Many people who go into manual labor are former athletes, usually who train with some frequency. However, when we start doing manual labor, it's impossible and stupid to keep training the way we would train with a semi-active or a desk job. Yet we try to do this anyway-- because no matter what happens, we are gonna train! Yet there's very, very little information on training when you work manual labor available.
I've been doing fitness for about eight years now, different programs at different volumes, gradually increasing over the years. And I really, really love training. About a year ago, when I switched to manual labor, I tried to adjust for the volume of work I was doing at work. (I was only breaking pallets and throwing freight for 24 hours a week then, while I do more now. Even so, 24 hours a week is a big activity shift.) I tried to google for information on training-- the "typical" advice I found was to lay off for two weeks, and then your body will have adjusted to your new lifestyle activity, and you can resume your normal training. I did this. Within three months, I had reinjured myself.
I've seen coworkers try different training styles with poor results, as well. One guy went to his normal workout the first week he started working manual labor-- reinjured his knee squatting. One guy tried a three-day-a-week training program, MONTHS into the job-- reinjured his knee. One guy, a former runner, quit working out because the job is so active-- after a year, he had severe, chronic back pain from muscular imbalance. Back pain is rampant among manual laborers; it's actually accepted as normal, but it shouldn't be.
So what can a person do, to minimize injury risk, maintain/improve their fitness, or reach new goals, when they're doing manual labor? Several things: prepare for the job, cut back training volume, time your training carefully, and watch your nutrition VERY carefully. Oh, and sleep. But if you're on nightshift, good luck with that.
First, you need to be prepare for a job in manual labor. You need a balanced muscle base, going into a manual-labor job. You need a strong core-- I don't mean just abs, but functional core strength. Abdominals, obliques, lower back, glutes, hams, quads. You need good endurance, and power. If you have great endurance and terrible core strength, or great core strength but no endurance, I would NOT start working manual labor until you have trained to address it. You will be prone to injury.
Second, you need to cut back your training volume, dramatically. Yes, this is terrifying. Yes, you need to do it. The first two weeks of your new job, you should not train at ALL. After that, you need to start training with less than a beginner's volume. 2 days a week, circuit training or compound lifts, and agility/power work. (I'm doing one day a week of each, now. Other days, I do subthreshold training. Verrry subthreshold, and sometimes I skip the subthreshold work.) Your compound/circuit day should be 100% effort. Your agility/power day should be 100% effort. You CANNOT go into these depleted... Six weeks of this, at least, before you begin to modify.
Third, you need to time your training carefully and watch your nutrition. You're going to be depleted after work. And if you go into an agility workout depleted, god help you, because that's asking for injury. You may need to adjust your nutrition plan around your job and around your workout. It kind of sucks, because you are going to have to prioritize work or your training, nutritionally. Choose training.
Fourth, sleep. Try to do that. Yeah.
And one side note... If you get an injury, stop training for two weeks entirely. Then, test it, and if there is ANY pain, wait two more weeks to test it again. I just came off a four month VERY LIGHT training phase, because I kept training through injury last year and so it didn't heal. Don't be like me! It's way better to have to take just a six week break than to keep going through it and have a really long period where you can barely train.
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