Yesterday while scanning through the tv channels, I came across The History Channel’s “Modern Marvels.” The episode was about the advances in the logging industry. In it they showed old footage of loggers from the 40s… and these guys were amazingly built!
At first I thought perhaps these guys lifted weights. Then I listened to what the narrator explained about the advancement in equipment used over the decades.
Apparently, before the development of the modern lightweight chainsaw, these guys would hand-saw through the trunks, and later use 150 lb early motorized chainsaws. The volume and load of work these guys did on a daily basis certainly contributed to their muscularity. I don’t see the same development on today’s loggers using modern machines.
[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
Have you ever seen “Ax men” on the history channel? Theres some physical labor, but its mostly guys sitting in machines all day.
I couldnt imagine being a logger back then, using 150 lb. fucking chainsaws all day.[/quote]
[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
I couldnt imagine being a logger back then, using 150 lb. fucking chainsaws all day.[/quote]
Actually, the show explained that it took 2 guys to work these saws. Still… handling 75 lbs with arms outstretched for most of the day had to be brutal.
[quote]Westclock wrote:
Yeah who would have known that hard physical labor resulted in muscle lol.[/quote]
LOL.
What I was impressed by was their overall balanced development. The all seemed to wear wife beaters and work pants (I really don’t know what their legs looked like).
[quote]Vicomte wrote:
BlackLabel wrote:
Have you ever seen “Ax men” on the history channel? Theres some physical labor, but its mostly guys sitting in machines all day.
I couldnt imagine being a logger back then, using 150 lb. fucking chainsaws all day.
I lean toward the explanation that logging selects rugged men. Little guys just can’t fit in at such a job. I’m sure the activity is beneficial but I don’t think that alone can explain it.
Westclock - get in line buddy - I’m sure there is no shortage of belly licking guys in line for the girl in my avatar.
The desire to bring down Bambi’s backyard with sharp blades into asswipe & Starbucks coffee cups is strong in me but I think after the “first day” I might be bitching about the blisters on my butchered hands - these guys’ carpal tunnel must have been no joke
I can picture it now after a long day of denuding the boreal forest
I saw the one show on Modern Marvels about logging. They had things like 22’ long hand saws to use, no chain saws back in the early days.
Their calorie intake was 8000 per day, no idea on how the good and bad carbs stacked up, but these guys were burning it up as fast as they ate it. I think that most were around 5’8" or so and 150-160 lbs.
Seen him many times, awesome. Not the physique you prob. want but strong as hell and tonnes of choppin’ stamina.
I still chop and saw by hand, some cuts take 2-3 hours solid sawing by hand, I usually take a break every 45 mins (of solid sawing). Me likey lots. As a hobby, it is a good one - can make useful stuff, get tonnes of aerobic work, very refreshing to the mind. Fresh air too. Allows one to eat a tonne of food anything you want.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
The volume and load of work these guys did on a daily basis certainly contributed to their muscularity.[/quote]
Similar thing happened to a couple friends who became wildland firefighters after high school. They left for the season looking like twigs and came back looking like graduates from bodybuilding bootcamp.
My ex-girlfriend was built like a figure athlete before she decided to become a rap-attack firefighter.
After 7 months and several 12 and 16-hour shifts, she now looks like Stelios from 300.
I did residential cutting and trimming along with a few clear cuts a year. My daily caloric intake was at minimum 6000. I had my bf% checked a couple of times over the curse of several years and it came in between 6.5% and 7.5% @ 5’9" and between 155-165lbs.
The main challenges in the residential work were that the climbing and rigging was constant and extensive, and removing the debris immediately all day. There wasn’t ever any room to just drop a tree, and no way that branches could be left in the way where the ground man handles the ropes and everybody else has to be able to move.
It made for some very fast paced, strenuous, and long days. I got out of it after about 8 years. The wear and tear on the body was unavoidable and the accident/fatality rate was making me nervous. I figured after that long with nothing major, my number was comming up, and I didn’t want that.
