t have back or knee pain as some of the old guys you know have.
Most old guys that go to the gym are probably rich and have the time and money to do it carefully.
Because you don’t get stronger by exercising. You get stronger by recovering from exercise. That means sleep and proper nutrition, not banging down Monster for breakfast and gas station burritos for lunch.
In construction, you often work way past your tolerances. Injuries? Tough shit. Back to work. Tired? Everyone is. Back to work. Didn’t eat breakfast or lunch? No time. Back to work.
Every job is different, even on a day to day basis, but there are certain jobs that just demolish your body.
When I worked aircraft maintenance, I contorted my body in very fucked up ways to get shit done. Never have needed to do that at the gym, and certainly not for 10+ hours a day.
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