As one of America's unhealthiest jobs, Truck Driver's face a daunting task of not only getting their freight from place to place on time, but a physically demanding job involving long hours of sitting and irregular schedules. Most Americans tend to think about truck drivers in a negative light, believing that they have an easy job.
To combat the overarching narrative that is "all truckers are overweight and unhealthy", the team at "What The Truck" podcast created an initiative for Truckers across the US to incorporate their squat challenge and reclaim their health. As we know, a sedentary lifestyle will take it's toll on your body over time.
In episode 724 of the "What The Truck" podcast, host Timothy Dooner and guests discuss driver health and why it's important to get up and move. Donner stated "86% of all health care costs in the trucking industry are directly related to associated chronic diseases." Sadly, the other stats they discussed were even worse:
-A life expectancy 16 years less than the average population
-The highest rates of obesity among all U.S. occupations
-The highest rates of diabetes among all U.S. occupations
-2x higher rate of hypertension compared to the average U.S. worker
Much of the podcast discussed how important it is to have an active lifestyle, how to "eat on a budget" - think of it as if you were calculating your finances. If you allow yourself a caloric budget, eat within that budget and make sure you think about how to make better eating choices throughout the day. Also, gravitating towards high protein diet to keep you full, instead of processed foods that are full of calories but still leave you hungry, wanting to indulge more.
My favorite part of the discussion was one guest mentioned David Goggin's "Can't Hurt Me", which is my favorite book and has also helped my outlook on life. In this book, David Goggins discusses his mentality and outlook on life, much of the content mentions that it's all on you. Your mentality, the way you live your life and how you achieve your goals. The podcast discussion offered much of that same logic.
Overall, I'm glad to see the group taking this discussion head on. I love seeing people take action and I'm always in one's corner when they attempt to better themselves. It is so easy to find comfort in 2024. What's more difficult is working full-time, having a balanced home life, all while staying active to make the most of our time.
I'd love to see more corporate entities step out and join in the "Squat Across America" challenge. We often talk about how leadership effects morale, the same could be said for this conversation. As Sir Richard Branson once said, "take care of your people and they'll take care of your business".
So far 28 states have joined in. I'd love to see this initiative expand into other groups and see the complete results on how this helped everyone in taking their health back.
Listen to their podcast for more details: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truckers-squat-across-america-road-dogs-and-do-drivers-wear-their-seat-belts-what-the-truck