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Facing Back Pain and Stretching: 7 Effective Fixes for Driver Fitness

Traveling can be a fun experience if you lead a busy lifestyle. It means you’re going out to meet family after a long time, going wherever the road takes you, and a lot of time to stop and admire the moment alone. But if back pain comes knocking, everything is turned upside down. It can ruin the simplest moments of joy, and if you’re someone who drives for a living, it can make your life miserable. Back pain can be triggered by sitting in the driver’s seat and being unable to stretch for a more extended period. Thankfully, due to modern science, many pain relief creams can be applied externally to help fight back pain.

This article will cover some ways to reduce back pain on the road!

How to Avoid Back Pain? 7 Easy Tips

Use Supports

Creating lumbar support can be quite a relief, and it doesn’t need to be complicated. You can roll a towel and place it against your back to give you the support your hurting back needs. Our favorite here at Mother Trucker Yoga is BackShield (Use code: MTY10). BackShield is perfectly designed with a driver’s most significant needs in mind.

BackShield is a unique tool to use when facing back pain. There are many reasons for this one-of-a-kind product created to help our customers experience relief from back pain. It is unlike any other product for back support on the market. The BackShield assists in supporting the spine’s natural curvature and works—unlike cushions, beads, and different variations of back support on the market. This is the product drivers, and office workers have been waiting for! Grab yours and let us know what you think!

Move Your Seat Forward

Moving your seat forward can force you out of slouching or awkward lending position as there isn’t too much space between your chest and the steering wheel. It also helps relax your feet from the pedals, which can alleviate pain, when your seat is too far back, the muscles in your leg strain more to keep constant pressure on the pedals and can also leave your arms at an unnatural height and position, causing aggravating shoulder, neck, or when you might be facing back pain.

Use Pain Relief Creams

While it is not advised to be on medicinal drugs, pain relief creams can step in as a major lifesaver. These creams are produced to delve deep into your skin and reach the muscles that are stressed and causing back pain. It is an effective and quick fix for all truck drivers. If you haven’t yet checked out STIFF Mother Trucker pain relief cream, what are you waiting for? We uniquely crafted this pain cream with 12 all-natural ingredients six active ingredients (most name brand creams only have 1-2) so you can get relief fast.

Stretch Your Body

Whenever you get the break, taking time to stretch your body can do wonders to reduce your back pain. Being cramped in awkward spaces for long durations can increase stress in your muscles, and that can improve your health problems. By 20, we lose about 10% of our flexibility every decade. It might be time to stretch. Stretching doesn’t have to mean you are in yoga pants or own a yoga mat. It’s simple moves you can do right from the driver’s seat when you have just a few minutes to find relief. That’s all it takes. Twist your torso, roll your neck, ankles, and wrists, arch your back. All these moves add up and impact your health when done regularly and adequately. Check out Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Membership Platform and APP to get instant access to our driver-focused content so you can keep on moving. (Use the code: MTY30 for a free 30-day trial).

Change Your Steering Wheel Grip

Due to the additions of airbags, holding the steering wheel by ten o clock and two o clocks is outdated. Now specialists suggest that you have the steering wheel by nine o clock and three o clock, which allows you to rest your elbows on the armrests, which helps support your spine, reducing back pain. Next time you are at the wheel, check your elbows. Remember: relax the elbows, so they drip down, then slide your shoulders down your back as well—ah, relief.

Heat Your Seats

If the option is available, heating your seats can be a blessing in disguise. The heat applied will release tension from the body, and the release can remove any signs of an ache in your body. Plus, warm muscles move better, which is a benefit as well. Many people reportedly turn their seat heaters on if they feel any form of ache in their muscles or back.

Use Ice Packs

If you have an immediate injury or strain, consider using ice right away to help reduce inflammation from the body fast. In contrast, you can use ice packs to reduce the inflammation on your back and numb the region so you can’t feel any pain. There are many ice packs available in stores that you can take on your travels and alternate between, making it a relatively accessible option for the truck drivers who need it most.

