Hard Labour Makes Me Feel Well But Exercise Does Opposite. What's The Difference?

[Uselis]

It's been third month into this new job that I am in. Lots of sweating, deadlifting awkward objects, pulling - pushing cart with lots of weight in it, fast walking, etc.

I feel like my libido improved. I have morning woods while tappering SSRI, have 2-4 bowel movements a day, sleep reasonably well and experiencing way less gloomy days mood wise.

However anytime I try to do "exercise" outside my job even single set of bodyweight exercise it's like my body understands uselesness of it and my whole system temporarily crashes. Less bowel movements, contraction in nervous system, sunken and tired face, tensed presence in social settings.

What's the difference? I was thinking that I might be possibly doing Buteyko via lots of sweating with all this toiling. I also thought it might be stress but I sleep fine, have sexual hunger and urge to socialize.

I work two days and have two days off. Improvements start to fade on second rest day and I am itching to work again.

 

[LUH 3417]

Teleology? Maybe you feel more meaningful and purposeful at a job than you do at the gym

 

[inthedark]

One idea I have about this is that it’s about Context. At best, work is imbued with purpose and and meaning and we know we have the sanction of our peers and society as a whole. Exercise is an individual persuit is performed in a totally different context, and you said it’s like your body “understands the uselessness of it”, suggesting you have internalized narratives of exercise perhaps not being beneficial.

Second idea: you are working hard at work and you are satisfied with the type and level of physical activity, and maybe by crashing your body is telling you this is enough for now.

 

[Peater Piper]

My experience is similar. Manual labor makes me feel stronger and more virile. Exercise never gives me the same results. I agree that mindset and context probably plays a part. The physical nature of manual labor is secondary to the goal that I'm trying to accomplish, I'm only being physically active because I need to in order to get something done, and my body seems to rise to the task. Exercising for the sake of exercising, even with the goal of getting stronger/bigger/leaner/healthier, just doesn't seem to provide the same drive, and I don't get the same response from my body.

 

[Gone Peating]

Weightlifting is pointless I think that’s why. It takes the fun out of physical activity which is important to get the benefits

 

[Tristan Loscha]

It's been third month into this new job that I am in. Lots of sweating, deadlifting awkward objects, pulling - pushing cart with lots of weight in it, fast walking, etc.

I feel like my libido improved. I have morning woods while tappering SSRI, have 2-4 bowel movements a day, sleep reasonably well and experiencing way less gloomy days mood wise.

However anytime I try to do "exercise" outside my job even single set of bodyweight exercise it's like my body understands uselesness of it and my whole system temporarily crashes. Less bowel movements, contraction in nervous system, sunken and tired face, tensed presence in social settings.

What's the difference? I was thinking that I might be possibly doing Buteyko via lots of sweating with all this toiling. I also thought it might be stress but I sleep fine, have sexual hunger and urge to socialize.

I work two days and have two days off. Improvements start to fade on second rest day and I am itching to work again.

I experienced something similar,and the difference lies in the metabolic responses to different types of movement stress,and the amount and amplitude of intensity.I feel bad after doing Bodywork like pushups and Chin-ups to simple failure,weary, inflamed,congested type of deranged sensation,but if i go on a jog after Power-type of exercise,i feel very well afterwards.The mixed metabolic stress of so called aerobic and anaerobic energy expenditure results in differing states,but i have no firm idea what causes it.

 

[Beastmode]

Peat has spoken about this many time in regards to doing meaningful work and it's effect on health/metabolism.

All these gyms being closed and potentially going out of business is terrible for the employees who need to make a living, but it might be a blessing disguise for "members" to take a look at their healthy this way.

 

[Gone Peating]

It's been third month into this new job that I am in. Lots of sweating, deadlifting awkward objects, pulling - pushing cart with lots of weight in it, fast walking, etc.

I feel like my libido improved. I have morning woods while tappering SSRI, have 2-4 bowel movements a day, sleep reasonably well and experiencing way less gloomy days mood wise.

However anytime I try to do "exercise" outside my job even single set of bodyweight exercise it's like my body understands uselesness of it and my whole system temporarily crashes. Less bowel movements, contraction in nervous system, sunken and tired face, tensed presence in social settings.

What's the difference? I was thinking that I might be possibly doing Buteyko via lots of sweating with all this toiling. I also thought it might be stress but I sleep fine, have sexual hunger and urge to socialize.

I work two days and have two days off. Improvements start to fade on second rest day and I am itching to work again.

What is your job?

 

[TheSir]

Well how often do you exercise 8 hours a day? Being constantly on the move for hours is better than completely exhausting yourself for 20 minutes

 

[PTP]

Aside from the psychological aspects, could one factor be that you do far less eccentric work during manual labour? Or is there plenty of that too on the job (catering is the closest thing I've done to physically demanding work)?

 

[Spartan300]

I have found the same thing in the last few years but hadn't prior to that. I think it says something about physiological state.

I used to really look forward to getting into the gym but now I don't & if I do it because I think I should because I feel I'm getting in worse shape then I invariably feel worse for it.

 

[alephx]

Could it be that the pace you have at work is healthier? I notice that getting just the "right" quantity of exercise is beneficial. I get something similar from golf, tennis, dancing and volleyball whereas running and the gym I have to be very careful about how intense I do it. Nowadays, I just go for 5min/10min runs if at all. The gym I have other goals but if I'm feeling exhausted that's it I cut it short. In practice, this means that I make sure to have OJ and sodium bicarbonate before the workout so I can actually complete it. Is the workout at work better distributed, with maybe longer rests between pushes, or just a different pace overall? Btw, congrats, you are getting something out of your job that most people simply cannot find there.

 

[Infarouge]

Ditto, I have a old friend from highschool that is a pool guy, out in the sun all day and he has a great physique and tan plus a very assertive physical presence, despite being somewhat dim.
I've actually considered taking on a part time job like this just to get the sun and fresh air. Working in front of a computer 8 hours is probably one of the worst things you can do for you health. "Death by sitting" is a good read.