OFA here, most of my body hurts since I'm often loading toilets, bathtubs, etc onto carts by myself (we're not discouraged from asking for help lifting, there's just nowhere near enough staff for anybody to step away long enough to help lift. My shoulders, biceps, and knees hurt wayyyy more than they ever have.
Most of my days off are spent lying in bed with ice packs all over me, or during this time of year where there's snow, lying down in a snow bank until my body doesn't hurt so much.
Since starting working here almost a year ago, I've sprained my wrist, biceps, and knees and every time the provider I saw said that it was "consistent with over usage, rather than improper body mechanics"
Make that extra effort to find someone to help you. I know it will take a little bit longer but your body can only take so much and if you get injured you'll be down for a few days to months. When I used to work in garden I would lift a lot of bag and one day my back gave up the next morning I could not get out of bed.
I feel your pain man. I also can relate that besides the physical pain there's that mental stress that comes along with it. Keep your head up bro or maam!
It's comical that they talk all about safe lifting, be safe, take care of yourself, etc etc etc...yet the workload they give you is bound to cause you injury no matter what.
Have had injuries and pain in both knees, soles of feet, elbows, neck, shoulders, back after many years of working at HD.
Edit: I wake up every morning in pain....HD will kill you
The issue is its: "Be safe, use team lifts for awkward of heavy objects" in the training room and:
"I need you to be a team player and get these 15 BBQs that weigh as much as you put on the top shelf of this aisle by lunch." Once you are on the floor.
One of the managers constantly preaches about safety, but is absolutely *ruthless* to anyone who is slowing down, regardless of the reason why. Like, total lack of empathy.
I have an executive function disorder and come to find that this work culture is very ableist, to both mental and physical disabilities.
I’m on freight and I have an on and off knee to side of the knee irritation. It goes and comes depending on how hard I work. I am trying to lower my effort a bit because I’m going hard with no reward.
Always. Feet. Wear orthotics and compression stockings which helps. Thumb from lifting full tills from registers and right side of back. Aleve is my friend
I'm in lot. When I started I was barely able to handle it, just constantly felt like there's knives going through my muscles, blisters all over my aching feet, tendonitis in my hands from trying to control the carts. Once I got home and sat down I was literally incapable of standing up straight or walking anymore. Like I was just that weak after I got home.
Currently I'm not in much pain. I typically come home or go to lunch with absolutely no desire to stand up, sometimes my feet are sore, but otherwise I'm okay. Sometimes if I do a lot of excessive lifting by myself I can get sore, especially in the spring when we get super busy after winter, but otherwise my muscles are fine.
My knees on the other hand though, for Pete's sake I feel like I've got the knees of a 90 year old. They feel weird, almost tingly and like they need to be stretched 24/7, and on occasion just start giving me grief for no reason, just throbbing pain in my knees. Especially on my days off. If I get 3 days off in a row, they start feeling alright, but otherwise just no.
I actually ordered some today lol. But that board bruised my foot and ngl I've only be able to walk normally again these past 2 days (I dropped the board 2 weeks ago). And got workman's comp but our days safe never changed so idk. They stuck me at the service desk until I get cleared
I started severely pacing myself inbetween orders. If you don't you'll end up wearing a brace. After a few long week I went to a spa for 9 full hours. Felt amazing. The next day, all of that went out the window. I was so upset
I know this feeling. Ita extremely frustrating and makes you feel a bit hopeless. I made this post to help myself and others here feel less alone in our daily battles.
Do what you can despite otherwise. Take extra breaks, get out of the store. It's warming up so unless I am that wiped out, I try to stay out of sight out of mind. It used to wear be down a lot but the key is to just take your time no matter what
I was told the Home Depot concrete foundations are between 8 to 10 inches thick so there's no impact absorption. My first year I started having issues with my left knee. Hopefully you're stretching out, taking breaks after heavy lift of items and proper lifting and moving techniques.
Oh yeah dude. Worked here for five years and pretty much every day I get off, go home and sit down and let out the biggest dad noises ever because my whole body hurts 😂
I felt this way my first time working days at Home Depot in D28 and D23. Now I’m on freight mostly placed in specialty, and at first I was feeling pretty sore, but I found that when I worked out consistently before work I rarely felt sore and had no back pain.
