Fitness, nightshift, and sleep.

emmy27 · Nov 14, 2015

When I worked nightshift, I would try to get up early enough to work out before my shifts. It's hard, but it was easier for me than working out after night shifts. When I worked out after shifts (which most of the time I couldn't find the motivation to do after a long night), not only did I not work out as hard, I found the drive home even scarier than usual and I found the exertion interfered with my sleep afterwards. Whereas working out before a shift helped wake me up and energize me, and then I slept well after work those days.

Especially for long stretches of night shifts in a row, I found getting outside to run in daylight before work and after sleeping in a darkened room all day was a big help in terms of stabilizing my mood, appetite, and sleep schedule.

It's tough when you're trying to get every hour of sleep you can between shifts and hate waking up, but trying to stay on the same schedule even on your days off will help as well. If you try to revert to being awake during the day for every single day off, you will be exhausted and miserable a good part of every week. There are times you truly have to stay up all day on your first day off, or whatever, but in general you can get more done at night than you think, and not switching schedules unnecessarily is better for your metabolism/sleep hygiene/mood. Getting in a workout pattern you can do on work and non-work days alike helps with that. I only even attempted to be diurnal on days where I had something I *had* to do- otherwise I tried to schedule appointments and social activities for very early morning or late afternoon evening, and slept during the day on most of my days off as well. Much less crazy-making than having a constantly rotating schedule.

emmy27 · Nov 14, 2015

Oh and as far as meal prep, prepping a weeks' worth of lunches and dinners on a night off and freezing/refrigerating them is a huge help- that extra 20 or 30 minutes of sleep on your work days will be great, and you will remove the need to make good choices when you're tired, hungry, and stressed on your way in for your fourth night shift in a row later that week.

AuDDoc · Nov 14, 2015

Hello! I'm a final semester nursing student currently precepting in the ER on the night shift. I absolutely love it! Some weeks I work 4 12's, some I work 3 12's and an 8. Its perfect for me. I've also accepted a full time night shift position that I'll be starting in January, so this precepting experience is totally preparing me.
However, It's difficult for me to sleep during the day and on my off days I feel as if I am playing "sleep catch up" for the first 2 or 3 days because I am so tired. To me though, this is a fair trade off considering how much I LOVE the night shift. I am just having a hard time balancing my workout regimen, getting adequate sleep during the days, and just generally feeling like a functional human being. It's also a little harder to stick to my strict meal plan (especially when most of the time I just want something quick so I can go to bed.)
Not working out is not an option for me. I think it's important to love the body I'm in and also set a good examples to my patients regarding the importance of healthy living. For those of you who work out consistently (specifically those who lift), how do you schedule it all? When do you get your leg day(s) in? I typically like to have a leg/back day once or twice a week and upper body/core at least twice a week. My leg days are heavy and I am usually sore for a few days afterwards. Any tips or pointers for meal prep, sleep, etc are greatly appreciated!

I had the same issue when I worked for a biotech lab and was working 60-70 hour work weeks (going in at 4 AM and leaving often times at 7 PM).

My advice would be modify your workout routine to something that does more total body. Crossfit does a good job of this. Or you can do yoga. Or do what I did when I was in the workout crunch mode. I hit the gym and did my bench presses, cable cross overs, lat pulldowns, pull ups, biceps curls, hip slep, quad extensions in supersets. So I did the heaviest weight I could do for 10-15 reps then moved on to the next station and doing this early in the morning or early in the afternoon the gym would be empty. I was able to do a decent full body weight workout in 20-30 minutes. Then I would do 20-30 minutes on the elliptical. I did this 3 days a week. On the off days I usually would either speed walk in the hospital if I had a break or I would run after my shift.

As for meals and eating healthy; the other commenter made the suggestion I was going to make.

I would make a big batch of chicken and rice or quinoa and usually some black beans or some other healthy dinner of high protein high fiber meal in a large batch. Then I would put it in containers for each day at work. Then each day before work I simply had to grab my containers of food and toss them in my lunch bag and go. I often times would use a protein shake for breakfast that was made with 1.5 cups of coffee and 1-2 scoops of protein powder and then a piece of string cheese or yogurt or almonds.

When I was off work for a few days I would then do some high intensity cardio or full body workout which for me was usually hiking for several hours or mountain biking.

rynzoRN · Nov 15, 2015

I am night shift Thur-Sat 7p-7a and workout Mon-Fri. Its nice because I only workout 1 day (Friday) when I have to work. After thursday shift into Friday morning, I go workout right after work just to knock it out and rest Saturday and Sunday. I am pretty beat but I just get it done. On my days off, I will workout evening/nights. A few things I do to help me sleep are to take a low dose melatonin daily (0.3mg) Melatonin is powerful stuff, I don't mess around with anything over 1mg or I will feel drowsy the next day. I also take ZMA and Phosphatidylserine before bed to help with elevated Cortisol I get from shift work. Earplugs and a night mask have also been a life saver as well.

LV3677 · Nov 15, 2015

Meal prep is a must. I take one day before my shifts start to clean my apartment thoroughly, do all my laundry, and prep meals. I also purchase quick healthy meals/snack items from Costco in case I need something fast. I always have at least 2-3 protein bars on in my bag at work.

As for working out- I go straight to bed after a 7p-7a night shift (home around 8am) and wake up around 3:30 to go to the gym. I do cardio on days that I go to the gym while I'm on my stretch. I would recommend keeping your core days/cardio for your days that you are working because they aren't as strenuous as your leg days. Don't over do it.

On your stretch last night shift, only sleep until noon- get up, go to the gym, go shopping, meet up with friends, whatever, and get tired so that you can go to bed again in the evening. Otherwise you're going to spend several days trying to get back to a regular routine.

To ensure good sleep, remember to darken your bedroom with black-out curtains, use earplugs, etc to get good sleep. The worst thing that can happen to a night shifter is waking up throughout the day while trying to sleep. Do whatever you need to do to ensure that your sleep is not disrupted.

LDAthleteNurse, BSN, RN · Nov 15, 2015

Thanks for the tips yall. I DEFINITELY need to get some good blackout curtains and an eye mask.

poppycat, ADN, BSN · Nov 16, 2015

Thanks for the tips yall. I DEFINITELY need to get some good blackout curtains and an eye mask.

Put a few drops of lavender essential oil on the eye mask & you'll really relax.

LDAthleteNurse, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2015

Put a few drops of lavender essential oil on the eye mask & you'll really relax.

I usually rub a few drop on my feet and throw some socks on. This sounds like a great idea. Will try. Thanks!