Conclusion

Facing back pain on the road is not as easy of a task as it would seem, but our guide to help you might step in just when you need it. Stretching and pain relief creams are amongst many effective ways to deal with a poor lumber position, and for your truck driver’s health, this guide tells you all that you need to know!

May 30, 2022/0 Comments/by pbeue

5 Strategies | How To Be Fit Where You Sit?

How to be fit where you sit?

What if I tell you that I am bringing you some health as a token of respect for your hardships?

We always hear,

Health is wealth!

But in our busy lives, we rarely make time for ourselves. It’s not that we don’t want to, but in the race of survival of the fittest, we fail to manage our lives in a healthy.

Here I am going to give you some tips to stay fit where you sit.

5 Strategies How To Be Fit Where You Sit

1. Hydration

Hydration is vital in physical jobs, but office jobs also hold a hydration standard. No matter what, your body requires 3-4 liter water consumption daily to regulate its physiological functions.

It keeps your mind and body active and makes you more productive. It does detoxification for you while you are doing your work.

2. Ambiance

Keep your surroundings clean and fresh. A pleasant ambiance works as an anti-depressant. The positive vibrations from your space will keep you mentally healthy, and mental health is equally important to physical health, if not more. When is the last time you cleaned your truck or vehicle? Consider using essential oils like lavender, peppermint, or citrus oils to help keep your space smelling great. And watch your stress levels drop too.

3. Lumbar Support

Long sitting hours generally reward you with annoying back pain and muscle cramps. The reason for this unwanted gift is our slouching sitting posture. Using lumbar support can solve this problem efficiently. BackShield is an excellent ergonomic lumbar support that helps you straighten your back, correct your position, and relieve you from bothering pain. It is a portable device you can practically carry anywhere with great ease. Keeping yourself fit isn’t just about exercising. It’s also about how you support your body while you aren’t.

4. Intermittent Breaks

Our bodies tend to get tired and stiff after a certain length of time while sitting. Sensing the tension, our body releases stress hormones called cortisol, which causes mental stress and hampers the body’s biochemical reactions.

Taking intermittent breaks keeps you fresh and energetic, saving a lot of trouble both physically and mentally. It can be tough to be stopping knowing your destination is on the horizon continually. But if you take a few minutes each morning to plan out where you will stop and when this will not only lighten the stress load mentally but help you plan your time accordingly. Worried about traffic and delays? What is your backup plan? Check out TruckerPath App to know where to stop and when!

5. Exercise

It’s so easy for your body to become tense, especially when you spend the majority of your time sitting as a truck driver. Most truck drivers’ fitness is focused on an exercise routine, and I’m here to tell you that it’s much simpler than that. It’s about small micro moves you can add to your day throughout your day, every day.

You can do the following exercises to release any tension or stress in your body:

Neck

Gently flex your neck in all directions (forward, backward, to the left, and the right side) whenever in half an hour.

Shoulders

Bend your arms to place your hands on each shoulder to look like wings. Simultaneously move one arm in a clockwise fashion and the other in a counter-clockwise manner. Make sure your elbows touch when they come forward to face each other. It will release the tension from your shoulders.

Another exercise you can do is shrugging your shoulders. Raise your shoulders towards your ears, then slowly roll them down.

Wrists

If you have a computer job or you clench a steering wheel all day as a trucker, your wrists tend to get stiff and painful. To avoid such circumstances, keep your arms steady and move your wrist ten times in both clockwise and anti-clockwise fashion. Truck driver fitness is about the little things, open one hand pull back each finger one at a time to stretch your joints, and open your hand from a closed-off fist.

Finger Stretches Mother Trucker Yoga Blog

Eyes

Working non-stop can easily affect your vision as the muscles of your eyes get tired doing the job their ass off.

Make sure you blink your eyes more frequently.

Gently massage your eyes and do some vision exercises.

Abdominal Exercises

Long-term sitting leaves your core and back muscles underactive and out of order. This means when you go to use your body your core and back are vulnerable to injury. Do some abdominal and core muscle exercises like chair rollback (sit tall in the chair and gently lean your body back like you are in the reclining dentist chair and then come back up).

