A German haulage company has addressed an employee’s weight-gain concerns with a very unique in-cab solution...
Long haul driver Heiko Gebhardt felt trapped; he felt as though the job was chipping away at his health.
“A year ago, I weighed 115 kilos,” Heiko says. “I decided this had to stop.”
We all know driving trucks can be a pretty sedentary lifestyle, with the weight gain and sore back almost unavoidable.
It’s a matter of eating when you can, sleeping when you can, and there is seldom time to do much else when you park up after a long stint on the road.
Heiko’s employer Spedition Fehrenkötter offered a unique solution, in the form of a fitness studio in the cab of his Mercedes-Benz Actros.
Dubbed ‘TopFit-Set’ the system is all about getting exercise in between driving, which reduces stress and muscle tension.
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Since using the in-cab equipment Heiko has shed 35kg, dropping to a healthy 80kg and improving his quality of life.
The TopFit is made up of a plywood board with straps attached, allowing Heiko to stand on the board and work out much like he would in a traditional gym.
Daimler Trucks customer researcher and developer Siegfried Rothe and his colleagues developed the TopFit with privacy in mind.
We all know how fellow drivers would react if they saw you doing burpees outside your truck on a rest break.
“We specifically developed our TopFit-Set for use in a truck cab”, says Siegfried says.
“Using the fitness board, drivers can exercise in the privacy of their cab – which is an important factor for many trucker.
“Gymnastics outside in a truck park? No way.”
Siegfried insists purchasers of the TopFit-Set aren’t left wondering how to use the device, thanks to a series of training videos produced in close cooperation with sports scientists to present the “Basic Fit”, “Strong Fit”, “Top Fit” and “Power Fit” workouts.
The training videos are provided on a DVD supplied with the set but Heiko prefers the digital fitness coach on the FleetBoard Driver.app, which helped him drop to a healthy weight.
Good on ya, Heiko!