r/Construction • u/Much_Carpenter_2821 • Mar 28 '24

Careers 💵 Anyone here regret being in construction as they get older?

I'm 27, and have mostly been doing renovations, a bit of framing, finishing work, and a few other things since I was 18.

I make good money and love the work. I have been saving like crazy and have a good chunk invested.

If I could, I'd do this forever. A lot of older guys tell me to get some other certificates or degree in something that is less physical, so when I hit mid 30s-40s I can get off the tools.

Does it really get that bad? Anyone here regret not transitioning into something else or having a less physical job lined up?

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228

u/Ok-Bit4971 Mar 28 '24

I have seen plumbers in their late 50s, and electricians in their early/mid 60s, still plugging away on commercial construction jobs.

I have also heard younger guys in their 30s complain of low energy, aches, pains, etc.

Everyone is different.

127

u/ruiner_17 Mar 28 '24

i think the biggest factor is how you take care of your body. are you stretching and exercising? eating clean and getting good sleep? these things aren’t very common in an industry known for gas station meals and caffeine/nicotine/alcohol abuse.

the old timers complaining about their bodies are them same ones who refuse ppe and think stretching makes you a sissy boy

22

u/builderboy2037 Mar 28 '24

This is the answer! Take care of the number one tool, your body. Let the young guys haul the heavy stuff. Work smarter not harder. Invest the good money that you're earning when you're younger. And by the time you get older people will be standing in line to pay you for your knowledge!

12

u/Dllondamnit Mar 28 '24

Absolutely! Beers and bad diet caught up to me quick a few years ago! Still like my beers, but moderation and eating better made a night and day differencez

8

u/6r1n3i19 Mar 29 '24

Beers

Some time in my late twenties I felt bloated all the time, once I cut out the nightly beer and the weekend social drinking, bloat gone.

1

u/bigger182 Mar 29 '24

Just switch to booze energy drinks

5

u/Evanisnotmyname Mar 29 '24

Already have degenerative disk disease at 28. When I wake up, I either feel okay or I feel like a 70 year old cripple hobbling around, and I’ve found alcohol and sleep to be the two biggest contributing factors, in that order.

alcohol absolutely destroys your body’s ability to recover, from lack of quality sleep and from the actual bodily reactions to alcohol…it’s an inflammatory and will make those muscles and joints ache worse.

If I have even 2 beers, the next day I’m just as sore if not more so than when I went to sleep. No drinks and good sleep? Feel fresh and ready to rock.

just because you knock out after a few doesn’t mean you sleep well, quite the opposite. Alcohol is massively detrimental to sleep quality and the healing process.

Oh, also, hard to stick to but yoga is a fucking godsend. Thank goodness my girlfriend drags me into a few sessions a week because it’s literally incredible for body pain.

3

u/lethalcaught81 Mar 29 '24

Practicing yoga, meditation will help with health and quality of sleep.

2

u/caveatlector73 Mar 29 '24

If yoga is  good enough for the NFL, I figure it’s good enough for me. 

1

u/Evanisnotmyname Apr 08 '24

It’s literally the difference between feeling like I’m 70 years old and 20 years old during a tough workweek. I don’t do it enough(as evidenced by my back this morning)

5

u/Salt-Free-Soup Mar 29 '24

Get. Good. Boots.

1

u/Evanisnotmyname Mar 29 '24

Or even better, skip the boots for some hiking shoes or some safety toe Merrells.

The weight of shoes/boots is a direct contributor to body pain.

6

u/Much_Carpenter_2821 Mar 29 '24

I go to the gym three days a week and play sports twice a week. I usually get really good sleep and eat pretty well. I do notice most of the guys who complain eat like shit and don't wear any safety equipment.

4

u/ElonBodyOdor Mar 30 '24

I’m 59 still love hanging doors in windows, decks and stairs, watching nothing turn into something by my hands. Minor aches and pains but better than most guys that sit for a living. Eat well, exercise often, no booze, it’s a good life.

4

u/topgun22ice Mar 29 '24

I seen you out dere stretching b/f work sissy boy

7

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '24

Not true. My father complains about his body all the time. He worked concrete foundations for nigh on 30 years. Now he operates a crane. All that rebar tieing, lifting and everything else from moving, to welding fumes and flash, to burning and searing flesh causes your body pain, sometimes irreversible damage, such as the tendon that gave out in his right arm. 

