Hi everyone,
It’s been a while since I last wrote to you all. I have been reasonably busy in my literary absence however, putting together a new home for The Energy Clinic and I’m happy to say, that we are very much up and running with only a few little odds and ends still on the building ‘To Do’ list. If anyone out there has ever renovated a house you’ll know what I’m on about.
The last few months have definitely seen me putting in some big hours and my own training has certainly suffered as a result. What would have been a reasonably difficult sweat session 4 months ago, has been leaving me lying in a pool of my own mental misery, especially after each hard Sunday Session. (My hard workout of the week with my team)
Anyway, this loss of overall fitness has got me to thinkin… Have you ever wondered why people who have a very active and physical job can and dare I say, often are, a little on the overweight or at least very unfit side? Surly working all day, banging nails into lumber, climbing ladders, rolling paint on walls, carrying heavy gyp-rock and all the other activities that make up being a trady, should be enough to keep someone flat of abs, fit as a fiddle and looking terrific.
One would think…
There are a few possible answers as to why so few of the tradesmen out there look like they do on a beer commercial. You know the ones; fit, bronzed and oozing sex appeal. Besides the obvious reason that they are hired actors and models, why doesn’t a typical trady, who works hard all day long, achieve the fitness or the look of an athlete like a football or even a tennis player?
As per usual, I believe there are a few important reasons for this.
Always, the first and foremost reason why people develop and/or can’t get rid of their ample figures is poor nutrition habits. The best scientifically designed program or workout in the world can’t make up for really poor nutritional choices and unfortunately, tradesman are well known for their questionable dietary practices. This is probably due to constantly changing work venues and too many trips to the corner deli where pies and chocolate ice coffees are the staple fare. Planning ahead and preparing your own lunch can be a great way to overcome the temptation to eat this sort of food too often.
After spending 3 plus months building our new gym, I can easily relate to the overwhelming desire to minimize any extra effort required to do… well just about anything other than sleep. Up for work at 6am then working through till lunch at 1pm and then again often to 9pm at night 6-7 days a week can leave little chores like laundry, cooking dinner or preparing lunch seem like mammoth tasks. This would often result in a short stroll on down to the local café for eats. I know how much my nutrition suffered over those three months.
All I can say is thank you modern science for high quality supplements like Juice Plus+ (www.energyclinicnutrition.net). Supplementing is a great way of taking a really bad nutritional scenario, that can occur when you’re over worked or even out of your normal routine, like being on holiday and turning it into something that just needs to be tweaked back into place when things settle back to normal. Remember though, like poor nutrition and exercise, supplements can only do so much.
Another key factor is what’s called adaptive response, where the body does its best, which in most cases can be really quite remarkable, to change and adapt to whatever external stresses are placed on it. For example, lifting heavy objects like gyp-rock or perhaps working your muscles for a long period of time such as framing a house with a hammer or heavy nail gun.
The problem with your body being so efficient at adapting to its stressor environment is that after a very short space of time, i.e. a few weeks or a couple months at the very most, your body stops adapting. It has reached an efficient enough level of strength or fitness to successfully accomplish all the tasks required of it. Your body is smart, efficient and effective, which is why we have to be a little tricksy if we want to really induce some physical adaptations or changes.
Now compare that to an athlete who regularly changes their program, often every week, in order that the body doesn’t ever get the chance to adapt fully or more to the point, is continually having to adapt. Constant adaptation means constant progression. Unfortunately, very few occupations need change their physical requirements consistently or significantly enough to keep the improvement curve moving upwards. Most of us work really hard at staying where we are, even with our gym programs.
There is another significant reason why adaptation doesn’t quite work as well on a construction site as it does with a specifically designed training session. Any ideas?
Duncan