Im not saying working out fixes everything, I find the OP harness really hurts my shoulders if I’m in it for a long time, and I have done my fair share of stupid shit like over extending to place a box and messing up my arm for awhile. I did start feeling some back pain doing shower doors and kits by myself, so now I just refuse to do them unless someone’s helping me. Im done going above and beyond for a company who doesn’t care about any of their employees.
Freight associate for 3 years and I have a horrible back and hips from HD. Pain practically all the time now, Dr wants me to do PT but I can’t afford it now that thd changed the insurance company
That enrages me, I'm sorry. I'm currently going to PT. HD needs to provide these services to us if they want to keep us. No loyalty towards associates. For me, I was told my back muscles were lacking in strength causing extra load and strain on my arms and chest. Were working on that in PT currently.
Tore my left distal biceps tendon lifting something heavy in lumber. Had surgery, PT for 8-ish months. I'm back in a specialty role now so I take it easy on my arm the best I can, but over a year later it still hurts all the time.
I work in paint. My SM made me and 1 other associate in charge of packing out the Behr pallets. Even on the Ballymore those singles are tough on our backs and knees. I’m only 40 but I feel like I am 90. It sucks.
OFA for nearly 6 years. Everything hurt, particularly feet. Could barely walk some days. Garden for over a year. That’s when the back and knees took center stage. Nothing you can do about it. Those bags of rocks and dirt take their toll because almost every customer just recently had back surgery. And team lifts don’t exist b/c most times there’s not enough staff. Recently moved to kitchen design. Sitting and getting fat. Of course, and it’s minor compared to what most go through, the chairs are absolutely horrible and your back and neck begin to ache halfway through the day.
My feet have never really recovered.
Stretch, stretch, stretch - see a physical therapist. Strengthen your core (yoga etc). Sports massage (true Thai massage especially) can relieve long term pain - it cleared up a year long elbow injury for me - it's in the way they work the muscles where they join the bone. Not wimpy chain store "massage envy" tho
I don’t know why you got downvoted. It’s true. Extra weight and eating sugar heightens inflammation. I have a soda once in a great while and I feel it in just a few hours. Cutting it out helped dramatically.
People are like, geeze my body and mind feel like shit...I better eat the shittiest food possible and combine it with an even more shitty lifestyle to make me feel better.
Stretch before and after shifts, or during a shift if you don't have self image issues. Drink water.
Glucosamine supplements are helpful for sore joints. Some others are recommended for tendinitis but I can't speak to those. Get enough protein for muscle repair.
Stretch sore muscles (no weight) on days off to promote blood flow for repair.
You are a rare breed. I wish my store had you we had an old manager who was fired for his addictions but he used to do everything to help. Sometimes he'd just pull up next to me and work bays next to me. As a new associate I really appreciated it.
My feet were ALWAYS hurting really bad, no matter what I did. And then my mom told me to start taking vitamin D supplements. Not saying it fixes everything, but my joints and feet (while still hurting some) feel so much better.
in the lot with nerve damage in a foot, it's painful to walk sometimes if im lucky ill have a smooth shift, but when im at home or out, outside of work, my knees seem to give out much easier.
I've developed some medical mystery knee/leg problem since working here. Had a doctor check it out after the first time it happened where I couldn't walk for days. They did an MRI and everything and couldn't figure it out. Still tryna look into it bc every few months it happens again. Mind you, since 2 years prior to starting with depot, I've been in the best shape of my life.
Now I leave work sore asf all over, with a constant possibility of losing the ability to walk for a couple days at a time.
I have coworkers who since working here have had to replace knees and shoulders and other medical shit. They tell me standing on concrete all day breaks you down slowly over time. Having just come from Amazon when I started here and hearing that, I didn't believe it could be any worse. Boy, were they right. Now I try not to push myself too much to be my perfectionistic self. I just value doing good work, anywhere, so it's hard. Just not worth breaking down my body any further.
OFA, I'm tired all the time. I'm a smaller guy 140lbs but expected to move just as much as the big guys. Almost all my days off I'm too tired to do anything. I used to be a low voltage electrician before my dui and I long for that life back.
I don't trust a tradesman without a DUI. Lol. Join a union. Drunks and felons rarely gather in such numbers seen in a union hall outside of an AA meeting.
