3 Easy Truck Driver Workouts to Promote Healthy Circulation

It can be hard to find time for a trucker workout when you are stuck behind the wheel all day long. But the good news is, a workout does not have to mean going to the gym or having tons of equipment, not even a yoga mat. It can be done in just minutes a day.

Lengthy bouts of sitting with little leg movement put drivers at risk of tightening and shortening the leg muscles, cramps, blood clots, circulation issues, peripheral edema, and causing the heart to work twice as hard.

Our calf is the hydraulic pump for our heart—the heart's partner in crime, and that crime is keeping you healthy. When we move around throughout the day, walking, squatting, flexing, stepping, activates our calves. The calf pushes deoxygenated blood up to the heart.

Your truck driver workout needs to include simple movements throughout the day or you will suffer the consequences. You need that blood pushed back up to your heart, or it's only a matter of time before your body will be facing functioning issues like blood pooling in your veins, varicose veins, or deep vein thrombosis.


3 Exercise to Add to your Trucker Workout Routine for Better Circulation:

Flex and Point- Foot Pump Behind the Wheel:
When you find yourself stuck behind the wheel, consider adding in a few foot pumps to your routine. With one foot free, flex and point the foot (ankle) as many times as you can in a 10-20 second burst. Then repeat the opposite side. 2-6 times throughout the day.

Functional Calf Stretch Outside the Rig:
While you fill up with fuel or as a part of your routine before you get into the truck, add the Functional Calf Stretch. It is discrete and will do wonders for not just circulation, but back pain, and calf cramps.

1. Stand tall
2. Take a casual step back
3. Point both feet forward and keep your feet hips distance or wider
4. Square your hips forward and bend your front knee over its ankle
5. Exhale, bend your back knee as far as you can without lifting the heel
6. Inhale, straighten the back leg
7. Repeat this process ten times on each side
8. Watch the back knee and ankle and keep them from falling inward

Power Walk:
Our bodies are designed to move. Walk and talk, power walk into the truck stop, around your rig, or march in place inside the truck cab on a cold day. Every step counts.

There are small, simple changes you can add to your day every day that all add up to the results you are looking for. But none of that can happen until you decide to start. I hope that day is today.


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