I guess I didn't state myself correctly. I can't go to the gym as often as I want to because my job is one of the most physically demanding jobs there is, and I can't lift heavy the day before and trust myself to be ok on the job the next day.
Then you don't need the gym. The gym is just fake work for soft people like myself.
Everyone I work with doesn't look strong though. Don't get me wrong, they're the strongest people I know, but the type of labor it is results in a really lean looking functional strength, where as I want the big boy muscles to show off.
May have to do a cost/benefit analysis then. I will say though, in favor of going to the gym and lifting hard, it'll be rough at first, but your body will adapt. Once it does, everything else becomes easier. Some of the laziest people I've met have been the heaviest lifters. They lifted hard, so they could be lazier everywhere else.
The problem with lifting hard anyway, is that your job may not let you properly recover. You'd definitely have to take it slow until things start getting easier.
Still wouldn't hurt to do some cardio, though. That and good diet will help to stave off whatever softness you may be accruing, without tiring yourself out for work.
(post is archived)