Legs

Our legs tend to get numb with prolonged sitting and we can struggle with issues like sciatica and clutch leg when driving manual. To keep the circulation under regulation, do some light walking or stretching of legs. When you are in the driver’s seat regularly roll your ankles and think about marching in the driver’s seat by lifting and lowering your knees without leaning your body back to keep blood flow and circulation up to par.

Want the details on how to do these movements and exercises safely and effectively?

Check out our Mother Trucker Yoga Membership Site.

Easy 3-5 minute videos to get you the relief you need fast! Even while driving!

September 16, 2021/0 Comments/by pbeue

6 Rules for Over the Road Fitness

Lifestyle, Trucker Fitness

6 Rules for Over the Road Fitness

The idea of over the road fitness is not the norm for some. And for others, they think of it only as taking their traditional workout with them. And that is great. But for the rest of us, being smart and looking at how you can add movement, fitness, health into your day, even while doing what you always do is what I call over the road fitness. And fitness in your everyday life!

Long drives can trigger multiple health issues! Old News!

We can pull through the long-distance travels effortlessly!

Good News!

Let us take look at

“How can we avoid backache on the way?” Back pain is not new news, but the reality is there is a large group of people who have back pain, or any pain and it doesn’t bother them enough to make a change. There is a story that a mentor told me some years ago.

There was a cat laying on a nail crying meow.

And the owner’s friend asked, “why is the cat meowing?”

And the owner said, “oh, she’s laying on a nail”.

And the friend said, “well, why doesn’t she just get off the nail?”

The owner said, “Because it doesn’t hurt that bad”.

The moral of the cat story is some people’s pain is only bad enough to complain about it. They don’t actually want to do something about it. Where is your pain? Where is your desire for being healthy and improving your fitness? We won’t change anything we don’t want to change. Here are a few road rules to help you stay healthy, fit, and happy while traveling, driving, rolling down the open road.

Forestall the trigger

Each time you enter your car or any vehicle, open your door wide. Use your hand to hold the seat, keep your back straight, bend your knees, and take your seat at your near edge of the seat while facing the vehicle. Then, in one move, lift and swing your legs together and place them on the car’s foot-mat.

Adjust your seat accordingly.

You just can’t fix your seat where you can see everything clearly to feel like a boss on the road and let your back handle all the discomfort in the world.

Setting your seat at a height that your hips lie in the same height as of your knees is more befitting.

Are you in need of a new truck seat? Many drivers think they can’t afford a supportive truck seat. But can you afford years of pain, spinal damage, and discomfort from years of driving? Invest in yourself before things breakdown- that includes your body! Check out the AIR CHIEF STANDARD STYLE ON-HIGHWAY TRUCK SEAT from Bud and Tony’s Truck Parts.

Standard Features to this seat include:

20” Wide Soft Seat Cushion
Height Adjustable Headrest (can be removed)
Fully Reclining Backrest
Triple Chamber Air-Lumbar Support System
3-Position Seat Cushion Extension & Tilt Adjustment
Fore & Aft Slides (7 Inch Tracks)
Poly-Dynamic Air-Suspension™
Integrated Isolator
ICP -moves with Suspension & Isolator
Bellow

Relax Your Body

Easy Stretches for Travel with Mother Trucker Yoga Do not sit like a statue and try checking regularly, reminding yourself to relax your arms or legs while driving. Not only will it trigger back problems but will also hamper with blood circulation. Muscle cramps and stiffness. Let’s be honest, we get lazy and even though we can move while driving, we don’t. So make it a point to move more while driving. Need help getting creative with movements? Check out Mother Trucker Yoga’s Audio Easy Stretching for Travel: Safe Yoga While Driving Download.

Arms position and pedal distance

Your arms should be bent at 20-30 degree angles while your legs should bend at a 45-degree angle. It will prevent you from slouching and support your spine. Look for your sweet spot and commit your driving for a lifetime to it. This may require you to purchase additional support tools for your truck or vehicle.

