Category: trucker fitness

From MATS 2 GATS Fitness Challenge Tips

Posted on April 28, 2017 by - GATS, healthy eating for truckers, healthy truckers, MATS, rookie truckers, truck driver, trucker fitness, veteran truckers

We had a great time at MATS, the Mid-American Trucking Show, in March, but now it’s time to get our rears in gear for GATS, the Great American Trucking Show! Why exactly do our rears need to be in gear? Because it’s time for the MATS 2 GATS weight loss challenge and we have the fitness tips to help you win.

From MATS to GATS Fitness Tips

GATS takes place in Dallas Texas from August 24th – 27th, and if you thought MATS was fun you’ll be in for a whole new trucking experience at GATS. However, are you up for the weight loss challenge?

Will you join forces with your fellow members of the trucking industry to lose a combined weight loss goal of over 2,000 pounds as a team by August 25th in the MATS 2 GATS challenge? Do you think you’re up to the task? Well then sign up here by May 31st! You will even get a t-shirt and a wristband for joining the challenge and we don’t have to tell you how cool trucking related shirts are. Plus, ToughTested will even be providing prizes! 

However, how exactly does a member of the trucking industry lose weight? By spending hours on the road and at work without much time to exercise this task might sound difficult. However, there are a lot of small changes to your schedule that you can make to shed some extra pounds.

We understand that the idea of losing weight can be totally unexciting because you know that you will have to diet and give up awesome foods, but this isn’t necessarily the case. Strict diets and cutting out some foods completely often results in rebounding hard and regaining all of your lost weight.

Instead of totally cutting out carbs and sugar learn how to eat healthily and in moderation. Limit your calories and replace bad snacks like chips and candy bars with fruit or nuts. Plan your meals in advance. If you have a big breakfast then go for a light lunch. Also, healthier options like salads with grilled chicken will fill you up more than you think.

Planning ahead and taking healthier options with you in your truck or to your office will help you stick to your healthier meal plan. Instead of dealing with the hassle to pull over for a snack or go out and buy lunch your healthier option will conveniently already be waiting for you.

Put down the soda cup. Instead of drinking insanely sugary sodas to stay awake go for sugar-free options like black coffee or green tea. These options even come iced and will keep you awake longer because you won’t have a sugar crash.

Also, you don’t need to join a gym or adopt some crazy time-consuming workout routine to lose weight, even though they help. You will be surprised by the results you will see simply from moving around a little more.

Try to get in some extra steps by walking around the truck stop or office. It really doesn’t take that much time to hit the daily recommendation of 10,000 steps per day by taking a few extra steps here and there. Some truckers just circle their rigs a few times.

 

Every time you use the bathroom or a tv commercial comes on do some planks or pushups. These are exercises that can be done anywhere, even with limited space. You can use a pair of resistance straps in your rig with some free weights to work out after you park.

The next step is easy. Get enough sleep! It’s hard to lose weight when you’re stressed, and when you’re tired your body craves more sugary items for energy. By relaxing with a good night’s sleep your body will be ready to drop some pounds and won’t give you as many cravings for foods you shouldn’t be eating.

Join the MATS 2 GATS Challenge

Trucker health is extremely important. It’s time to join forces with your trucking industry family to shed pounds and help prevent the health issues like high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep deprivation, and more that come with being overweight. Step up and join the MATS 2 GATS challenge!

For more trucking tips visit ExpressTruckTax.com and be sure to share your weight loss tips in the comment section below.

Preventing Back Pain On The Road

Posted on March 17, 2017 by - back pain, bake pain while driving, new truckers, preventing back pain, rookie truckers, truck drivers, Trucker, trucker back pain, trucker fitness, trucker health, veteran truckers

You’re just chugging along on your route just fine until rush hour traffic hits. Then to make things worse your back pain starts to flare up, so you’re distracted by annoying aches and pinches while slowly moving forward in bumper to bumper traffic. Maybe you try to stay positive, but in reality, you’re worried about your back pain keeping you up all night.

Don’t let back pain be the monster that ruins your trip! Learn how to stop and prevent it from flaring up with our helpful back soothing tips.

