Shift work and working out

[rhendrix]

I work for a fairly busy fire department, we do 24 hours on and 48 hours off. Seems since September I haven't had a shift where I've slept more than 4-5 hours. I wind up coming home exhausted and have no desire to workout and it's starting to take its toll mentally and physically. For those of you who work shift work, how do you guys schedule your workouts?

 

[Lawnboi]

Its hard, I get them in when I can.

Between fire, ems, ups and finishing up my paramedic program I rarely get more than 4 or 5 hours.

It sure is a lot easier when you don't have to wake up 4-5 times in a 24 hour period.

 

[elkmtngear]

I'm lucky to have a treadmill at work, instead of taking a lunch break, I drink a protein shake and run for a half hour. I also do about 150 pushups and 250 bicycle crunches throughout my day.

Could you buy a treadmill and stick in the fire department?

 

[rhendrix]

Lawnboi, I feel your pain, just went through paramedic school and have ridden on the engine less times than I have fingers on one hand in the past 9 months. Seems like we usually get 2-3 calls in the middle of the night, enough that you never actually feel rested.

And I could buy a treadmill and put it up there, I just don't have the funds and the city won't fix the one that's broken. I'm trying to work out a deal with the gym in our district to let me workout on duty for a discounted rate, but they have to go through there corporate office.

 

[Lawnboi]

Luckily I am working on a paid on call department right now while im going through school. So im lucky enough to ride backwards quite a bit. EMS is all 12 hour shifts, and I work at UPS every week night. It can get tough.

Looking forward to doing it full time after school is done.

Don't know what I can say to help you though, I feel your pain as well as im sure I will be for many years ahead.

 

[quarbles]

burpees?

 

[elkmtngear]

burpees?

Burpees are the devil...LOL! They do work!

 

[bmart2622]

I am a flight nurse and work 12hr night shifts. I get off at 7am and then wake up at 3pm to get a work out in by 430ish and then come to work at 7pm. Gets tough especially doing 7 day stretches. I find the longer I can keep a set routine the more used to it my body gets.

 

[rhendrix]

Hadn't considered burpees. Thanks.

 

[afteamroper]

Check out traintohunt.com, this a great website for us hunters to use to stay in "hunting shape". Alot of the workouts can be done with a sandbage and a few band or a trx system. I am lucky enought to be on active duty in the Air Force so I have a gym to use and also the volunteer fire dept I am on has a good little work out room in it. Just think about everytime you are moving doing something you are further ahead of where you were when you started.

 

[unm1136]

I just started a suspension system program, and am making gains, and dropping pounds. I find a quiet time at work (I am also on call when I work out) and either work out on Saturday/Sunday in the last hour of my shift, or 0400 on Monday and Tuesday mornings. If I miss a workout, I don't beat myself up, but I do plan to take twice as long to complete a specific program (when I do P90X, it usually takes me 4.5 months to get through those 90 days). I have also learned on my days off that no matter what I do, at 1230 I work out for 1 hour, then walk to the elementary school to pick up the kids. That usually gives me 1.5-1.75 hours in the 130s on my HR monitor. This means on at least one day of my weekend I am getting less than 4 hours of sleep in 24. I do find that the hardest part is getting started, not finishing once I get started. I tend to skip 1-2 days a week, but I don't skip the workout. I find that I recover better that way. Yes, it puts me behind schedule, but I experience less burnout, less soreness, and fewer overall problems. I also find it much easier to accept the skipped day, than a skipped workout. Where it becomes an issue is the once in a while where I skip 3 days+ in a week, and gather momentum skipping days until it has been two weeks since my last workout.

But I do know how getting behind on a schedule can be demoralizing. I find videos to be excellent to keep me on pace, and as long as I don't miss more than 3 in a week, I don't get the urge to start the week over again. I usually lose a total of 1 week (3-5 workouts) a month, and if I relax the schedule I have in my head I don't beat myself up too bad, then I make better progress. So what if P90X becomes P120+X? Couch to 5K in 3 months is going to take me almost 4 to finish, but I will finish, and my condition is improving much better than if I gave up. Maybe not as quickly as if I didn't miss a workout, but I have a wife that is a full time student, and working part time, and three kids between the ages of six and thirteen. I average 50+ hours a week and am working on a master's degree in my limited spare time. I don't have a lot of downtime. I do what I can, when I can, and my magic number is schedule 5-6 workouts a week, and try to make sure I hit four. I read a paper not long ago that said running three days a week is almost as beneficial as running three non consecutive three days a week. Those that ran three days in a row saw almost as much improvement as those running on a traditional schedule. If I run out of time, I will work out four consecutive days. The resulting lack of recovery will keep me more focused the following week, as a day or two is needed to get over the soreness. NSAIDs are your friends, when you need them.

pat

 

[jmez]

http://www.daimanuel.com/2011/07/25/no-equipment-no-problem-92-crossfit-workouts-without-equipment/

 

[792]

In my department we have a decent gym but I prefer to focus on pull up's, push ups, air squats, etc with a really fast pace to get the heart rate up like a cross fit work out. Not sure if you have a hose tower but we have a 6 story tower that I run with a spare pack or 50 lb weight vest. One of my favorite and fastest is a a series of upper body exercises non stop with a blast up and down the tower followed by a 2 min rest and then repeated, I can destroy myself in a half hour doing this. In the other halls without a big hose tower I run lines in the truck bay instead.

 

[shootnrun]

I am just finishing up my paramedic course. In fact, I literally just finished my final exam!

Our dept has adopted a cross fit type regimen. I usually take 10-15 min to warm up and stretch, and then get on with my wod. I focus mainly on body weight stuff (push up, pull up, sit, squats, burpees, etc). Some easy ones to get you started are 100 burpees for time, assigning a movement to each suit on a deck of cards and performing whatever number is on the card you flip, or checking different sites and performing wods you have equipment or time for. Days that I wish to get a longer workout in I'm occasionally able to convince my engine tailboard counterpart to swap to the bus for me for a bit to buy me some time. Getting your heart rate up is the important part, and doing different movements often so your body doesn't get too used to any particular exercise. Hopefully you are able to find something that works for you!

Stay safe out there,
Rian

 

[dirtytough]

I am kind of in the same position. I work a weird schedule and 90-100 hours a week. Its hard to workout after a 18-24 hour shift. I actually started today. Hoping to stay consistant. Just gotta make yourself want it.

 

[Heather Stomper]

I'm in hotels 2-3 nights a week.
When the schedule is really tight I do this for 20 minutes:
10 pushups
10 air squats
10 8-count bodybuilders with jump
10 situps/crunches

Rest 1 minute, do it all again

 

[JWP58]

I workout every workday at 0500. It does help that we get 1 hour every day to workout (I take it as flex so I get 4hrs off one day a week). I hit weights and cardio every morning, unless I decide to do a circuit one day...

 

[Archelk]

I would look up body weight WOD's on Sealfit.com or Crossfit. I am a crossfit certified instructor and you can google cross fit-bodweight WOD's on the internet and there is a ton of info with a lot downloadable workouts. I would try and get your WOD's in at the station if that is a possibility. I have a lot of friends that are on the fire department and they have come up with some creative ways to make pull-up bars, 24" box jumps etc... for Crossfit and they do there workout there. They also pitch in and by equipment together (Bumper plates, jump ropes, kettlebells etc...) I usually take those bodyweight WOD's with me when I go on vacation since equipment is far and few between for Crossfit. Man you can do a lot with just your bodyweight and it can be fun and challenging besides just doing x amount of pushups, sit-ups, squats etc...