Package Handler Muscle Gain/Body Changes

[Rawrzxor]

I'm curious as to how much muscle some of you long-term package handlers have put on in comparison to when you first started. I wouldn't mind gaining 20, 30 pounds in the next year or two.

I'm going into my second week of loading trailers, (some 18 wheelers[?]) tomorrow. Last week, it wasn't too bad at 4 hours a day, though, on Friday, we worked 7 hours--damn near killed me. My muscles surpassed sore at day 3, with sharp pain (I'm 130 pounds, and out of shape, at that). Though, I've been trying to take around 100-130 grams of protein a day, and am starting to take creatine and protein shakes, this week.

Though, it's so long for a 'workout', and the weight isn't too heavy. So, some people say it's more like cardio than buffing up. I imagine your muscles get used to it after whatever amount of time, and they stop getting bigger but adjust and define. After mine stop getting too sore, I may have to start hitting the gym afterwards for a little more bulk. Though, it's kinda cool having a job that keeps you in shape (even though it's utterly exhausting right now)

(Awesomeness at one-and-a-half over 5 hours. )

How has your body held up or changed due to working in a hub? How long have you worked there?

 

[Box]

I was a sorter for about two months before they promoted me. During that time, I lost 16 pounds with no change to my eating habits.

As the Orientation facilitator, I've seen plenty of new hires completely transform their bodies within a few months. Fat guys/girls get skinny, skinny guys gain muscle mass.

If changing the way you look is your primary motivation, then use that to your advantage, because package handling is a difficult job! Loading isn't worth it if you're doing it for money alone.

 

[Corralz]

I've lost about 10 lbs since Ive been hired. If you are really small you will gain muscle but after a while you will stop. I have to workout outside of UPS and eat a ton to even think about gaining weight. It's definitely more like cardio.

 

[Anonymous 11]

If you are looking to gain twenty or thirty pounds you should get your cdl and sign an intent sheet for feeders.

 

[HubBub]

Putting on that much muscle at 130 lbs would be hard enough if you weren't working this job. The type of work we do for the duration we do it will make it almost impossible (without "vitamin S").

Best chance you'll have is to go to the gym and lift heavy, then spend every spare minute eating and resting/sleeping.

This job will make a big guy small, not the other way around.

 

[jibbs]

Gain weight? Lolololololololololol

(tl;dr at bottom of post)


Background on me:

5'6" (with shoes on... I'm a short little er)
Male
Average weight between 18 and 25 years old: 135lbs



I started working for UPS August 2012, after I had just munched my way up to about 145lbs-150lbs. Heaviest I've been my entire life.

By the end of my first peak I was down to about 115lbs, no joke. Felt like half the boxes coming down the belt weighed more than I did.


I had no change in eating habits or diet once I started preload. I basically went about business as usual, only I'd have a 4-5 hour fullbody workout every morning between 3am-9am, whereas before employment with UPS I just went for a two mile run + body weight exercises nearly every morning and hit the weights twice a week.



Now? I've been 135lbs again for months, maybe close to a year. 7% body fat as of December 19, 2013. I feel like I eat all day, every day too. No matter how much I've eaten, I always want more... 's weird. I blame a decade+ of perpetual munchies-- my head's just kind of stuck in that place, I think.


tl;dr

But yeah. It takes a conscious effort for me to maintain my weight. It would be ridiculous, for me, to even try to gain weight with this job. I don't make enough PT at UPS to support a few extra pounds, man, lol...

 

[Jigawatts]

After 8 plus years the body is cut on the outside, broken on the inside. Sure, you'll look good and healthy, but feel about twice your age.

 

[bleedinbrown58]

After 8 plus years the body is cut on the outside, broken on the inside. Sure, you'll look good and healthy, but feel about twice your age.

Nah....somedays I only feel 20 years older. Breaking down my knees and ankles one package at a time....lol.

 

[you aint even know it]

You won't put on any muscle mass, youll probably lose weight. This job doesnt make you stronger, it just breaks you down.

 

[Johnny Paycheck]

I was promised that I would be sore every night by hiring staff. I was pretty athletic before UPS, I played football all through high school. The soreness never happened, I noticed a slight size increase in my triceps and shoulders, upper and lower back too. That's all. Look at your fellow loaders, do they look buff? We have a term for loaders at my hub, "skinny whiteboy slaves", the operative word here being skinny.

Edit: Since we're posting sizes-
6'3", 185 lbs.

 

[jibbs]

I wonder how well it'd go over if I started calling some of my coworkers "skinny blackboy slaves....."

 

[browntroll]

i started at ups at 160lbs fresh out of high school, never played sports but did walk alot. its been a few years and im at 210lbs.
i mostly increased in my belly, forearms.back and legs. if you really want to gain size then go to the gym and workout. alot of guys i see
at my hub go to the gym but for some reason they feel the need to say they can deadlift 400lbs but get hurt lifting a 50lbs package.
if you are wondering i gained 5 pounds during vacation weeks and have decided not to take anymore.

 

[Marne Vet]

I drove a P800 for 15 years. My clutch leg looks like Arnold's, and my right like Pee Wee Herman's. My forearms from the manual steering look like Popeye's. UPS is awesome! ugh

 

[rod]

If you are looking to gain 20 - 30 pounds I would gladly donate it to you. If you smoke - quit--and you will gain about 25 lbs over night. That's about how fast I did.

 

[BrownChoice]

Preloading has kept me the same weight, with a little more muscle and a lot more toned.

5'10.5" at 185lbs. About 8% body fat said my Doctor.

 

[jibbs]

If you are looking to gain 20 - 30 pounds I would gladly donate it to you. If you smoke - quit--and you will gain about 25 lbs over night. That's about how fast I did.

I don't understand why that happens. Do people just start eating more when they kick the habit or something?

 

[BrownChoice]

I don't understand why that happens. Do people just start eating more when they kick the habit or something?

Nicotine is a stimulant, stopping increases appetite.

 

[jibbs]

So yeah, they eat more.

It's weird how stimulants boost the hell out of a person's metabolism, but also work to suppress that same person's appetite.

I'm just not sure whether the cause of any weight increase that ex-smokers frequently mention is primarily the result of a behavioral or a physiological change.





Yayyyyyyyyyy something for me to go learn about.

 

[bleedinbrown58]

So yeah, they eat more.

It's weird how stimulants boost the hell out of a person's metabolism, but also work to suppress that same person's appetite.

I'm just not sure whether the cause of any weight increase that ex-smokers frequently mention is primarily the result of a behavioral or a physiological change.





Yayyyyyyyyyy something for me to go learn about.

it's psycological too...insteatd of putting a cigarette in your mouth..some people substitute that with food..thus the weight gain rod mentioned.

 

[Nimnim]

I was around 210lbs when I started, after awhile in the unload I went down to around 180, but over the last 8ish years working irregs I'm up to around 230. I have plenty of muscle from this, but no real tone. I know I can stand to lose probably 30, but more than that I'm probably losing muscle mass.