Lumbar Support

This invention is no less than a blessing for people suffering from backache—use quality lumbar support to keep your back in a right and comfortable position. BackShield is lumbar support designed for a comforting cushioning effect to your back and improves your posture. It is conveniently portable and can nicely fit in cars, trucks, and R.V.s. Purchasing yourself a BackShield is a profitable investment for your lifetime. Use our code at checkout: MTY10

In case you don’t want to buy lumbar support, you can roll a towel and place it in the back near the lumbar vertebrae. But take it from me, it won’t work like a BackShield.

BackShield for RV Driving

Mirror Positioning

Position your mirror at the right angles to avoid unnecessary twisting and turning of your neck and back. And when you look out at your mirrors use your whole body, look at that mirror peek as a movement for your body too.

Other Important Points

Take small intervals

If you travel a long distance, it will help your body relax from stiffness in your muscles. Stretch your body, walk for a few minutes, and restart your journey.

Hydration

Keep yourself hydrated on your way. Generally, our mind and body are on autopilot mode while driving, and our blood pressure tends to lower down a bit, and we start to feel off. To maintain your blood pressure, you need to hydrate your body frequently to stay in a conscious state and a good mood.

Music Therapy

Listen to your favorite music album. It will help your nerves to calm down and relax your entire body.

Fuel your body

Don’t let your stomach starve. Give it proper nutritious food because, “When the tummy is happy, nothing is crappy!” when you are in a good mood, it will fight the stress hormone released in your body.

Drive Safely

Last but not least,

“Drive Cautiously”

“Follow the traffic rules.”

“Don’t get a ticket for speeding.”

Being fit is not an overnight change. And in my mind, it’s not based on weight, size, or gender. It’s based on how you feel. So ask yourself: “how do I feel?” And don’t be afraid to answer. So many people deny that they need to work harder, improve themselves, and pay more attention to their fit-ness in life. These road rules are meant to help you see the options available. You probably noticed that the rules above are not based on squats or hundreds of push-ups daily or running a couch to 5k. These are rules to help you improve the quality of your life!

See more clearly where the road is taking you.
See more clearly where it is you want to go.
See more clearly how easy it can be to change lanes in your fitness and health.

This post is sponsored by:

Bud and Tony have known each other for over 50 years (brothers – from another mother you could say) and have been in business together for over 30 years. They have always believed in our economy thriving and work hard to make sure it continues upward. They both know the trucking industry has and will continue to be the backbone of our economy. With this in mind, they came together to be a part of this ever-growing, ever-changing but steadfast, and traditional business that will always keep moving American and the world forward.

October 1, 2020/0 Comments/by pbeue

Neck Pain: 7 Ways to Drive Pain-Free

Trucker Fitness, Yoga for Truckers

Neck pain can be a royal pain when it comes to driving. And when you are a professional truck driver a pain in the neck can absolutely put a halt on your plan to keep rolling.

Neck pain has an annual prevalence rate exceeding 30% among adults in the US; nearly 50% of individuals will continue to experience some degree of chronic neck pain or frequent occurrences. Says Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research.

The causes of neck pain can be vast from trauma, injuries, poor sleep position, medical conditions, whiplash, stress or muscle strains or pain and even nerve-related issues. When it comes to being a truck driver dealing with a stiff neck can often be a daily concern you just learn to “deal with” day in and day out. Getting stiff neck can often revolve around holding your head in a particular position for a long period of time, or even using one or both arms for long periods of time. Even having your torso rotated a certain way and when it comes to truck drivers, the constant impact of your driving conditions can and does play a large role in neck pain and discomfort.

When your truck is your workplace, home and vehicle learning how to prevent and treat neck pain can dramatically improve how you feel day today. Here’s how to reduce stress and neck pain so you can get back on the road feeling better than ever.

Neck Pain: Staying Pain-Free on the Road

Posture and how you sit in the driver’s seat play a large role in how your neck and back feel day in and day out. The constant stress caused by driving, gripping the steering wheel, leaning on the driver’s side door or only using one hand or arm for daily tasks associated with driving can contribute to neck pain. Adjusting your body and posture while driving can and will reduce pain and get you back on the road feeling relief.