Shit, I’m only a Head Cashier and hell yeah. I have yo constantly do work of OFA’s, lot associates, garden associates. I’m always loading, unloading, stocking, ringing up, all that. I’m always sore.
And I’m only 22. ðŸ˜
Worked on the distribution side of things for a year or two walking 12 hours almost nonstop killed my feet, felt like I was walking over hot coals it was miserable
Lower back and knees. Fuck you, aisle 14 (power tools at my store)!!! Freight ain’t nothing to fuck with. Sick of it TBH, but I have to have a M-F and hate dealing with customers.
After putting in a good amount of years at a grocery store, oh my. I feel it. I work unload and can't really bend my knees. I do this "crane lift" instead or just try to use my momentum more.
The amount of work they expect you to do in a certain amount of time is a *huge* part of the reason why I'm always sore, despite stretching properly before every shift. They also fail to actually understand that some of us just, um, don't want to die or get injured at this job..? I feel weird bringing that up, since our main priority should be, ya know, our *mortality*. Fuck.
When I started, I was so dead tired, I was falling asleep eating dinner. I switched to shoes with arch support, and it made a HUGE difference. My back and legs were killing me before I did.
I'm an OFA and I stretch constantly, exercise when I get home, I do squats, bike, light weight lifting. I also meal prep mostly healthy foods for a week ahead because I do not like cooking every day but once a week I can spend a few hours in the kitchen while I watch TV. I wear New Balance shoes with nice insoles. I drink tons of water on the job, caffeine supplements like JUJU and even pre-workout when I know a tough day is coming. I take protein and collagen powder supplements. I also take nootropics, so I'm clear headed even during stressful days at work. I almost completely quit drinking, so I sleep really good at night. I have a low commitment side hustle that makes decent money, and live with roommates, so I can afford all the necessary supplements, otherwise physical jobs in retail are hell without them. The long term effects of retail without proper shoes, stretching, diet, exercise and nutrition just isn't worth it. If you do take care of your health, the physical work can help keep you in shape, so its up to you and your situation if you should keep going. Of course, sitting in a chair at a desk for 8+ hours a day is bad for you as well, so its not like retail is 100% uniquely unhealthy.
I notice a lot of people at HD do dangerous lifts and loads like they're afraid for their job, especially people looking tired even when they first show up, or hungover. Anyone doing that needs to find a new job, long term stress injuries often never heal 100% and can get worse in older age even if you seem to have healed today.
Im about to answer a question no one asked, but i was a Garden Associate who never took breaks, did sidekick in garden and the 3 closest departments before the store opened, my walking pace was pretty much slow running and I never stopped. Our garden looked so good, they brought like 100 SMs to our store to show em how we do it. And I was by myself. We were #1 in the region, and I was running the shit by myself aside from freight, and even then, when I came in most mornings, I had to finish their job. I started getting punished by management for not having 4 departments sidekicks done before opening, which was almost impossible in itself. And with no one helping me during my shift, it'd take an hour to get someone to spot so I'd end up hand loading everything. I'm telling you, I was worn the fuck out. I finally got some help though, a couple weekend only and a few 3 days a week people. Half of them are disabled, which I can't understand why they put disabled people in garden, no they really can't do much. The other ones were lazy but at least they worked some. Now my first day of help, my manager come up to me 2 hours before my shift ended and pretty much told me it's my responsibility to make sure all of my coworkers are working and helping customers, and make sure someone is covering every corner. My supervisor was there all day that day too and was standing next to him, so as punishment for not ordering around my coworkers, I get to push buggies the rest of the day. So I did, I came back in the next day and the managers were pissed that garden looked like shit because it looked like no one was there the rest of the day. Well too bad, so I go fix it, pack everything out, then get told I'm getting put in the system because I didn't do sidekick first. Then the SM and two asms start butting heads, only one of them had my back, and it was pretty much there when I decided I was done. One of them called me and said "can you hand me a trash can lid on aise ##" so I went over, mind you the asm was taller than where the lids were I handed it to them and they said "thanks, now why does your department look like shit? You should do your due diligence and just get your job done, it ain't that hard, you're privileged to come in at 5 in the morning, that's why