Taking care of your body as an electrician

from reddit IBEW threads • gathered 7/9/25

Taking care of your body vs. what the work does to it

Lifestyle more important than the work

  1. I think how you take care of your body will have more of an impact on future you than what the trade will do to your body.
  2. Facts. I think the reason people say our trade destroys their bodies is because most people in our trade have shitty lifestyles. Most of my coworkers eat garbage food, don’t go to the gym at all and usually drink 2-3 Monsters daily. That’s definitely going to catch up with anybody.
  3. MFs drink all week, eat like shit everyday and blame someone else for destroying their body lol.
  4. This is the best answer. Any job will wreck your body if you aren't taking care of it. You only get one, so treat it well as you can.
  5. It is rough, but maintenance is the key. Stay fit and be safe and all will be well. Have done it for 31 years and I am fine. ( depending on who you ask 😂)

Office jobs are no better

  1. Anyone whose body is broken from a trade was also going to be broken sitting at a desk.
  2. Can confirm. Doing desk job for the past 14 years and I'm in pain all over the place. I did building maintenance before and hurt less.
  3. Even sittin in a chair at a office job or something similar will destroy your body.  My uncle has been in a office job M-F, 10 hours a day, for the past 30 years. He is obese, has back issues, wrist issues, neck issues, weak ankles, his eye sight is awful from staring at a screen aĺl day, and many more problems.
  4. I spent 15 years doing construction qnd working in industrial. I am a JIW. I have never felt so bad as after I became a controls engineer working from home. I spend 12 hours a day in front of a computer and its fucked with my weight, joints, blood pressure, sitting in a chair all day has kicked my ass more than all the hits I took in the field.

Minimizing work

  1. Don’t work overtime your whole life.
  2. Everyone in this trade should be working on an exit plan by no later than 55 unless you have a non physically demanding niche job.
  3. The trick is to become a foreman so you can sit in your trailer all day!

Supporting your body

  1. Sleep.  Getting more sleep was the key for me. Don't be like those dudes who are like "oh I got 4 hours of sleep and three monsters I'm good."
  2. Hydration.  Real hydration, not energy drinks.
  3. Eat real food, not gas station crap.  No sodas at work.  Avoid sugar and processed food.  Bad food increases inflammation.  The more inflammation you have the more scar tissue you’ll develop on your muscle and joints which will make you more injury prone and will make you feel more worn down in general.  Good diet will 100% make a huge difference when OP reaches retirement age.
  4. Alcohol/Smoking/Drugs.  Don't drink more than once a week.  Don't smoke or do drugs ever.
  5. Mask.  If the jobsite is dusty, wear a mask, even if whatever you're working on doesn't require you to.
  6. Earplugs.  How many old timers do you know who respond to literally everything you say with WHAT?!!!!  Wear your damn earplugs when it's loud.
  7. Physicals.  Health plan comes with yearly physical exams.  Use them.
  8. Stretch or yoga.  This will help prevent and reduce scar tissue from developing.  Sometimes we do repetitive work for hours on end, that kind of stuff really tightens up the muscles, if you don't stretch out on a regular basis you'll definitely develop some sort of wrist/shoulder issues.
  9. Lift weights.  This doesn’t mean you need to lift super heavy or put on 10’s of lbs of muscle. A basic strength training routine done a 2-3 times a week is fine.
  10. Cardio.  I was overlooking cardio because of my physically strenuous job. Had high cholesterol when I was 32 but cardio immediately put my numbers back into range.
  11. Arch supports for boots.

