How I take care of myself, with the demands on a 45 year old body, might be of benefit to some people.
I treat myself like an athlete and a busy schedule like I am in season. How I eat and stay hydrated is one of the most important aspects of my detailing regiment. With respect to nutrition, I treat long detailing stretches like a combination of extreme endurance training and weight training. When I book for a long detail especially, I discourage myself from consuming a lot of sugar (unless from a fruit) and processed food. I load up fruits and vegetables in the early stages or start of the day. Doing both helps control inflammation and helps me focus when I am working on a expensive piece of property that is important for the owner. But I also consume in the latter stages and at the end of the day lean sources of protein for recovery. That may include supplementation of protein powder. Eating clean with a mindfulness of adding protein at the end of the day helps cut down muscle fatigue, which can also turn into excessive mental fatigue or injury.
A foam roller has been essential for those long days and nights that come with multiple day paint correction and ceramic coating details. Lower body relief and sometimes muscle relief for lower back and shoulders.
Not perfect, but I have definitely felt a difference using high quality knee pads under circumstances I knew I was going to spend an extended time on hard surfaces.
Juicing (celery, apple, ginger) before I go to bed, has helped boost energy and sleep.
Also taking a break, in terms of spacing details or pacing yourself more, can save you in the long run. If you feel that much pressure or desperation to squeeze in more work when your body is breaking down, that is a red flag to me about the compensation you are receiving. This is the reason veterans of the industry encourage you to consider raising your prices more. If you are beat up trying to survive at the current rate of compensation, what is that going to feel like in the next several years. What is that going to feel like in the next several years when inflation exceeds your pace of compensation and you have to pay expenses for problems that happen. If your confidence (market excuse) is not there to make the adjustment or you are not getting as many customers, that can be time better spent working on being a better business owner.
While consumers and some (crabs in the bucket) business owners are manipulating you with the phrase, “some money is better than no money”, there is a common reality they don’t want you to know. There are a lot more people in year 4 or 5 with bitterness and regret wasting their TIME and destroying their BODY for nothing. That is a lot worse than finding out you could not make a business work with the compensation that would remotely make it worth your while.