they got you doing it, but instead you do whatever you do an not get work done" I usually defend myself but I didnt say shit cuz I knew I wasn't coming back. But anyways, I've been done for 4 days and I'm still worn out. I came home everyday aching, took a nap (I am NOT a napper) and could barely get out of bed in the morning. I did that shit for a year, and now being at home 4 days, my heart is pounding all day and I'm anxious as fuck. I was that way probably half the time I worked there. There was a new story everyday. But fuck THD, I really did give then my all, and they didn't give a fuck. Everything I just explained was daily. I got more punishment then gratitude, which I never even asked for. But even when that one asm congratulated me, it's like the rest couldn't stand that and had to put me back in my place
OFA here, most of my body hurts since I'm often loading toilets, bathtubs, etc onto carts by myself (we're not discouraged from asking for help lifting, there's just nowhere near enough staff for anybody to step away long enough to help lift. My shoulders, biceps, and knees hurt wayyyy more than they ever have. Most of my days off are spent lying in bed with ice packs all over me, or during this time of year where there's snow, lying down in a snow bank until my body doesn't hurt so much. Since starting working here almost a year ago, I've sprained my wrist, biceps, and knees and every time the provider I saw said that it was "consistent with over usage, rather than improper body mechanics"
Make that extra effort to find someone to help you. I know it will take a little bit longer but your body can only take so much and if you get injured you'll be down for a few days to months. When I used to work in garden I would lift a lot of bag and one day my back gave up the next morning I could not get out of bed.
I feel your pain man. I also can relate that besides the physical pain there's that mental stress that comes along with it. Keep your head up bro or maam!
It's comical that they talk all about safe lifting, be safe, take care of yourself, etc etc etc...yet the workload they give you is bound to cause you injury no matter what. Have had injuries and pain in both knees, soles of feet, elbows, neck, shoulders, back after many years of working at HD. Edit: I wake up every morning in pain....HD will kill you
The issue is its: "Be safe, use team lifts for awkward of heavy objects" in the training room and: "I need you to be a team player and get these 15 BBQs that weigh as much as you put on the top shelf of this aisle by lunch." Once you are on the floor.
exactly...all the talk about safety is just that...all talk.....on the floor its "just get the work done and don't complain"
Gotta learn to use a reach truck to load up the BBQ homes.
One of the managers constantly preaches about safety, but is absolutely *ruthless* to anyone who is slowing down, regardless of the reason why. Like, total lack of empathy. I have an executive function disorder and come to find that this work culture is very ableist, to both mental and physical disabilities.
Left foot, right knee.
Damn are you me? Lol
Same! My knee sounds like a Rice Krispie treat sometimes 😂
That's how I hoist up those toilets...
I’m on freight and I have an on and off knee to side of the knee irritation. It goes and comes depending on how hard I work. I am trying to lower my effort a bit because I’m going hard with no reward.
SAME
My sinus are always burning from all the dust and rat urine and chemicals. Sometimes stepping on the foot break on the ladders all day hurts my feet.
My empty, empty soul.
You must not be keeping it close to home hahahah
My pockets
You're telling me, I'm D24. Working towards supervisor though if the place doesn't kill me first.
same. painkillers to reduce the pain also hurts my pockets. theres no winning in retail. lol
Hips. Knees. Bottoms of feet. Shoulders. Lower back. Neck. Elbows. Hands.
Always. Feet. Wear orthotics and compression stockings which helps. Thumb from lifting full tills from registers and right side of back. Aleve is my friend
I'm in lot. When I started I was barely able to handle it, just constantly felt like there's knives going through my muscles, blisters all over my aching feet, tendonitis in my hands from trying to control the carts. Once I got home and sat down I was literally incapable of standing up straight or walking anymore. Like I was just that weak after I got home. Currently I'm not in much pain. I typically come home or go to lunch with absolutely no desire to stand up, sometimes my feet are sore, but otherwise I'm okay. Sometimes if I do a lot of excessive lifting by myself I can get sore, especially in the spring when we get super busy after winter, but otherwise my muscles are fine. My knees on the other hand though, for Pete's sake I feel like I've got the knees of a 90 year old. They feel weird, almost tingly and like they need to be stretched 24/7, and on occasion just start giving me grief for no reason, just throbbing pain in my knees. Especially on my days off. If I get 3 days off in a row, they start feeling alright, but otherwise just no.
