This is just insulting... You going to take that?!

[Magnus]

http://www.asylum.com/2010/05/12/best-jobs-for-fitness-healthy-exercise/

Check it out... this "expert" doesn't think what we do all day counts as exercise or hard work! Can you believe that?!

I would really like to see this guy sign up for an entire Peak Season, on one of the busiest (300 to 400 stops + pickups) routes UPS has to offer a brownhorn Helper, when it really starts picking up. I'm talking starting at 10AM and finishing around 12 to 1 or even 2AM here (yes, I've been on those routes before). OH! And with a Driver and Management team that only lets you walk the packages when it's 1. raining or 2. dark, and flat out running the stops otherwise.

$50 says he wouldn't cut the mustard, because it's too physically draining.

What a maroon!

 

[p228]

I guess he doesn't consider running exercise either since you aren't pushing your legs to the "point of failure." He could have simply said it isn't bodybuilding but it is exercise. But instead he chose not to and ended up sounding like an idiot.

 

[over9five]

Like anyone else who hasn't done the job, he doesn't have a clue.

 

[Jones]

I think the guy could have phrased it better but if you define exercise as a series of specific workouts geared toward improving your physical condition I generally agree with him. I think the job constitutes exercise in the same way that walking regularly constitutes exercise, ie, it's better for you than sitting at a desk all day. It's not going to make you big and strong or significantly improve your cardiovascular system. We've got some pretty portly drivers at my building, and a lot of them smoke all day as well. If you can smoke while you're doing it, it's not exercise.

 

[Magnus]

I know what you're saying, Jones, but the way he wrote it off as if this job were a cake walk or something just irks me. Besides professional athletes, I can't think of a more athletically inclined job than UPS. Maybe it's just me, but I don't ever take it easy when I'm on with UPS (I'm a "gunner"), so for me it's damn physically challenging. I look at it this way... we get cardio (from running or half-jogging or walking - the first we're not supposed to do but some do anyway), and we get strength and endurance training (constantly lifting and lowering) all in one lump, and for substantially longer periods of time (which is where endurance comes in) than any normal or sane person would ever try to work out for in their own spare time. That's hitting all three core aspects of "exercising" right there, and most only do these things for an hour or less a day, if that - we do it 4 to 8 or even 12 + hours if needs be.

I myself always hit "the wall" at some point in the day... where I think and feel like I can't possibly go on, but I push through it and I do because I have too and I feel like I'm being pushed too (which I am, by myself and others). I'm just saying, if that's not exercise, then I don't know what is!

Really though, number two... Housecleaning... HOUSECLEANING?! Seriously!!!

 

[Jones]

I do admit that it's irritating to read someone who has never done the job kind of pooh-poohing it (which he was). It is a physical job and it definitely burns more calories than driving a desk (or cleaning house). We hit close to a 100 degrees here yesterday and it wasn't any cakewalk working in that heat.

 

[bbsam]

What I've alway found is that if I consistently drive routes for several weeks I invariably lose weight for two reasons: the exercise and I'm not lounging around the house eating because I'm bored.

 

[22.34life]

I think it depends on what you do at ups ,if your a small sorter than you might not be very strong or in good cardio condition.I work on irregs and i can tell you after two years of lifting and stacking packages that way anywhere from 70-150 lbs for five hours i am damb strong and in pretty good cardio condition.If you brought someone off the streets to irregs as a newhire i dont think they would last one day,the stuff is to heavy and the pace to fast and the heat in texas is a killer.but as far as calling it exercise i think what they mean is it does not target a specific muscle group but the whole body.So when i say im strong i mean i can lift heavy things that are also awkward but i have no idea how much i could bench press or squat.When people i know dont understand how hard this job can be i describe it like this "when you move from one house to another you load a moving truck and unload it at your own pace with as many breaks as you want and at the end of that day you are dog tired and worn out right,now imagine doing 4 of those trucks in 5 hours with one 10 min break and moving at a break neck pace and you have an idea of what its like.

 

[helenofcalifornia]

My doctor tells me to get a 1/2 hour of cardio in before or after work as this job is more "strength training" than cardio. Like I feel like doing 1/2 hour of cardio after work!

 

[Blizzard]

I don't worry about impressing desk jockeys

 

[User Name]

http://www.linkedin.com/in/pwcworks

 

[RockdaleEddie]

Who cares what anyone else thinks. I mean I do but thats justs me.

 

[whiskey]

Like anyone else who hasn't done the job, he doesn't have a clue.

Crossfit is a hint at what we do.

 

[badpal]

Well i must admit the bike courier is in better shape than me. lol

 

[stevetheupsguy]

I think the guy could have phrased it better but if you define exercise as a series of specific workouts geared toward improving your physical condition I generally agree with him. I think the job constitutes exercise in the same way that walking regularly constitutes exercise, ie, it's better for you than sitting at a desk all day. It's not going to make you big and strong or significantly improve your cardiovascular system. We've got some pretty portly drivers at my building, and a lot of them smoke all day as well. If you can smoke while you're doing it, it's not exercise.

I agree. After awhile of working at UPS, this job becomes the norm of what our body is used to doing. You would need to exceed the anaerobic/aerobic routine by so much in order to work your body beyond what it is used to here.

 

[UPSF Peeon]

where can i get a job as a bike courier? i want to work with that girl

 

[Cementups]

I don't consider this job as a PC driver exercise at all. I've been employed at UPS 17 years and a driver for 14+. As Steve said, it is a routine. After doing the same thing daily, your body becomes used to it. I gained 60 lbs being a PC driver. Now since the new year I've spent 1-2 hours in the gym after work to shed some of it and plan on running my first 1/2 marathon in September. I run 3-5 miles before work 3-4 days a week as well. I was even spotted the other night by another driver while I was running the other night after work when it was 90 degrees and humid out. the next day, he told me there was no way in hell he could be out running after doing this all day. I told him, "You got to want it."

 

[UnconTROLLed]

http://www.asylum.com/2010/05/12/best-jobs-for-fitness-healthy-exercise/

Check it out... this "expert" doesn't think what we do all day counts as exercise or hard work! Can you believe that?!

I would really like to see this guy sign up for an entire Peak Season, on one of the busiest (300 to 400 stops + pickups) routes UPS has to offer a brownhorn Helper, when it really starts picking up. I'm talking starting at 10AM and finishing around 12 to 1 or even 2AM here (yes, I've been on those routes before). OH! And with a Driver and Management team that only lets you walk the packages when it's 1. raining or 2. dark, and flat out running the stops otherwise.

$50 says he wouldn't cut the mustard, because it's too physically draining.

What a maroon!

You are taking the fitness professional out of context. Clearly he is not denying it is physical activity, but also once your body adjusts to the demands of the job, you no longer really "gain" muscle, cardio, anything like that. It's pretty much status quo as far as physical condition.

Also, when it comes to work speed and performance, "you set the bar". A fair days work for a fair days pay. No one can force you to run or jog, or hurry the stops. This includes inside the building or driving. The only one that can hurry you is you. If you think otherwise, don't take too much offense here, but you may be the maroon.

 

[UsuallyPrettyStupid]

I think it really depends on what type of route you are on,resi or business.There are resi routes that you can run on all day long and use as a way to drop weight or just for pure cardio.Then there are the freight routes that you can push yourself to muscle failure if you truly desire.Throw in proper food intake or the lack of and you will see a change in your body.You will never look like Arnold pre Terminator without seeing a gym, but i think you can definetly see some changes depending on your goals.