# Am I an idiot for applying for a warehouse worker position to partially get into shape and‘s for the really good pay?



## Byrdette (Sep 16, 2022)

The place I work at now kind of pushed me out. I had been there for almost 5 years but I feel like every other week I’m getting threatened to get fired for something stupid. I have some old coworkers who have been trying to get me to come work at target distribution center for a while. I’m not in the best shape but I’m hoping I could fix that after a couple months of working hard. Am I an idiot for trying this out? I just had a baby about a year ago so I definitely am on the heavier side but I’m pretty strong for the most part. I’m just also short and I’m really hoping they don’t throw me on outbound because I hear that’s really hard.


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## Captain Orca (Sep 16, 2022)

Give it a try!  I'm old and really got into the physical aspect of store side work.  Not a distribution center, so I can't comment on that.  Just pace yourself, don't over do it and be careful.


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## Luck (Sep 16, 2022)

Outbound is the best place to get in shape! It will work if you out in the wffort just dont expect miracles. Loads of people lose weight. Loads of people start putting on weight as their body craves more calories to compensate for the physical labor. 
Either way Target DCs are generally great places to work.


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## Byrdette (Sep 17, 2022)

Captain Orca said:


> Give it a try!  I'm old and really got into the physical aspect of store side work.  Not a distribution center, so I can't comment on that.  Just pace yourself, don't over do it and be careful.


I’m gonna try my best!


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## Byrdette (Sep 17, 2022)

Luck said:


> Outbound is the best place to get in shape! It will work if you out in the wffort just dont expect miracles. Loads of people lose weight. Loads of people start putting on weight as their body craves more calories to compensate for the physical labor.
> Either way Target DCs are generally great places to work.


Hopefully I can keep up and drop done weight. I’ve heard mixed things about DC but I’m optimistic!


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## aifbeewert (Sep 17, 2022)

The best way to lose weight is a strict diet - you won't lose it just by working a physical job unless you are already very disciplined food wise.


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## Planosss enraged (Sep 17, 2022)

aifbeewert said:


> The best way to lose weight is a strict diet - you won't lose it just by working a physical job unless you are already very disciplined food wise.


Fyi, please don’t use your real name on here. Target frowns in people using this forum. I’d suggest changing it to something ambiguous..


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## Captain Orca (Sep 17, 2022)

No Taco Belle or B King on your 30.  Brown bag some cut vegetables, a hard boiled egg, some fruit and a slice or two of whole wheat bread.  No real soda, have a diet coke.


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## MrT (Sep 17, 2022)

You will build muscle regardless and get used to it.  Your diet like people said is definitely going to increase your stamina and is the most important thing in wait loss though.


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## Dcnewb4now (Sep 17, 2022)

Have you ever worked in a warehouse?  I’ve seen too many tm’s choose warehouse worker rather than warehouse associate because they see the dollar signs. They are then placed in ob and realize they can’t do it. I’ve had a handful of tm’s that go to hr for an Ada an hour after being in lanes.


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## marcus85306 (Sep 17, 2022)

I wished I would have done warehouse work sooner! I lost 30-40 pounds at Amazon and was still losing some before I quit after six months to work at Target DC for more money acourse and a better schedule.  Drink lots and lots of water!


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## WarmBody (Sep 17, 2022)

I would go for packing. You walk back and forth a lot in your area and you're not killing yourself like you do in Outbound.  It pays less, however, but not that much less.


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## WHS (Sep 17, 2022)

aifbeewert said:


> The best way to lose weight is a strict diet - you won't lose it just by working a physical job unless you are already very disciplined food wise.


Ehhh.  It depends on the person.  It helps absolutely but some people lose weight extremely easy especially if they’re younger 

I worked outbound at Walmart and almost immediately dropped 40lbs and kept it off even though I ate 3000+ calories a day on my scheduled days


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## LiftHeavy (Sep 18, 2022)

You will lose weight initially, but your body will adjust -- if you burn off a lot of calories, your body will eventually cause you to sleep or rest longer/eat more. Otherwise, everyone working in distribution center ought to be slim and in shape which is definitely not the case.

At the end of the day, losing weight is a function of calories in vs calories out, and a by function of dieting discipline.

Building muscle is a bit of a subjective too depending on what you are looking to build. You will build endurance and stamina for sure, but your actual muscle mass will not see a tangible yield since most eye candy muscles are fast twitch muscles, not slow twitch muscles. Too much endurance workouts will actually burn your muscles for fuel (see marathon runners vs 100 meter sprinters).


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## dcguy86 (Sep 20, 2022)

I lost forty pounds when I switched from ICQA to IB but I also cut soda out 100% and I also started working out outside of work.


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## Captain Orca (Sep 20, 2022)

Avoid fast food for lunch.  Have a yogurt, an apple and some pecans.  Pecans make you strong.


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## targetdude1 (Sep 21, 2022)

aifbeewert said:


> The best way to lose weight is a strict diet - you won't lose it just by working a physical job unless you are already very disciplined food wise.




i can say for a fact this isn't true. i had a job years ago at a ups style place for about 3-4 hours in the early am, mostly doing something called "splitting" (a bunch of packages came down the line and I had to push them to one side or the other based on what city they went too). It worked me like crazy. I lost a huge amount of weight (probably about 70 lbs, at the very least 50) over a longish period of time. It was probably like 3+ hours of highly intense cardio every morning. At that time of my life I just ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, so it wasnt a diet change.

I do understand and agree diet is a lot more important, but trust if you burn enough calories that works too!

Now that said when I first started target in OB I was curious if the same thing would happen (drastic weight loss). Apparently even the lanes were much less intense, because while I lost weight for a while eventually I stabilized, and it was nothing to the degree of that other job.


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## redeye58 (Sep 21, 2022)

Exercise & moving around will get you farther along than only dieting _at the start_.
That said, diet helps when you hit a plateau & vice versa.


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## Randywatsontyvm (Sep 21, 2022)

Good luck.  You need to be in enough shape to perform to keep your job.


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## WarmBody (Sep 21, 2022)

It must be stressed that outbound is a VERY physical job. If you can't keep up, you won't make it at Target. Think twice before trying to start in the outbound department. As I said, Packing is a great choice.

If you do make it for 6 months, you can put in for a transfer to some other department if you don't want to work in outbound anymore.


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## Grunt (Sep 27, 2022)

WarmBody said:


> It must be stressed that outbound is a VERY physical job. If you can't keep up, you won't make it at Target. Think twice before trying to start in the outbound department. As I said, Packing is a great choice.
> 
> If you do make it for 6 months, you can put in for a transfer to some other department if you don't want to work in outbound anymore.


OB is the best!


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## LiftHeavy (Oct 1, 2022)

WarmBody said:


> It must be stressed that outbound is a VERY physical job. If you can't keep up, you won't make it at Target. Think twice before trying to start in the outbound department. As I said, Packing is a great choice.
> 
> If you do make it for 6 months, you can put in for a transfer to some other department if you don't want to work in outbound anymore.


From what I see, OB isn't what it used to be in terms of lanes at the shipping wing. Couple years back we'd have a single person running 6+ lanes, now days running 3, 4 lanes is par for the course.

In terms of difficulty I would say the hardest in order is Inbound ART Unloader, Outbound Depal, and Outbound Shipping Wing Trailer Loader.


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