Start with a good driving posture.

The best angle for the back of your seat is at 100 degrees, which is just shy of straight. Place your hands in the 3 and 9 o’clock positions on the steering wheel and elbows comfortably on the armrests.

Forawrd head for truck drivers blog post mother trucker yoga

Reposition your head.

From the desk to the driver’s seat, the forward-head position is a major cause of neck tension and pain. Think about your ears being over your shoulders. Making this adjustment is not so much a tuck down with your chin as it is sliding back. Check out this video on neck stretches to help you reduce the pain of postural changes.
Use back support.

No matter how nice your truck seat is, rarely are they truly made for ideal lumbar support. Sinking back into your seat in your lower back rounds back like the letter “C”. Our spine is meant to be like the letter “S” to help absorb impact and better support what is on top (our head). And if you are a truck driver impact is your constant enemy while driving. I absolutely love BackShield (use the link for 10% off and FREE shipping) back support, which puts your spine in the right position and also protects your back upon impact. Plus BackShield doubles as traction support to lay on after a long day.
Adjust your mirrors.

Move your side mirrors so you have the widest field of vision so you can minimize awkward movements with your head at sudden notice. Pay attention throughout the day if you adjust your mirrors for your ever slumping posture as the day goes on. You may need a mid-day stretch to get you standing and sitting tall somewhere along the route.
Avoid eyestrain and impaired driving.

There are many reasons you may be straining to see. If your vision is to blame, please seek proper professional aid to receive the proper support. But poor vision can lead to eyestrain while driving, which can cause you to lean forward and slide your head towards the steering wheel while driving. This forward head position puts major pressure and strain on the muscles of the upper back and neck. And also tightens and shortens the muscles of the front of the neck and chest. Use sunglasses if driving in bright light, and use the proper eye protection at night if night lights strain your vision.
Take a break.

If you start to get a stiff neck, are feeling neck pain, or better yet want to prevent it, pull into the next rest stop. Do some stretching and walk off the kinks.
Ditch the pillow.

After driving all day to consider going pillowless, even for just a few minutes or hours. When it’s bedtime our body recoils into it’s most comfortable position-meaning how we spend our time most. Head forward and knees tucked in and fetal like. Stretch out and lay flat. Slide the BackShield (Use our code MTY10 for a 10% discount) under your back for spinal relief and start to respond to your body properly rather than react continuously.
Stretch.

Yes, it’s not fancy, but stretch your muscles, moving your body in different positions than what you do on a daily basis can and will help you reduce pain and strain. Simple easy stretches just a few minutes a day can and will leave you feeling your best on and off the road. Try this one from our Fitness Minute at Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

Don’t over complicate this…moving more is just that… move. more. This isn’t about exercise, this is about moving more so your body will do what’s required when you need it!

A post shared by Mother Trucker Yoga (@mothertruckeryoga) on Jun 25, 2020 at 3:56pm PDT

Check out what Mother Trucker Yoga can help you with while you are out on the road. During this difficult time, we want you to enjoy a FREE 30 days with Mother Trucker Yoga. Simply use the code: CORONA2020.

Truck drivers are the heroes of our highways and we so appreciate everything you do. But it is vital that you take care of yourself. Living over the road for weeks on end may not be ideal or “typical” but with a little prep and self-care, you can keep your health and physical body in check with as little as 5 minutes a day. You can avoid driving with neck pain by maintaining good posture and making the necessary driving adjustments that can and will take the strain off your neck.

Pain Relief Cream just for truckers!

Have you tried Mother Trucker Yoga’s – Stiff Mother Trucker Pain Relief Cream?

You can grab your bottle now with limited time FREE SHIPPING!

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Stiff Mother Trucker 2oz bottle

Enjoy this post? Check out some of our other blog posts here at Mother Trucker Yoga

March 24, 2020/0 Comments/by pbeue

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