Adrenaline High after a night of loading causing sleepless nights?

[you aint even know it]

OK, the issue here is your self-definition of my statement "Lean Muscle Mass"
Lean muscle mass can be anything that is muscle and does not include fat. Not necessarily BULK. A lot of Triathletes have lean muscle mass, but are very thin. Of course, they have built more slow-twitch VS fast-twitch muscle.

When I started loading trucks, I was a gym rat, a Triathlete and pretty damn buff. Loading has helped me stay that way. Now, if you want 30" biceps, a 46 inch chest and a 32 waist, sure, you have to go to the Gym, lift like an animal, do some quality cardio and watch your diet all after loading trailers. But if you simply want lean muscle VS fat, loading trucks and a sensible diet will do that for you. Especially the trailers I have loaded. When most of the General Public think of UPS parcels, they think of 2 or 3 lb packages they get from Amazon. They don't think of the 45 lb. boxes of facing bricks I have loaded by the thousands.

I just can't see how someone could build any type of muscle mass by loading, probably unloading. All you're mostly doing when loading trailers is taking stuff out of your power zone and putting them on the ground, the heavy ones you guys would usually drop right on the floor instead of challenging yourself on putting them above your shoulders. You have to be really proactive and have zero lazy tendencies to build any type of muscle mass. Like picking up over 70ibs all the time and going fast all the time and never slowing down on purpose.

 

[RockinRobin]

I wish it was that easy. Especially power-loading when you have 135 boxes of facing bricks weighing 55 lbs. You can't just pop them on the floor, you have to stack them. And the range of motion and variance in objects and weight is not static. E-Regs at the end of your trailer load can be challenging. 150 lb earth mover tires, 210 lb snow plows, boat anchors weighing 90 lbs each and so irregular they are almost impossible to get a grip on. These items obviously aren't fed to you on the belts, you have to get them on the HUB floor and load them onto the platforms and then into the trailers.

But you are correct, you are not going to build bulk while loading. For that, you need high reps or high weight and localized target training for the muscles you are trying to build.

LEAN muscle mass can be built and maintained by any good exercise. 4 hours of loading or unloading 5 days a week should do that. It sure does for me, and is the only reason I do it. I've got a great full time job. I needed a forced workout to keep me in shape. Loading sure does. For me, it's an AWESOME forced workout. I'm typically drenched in sweat by the end of my shift. Otherwise, I'd have lazy nights when I would just lay on the couch after my career job was over for the day.

When I took the job, I was in what I would have considered "Great" shape, yet, after a week of loading 4 to 4 1/2 hours a night, I was sore. I knew then the job was for me!
But I'm an anomaly. So many quit after a day or two or a week of loading. It's not easy.

To the point of this thread. Many are so jacked-up at the end of the shift they can't sleep at night.

 

[SmithBarney]

When I was in the unload, I leaned out, besides loosing 6-7lbs of water a morning(I drank close to 2 gallons during the sort, I'm a sweaty mess)
I burned tons of fat, had incredible stamina(for workouts/running/etc), and generally felt great.
I do miss those mornings... if I could just figure out how to do it now, with my current job... hehe I would, but the schedules don't mesh.

 

[DriveInDriveOut]

I just can't see how someone could build any type of muscle mass by loading, probably unloading. All you're mostly doing when loading trailers is taking stuff out of your power zone and putting them on the ground, the heavy ones you guys would usually drop right on the floor instead of challenging yourself on putting them above your shoulders. You have to be really proactive and have zero lazy tendencies to build any type of muscle mass. Like picking up over 70ibs all the time and going fast all the time and never slowing down on purpose.

Loading is a different job everywhere, and even different within the same building depending on your shift. Where I'm at, twilight and midnight sorts are cake walk compared to the day sort. Everyone wants to double on midnight, but there's no way I'd double on day sort, they get slammed day in day out.

You mentioned that loading is mostly taking stuff out of your power zone and dropping them to the ground. So I'm assuming you're loading off an extendo. Unfortunately, a lot of people still load off of rollers. It's back breaking work. You're practically picking it up off the ground. They'll dump a whole trailer of canned food boxes, or textbooks or reams of paper, all at once. You have no choice but to load them to the ceiling..... 50+pound boxes from floor to ceiling. You'll build lean muscle trust me.

 

[you aint even know it]

I wish it was that easy. Especially power-loading when you have 135 boxes of facing bricks weighing 55 lbs. You can't just pop them on the floor, you have to stack them. And the range of motion and variance in objects and weight is not static. E-Regs at the end of your trailer load can be challenging. 150 lb earth mover tires, 210 lb snow plows, boat anchors weighing 90 lbs each and so irregular they are almost impossible to get a grip on. These items obviously aren't fed to you on the belts, you have to get them on the HUB floor and load them onto the platforms and then into the trailers.

But you are correct, you are not going to build bulk while loading. For that, you need high reps or high weight and localized target training for the muscles you are trying to build.

LEAN muscle mass can be built and maintained by any good exercise. 4 hours of loading or unloading 5 days a week should do that. It sure does for me, and is the only reason I do it. I've got a great full time job. I needed a forced workout to keep me in shape. Loading sure does. For me, it's an AWESOME forced workout. I'm typically drenched in sweat by the end of my shift. Otherwise, I'd have lazy nights when I would just lay on the couch after my career job was over for the day.

When I took the job, I was in what I would have considered "Great" shape, yet, after a week of loading 4 to 4 1/2 hours a night, I was sore. I knew then the job was for me!
But I'm an anomaly. So many quit after a day or two or a week of loading. It's not easy.

To the point of this thread. Many are so jacked-up at the end of the shift they can't sleep at night.

Ok, I'll take your words because of your attitude and approach, not like some other members on here who would have started yelling "idiot and "troll".

 

[RockinRobin]

I'm not saying you are wrong. Your point that you can't build "Mass" is true. You'll typically stay lean loading, or unloading. But many will build muscle, because you have to. It's just not going to be the kind of ripped big muscle you are thinking of. It's more lean athletic looking.

Did you ever watch the HBO Series "Entourage"? In that show, Kevin Dillon played "Johnny Drama" a guy who was obsessed with working out. He just looked very lean. His colleagues would always say "You look thin, Drama." And he would say, "I'm not thin, I'm Lean! I've got lean muscle.".

Lots of endurance athletes would kill to have a job that keeps you lean.

All I know is, I have dropped Gym workouts and I'm still lean, and still have a nice amount of muscle mass. But I had it before I started. Most of my co-workers are just lean.

If I wanted to "Build Muscle" and looked absolutely ripped, I'd have to go back to the Gym.