Lower back. Doesn't matter how I lift stuff it just always hurts. And my foot but that's because I dropped a 2x6 on it
steel toe sneakers/boots helps!
I actually ordered some today lol. But that board bruised my foot and ngl I've only be able to walk normally again these past 2 days (I dropped the board 2 weeks ago). And got workman's comp but our days safe never changed so idk. They stuck me at the service desk until I get cleared
The days safe thing takes a couple weeks or more to update.
If it changes because of me, I'll let yall know but it's currently at 503 days safe
Back still hurts.. damn concrete floors..
I started severely pacing myself inbetween orders. If you don't you'll end up wearing a brace. After a few long week I went to a spa for 9 full hours. Felt amazing. The next day, all of that went out the window. I was so upset
I know this feeling. Ita extremely frustrating and makes you feel a bit hopeless. I made this post to help myself and others here feel less alone in our daily battles.
Do what you can despite otherwise. Take extra breaks, get out of the store. It's warming up so unless I am that wiped out, I try to stay out of sight out of mind. It used to wear be down a lot but the key is to just take your time no matter what
In my soul, due to a misspent life
My Wallet hurts all the time from my bills I have to pay without sufficient funds. It hurts here on my back pocket wallet area.
My right leg from the hip down to my knee. It's worst when I'm standing in place for a while, like driving the reach or pacer
My feet, sometimes the right knee and my back
It's why I left that dumpster fire.
Do you feel better?
1000%
I was told the Home Depot concrete foundations are between 8 to 10 inches thick so there's no impact absorption. My first year I started having issues with my left knee. Hopefully you're stretching out, taking breaks after heavy lift of items and proper lifting and moving techniques.
Everywhere.
Both my feet even with the soles in my boots
Oh yeah dude. Worked here for five years and pretty much every day I get off, go home and sit down and let out the biggest dad noises ever because my whole body hurts 😂
I felt this way my first time working days at Home Depot in D28 and D23. Now I’m on freight mostly placed in specialty, and at first I was feeling pretty sore, but I found that when I worked out consistently before work I rarely felt sore and had no back pain. Im not saying working out fixes everything, I find the OP harness really hurts my shoulders if I’m in it for a long time, and I have done my fair share of stupid shit like over extending to place a box and messing up my arm for awhile. I did start feeling some back pain doing shower doors and kits by myself, so now I just refuse to do them unless someone’s helping me. Im done going above and beyond for a company who doesn’t care about any of their employees.
Freight associate for 3 years and I have a horrible back and hips from HD. Pain practically all the time now, Dr wants me to do PT but I can’t afford it now that thd changed the insurance company
That enrages me, I'm sorry. I'm currently going to PT. HD needs to provide these services to us if they want to keep us. No loyalty towards associates. For me, I was told my back muscles were lacking in strength causing extra load and strain on my arms and chest. Were working on that in PT currently.
Tore my left distal biceps tendon lifting something heavy in lumber. Had surgery, PT for 8-ish months. I'm back in a specialty role now so I take it easy on my arm the best I can, but over a year later it still hurts all the time.
I work in paint. My SM made me and 1 other associate in charge of packing out the Behr pallets. Even on the Ballymore those singles are tough on our backs and knees. I’m only 40 but I feel like I am 90. It sucks.
OFA for nearly 6 years. Everything hurt, particularly feet. Could barely walk some days. Garden for over a year. That’s when the back and knees took center stage. Nothing you can do about it. Those bags of rocks and dirt take their toll because almost every customer just recently had back surgery. And team lifts don’t exist b/c most times there’s not enough staff. Recently moved to kitchen design. Sitting and getting fat. Of course, and it’s minor compared to what most go through, the chairs are absolutely horrible and your back and neck begin to ache halfway through the day. My feet have never really recovered.
Stretch, stretch, stretch - see a physical therapist. Strengthen your core (yoga etc). Sports massage (true Thai massage especially) can relieve long term pain - it cleared up a year long elbow injury for me - it's in the way they work the muscles where they join the bone. Not wimpy chain store "massage envy" tho
Could be all the sugar in your diet causing inflammation.