Stop & Prevent Back Pain

One major cause of back pain is sitting still for too long. The vertebrae in your lower spine get compressed together and start to ache. Also, while sitting you sciatic nerve that runs down your back under your butt can get pinched, causing pain.

Now you may be wondering what you can possibly do to prevent back pain when your job involves sitting for 10 hours are more, but don’t worry, there are a lot of solutions.

The first step towards preventing back pain is looking at your posture. Your seat shouldn’t be so far back that you have to hunch over forward to reach the wheel. Keep your seat forward, but not too close to the wheel and keep it back, slightly passed a 90-degree angle. Then make sure that you’re leaning back in a relaxed position with your arms resting on your arm rests. By being relaxed you’ll be putting less strain on your butt and core to hold up your weight.

It’s not good to sit still in the same position all day, so make subtle adjustments to your seat every 45 minutes to the hour to engage different areas of your muscles, and to give other areas time to rest.

Keep in mind that your bottom, back, abs, and basically your entire core are responsible for holding up your weight and stabilizing it. This means that every muscle involved needs to be strong enough to do their job. Consider doing some exercises at night when you’re parked. There are tons of ab, glute, and back strengthening activities that don’t require much room to do.

You may want to consider adopting a healthier lifestyle to burn some of the weight your body has to support. Making simple changes like drinking plain black coffee or iced green tea instead of sugary sodas and eating fruit instead of processed snacks can put you on the right track towards dropping some weight. Also, try to walk whenever you can. Lap your truck a few times or hoof it around the truckstop to burn some calories.

Remember that water is your sugar and calorie free friend. Not only is it a healthy choice, but it’s extremely hydrating. By being hydrated you can avoid the ill effects of dehydration which include muscle fatigue and cramps.

Never forget to stretch, every morning when you wake up, and every night after you’ve parked. It’s important to stretch and warm up your muscles for their task ahead and to relieve them after a hard day of work.

There are many yoga stretches like the child’s pose and downward facing dog that do wonders for the back. However, the best thing you can do is pop a squat. Hunching over your knees and letting your bum hang down allows your vertebrae to decompress.

Along with stretching try to relax. Stress can lead to a number of problems, including tensed, tight muscles. Freaking out over a traffic jam or the truck stop running out of parking can be frustrating, but try to stay calm for your back’s sake. Yoga can be a calming practice that combines both relaxing and stretching, so it’s definitely worth checking out.

If your back is giving you grief you can always enhance your seat. Try getting a heated seat cover or something that provides lumbar support. Heck, you spend more time in that chair than any other one, so why not make it comfortable and supportive

At night, if you can’t get relief try soothing your back pain with over the counter painkillers, like Advil. You can also try icing your back or applying a gel or patch that heats and cools the area, like icy hot.

Keep on Truckin’ Pain-Free

Back pain doesn’t have to end your career, by making a few changes to your seat and daily routine you can totally knock out your pain to sit pretty. However, if problems do persist for more than a few days you should consult with your doctor.

For more trucking tips visit ExpressTruckTax.com and please share your comments about relieving back pain in the comment section below.

Delicious Crockpot Recipes To Cook While Trucking

Posted on March 10, 2017 by - #TruckingNation, cooking on the road, crock pot recipe, crockpot, meal prep, new truckers, rookie truckers, truck drivers, Trucker, trucker fitness, trucker health, veteran truckers

You’ve just parked for the night after hours of driving and all of the sudden your stomach growls. However, the truck stop you’re at has slim pickings for dinner options, and there isn’t a fast food place nearby. Now you have to deal with the hassle of bobtailing somewhere for an expensive meal!

What if we told you that you could avoid all that hassle and get comfy in your bunk with a warm, home cooked meal? All you have to do is get a crockpot for your rig!

The Crockpot Way

By investing in a 12V crockpot you’ll save money and time by having your own home cooked meal ready to eat in your rig. Plus, the meals that you prepare yourself will be tastier and healthier options than fast food. Before you know it you’ll be the top trucker chef!

The leading cause of death for truckers happens to be obesity, so by cooking your own meals and avoiding fast food options, you’ll be able to watch your weight and give your body more nutrition.