How you work

  1. Get high enough.  When working above your head, always get your lift high enough so your work is in front of you, not above your head.
  2. Don't bend over.  Use a magnetic pickup tool or magnetic tape measure instead of bending down to pick things up. You only get so many bends and you don't want to use them up too early in your career.  (Someone commented on that:  "Yeah, I'm just an apprentice in my mid 20's but I swear by this.")
  3. The little things add up.
    1. Don't jump down off the tailgate of the truck.
    2. Don't cut poles to the maximum length you can carry.
    3. Use drills impacts as often as you can [vs. screwdriverl] to minimize carpal tunnel syndrome.
    4. I'm working new construction on a high rise and I'm also 28 and a first year apprentice. Me and a couple other guys would run down the stairs from the 25th floor at the end of the day so we could sit for a few extra minutes before everybody signed out at the end of the day. Nothing was hurting and I never took a bad step or tripped or anything like that, but one day I woke up and my knee hurt like crazy. I stopped rushing down the stairs and my knee continued to hurt for about 3 weeks before the pain went away, it continued to pop and get stiff for another 4 weeks after that. My knee has fully healed but I can promise you am going to be as gentle as possible on my joints and ligaments for the rest of my life.
  4. Don't be a hero.  You don’t need to be the hero that can move 400lb spools of wire, get help or a machine.  It only takes one unsafe move to disable you.
  5. Proper lifting and kneepads are underrated.  They're the key.  Always lift with your legs, not your back.  Bonus points if you use your brain before your back to get something done.  DON'T LET STUPID ASSHOLES SHAME YOU INTO DESTROYING YOURSELF FOR A PAYCHECK.
  6. Carrying
    1. Don't carry something when you can push it on a cart.
    2. I've realized that balancing emt on your shoulder everywhere is probably the cause of my partially slipped disc's. It took 16 years to happen but I got another 20 to go so I've learned to be more conscious of those small things.  [He doesn’t say exactly how he carries EMT now, though.]
    3. Imbalances in flexibility and strength often lead to these injuries. Every time I carry pipe or a ladder I switch shoulders to prevent this. I’d hate to fuck myself up or walk around with a huge shoulder drop like so many do.
  7. Pulling. 
    1. Install more pull boxes to minimize how much you have to pull.
    2. Took me 9 months of pulling low voltage to destroy my rotator cuffs/shoulders. Took over a year to stop feeling pain. If you have to stay just be careful and take your time, stretching and not overdoing it.
  8. Don't wear tool bags, or if you do, put the minimum weight of tools in them.  I keep my tools in my back pockets to balance the weight.
  9. Back brace.  My kid, much younger always wears a back brace when working and has several kneeling pads. Tells me he doesn’t want to walk like me at 74. He is smarter.
  10. What kinds of work.  [One electrician ranked 15 different kinds of work according to how hard they are on your body.]

What experienced electricians say

  1. I am 86, spent 45 yrs in the piping trade. I am in good shape for 86. I work out at gym 3 days a week. I do have arthritis but hey working outside in weather will do that. Yes you need to pay attention while working, do not smoke, do not eat off the taco wagons for break or lunch, very moderate alcohol. Remember I worked before osha came along.
  2. Stretching, basic fitness and simple exercises like push ups can keep you in good overall physical shape. Spoken as a 53 year old with 25+ years of hard labor in substations/switch yards/railroad and other heavy industrial work, if you do not care for your body, you will regret it as you get older.
  3. I've been in since just before turning 20, I'm 45 now. I feel the stupid shit i did in my 20s. Don't let them treat you like a mule. Learn to do things smart NOW rather than when it's necessitated by injury or pain.
  4. As a 50+ with 30 years in the trade. If you’re not smart about lifting, pushing, pulling, etc you can hurt yourself pretty bad. There are smart ways to do most of our jobs that won’t f you up. [He mentions things listed in "How you work", above.]
  5. I work with plenty of old guys that are well into their 60s that get around just fine and still put in the hard work. Key thing is staying fit and healthy. I worked with 5 of them and only 1 is out of work due to back problems, but he also smoked two packs and drank a 12 pack every day.
  6. Soon to be 59 and can still do it. You have to take care of yourself and don't let nagging issues go untreated especially as you get older. Some people just aren't built for it and will be all done before they are 40.
  7. I'm retired. My back still works. Based on a non-random sample of my fellow coworkers, about half of them have effed up backs or other problems. Some have had major surgery. And so, what I can tell you is listen to the safety guys when they describe proper lifting techniques. Also keep yourself in shape.
  8. [Various other old-timers related the various deterioration they suffered, like back, shoulders, knees, wrists.]

Or, instead of all the above, just work enough to afford robotic body modifications.