I became a postie at 58, nearly 59, in late 2024 and still am. Being able to join at my age probably tells you something significant about the state of the industry!
Anyway, I've gone through two Christmases of being hellishly busy and during the year been variously soaked, freezing and baking hot while while walking between nine and thirteen miles a day, two being the walk to work and back from home.
Like Sandgroper, relentless heat is really brutal and inescapable. The torrential and constant rain leading up to Christmas, while the howling cold winds and chill was truly the worst experience many of us had been through. As I write this in late January, the rain is heavy and prolonged. Our clothing is utterly inadequate for that but also tends towards being too hot when it's mild. I suspect most workwear is the same. British weather has become more extreme over time and sadly that's not going to improve.
On the plus side, I have not taken a day off or been off sick in that time. Yes, I've carried colds and not felt great from time to time but pushed through. Had I been really unwell, I would have taken time off. I'm no martyr.
I was moderately fit before I joined having already done a lot of walking and jogging in the South Downs over the previous five years but had certainly done relatively little in the year immediately preceding my joining. I was at least a couple of stone overweight having been very sedentary and happy to sit at a computer for hours at a time. But that can kill you eventually so I wouldn't recommend it! At least add exercise after the sitting if you have the time and opportunity.
As well as the walking, (proper) bending, squatting and crouching involved in the mechanics of delivery or occasional picking up of dropped mail (an occupational hazard) meant I achieved a significant improvement in general flexibility over that time. Not touching my toes flexible but a significant improvement, nonetheless.
Obviously the job, for a walker at least, should be good for weight loss and I can tell you, if you see a significantly overweight postie, he or she is either new, in a primarily van-based driving role or genetically is very unlucky.
The complications of an outdoors physical job are pretty obvious. I don't get not to work because it's foul outside or its Christmas and the whole world is sending letters and parcels. If I get a sore foot or aches and pains, I have to work though them.
Am I fitter than most people my age? Probably. Are my blood sugar levels, blood pressure and levels of visceral fat also okay? Again, probably. That said, a postie's typical daily exertion far exceeds that needed to become medically fit and general wear and tear might also prove significant over time, particularly for the older amongst us. Believe me, there are plenty of broken posties out there.
The key might be to choose something, if you can afford the that luxury, where you can choose both a work pattern that suits you but one which can be altered should you want or need it to. Not an easy thing, I know, and probably the preserve of the self-employed. I'm not counting gig workers and many others who generally have to work long hours to just make a half-decent income.
thankfulnessisnotbizarre, hotel housekeeping is incredibly hard work. And terribly paid. My brother has been one and later a manager of many, for a very reputable hotel. Lots of permanent back injuries for those working hardest. I wouldn't touch that with a barge pole if I had any choice at all :¬)