I started working in a fast food kitchen 2 weeks ago and it’s physically stressful so far. I do a lot of meal prep which includes a lot of chopping, carrying, and cleaning. Being on my feet for ~7 hours a day is slowly taking a toll on me and I really want to take preventive measures for long term problems that come with it. My right thumb is numb as I type down this post at 1am because I somehow woke up before 4:30am.
For a little background, this is my first official job where I’m being paid actual money for my work. As per usual, I can’t quit because of finances and I like my coworkers and managers so far. I just want my body to cope with it better and I’m not sure how I should go with it. I was pretty sedentary before I started working. I wear comfortable non-slip shoes with orthotics to better support my arch. I also bought a muscle rolling stick to help massage my feet and leg muscles after work. I think the compression socks I recently got isn’t doing much so I’m going to invest in some Bombas socks soon. What else can I do to prevent breaking my body doing this job?
I read your advice this morning and caught myself in bad posture several times today. Bending knees and feet apart were comfortable while doing all my prep work. I think I still need to work on my knife technique so I get a good use of my shoulders instead of depending on my wrist alone. I do always sharpen my knife though because nothing’s more frustrating than a dull knife. Thank you so much for this!
Good knife technique is in the wrist a lot, that’s why you need a sharp one. I watched a video years ago by Heston Blumenthal that helped me heaps. I’ll see if I can track it down for you.
Finally found it in my youtube history. Took ages because I was thinking of the wrong celebrity chef. It’s a sponsored / marketing video but mostly educational.
Thank you! I fortunately don’t have to work with animal products as much but the knife knowledge is always great to revisit