Mercedes-Benz introduces TopFit in-truck exercise equipment

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Press Release / April 9, 2015

• Sport and fitness set developed for use in truck cabs
• Mercedes-Benz Trucks actively conducts research for the health and fitness of drivers
• Training videos free of charge on the web and in the FleetBoard Driver.app
• TopFit Set suitable for use in all truck brands
• Healthy drivers are indispensable for an efficient transport sector

Mercedes-Benz Trucks is now offering the “TopFit Set” as a genuine accessory for truck drivers who want to do something positive for their health while on the road. Designed and developed specifically for use in truck cabs, the set enables the parts of the body most subject to stresses in the professional working day of drivers to be strengthened, toned and kept fit.

According to a 2012 study by the Robert Koch Institute, around 80 percent of the German population suffer back ailments during the course of their lives, and in many cases these are also chronic. During a health monitoring survey by the research institute in March 2014, some 20.7 percent of adults in Germany reported that in 2013 alone, they had suffered chronic back pain at least once. Chronic back pain is defined as pain that persists for at least three months or longer, on an almost daily basis. Germany has backbone.

This is also the subject of a recent 2014 health report produced by the technical health insurance fund, which surveyed back ailments and the resulting absences from work. According to this, younger employees are also frequently afflicted with these ailments, which can seriously affect quality of life and the ability to work. The professional group of drivers of vehicles and transport equipment has an average sick rate of 24.1 days. A top score – in a negative sense.

Truck drivers need a fitness package “to go”

Ultra-modern trucks such as the Actros already have the best possible features for their drivers. Useful assistance systems, comfortable seats and well-designed beds are just some of them. Nonetheless, sitting for long periods of time is physically highly stressful, even though this often goes unnoticed - after all, all you are doing is “sitting”. However, it is just such a passive physical posture that places great stress on the muscles and spinal column if there is no compensating movement. In that case there is inadequate circulation to the blood vessels, muscle fibres and joints. The vertebral discs lose their elasticity, and the groups of muscles in the neck and in the upper and lower back, which have to support a weakened spinal column, stiffen up and begin to hurt.

This is particularly serious for professional drivers, as when they are on a tour they are unable to visit a gym for example at the end of the day as a preventive measure, or seek out a physiotherapist at short notice when acute back pain sets in.

The TopFit Set allows a tailor-made fitness programme while on the road

The set includes a board of robust plywood to which two metal eyelets are attached. The rubber training straps known as tubes are attached to these with a spring clip. The board also acts as a standing surface. The user puts his/her bodyweight on the board, and with dimensions of 65 x 40 centimetres it fits perfectly on the floor surface between the seats – not only in the Actros, but also in any truck model with a level floor. The board comes with two pairs of tubes with different levels of training resistance. These are made from a special rubber formulation and have a constant rate of elasticity. This means that individuals of different sizes can train with the set, as the effort required remains constant however far the tube is stretched. The set is completed by a pair of flexible, ergonomic handles which rotate to follow the movements and thereby reduce wrist tension, plus a useful carrying bag. In the future there will also be further tubes with different resistances available as additions to the set.

“We specifically developed our TopFit Set for use in a truck cab”, says Siegfried Rothe, a customer researcher and developer at Daimler. “Using the fitness board, drivers can exercise in the privacy of their cab – an important factor for many truckers”.

The positive effects of this exercise activity are noticeable to the driver as a greater feeling of well-being, less fatigue when sitting at the wheel on a journey, a possible weight reduction and above all a considerable reduction in back pain in the case of existing ailments.

Workouts free of charge on the web, and from May in the FleetBoard Driver.app

Incidentally, Rothe and his research & development colleagues do not leave purchasers of the TopFit Set to fend for themselves afterwards: he has produced four exercise videos in close cooperation with sport scientists. The workouts “Basic Fit”, “Strong Fit”, “Top Fit” and “Power Fit” each contain six exercises aimed at the relevant areas of the neck, shoulders, upper arms, abdomen and upper/lower back. The training videos are on a DVD supplied with the set, and are also in the so-called “Fitness Coach” as part of the Android-based FleetBoard Driver.app. This also has a great deal of information and hints on the subject of “fitness and health while on tour”. The app will be available free of charge from the Google Play Store from May.

Healthy drivers are indispensable for an efficient transport sector

With the market launch of the TopFit Set as a Mercedes-Benz genuine accessory, Daimler is actively involving the driver at the wheel as a key factor. Because even the most modern trucks can go nowhere without drivers who are fit, healthy and well-motivated.

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