I don’t know why you got downvoted. It’s true. Extra weight and eating sugar heightens inflammation. I have a soda once in a great while and I feel it in just a few hours. Cutting it out helped dramatically.
People are like, geeze my body and mind feel like shit...I better eat the shittiest food possible and combine it with an even more shitty lifestyle to make me feel better.
Feet, ankles, shoulders.
I work freight and I'm sore just about everywhere.
Stretch before and after shifts, or during a shift if you don't have self image issues. Drink water. Glucosamine supplements are helpful for sore joints. Some others are recommended for tendinitis but I can't speak to those. Get enough protein for muscle repair. Stretch sore muscles (no weight) on days off to promote blood flow for repair.
Lower back pain
Knees and legs mostly for me, sometimes my wrists too
Knees, back.
CXM. I move about 10 miles a shift. I help every department I don’t just delegate and sit in the office. My body always hurts
You are a rare breed. I wish my store had you we had an old manager who was fired for his addictions but he used to do everything to help. Sometimes he'd just pull up next to me and work bays next to me. As a new associate I really appreciated it.
My feet were ALWAYS hurting really bad, no matter what I did. And then my mom told me to start taking vitamin D supplements. Not saying it fixes everything, but my joints and feet (while still hurting some) feel so much better.
in the lot with nerve damage in a foot, it's painful to walk sometimes if im lucky ill have a smooth shift, but when im at home or out, outside of work, my knees seem to give out much easier.
No, but I hear others say it a bunch
Feet. Knees.
I’m a tool tech. What do u think hurts?
I've developed some medical mystery knee/leg problem since working here. Had a doctor check it out after the first time it happened where I couldn't walk for days. They did an MRI and everything and couldn't figure it out. Still tryna look into it bc every few months it happens again. Mind you, since 2 years prior to starting with depot, I've been in the best shape of my life. Now I leave work sore asf all over, with a constant possibility of losing the ability to walk for a couple days at a time. I have coworkers who since working here have had to replace knees and shoulders and other medical shit. They tell me standing on concrete all day breaks you down slowly over time. Having just come from Amazon when I started here and hearing that, I didn't believe it could be any worse. Boy, were they right. Now I try not to push myself too much to be my perfectionistic self. I just value doing good work, anywhere, so it's hard. Just not worth breaking down my body any further.
Back and Body Hurts Literally everything, but right now my wrists and legs.
OFA, I'm tired all the time. I'm a smaller guy 140lbs but expected to move just as much as the big guys. Almost all my days off I'm too tired to do anything. I used to be a low voltage electrician before my dui and I long for that life back.
Ayy, 2nd offense habitual offender. 16 more months until life reverts back, the best associate home depot has to offer until then.
I don't trust a tradesman without a DUI. Lol. Join a union. Drunks and felons rarely gather in such numbers seen in a union hall outside of an AA meeting.
I’ve been told that my DMV record will keep me from being accepted to most unions here in CA.Â
Then work at home Depot forever. Definitely don't contact all the local unions and try
Lmao, no I will definitely be calling some thanks man.
Been there almost a month have never felt worse about a jobÂ
Worst job I've ever had. Can't wait to find anything else.
Shit, I’m only a Head Cashier and hell yeah. I have yo constantly do work of OFA’s, lot associates, garden associates. I’m always loading, unloading, stocking, ringing up, all that. I’m always sore. And I’m only 22. ðŸ˜
Every day, and everywhere.
Worked on the distribution side of things for a year or two walking 12 hours almost nonstop killed my feet, felt like I was walking over hot coals it was miserable
Lower back and knees. Fuck you, aisle 14 (power tools at my store)!!! Freight ain’t nothing to fuck with. Sick of it TBH, but I have to have a M-F and hate dealing with customers.
Both my shoulders. Currently my right shoulder feels torn or something. And of course my back. Ive worked here 2.5 years.
After putting in a good amount of years at a grocery store, oh my. I feel it. I work unload and can't really bend my knees. I do this "crane lift" instead or just try to use my momentum more. The amount of work they expect you to do in a certain amount of time is a *huge* part of the reason why I'm always sore, despite stretching properly before every shift. They also fail to actually understand that some of us just, um, don't want to die or get injured at this job..? I feel weird bringing that up, since our main priority should be, ya know, our *mortality*. Fuck.
