How HGV Drivers Can Stay Fit & Healthy on The Road
HGV drivers spend a lot of time sitting down whilst driving cross-country, whilst this requires a lot of mental concentration, this can also impact your health. Being a truck driver can be a lonely role, as you spend a lot of your time on the road and away from family or loved ones, sometimes even missing special occasions. This can take its toll on truck driver’s mental health and wellbeing, so how can HGV drivers improve their health whilst on the road?
Physical exercise
Driving consecutive hours isn’t the best for your health, as you can often be sat in the same position for multiple hours. Physical activities and exercise is a great and effective way for truck drivers to improve their health and mental health too.
When you exercise, it helps you clear your mind and feel good about yourself, and this little boost can really benefit the mental wellbeing of truck drivers, especially when away from family for prolonged periods of time.
There are many ways of exercise that can benefit truck drivers, here are some of the examples:
Daily stretching
You can feel restless and stiff when sitting down for long hours, a quick and easy way to solve this is to stretch. The key areas to stretch are your back and legs to ensure you feel no pain, as this can impact your work and ability to drive. Additionally, there are many tutorials available to help you understand the key stretches to do if you are unsure.
Cardio
Whether this is a short stroll or an hour’s jog, cardio is a quick and simple way to get your daily exercise in, burn calories and get some well needed fresh air. You can complete this during breaks or at stops after your shift. When going for a walk or jog, start off simple when setting your goals of how much distance you want to cover, and you can slowly start to raise this every time.
Cycling
If walking isn’t the one for you, then cycling may be. Fold away bikes are small enough to fit in your cabin and cycling is another great way to enjoy your downtime, discover somewhere new and exercise.
Gyms
If you have a gym membership that works across multiple locations, visit local gyms near to your stop to get in your daily exercise. Furthermore, some truck stops across the UK do have their own on-site gyms to save you travelling further. It is advised not to push yourself too hard as injuries can prevent you from working.
Sport
Outside of work, you can also increase your levels of physical exercise through playing sport. Although this may be harder to fit into your schedule, it can help improve your mental health and physical wellbeing.
It is important to remember that you don’t have to exercise every day, as everyone needs a rest day. If you are first starting out, try 1-2 days a week and see how that goes and increase this as to how it suits you and your routine.
Rest is essential
Did you know that 1 in 5 major accidents in the UK are down to fatigue? Rest is critical to remaining safe on the road at all times. Within the EU, there is a 9-hour daily drive limit and HGV drivers must have a 45 minute break at least every 4.5 hours. Furthermore, truck drivers are not allowed to drive more than 56 hours in a week.
It has always been advised to get an average of 8 hours sleep so you wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead, even if you do this there are still other ways to help rest.
Increase sunlight intake during the day
When you can, step out of your cabin and take in the sunlight as this will increase your levels of vitamin D. Sunlight can help your natural body clock remain healthy, improve the quality of sleep and enhance your daytime energy levels.
Reduce blue light exposure
High levels of blue light exposure from vehicle screens and mobile devices can impact your sleep. It is recommended to go screen free up to an hour before bed to help you get off to sleep sooner. You could always get stuck into a book to help you drift off or stay away from your phone.
Low caffeine intake
Although coffee and caffeine can help towards keeping you alert, drinking caffeine past mid-afternoon can really impact your quality of sleep as it could still be in your bloodstream after 10 hours of drinking your first cup. Drinking caffeine regularly can also start to have the opposite effect on your body and lead to tiredness, which can impact your driving.
Timing
If you have a routine of when you rest at home, it is best to try and stick to this schedule and then your natural body clock is still in sync.
Block the light out
When you’re wanting a rest or to sleep, light creeping in can disturb your sleep, so blackout curtains or even an eye mask is recommended.
Comfort
Finally, and most importantly, is comfort. A comfortable mattress and pillow will help you get those 8 hours you need. Although this can be expensive, you shouldn’t compromise on your own health.
Maintain a balanced diet
Your diet is important as this can really impact your physical and mental health. Almost a quarter of UK truck drivers eat in transport cafes, service stations and fast-food restaurants, and these are far from the healthiest choices you can make.
There are health-conscious choices you can make such as drinking enough water, reducing the amount of sugary food and drinks you consume, eating fruit and watching exactly what you eat. You can always buy fresh ingredients and cook your own meals so then you know exactly what you have eaten or pick healthier, lower fat items from the menu.
Furthermore, if you are increasing your levels of exercise you don’t want to counter this by consuming high calorie, fat-based meals as this will not help you with your overall goals.
Breakfast is highly important as it gives you energy to kickstart your day and to help you get the nutrients you need, consider oats, cereal bars and yoghurts for a healthier alternative to the full English breakfast. Snack wise, protein bars are a great alternative to crisps and biscuits as they offer a high source of protein and energy to help you carry on with your day.
Keep hydrated
Hydration is a key part of improving your overall wellbeing and health as a truck driver. Ideally, you should avoid high sugar drinks as these have a negative impact on your health and high caffeine drinks as these disrupt your sleep.
Water is proven to help with your overall health and weight loss. You can also make an environmental decision of purchasing a reusable water bottle rather than using single use water bottles. Fruit juices are another great way to increase your intake of vitamins and natural sugars.
As a truck driver, you should also limit or be careful with the amount of alcohol you consume as this can affect your driving ability and also stay in your system longer than expected. If you are planning to drink, you should make sure that you have enough time for this to pass through your system before getting behind the wheel to reduce the risks of accidents.
Used trucks by FleetEx
If you are in the market for a used truck, have a look at our extensive stock online today. All of our trucks are safety checked to ensure they are road legal and safe for your desired use.
Take a look at our used trucks for sale, and we also offer flexible finance packages for our UK customers. If you have any questions regarding a vehicle, please contact us today and we’ll be happy to assist you.