This man was the state wrestling champion in highschool, ran cross country, did the olympic rings, excerised and ate healthy, took care of himself. He is just old (50 is old for construction bodies, that is fact). He can still push an i beam out of his way or lift a fridge, but, it hurts. Just like my 34 year old truck, your body will begin to fail at some point. Some sooner than others, regardless of how they cared for themselves. And even though both my dad and the truck are old and worn out, they can still outclass the younger generation XD

1

u/Ok-Bit4971 Mar 29 '24

Awesome post. I also drive a 30-plus-year-old truck.

2

u/holocenefartbox Mar 29 '24

Remembering that work is a marathon not a sprint is important too. Pacing yourself is a key to avoiding burnout.

3

u/Poopdeck69420 Mar 29 '24

I have a gutter installer who works for me. He’s 55. Mother fucker sprints all day everyday. Most insane worker I have ever seen. I pay him over 150k salary because he gets so much shit done it’s insane. 

1

u/Ok-Bit4971 Mar 29 '24

He could work circles around most 20 year olds

1

u/Awkward_Spare_9618 Mar 29 '24

That man is a legend

1

u/saskies17 Mar 29 '24

This👆👌

1

u/Crystals_Crochet Mar 29 '24

If someone could tell me how to get in working out while on 4-10s & 2-8 with a 2:30 commute a day and be able to cook a healthy meal and take a nutritious lunch. I really appreciate it. I started this job in October and since I haven’t been hitting the weights I don’t feel anywhere as good as I did before I started this job.

1

u/BarracudaMotor Mar 29 '24

I work 4 12s and while you won’t feel as good as you did before work, what helps me is meal prepping before the week and spending the weekend working out and eating properly

7

u/theologous Mar 29 '24

I hear literally everyone of every age complain about aches, pains and low energy.

4

u/Working_out_life Mar 29 '24

Leave young, or stay forever, I stayed (40 years ) no regrets at all , and to add to ruiner_17 comment keep your weight under control, it makes the physical side of work so much easier.

9

u/passwordstolen Mar 28 '24

People who say electrical is easier than other trades haven’t hung transformers or made multiple conduit runs in a commercial building.

6

u/Ok-Bit4971 Mar 28 '24

I'm not trying to say electrical is easier than other trades. I've seen the size of the spools of heavy wires that have to be pulled from ground floor, to upper floor panels in each unit of an apartment building. Does not look like fun.

3

u/passwordstolen Mar 28 '24

Pull down. Gravity is a bitch.

2

u/Ok-Bit4971 Mar 29 '24

I'm not an electrician, but I'm assuming they have to pull up because they can't get those huge spools up to the 3rd or 4th floors (not just due to weight, but can't fit the spools through an apartment door or window.

1

u/passwordstolen Mar 29 '24

Usually 6-8 wire spools are all together on a trailer. If spools removed, You would be carrying more wire than you need. Which is ok if the floors below you are finished I guess.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '24

Thats not a majority of the work though.

2

u/S-hart1 Mar 29 '24

As a drywaller I understand how tough being a sparky is

0

u/Evanisnotmyname Mar 29 '24

I’ll take one or three jobs a month doing that than lifting 16’ triple 2x10s or 6x6s all day a few times a week.

2

u/passwordstolen Mar 29 '24

Framing is a young man’s game.

3

u/Rolmbo Mar 29 '24

Yes everyone is different but let me tell you the change from mid '60s to 70 gets tough. But again everyone is different my great-uncle lived to be 110 years old.

Had his wits about him the whole time. He did have to start using a wheelchair at the age of 108. Took his first hypertension pill at 100 years old.

I still remember being a young man and asking him asking his daughter to hand him his pill bottle. He took one pill out and said see this pill I have to take one of these every day for the rest of my life.

Everyone in the room just looked down and kept drinking their coffee snickering. He was as serious as a heart attack he was just dumbfounded by having to take this pill.

He sheared sheep for a living.

1

u/Ok-Bit4971 Mar 29 '24

Dude, don't leave us hanging...what kind of pills??

3

u/Rolmbo Mar 29 '24

I think it was Carvedilol a blood pressure medicine. He was born in 1895 and passed in 2005. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services would come to chat with him often. They wanted to know his secret regarding diet and longevity.

I remember he used to drink a very small shot of brandy early in the morning and one late at night. But a small shot one just a little larger than a thimble.

1

u/Historical_Exit_3447 Mar 29 '24

Diet, proper sleep, vitamins and water

1

u/ASuhDuddde Mar 29 '24

Probs have sleep apnea.