Many truckers enjoy having a crockpot in their truck because the meals are easy to make, and often spiced to their preferences. Also, since crockpots operate at a lower temperature they’re safer to keep in the cab instead of hot plates and electric skillets.

Plus, they make crockpot liners now, that you place in your crockpot before your put in your ingredients, to keep your crockpot clean. All you have to do is remove the liner and throw it out when you’re done, so you don’t have to find a place to wash your crockpot while you’re on the road.

Meal prepping for the road is easy. Before you leave chop up and veggies or cook any meat for your recipe and place them in a bag or Tupperware container in a bag to keep in your truck’s fridge until you’re ready to cook them. If you have a freezer in your rig then you can store your recipes even longer.

All you have to do is make sure that your crockpot and a good place to sit. Many come with lids that lock so your food won’t spill if your crock pot takes a tumble. They can easily sit in a storage cabinet or on a shelf.

Delicious Crockpot Recipes

Now let’s take a look at a few delicious recipes you can cook up on the road:

BBQ Pulled Pork

Nothing beats a good bbq plate or sandwich! Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

3lbs of pulled pork tenderloin
1 bottle of your preferred bbq sauce (at least 18 oz.)
1 can of soda (like Coke or Dr.Pepper.)
½ a sliced onion.

Directions:

Place your onions at the bottom of your crockpot, then add your pork on top of them. Then mix your bbq sauce and soda together, and add any preferred spices and pour it over the pork. Cook it for 6 to 7 hours on low then shred the pork and enjoy.

Chicken Teriyaki

Who loves Chinese food? We do, and this recipe is easy. Here is what you need:

1 lb of chicken cut into small chunks
½ cup of teriyaki sauce or marinade
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
⅓ cup of brown sugar
1 of cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of cornstarch

Directions:

Place all of your ingredients except for the cornstarch into your crockpot and cook it on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours. Then add the liquid from the crockpot to the cornstarch in a pan to thicken it, and add your chicken to the pan. This chicken goes great with broccoli and rice steamed in a microwave.

Breakfast Casserole

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a warm breakfast waiting for you? You don’t even need to get dressed or leave your truck for this one, as long as you have these ingredients:

1 bag of frozen hash browns (32 oz.)
1 lb of bacon
1 small onion (diced.)
An 8 oz bag of shredded cheese
1/2 of a red bell pepper (diced.)
1/2 of a green bell pepper (diced.)
12 large eggs
1 cup of skim milk

Directions:

Either get pre-cooked bacon or cook your bacon drain it and cut it up. Then add half of your hash browns, bacon, onions, peppers, and cheese. Next, add the remaining half of your hash browns, bacon, onions, peppers, and cheese. Then add your milk and eggs together and pour it over the rest of your ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook your casserole on warm for 8 hours and enjoy it in the morning. You can also cook it for 4 hours on low to have it ready faster.

What’s Cookin’ Good Lookin’?

Don’t deal with the hassle of finding a dinner or fast food restaurant every time you’re hungry. Relax in the comfort of your own cab with a delicious meal you cooked yourself, and take pride in your cheaper, healthier option. For more trucking tips visit ExpressTruckTax.com and share your secret crockpot recipes in the comment section below.

5 Ways to Survive Truck Driving School

Posted on November 14, 2016 by - CDL, CDL training, healthy living, school, sleep deprivation, tips and tricks, truck drivers, trucker fitness

Every year, tons of hopeful truckers enroll in schools and programs to get their CDL’s. As with any training program, the work is tough, and you get out of it what you put in. But how can you make sure you survive the whole process? Let’s run through this!

Start Early

So once you’ve been accepted and enrolled into a program, you need to hit the ground running. Find out what books and training materials you need as soon as possible, and start reviewing.

Review everything. It’ll be tough, but you will understand more of what you’re learning later. Learn the definitions of words, or at least familiarize yourself with them.

Also, look into some online communities and learn what you can from there. Whether that’s lingo, or survival tips, you can find plenty in forums, social media, and blogs!

Study Hard

Oh, nobody wants to hear it. You need to study hard. Yeah, you’re going to spend a lot of time learning all this in your classes, but you’re gonna have to put in a ton of time and study hard.

Think about it, not everybody passes their CDL right away. You want to become a trucker, so you’re going to need to get through your training and learn as much as possible.

