Manual labor and building muscle

[squat till ya drop]

Manual labor and building muscle !! Read this

I think this is a very interesting subject. Please read and post your feelings.

People only use a few different types of bodybuilding methods right?, most commonly body splits 5 - 12 rep range. Now most people say the most appropriate way of building muscle is to train it hard with high volume and leave it for a week to recover and grow. Now whilst this is proven to work,and certainly makes sense why it would, what about all the people in the world who are huge and strong who have built there physique naturally (the way god intended) from constant manual labor. Like builders , roofers, farmers, scaffolders etc etc.

This goes against EVERYTHING bodybuilding says to do. Think about it !! These people train the same muscle groups EVERY day, they lift heavy with EXTREMELY high volume, but NEVER to failure, they have NO rest days, they DONT progresslively overload weight, and I dont give a shit what anyone says the majority of these people have bullshit diets, smoke and drink. My best mate for example started scaffolding with a 'average' body, and now has a huge body and great big shoulders, he has half a sandwich and a bannana for lunch... He came to the gym last week for the first time IN HIS LIFE, he was as strong as me on all the isolation exercises, and I was slightly stronger on squats and deads. Thats it... Someone EXPLAIN ????? Now think about swimmers, they train the same muscles every day in the water, and they are renowned for having some of the broadest shoulders ever. And cyclists having great ripped thighs. Now I genuinely dont think anyone has a scientific or accurate answer to this except for 'the body is forced to adapt under such stress' well surely that isnt right because all the noobs who train biceps every fucking day of the week would have massive arms right??! All the people who overtrain would eventually become massive.. Doubt that!! It's exactly the same for people who are in prison, they can train all day every day with crap food and no supplements, and manage to get shredded...

What im trying to say is why has nobody developed HIGH VOLUME LOW INTENSITY..??? Just like all those great big 'workers' out there, seems to work for them.. it goes against everything we know, but maybe it's a superior way of building muscle. People maintain strength alot longer from manual jobs than they do from bodybuilding, after they stop I mean ... Just goes to show maybe we dont know everything about training ...?

 

[Soulthief]

So what is your point about manual labor? I've had every job from digging a ditch to an office job and always worked out. I had more energy for the workout after sitting in an office but was in generally better athletic shape when I did manual labor then worked out. I'm not a bodybuilder though.

 

[buddhabuilder]

"god intended"?

 

[miked8c]

Quick Answer


When weightlifters workout we only have to go in the gym for an hour tops, say what you want but anything over an hour is unnecessary you can do everything you need for a certain body part in an hour and then some.We'll say that we lift 5 days a week, so that is 5 hours a week of weightlifting.

The manual labor workers are working physically for 8 hours a day, at least 5 days a week. That is 40 hours of work, give or take lunch breaks and stuff like that. Regardless of intensity, volume and frequency if your doing legit manual labor for 40 hours a week you will get results.

Weightlifters manage to get the same, and in most cases better, results in 5 hours a week.

When we train with weights we are isolating muscles and body parts while using the right amount of weight to stimulate growth, naturally this is more efficient then just hitting a bodypart in the irregular and normally not intense manner found in manual labor.

There is your answer, manual laborers are able to build impressive physiques simply because its impossible not to when your working your body for 40 hours a week. However, it is much more effective and efficient to do it with weights in a structured program.

 

[Soulthief]

You are over thinking this. Your buddy got huge shoulders because it was the muscles needed to perform the action. Digging ditches my arms and legs grew more. Bodybuilding is just another "job" but in this job the entire body needs big muscles so they are worked that way to adapt to the action of that particular job.

 

[Tectime]

Scaffolding is a very intense and tough job, you're standing on horiz. that are only alittle bigger then 2" in dia. ( talk about balance and what it takes to achieve) lifting and positioning components that weigh an easy 40 lbs to 80 lbs ( ever handle a scaffold board 16 ' long 2" thick and 12" wide) while you're 200 ft off the ground. I have ! Did it for 20 years till I started my own company, it makes for tough strong people! With proper genetics and/ or aas, man there's some monster big bad dudes, then add in the heart it takes to climb that high and work all day, those gains stay with you because you're doing it all the time, muscle endur and strengh are called upon daily! In the gym a lot of people don't utilize the heart and drive equal to what it takes, not saying your buddy has more heart but when it comes to scaffold builders , dude thats its own tes booster! Ha now the flip side, to build the kind of body most bbs want it takes a combo of compound and isolated movements, ( same as a job like scaffolding) except your able to pay attention to the development and growth of muscles, even down to little tweaks to make your muscles respond as you want them to, in the field your muscles are doing what they have to, to complete your task at hand. The decision on light weight high volume vs heavy weight low volume is individual, both ways work, sometimes one works better than the other, I prefer switching up lwhv/hwlv myself, keeps pumps and gains rocking!

 

[squat till ya drop]

Thanks for your answer, makes a lot of sense. Im suprised people havent asked this question more often. I think it has alot to do with testosterone aswell! I think the body produces ALOT more when active all day

 

[squat till ya drop]

Yes the way god intended. He didnt create adam, eve, and a squat rack did he

 

[moya]

Quick Answer


When weightlifters workout we only have to go in the gym for an hour tops, say what you want but anything over an hour is unnecessary you can do everything you need for a certain body part in an hour and then some.We'll say that we lift 5 days a week, so that is 5 hours a week of weightlifting.

The manual labor workers are working physically for 8 hours a day, at least 5 days a week. That is 40 hours of work, give or take lunch breaks and stuff like that. Regardless of intensity, volume and frequency if your doing legit manual labor for 40 hours a week you will get results.

Weightlifters manage to get the same, and in most cases better, results in 5 hours a week.

When we train with weights we are isolating muscles and body parts while using the right amount of weight to stimulate growth, naturally this is more efficient then just hitting a bodypart in the irregular and normally not intense manner found in manual labor.

There is your answer, manual laborers are able to build impressive physiques simply because its impossible not to when your working your body for 40 hours a week. However, it is much more effective and efficient to do it with weights in a structured program.

in reference to the bold statement above...
any manual labor can be made intense... that is work drive, just like effort has to be put into ones workout...

 

[Headholio]

I knew a guy who did concrete work, and man was that dude powerful and thick. I helped him on a job once, and I was a pretty strong powerlifter at the time. I saw him taking these wheelbarrows full of mud up a hill. I grabbed the next one and holy crap! That thing took every bit of my strength. Do that every day and of course you will get strong.