How To Stay Fit and Healthy as a Truck Driver

Many Americans struggle with staying healthy. It doesn’t help that a lot of our jobs leave us too tired to exercise. Plus, getting only 30 minutes for a lunch break doesn’t leave a lot of time for cooking healthy meals.

For truck drivers, there are added challenges. Living in a sleeper cab without access to a kitchen makes it harder to prepare your own meals; this puts you at the mercy of whichever food options happen to be nearby when you take your breaks. It also means sleeping at odd hours and sitting for long periods of time.

Thankfully, there are ways to stay fit and healthy as a truck driver. Keep reading to learn how!

Eating a Better Diet

According to Michael Pollan, author of several books on America’s nutrition crisis, the best advice regarding what to eat can be summed up in seven words: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” His advice, which echoes what doctors have been telling us for ages, is to focus on eating whole foods we prepare ourselves. When restaurants and corporations make food products, they tend to add a lot of unhealthy ingredients.

What does a healthy diet look like for truckers? First of all, truck drivers should make use of the minifridge that comes in most cabs. Buy fresh groceries so you can make your own sandwiches instead of buying fast food for lunch. It also makes a difference to choose healthy snacks, like fruit or nuts, instead of chips.

Prepare Meals in a Truck Cab

Most truck cabs aren’t well-equipped for meal preparation, but that doesn’t mean you can’t cook at all. Countertop kitchen appliances are a truck driver’s best friend since most cabs have electrical outlets. The most useful appliances are the ones you can use to make more than one kind of food. Our favorites include:

• Panini press
• Countertop grill
• Camp stove
• Instapot
• Air fryer

Getting Exercise on the Road

Another major problem for truck drivers is getting regular exercise. Exercise is crucial for offsetting the negative health effects of sitting all day. However, it can be hard to exercise when you travel for a living.

Bring Equipment With You

One thing you can try to stay fit and healthy as a truck driver is bringing fitness equipment with you. Jump ropes, dumbbells, and resistance bands are portable. You might also be able to fit a yoga mat on the floor of your cab. If you’re staying overnight at a truck stop, see if you can find others to play frisbee, basketball, or soccer with you.

Find Places To Exercise

If you prefer having access to a full gym, you can try getting a membership at one of the many nationwide chains across the country. This would allow you to get in a workout anytime you’re near one of those gyms.

Learn Calisthenics

Calisthenics is a fantastic solution for truck drivers because it doesn’t require much space or any equipment. Calisthenics is basically any exercise you do with just the weight of your own body, like lunges, jumping jacks, and planks. There are free regimens available online for all levels of athletic ability.

Getting a Proper Night’s Rest

Sleep can have a huge impact on the way your body processes food, illness, and energy. If you’re not getting a good night’s sleep, your body isn’t given the time it needs to repair cells and regulate energy levels. Being a trucker sometimes means sleeping during the day or near busy streets, which can make it nearly impossible to get the rest you need.

To improve your chances of falling asleep in less-than-ideal circumstances, try these tricks:

• Use a sleeping mask
• Listen to white noise
• Wear earplugs
• Upgrade your mattress
• Meditate before bedtime
• Decrease caffeine consumption

Safeguarding Your Mental Health

Mental health is just as important as physical health. When you’re on the road for weeks at a time, it can get lonely. The anxiety around meeting delivery times can also make people stressed. Everyone needs strategies for taking care of their mental health, and that includes truckers.

Keep in Touch With Family

When you’re away from home, it’s still important to see the ones you love. Make sure you take time to video chat with your family and friends. If they are available to talk while you’re working, you can have a hands-free chat on the phone while you drive.

Meet With a Virtual Therapist

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a significant increase in the number of people seeking virtual therapy. In fact, all kinds of medical practices started offering services remotely. If you find yourself feeling lonely or depressed on the job, talking to a therapist can be a huge help. And if you’re not currently experiencing a negative mental outlook, therapy can help prevent it.

Bring Your Hobbies With You

One of the best ways to take your mind off your job when you’re on a break is to do one of your hobbies. Bring a musical instrument with you, paint landscapes in a park, or play video games on a handheld console. Taking your mind off your job can be hard when you live in the same space where you work, but hobbies help separate work time from leisure.

Using Correct Posture

If you’ve ever worked in an office, you’ve probably heard there are correct ways to sit at a desk. What most people don’t realize is that there’s a proper way to sit in a driver’s seat, too. For truckers who spend long days driving, bad posture can create problems like Dead Butt Syndrome and muscle tension.

Find the Correct Driving Posture

The correct driving posture for truck drivers is to sit with your back pressed against the back of the seat. Your arms should be bent, but not cramped, as you hold the wheel. Your knees should touch the edge of your seat, and the pedals should be comfortable for your to reach.

Upgrade Your Driving Seat

Driving in the correct posture can be hard when your seat is worn out. The padding that supports your muscles might be flat from years of other people using the same seat. Additionally, your driving seat might not offer enough adjustment options to accommodate your height.

For a more comfortable driving experience, upgrade your commercial truck seat to one of GRA-MAG’s air-ride seats. Our air-ride seats offer both mechanical and pneumatic suspension systems that protect you from muscle tension and nerve damage. Contact us to learn more, and don’t forget to ask about fleet pricing.