One thing you probably don\u2019t know about me is that before Vasse Strength & Conditioning ever existed, before coaching and programming and early mornings in the gym, I was a tradie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A plasterer\u2019s labourer, and Airbnb cleaner to be precise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Long days. Heavy loads. Repetitive work. Awkward positions. Early starts and sore hands, omg sore hands, and the odd lime burn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d spend hours carrying mud, mixing, lifting overhead, twisting, crouching, climbing, cleaning, and bending. Then I\u2019d finish the day and still go and train, or it may have already been done before work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time, it just felt like what I did.
In hindsight, I thank God I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because looking back now, I honestly don\u2019t think I could have done those jobs properly, or for very long, if I hadn\u2019t been training. Not at full capacity. Not without pain. Not without something eventually breaking down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also the irony is\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That period of my life, where I was working the most physically demanding jobs I\u2019ve ever done, was also the fittest I\u2019ve ever been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which brings me to a myth, and bit of a topic of conversation I want to bring up in this blog post, that I believe still runs deep in the trades that\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no point training. I work hard all day. I don\u2019t need the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the surface, it makes sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re lifting, carrying, bending, twisting, climbing, crawling. You go home tired. You\u2019ve earned the couch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the truth most don\u2019t realise until it\u2019s too late is that hard work is not the same as smart strength. And that \u201cactive\u201d is not the same as \u201cprepared\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, the very thing that makes you good at your trade, repetition, consistency, doing the same movements day in and day out, is the same thing that quietly breaks your body down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most RSIs don\u2019t come from one big moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They come from:
\u2022 The same shoulder angle, thousands of times a week
\u2022 The same spinal position under load
\u2022 The same grip, the same stance, the same rotation, over and over again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your body adapts to what you repeatedly ask of it.
But adaptation without balance is how joints wear down, and degenerate, not how they get stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Training does three things your job doesn\u2019t:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s not aesthetics.
That\u2019s longevity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s being able to work pain-free at 45, 55, 65 (when you now have a big team and don\u2019t have to be on the tools anymore\u2026 surely!) not just push through until something \u201cgoes\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another myth to dispel is that being active all day won\u2019t lead to weight gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve heard it from tradies at the pub, in conversation and at events when the gym comes up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m on my feet all day, always moving, I can\u2019t get unfit and definitely won\u2019t get fat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the body adapts quickly. It is a trap!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What was once demanding becomes normal.
Your heart rate drops.
Your calorie burn drops.
Your metabolism becomes efficient, which in modern life means it stores, not spends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Add to that:
\u2022 Long hours
\u2022 Stress
\u2022 Convenience food
\u2022 Poor sleep
\u2022 Dehydration
\u2022 Zero high-intensity output<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And suddenly the \u201chardworking bloke\u201d slowly becomes:
\u2022 Stiffer
\u2022 Heavier\/Flabbier
\u2022 More inflamed
\u2022 More tired
\u2022 More reliant on coffee, sugar, and painkillers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not because he\u2019s lazy.
But because monotony without intensity is a recipe for metabolic slowdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Training reintroduces a stimulus that what work no longer provides:
\u2022 Short, sharp intensity
\u2022 Full-body demand
\u2022 Hormonal stimulus
\u2022 Real cardiovascular challenge
\u2022 Muscle mass preservation (which keeps your metabolism high)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fact is, the best tradies and the ones worth the best dollars for their time aren\u2019t just skilled with their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019re:
\u2022 Hard to fatigue
\u2022 Hard to injure
\u2022 Hard to slow down
\u2022 Hard to replace<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They don\u2019t train to look good in a mirror.
They train to:
\u2022 Carry better
\u2022 Brace better
\u2022 Last longer
\u2022 Recover faster
\u2022 Stay in the game<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The are determined and reliable, fit and healthy, because they understand something most learn too late\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That their body is their primary tool. And unmaintained tools wear out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, the question is, are you playing The Long Game?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t train because your job is easy. You don\u2019t lift to add stress. And you don\u2019t move with intensity just to \u201cburn calories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And you don\u2019t train hard to get lean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You train hard so your nervous system, joints, heart and lungs can still handle long days, heavy loads and pressure when you\u2019re 50, not just 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good tradies don\u2019t stop training when they start working. Because strength isn\u2019t optional when your livelihood depends on your body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s the difference between The Bottom Line is simple.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The world runs on trades. It will take your back if it\u2019s weak. Training is how you stop the job from taking what you can\u2019t afford to lose.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Plus, you have a career! The goal isn\u2019t just to be a good tradie today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s to be a capable man at 40. That doesn\u2019t happen by accident. So get up. Get after it. Become Extraordinary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One thing you probably don\u2019t know about me is that before Vasse Strength & Conditioning ever existed, before coaching and programming and early mornings in the gym, I was a tradie. A plasterer\u2019s labourer, and Airbnb cleaner to be precise. Long days. Heavy loads. Repetitive work. Awkward positions. Early starts and sore hands, omg sore […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":729,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions\/729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
You train because your job is demanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You lift to become resilient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start training because<\/em> they work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Getting through the week
\u2022 And owning your life for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the work will take whatever your body can\u2019t protect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your shoulders if they\u2019re unstable.
Your hips if they\u2019re tight.
Your energy if your engine is under-powered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A pain-free father at 50.
A strong, independent human at 70.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It happens by building a body that\u2019s harder to wear out than the job trying to wear it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n