Night Shift? When do you exercise?

[Rabid Response]

So I've been working nights for two years now, and my general state of health has declined to a degree I never imagined possible. I'm always fatigued, my diet is lousy, I've gained 20 pounds, and I've gone from exercise fanatic to couch potato. I work 4 or 5 eight hour shifts a week, and on my days off pretty much do nothing but sleep and the bare minimum of household chores. My knees hurt, my back hurts, my head aches.

I've been blaming my poor state of health on my body's inability to deal with my night shift schedule. Unfortunately I've had to come to terms with the realization that I will not be able to switch to days any time soon due to the economy and my hospital's hiring freeze.

I want to start exercising again at the gym, but I'm not sure what time of day would be best. Should I go before work? It would not be convenient d/t having to cook dinner for my family. Exercising after work would fit in best with my schedule, but I'm worried that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep easily afterward. Nobody else on my unit's night shift seems to exercise at all, so I thought I'd ask here--

Night shift nurses, when do you exercise? How often? What do you do for exercise? Has it helped you to deal with the physical strains of working nights? Any and all input would be appreciated!:redpinkhe

[vlademyr]

OMG thanks for all your advice!!! now I'm not loosing hope to maintain my physical activity and healthy lifestyle... I would really love to be the best nurse that I could be w/o compromising my health habits... thanks :)

[ldiva0808]

I work night shifts, and the best way for me to exercise is sometimes depending on how the night shift goes, always bringing my gym clothes with me to work i might go at 8am depending on if night shift went smoothly. And if the night shift goes roughly, I go home, take a power nap, then head to the gym and tire myself out sraight intense cario (elipical, stepper. treadmill) then come take my rest before heading to work. What I have always found is that, if you do tooo much cardio, you'l be tired more and quick, if you do strength training, you wont be so tired. I also have 2 dumb bells, and getting a kettle bell soon, because strength training is more important than anything, and If i cant go to the gym, I can do some reps at home to strenghten my body, eat something healthy like a handful of almonds and drink lots of water and sleep. it's something you have to get into the habit of doing. Good luck to you.

[Gypsy_Nurse]

I think this thread is a bit old, if I'm reading the date of the first post correctly (2009), but I think it's a good thread with great information. I work nights, have been for 4 years, and I MUST work 12 hour shifts or else I'm a pile for the entire week. When I do my shifts I like to clump them together (3 on, 4 off, weekends here and there will alter the schedule a bit) which gives me a few days off to work out like a 'normal' person. During my stretches of shifts at work I have to be honest I don't work out during those days...however, in order to make up for that I try to eat healthy foods, make sure I snack on healthy snacks often (not always easy to do as a floor nurse) and take the stairs whenever possible. Good luck to you, it is the worst shift health-wise, however it is my favorite shift...night shift lovers are a dying breed

[GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

our entire staff uses the gym which is open around the clock, and recently we have a zumba class around 3:00am and another at 8:00am and so on, it has been packed since it began

[MJB2010]

Ugh! So glad you asked this question!! My husband works nights, and I have been trying to convince him to work out with me. I said we could do it at 7am when he gets off work or at 6pm before he goes to work. His response "I'm too tired then." Ummm, well normal people are tired when they work out at 5am before work or 5 pm after work too!!

I can say, in all honesty, working nocs is a WHOLE different kind of tired. Until you have experienced it, there is no way to describe it. It is a tired all the time, never feeling caught up or rested, barely hanging on kind of tired. I get dizzy sometimes. I have to use gps on my way home so I don't miss my exit. So when he says he is too tired, you can't compare it to normal day shift tired.