Physical labor
 

I am so out of shape. Geez.

I'm having my backyard redone. I took out all the bamboo, so it's time. I lost lots of regular plants in the process. I would chase down bamboo runners only to find them entangled in some decorative plant roots. We decided to wipe the slate clean and start new. The rest of the plants/tress got removed - concrete broken up. The contractor removed my bamboo barrier by cutting it six inches below grade. It was sheet metal. I didn't like that so I dug it out myself. Holy crap I'm tired. It is clear I could not work a full day doing what they do. Those guy must be in the best shape no? Perfect blood pressure and stuff. Every day is a full body workout. No doubt they don't need a gym membership.

I would have six PAC abs for sure. Hah.

For the past couple of summers I helped a builder buddy out, it was fun getting out there and actually doing stuff. Every day was a weekend project, just that it took all week.

I would be exhausted at the end of every day and have to recover.

After work buddy would go play 9 holes of golf (walking - carry clubs), then split for ballroom dancing and dance with every woman there.

He did this often, eventually I was able to play some golf with him after work, but not the other stuff. He had all kinds of energy, mid-50's.

I guess you just work yourself up to it after many years. I know working construction improved my stamina but such a pale comparison to my friend.

I spent all summer taking down a tree, removing the stump, removing dirt, filling it with pea gravel, and putting a swing set on top.

I'm in much better shape now. Especially after digging out the stump and cutting it up...with an ax.

When i was a kid i used to help my buddies grandfather in his rubbish buisness.I swear that was the best excerise a person can get.We would have to hall couches down flights of stairs.We called them rivieras because most of them were fold out beds.

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I usually grumble afterward, my back, knee, whatever... but looking back I like physical work. So simple to see what you accomplished. Pile of rocks that was in the truck is not over there. Working in IT sometimes seems like I'm busy doing something yet not really doing anything.

Processing firewood, moving stone/soil/mulch, working on cars... thats where I get a sense of accomplishment.

I am completely tearing off my deck and replacing it. Last time I did this was in 2007 on my last house. I feel a lot older now....

You are just getting old, that's all .I remember the days when I can go out and do a 70 mile training ride with the boys and go straight to work after that, then stay up all night and hang out. Now, I am lucky if I can dig one hole or crawl under the house. I still do it, and it does keep me in shape. Hey, round is a shape, right?

I think its just doing it daily. I can stand on my feet or walk for hours still. I know some people who has sedentaryb jobs would be pooping out after an hour of standing or walking. you body just used to it. I spend every saturday riding with the hammerhead group (50 miles). My body eventually get used to the abuse and I am fine now. The first few times was a btich.

Don't over-do-it if you haven't done out door landscaping in a while for at least a couple days. Then you'll be fine after that. It's like doing a new exercise at the gym or an exercise you haven't done in a while.

When I first moved back to KY I took a temp job as an order picker at Amazon for the Xmas season, which requires walking maybe 7-10 miles during a 10-hour shift. You wouldn't believe how many kids - only 19 or 20 - quit after one or two DAYS. My nephew was 20 at the time (30 years younger than me) and quit after a week, and he lasted that long mostly because he didn't like me showing him up.

I did start skipping my 5k runs every morning though - 10 hours on my feet and then a run after work was pushing it.

I stay fit enough to handle whatever the day may throw at me. I'm certainly not an expert at that day, but I squeak through.

My aim is to (just) manage a day's plumbing, chainsawing firewood, a surf...

I'm a lazy bum compared to my parents :)

Mother Nature has provided me with a "to do" list that will NEVER end however.

Thread hijack here....bamboo.

I've been considering starting a patch on my rural property as a quick growing barrier on one property line...maybe several hundred feet of it. I know it spreads, but have no experience..what say ye?

Note to self. Don't plant bamboo.

Generally most of the back/knee/shoulder injuries that happen to people is from having a sit down job all week long , and then attempting to move some heavy object without stretching on Saturday morning. I see this with my job (which is very physical) and those who I ask for a small bit of help every now and then. One injured his back helping me lift a 150# mold, while another strained his anke while doing 100 repetitive parts prototype assembly (the same parts that I have made thousands of with nothing more than a sore muscle now and then). Thes guys were both 10-15 years younger than me also.

At 52 years old, it helps that I still cut/split/stack 5 cords of firewood a year, and sling countless bales of hay for our horses.

The key is to never get old.......just get older.

Will be working out in my yard first part of today then watching football in the afternoon.

Balance.

just have a cat 5 threat to come by

we were dead from the prep work alone
then the storm
then a week clean up
every thing hurts is strained sprained and cut up

NOOOOOOOO!!! dont do it!! hijack away. that crap lifted a slab near my house. thankfully, it didnt duck under my foundation. the furthest run for a ryzhome at my house was 40 feet!! 40 feet away from the parent plant it spread out a runner. my old lady neighbor LOVES me because it took the battle to her yard. i eradicated it there too.


it is 100% not maintenance free..ever.

KC911..just so you know. i took out a piece of bamboo every day for four months straight. that's the plant's Achilles heel. it HAS to poke out a shoot. once it does it tells you were to dig. then you dig. the plant keeps no secrets about it's location.

You can be fit and run 10 miles daily and if you dig a goddamnhole, it will kick your ass the next day because those muscles have not vbeen used for some time unlike kids, they are running, throwing and crawling into stuff exercising every muscle in their body. I can go out and do a 50 mile hard ride and come back and feel normal within the 15 min. If you ask me to dig a small home with a pick, that will kick my teeth in for a week after that.

Hod carriers, at least in the olden days, mixed and carried mortar to bricklayers (mortar contains sand), and brought bricks to them. One hod carrier could keep two bricklayers busy.

A friend, now retired, was a plasterer. Plaster also contains sand. One day, when ten tons of sand was delivered, he and his buddy used it up to build plaster walls then played basketball in the afternoon.

A friend, now retired, once spent a week jackhammering a concrete ceiling. Think real hard about that.

As you all know, they don't make 'em like they used to. Today's men are more like the women in my grandfather's generation.

I get tired checking the mail. <grin>

In high school and college I would go work with dad out on the cranes on weekends and breaks. All day up and down ladders and hustling and it was no problem.


Now after a few years pushing a keyboard all day, I'm beat if I spend a Saturday doing yard work and working on the car.

Meanwhile the old man is still plugging away out on the cranes every day. Like they said, if you don't use it you lose it!