You don’t want to be a rookie trucker forever, do you? Or worse, a CDL dropout?

Start Sleeping Well

This is a tough one. You might not know this, but sleep is crucial for success, health, and happiness. While you might imagine a gruff, short-tempered trucker as the standard cut of the cloth, that isn’t actually the case.

But plenty of truckers out there have sleep problems from the lifestyle. Of course, this leads to risks. Without sleep, you can find yourself with a grumpy disposition, impaired immunity system, and unable to concentrate.

That’s why you need at least eight hours of sleep, which is even more important once you’re a truck driver. So start doing everything you can to improve your sleep schedule!

Start Being Healthy

When you’re learning the ins and outs of your CDL, you should also spend some of your time off implementing healthy habits that will stick with you in the cab.

Start with your fitness by creating a good workout routine that will stick with you. Learn how to use your environment and your own body, or find mobile fitness tools and routines you can take with you.

We’ve given you fitness advice before, but we’re also big proponents of healthy eating. Ask any trucker about food on the road, and you’ll find out that truck stops are full of convenience foods — not health food.

Now, we’re not saying you need to eat kale chips every day (they’re good, I swear!), but you should do what you can to eat plenty of fresh veggies, whole grains, and lean proteins. Your diet will affect your disposition as much as sleep and fitness, so start eating right!

Of course, there are other problem areas for truckers — like perpetual back injuries from sitting all day, for example. You will need to watch your health as a trucker, bottom line.

Plan Ahead

Our first bit of advice is to start setting personal goals beyond getting your CDL. All things considered, you will put in the hard work and it’ll pay off with a CDL, and hopefully a trucking job!

But then you will have to decide what kind of job you want to have, where you want to be based out of, and all sorts of other considerations.

While you’re still in school, figure out what you like about driving a truck, learn about company drivers as compared to owner operators, and connect with other students.

No matter what you do, getting your CDL is hard work. With all the hard work you put in, you’ll be a truck driver before you know it. Once you’re a trucker, we’ll be ready to help you e-file Form 2290 right here at ExpressTruckTax!

#TruckTechTuesday: Healthy Lifestyle Apps for Truckers

Posted on November 3, 2015 by - #TruckTechTuesday, Siphiwe Baleka, trucker fitness, trucking fitness apps

Happy #TruckTechTuesday, Trucking Nation! We all know how hard it is to stay in shape when you’re constantly on the road. According to trucker fitness guru Siphiwe Baleka, the life expectancy of truckers can be 10 to 15 years shorter than the U.S. average. We here at ExpressTruckTax want you to live long, prosperous lives, so let’s have a look at some apps that will help you on your fitness journey.

New App: Active Trucker

Anything that makes it easier for truckers to keep active is a big help. Baleka has released an app that does just that.The app is called Active Trucker, and provides 10 different exercises that take only 15 minutes or less. These are workouts that you can do by the side of your truck at either a rest area or a truck stop. Each exercise builds on the previous ones, and they gradually increase in complexity and intensity.

You don’t even need to change clothes for these workouts. The app is designed to make trucker fitness as easy as possible. You can also add friends and family to the app, so that they can see when you’ve worked out, and offer you support and encouragement.

My Fitness Pal

My Fitness Pal is an automatic calorie counter and diet planner. It contains the nutrition information for over 2 million foods, and includes a feature that allows you to scan the barcode on any food label and get its nutrition facts that way.This app allows you to keep a food journal, and track nutrient and vitamin information as well.

Rolling Strong

This app is designed especially for truckers. In the free section there are location services for clinics and self-check health locations, as well as access to an extensive digital library that contains recorded wellness seminars. The members section gives you access to clinics for monthly health screenings, an on-the-go nutritional guide, and access to member only discounts.

These are only a few of the apps available today that can help you stay healthy on the road. There are many others designed with trucker wellness in mind. So don’t be afraid to explore them and let us know what works best for you.

We’d Like to Help

We here at ExpressTruckTax hope these apps will help you find ways to maintain healthy living. As always, we’re here Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to answer your questions over the phone at 704.234.6005 or by web-based chat. You can also reach us at any time via email at support@expresstrucktax.com.