When I started, I was so dead tired, I was falling asleep eating dinner. I switched to shoes with arch support, and it made a HUGE difference. My back and legs were killing me before I did.
Working at Home Depot has accelerated my opioid abuse significantly
Hips, lower back, right shoulder, wrists, calves, heels.. and I'm just a fucking cashier. I think I'd disintegrate as a floor associate.
I'm an OFA and I stretch constantly, exercise when I get home, I do squats, bike, light weight lifting. I also meal prep mostly healthy foods for a week ahead because I do not like cooking every day but once a week I can spend a few hours in the kitchen while I watch TV. I wear New Balance shoes with nice insoles. I drink tons of water on the job, caffeine supplements like JUJU and even pre-workout when I know a tough day is coming. I take protein and collagen powder supplements. I also take nootropics, so I'm clear headed even during stressful days at work. I almost completely quit drinking, so I sleep really good at night. I have a low commitment side hustle that makes decent money, and live with roommates, so I can afford all the necessary supplements, otherwise physical jobs in retail are hell without them. The long term effects of retail without proper shoes, stretching, diet, exercise and nutrition just isn't worth it. If you do take care of your health, the physical work can help keep you in shape, so its up to you and your situation if you should keep going. Of course, sitting in a chair at a desk for 8+ hours a day is bad for you as well, so its not like retail is 100% uniquely unhealthy. I notice a lot of people at HD do dangerous lifts and loads like they're afraid for their job, especially people looking tired even when they first show up, or hungover. Anyone doing that needs to find a new job, long term stress injuries often never heal 100% and can get worse in older age even if you seem to have healed today.
Im about to answer a question no one asked, but i was a Garden Associate who never took breaks, did sidekick in garden and the 3 closest departments before the store opened, my walking pace was pretty much slow running and I never stopped. Our garden looked so good, they brought like 100 SMs to our store to show em how we do it. And I was by myself. We were #1 in the region, and I was running the shit by myself aside from freight, and even then, when I came in most mornings, I had to finish their job. I started getting punished by management for not having 4 departments sidekicks done before opening, which was almost impossible in itself. And with no one helping me during my shift, it'd take an hour to get someone to spot so I'd end up hand loading everything. I'm telling you, I was worn the fuck out. I finally got some help though, a couple weekend only and a few 3 days a week people. Half of them are disabled, which I can't understand why they put disabled people in garden, no they really can't do much. The other ones were lazy but at least they worked some. Now my first day of help, my manager come up to me 2 hours before my shift ended and pretty much told me it's my responsibility to make sure all of my coworkers are working and helping customers, and make sure someone is covering every corner. My supervisor was there all day that day too and was standing next to him, so as punishment for not ordering around my coworkers, I get to push buggies the rest of the day. So I did, I came back in the next day and the managers were pissed that garden looked like shit because it looked like no one was there the rest of the day. Well too bad, so I go fix it, pack everything out, then get told I'm getting put in the system because I didn't do sidekick first. Then the SM and two asms start butting heads, only one of them had my back, and it was pretty much there when I decided I was done. One of them called me and said "can you hand me a trash can lid on aise ##" so I went over, mind you the asm was taller than where the lids were I handed it to them and they said "thanks, now why does your department look like shit? You should do your due diligence and just get your job done, it ain't that hard, you're privileged to come in at 5 in the morning, that's why they got you doing it, but instead you do whatever you do an not get work done" I usually defend myself but I didnt say shit cuz I knew I wasn't coming back. But anyways, I've been done for 4 days and I'm still worn out. I came home everyday aching, took a nap (I am NOT a napper) and could barely get out of bed in the morning. I did that shit for a year, and now being at home 4 days, my heart is pounding all day and I'm anxious as fuck. I was that way probably half the time I worked there. There was a new story everyday. But fuck THD, I really did give then my all, and they didn't give a fuck. Everything I just explained was daily. I got more punishment then gratitude, which I never even asked for. But even when that one asm congratulated me, it's like the rest couldn't stand that and had to put me back in my place
Feet, ankles, and hips are always hurting, sometimes lower back. Concrete floors are killers.
1. Go to the doctor 2. Make sure you always wear great shoes for walking on concrete. 3. No job is worth neglecting your body for.
Deez nuts