I'm a baker, what exercises will get me jacked?

[masluke]

A few notes on the schedule and situation.

I've just landed a job at an artisan bakery. This is something that 've been trying to get into for almost 7 months. I'm shaping dozens of styles of breads and rolls by hand for hours on end if I'm not scraping down tables and containers.

32 yr old white male, 5'11 on a good day, hovering around 243lb. Work is tues-sat, 5am-12/1pm tues-fri, sat is 2am-9am. Rest is sporadic with Saturday schedule. Roughly 5-7 hours a night, with a 2-3 hour chunk somewhere between shifts.

At this point I was already training for mountain hikes, averaging 17 miles across incline hikes (10), stair climbing (3), and rowing (3.5), per week. I'm about 4 weeks into this training. I have plans for a 2025 trail maintenance basecamp cook. I've already got goals and trails picked out based on what I've been able to achieve on a digital level. I've thought about reaching out on here for advice on training hiking/endurance, but I just did about 3 of my first days as a baker, and my body is telling me to change what I'm working on.

Up until now my efforts have been based around fueling a 1-2.5hr workout about 4 times per week. My macros have been all over the place, and with my bodyweight being so dense, it can be a real struggle to even meet a 1g per lb bodyweight goal. I'm willing to change my diet and eating schedule, but that's secondary to the main goal here, and what brings me to the forum for the first time...



What workouts can I do become a jacked baker? Here's what my body is telling me:

From the neck down my upper chest, traps, rear delts, front delts and areas between the shoulder blades are all being used the most on upper body aside from forearms. Forearms are sore, but not nearly as sore as my hands. For the first time in my life my palms, middle knuckles, and finger tips, are all sore. Lower back is getting the better half of my core use. From the waist to the knee, I'm pretty good. No heavy usage there. Finally my calves, ankles and stabilizing muscles from the knee down, are taking a pretty heavy toll.

The obvious answers I've come to are:

More core training, start grip training, more focus on lower legs, upper chest, shoulders, and upper back.

Keep in mind that most of my day is spent basically punching a wooden table for hours on end, with intermittent squatting and shoulder pressing.



I'm an open book for questions and suggestions, so what kind of routine can I build to make muscle around the groups I'm using at work?

Any advice is appreciated!

[TAWS6]

A few good routines are Lyle McDonald’s GBR, All pros, and Fierce 5. At that weight you’ll need to diet down. To look jacked you need good muscle development with low body fat. I bounce around in the 12-15 percent range. For reference I’m about 180-185 lbs.

[SuicideGripMe]

It depends on what you want to do. Any generic fullbody routine would be good whether it be a barbell or kettlebell focused training program. Ideally, you need to get squatting, you need to pull things off the floor, you need to pull yourself over things, you need to press things overhead, and you need to carry stuff. Any routine that hits that a few times a week is a good start.

[Crazee_786]

Bake that bread homie



Don’t be scared homie


No Diddy

[radrd]

I wouldn't suggest grip training. Your hands are already getting plenty of work. You'll probably give yourself tendonitis. With thst said, don't shy away from deadlifts, pull ups, and farmers carries which will strengthen your grip. With your hiking endurance goal, farmers carries would be good to add to your routine. It's hard to tell how much lifting experience you have, but Lyle McDonald GBR is one I'd look at and add carries.

The biggest thing you can do to up your hiking endurance is lose weight. If your body was carrying 50 lb less, you'd be better off for sure. Doing some rucking with a weighted vest or backpack would also directly contribute to your goal.

[masluke]

I really appreciate all the advice on here, I've read through everything and will definitely drop the idea on grip training. I've got a 20lb vest and have no problem loading up my packs for rucks. I've got some kettlebells I can do to add in more full body routines.

My weight lifting history is all over the place, same with my weight. When I was at my peak activity about 6 years ago I was 185, and had summited about 10, 14k peaks. I was really only lifting for aesthetic purposes. I haven't tried any main lifts in a while, probably 3 years or so. I'm about 10lbs down from just over a month ago. So the weight will come off with time, I'm trying to build up the endurance and strength before I go back to cutting weight.

I'm going to do a better job logging my workouts this week, and plan on adding the following, slowly:

Kettlebell swings
Farmers carry
Shoulder presses
Incline bench
Delt raises
Squats
Lunges
Calf raises
And then maintain my incline walks, stair climbing, and rowing.


Again I'm open to any suggestions, I'll try to keep things updated.

Thanks!

[radrd]

It sounds like you think your endurance and functional strength are going to suffer by cutting weight. This is not the case. If you were trying to be a power lifter then you might lose a bit of strength in your big three compound lifts but you aren't even consistently training them. Losing weight is only going to benefit you right now. You will have greater stamina and endurance if you are carrying less fat.

If you were here asking how to compete at bench press then I probably wouldn't tell you to lose weight, but it doesn't sound like that's where you want to be. I'd worry less about how much you can lift and more about how you look and feel.

[paulinkansas]

Are most of the customers of the bakery women?

[masluke]

It sounds like you think your endurance and functional strength are going to suffer by cutting weight. This is not the case. If you were trying to be a power lifter then you might lose a bit of strength in your big three compound lifts but you aren't even consistently training them. Losing weight is only going to benefit you right now. You will have greater stamina and endurance if you are carrying less fat.

If you were here asking how to compete at bench press then I probably wouldn't tell you to lose weight, but it doesn't sound like that's where you want to be. I'd worry less about how much you can lift and more about how you look and feel.

I appreciate you highlighting the end goals, I can definitely get into a habit of doing more than is necessary. So thanks for helping me keep the focus.

I took a look and I found my old meal plan when I was first cutting weight. I'll make some tweaks to it and put more of a focus on the diet, and keeping up with the functional workouts.

Thanks again.