John, I feel for you. I've done what you're doing now and it majorly sucks. And no, of course you're not tacking on a fitness regimen to those horrible days. It's hard enough with normal-ish hours plus a big commute, which is what I'm doing right now.
Your original post made it sound like a life of pain and health degeneration is inevitable if you edit for a living, and I don't think that's true for everyone. Our situations vary depending upon our career maturity, our markets, our financial pressures and familial situations, etc. For example: I myself don't feel like I can take real vacations; the lost work plus the vacation costs make them prohibitive for me. But I'm surrounded by both freelancers and staff editors who take big trips regularly, and some of them even have kids. What if I had told David, based on my own experience, that if he became an editor he would never again take a two week vacation? That wouldn't necessarily be true for him.
Thankfully, I don't have reason to work too many 80 hour weeks anymore, and yet I'm making more money now than I ever have. When the big hours do hit, as they did this last spring, I work them differently than I did 10 years ago. I do my best to adjust my ergonomics to minimize damage, I try to drink water and give my eyes breaks, and I do the no more than 15 minutes of stretching and core strengthening exercises that help me recover. I have no choice. If I don't do them, I will damage myself to the point that I won't be able to work at all, and I will need to work for a very long time yet, so I find the 15 minutes throughout the day to take care of myself.
I sincerely hope that things ease up on you soon. But if they don't, I think there are small things you can do to feel better when the next exhausting day rolls around.
Good luck.
Shirley
-----Original Message-----
From: john <john@digitalcut.com>
To: Avid-L2 <Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sat, Sep 29, 2012 2:39 pm
Subject: Re: [Avid-L2] Editor Wellness Tips
No, not joking unfortunately. I'm currently on mi 6th week of 16 hour edit days.
When am I supposed to have time to exercise? Lol
John Kilgour
Avid & Final Cut Pro Editor
www.digitalcut.com
631-680-8316
On Sep 29, 2012, at 3:19 PM, Shirley Gutierrez <guanacaa@aol.com> wrote:
> Joking, yes?
>
> My fitness is far from perfect at this point in my life, but my posture,
strength, flexibility, endurance and general health are still a great deal
better than they were ten years ago, when I was in a deep trough. It's a
challenge, but we can make choices that improve our health outlook.
>
> Shirley
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: john <john@digitalcut.com>
> To: Avid-L2 <Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Sat, Sep 29, 2012 11:44 am
> Subject: Re: [Avid-L2] Editor Wellness Tips
>
> You can't avoid it. Get ready for a life of pain, accentuated by weight gain,
> carpel tunnel syndrome, and lack of vitamin d
>
> John Kilgour
> Avid & Final Cut Pro Editor
> www.digitalcut.com
> 631-680-8316
>
> On Sep 21, 2012, at 8:40 AM, David Biddle <dbiddle@ewtn.com> wrote:
>
> > Dear Fellow L-2ers,
> >
> > I'm fairly young and hope to be in the editing industry for a long time.
> Obviously, sitting in a dark room in front of various monitors all day long
can
> cause physical hardships relatively quickly. Any tips from the pros on how to
> avoid common pitfalls like eye strain and muscle soreness, and/or how to
> preserve mental clarity through long edit sessions?
> >
> > TIA,
> > David
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Search the official Complete Avid-L archives at: http://archives.bengrosser.com/avid/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
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