[godfather dust]

I live in Massachusetts and 10 days into February the snowfall records for the month have been broken. There's been, I dunno, 3 feet of snow or more in 10 days.

I've been shoveling snow and pulling snow off roofs for cash. It's exhausting and my body gets tired doing it.

Before all this snow I was on a 3x/week lifting routine.

I'm not sure whether I should go to the gym at all either the day I shovel and do roofs or the next day (to recover from the labor.)

If anyone has any knowledge on this, please share.

[WesternCancer]

Sleep more
eat more
drink more fluids

[Agreddor]

I would use the off days to rest, do stretching, yoga and maybe some cardio. You don't want to pull a ligament and be out of action

[samsamsam]

Have you looked into ZMA? There is a good thread about it on the forum. Helps with recovery.

[General Mayhem]

I once had a job trimming trees with these massive shears 9hrs per day and still lifted 5 days per week. My arms were swinging non-stop in the humid summer heat.

I was pretty lax with my diet and was still in the best shape of my life because I was burning a fuck ton of calories. Sandwiches on white bread, chips, energy drinks, etc, and I was ripped. I also drank a ton of water.

[H1N1]

Depends on your goals. I mean what follows constructively.

Generally, if you want good results, you need to not be feeble. If you're looking at this right, manual labour is simply an opportunity of getting extra work in on top of your lifting routine. The human body was designed to work hard and to move. You'll be a bit sore for a few days but you'll adapt. You're either the kind of man who gets it done and doesn't make excuses, or your not. If you find reasons to deviate from what you know you need to do in one area of life, it quickly becomes the way you conduct yourself in all areas of life.

Take pleasure in being uncomfortable. Embrace hardship and harden your will. Don't be another pussy who finds the easy way out, the world has enough of those and they are good for fucking nothing. Be accountable to yourself.

[godfather dust]

General Mayhem and H1N1 guess I'll hit the weights tonight then.

[rdvirus]

I've been lifting 3-5x a week and doing full time labour for over a year. I agree with the rest of the guys.. Lots of water, lots of rest, lots of food. If you can manage to fit clean eating in there you're set.. Try to avoid overdoing it on caffeine to compensate for feeling worn out; I've got a pretty bad habit myself. Shoveling snow is a great full body workout, fair amount of cardio to it as well. Just be careful with your back brother, maybe take it easy on back workouts. You're going to burn a few more calories to maintain body temperature being out in the cold too.

[General Mayhem]

(02-10-2015 10:58 PM)rdvirus Wrote:  

I've been lifting 3-5x a week and doing full time labour for over a year. I agree with the rest of the guys.. Lots of water, lots of rest, lots of food. If you can manage to fit clean eating in there you're set.. Try to avoid overdoing it on caffeine to compensate for feeling worn out; I've got a pretty bad habit myself. Shoveling snow is a great full body workout, fair amount of cardio to it as well. Just be careful with your back brother, maybe take it easy on back workouts. You're going to burn a few more calories to maintain body temperature being out in the cold too.

This is good advice.

You have a good opportunity to get ripped doing this type of work. Like I said, I was in the best shape of my life.

Eat food, drink water and you should be fine. Make sure to get some good sleep too.

[godfather dust]

I've been lifting as well as the outside work, no problems. Glad you guys told me no excuses.