Working Out with 12 Hour Shifts?

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Does anybody have any suggestions about staying on track with workouts while doing 12-hour shifts? I'm trying to get involved with a community-oriented local gym (think Cross Fit or OrangeTheory) that revolves around classes.

I have friends who will wake up at 4:00 (AM or PM), hit the gym, then work for 12 hours. By the time you leave at 8-ish, that amounts to a 16-hour day. I just don't know if I have the mental or physical fortitude to make that happen.

How do you guys make working out work? Any tips or words of wisdom?

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It didn't work for me. Even when I was very young - early 20s - I didn't schedule anything on my 12 hour work days.

It was one of the sacrifices I made to have 4 days off per week.

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I just go work out on my days off.

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Specializes in CVICU, MICU, Burn ICU.

I can't go to the gym on a 12 hour work day. What I can sometimes rally to do is an at-home 20 minute deal before work on days I work. And then on my off days I try to get minimum of an hour or 1.5 hours -- which isn't hard to do. On work days I focus more on flexibility/core stuff -- which is ideal to do at home.

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I work days. I don’t work out when I’m working. However, occasionally I will work out after a shift when I know I’m not working the next day.

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Great feedback, all.

I work nights, and I usually stack many of my shifts together over a two week period (i.e. working six out of seven consecutive days, then having seven straight days off).

I guess it seems like it wouldn't be as effective to work out every day for a week (while I'm off), then not work out for an entire week (while I work). I suppose I could reconfigure my schedule, but that seems like a lot of effort just to have more consistent workouts. Alas, nurse challenges. It does make sense to cut yourself some slack on days you work 12-hour shifts; that's exhausting enough.

I actually think I might be able to tolerate the physical aspect; I work in peds/NICU, and my job isn't nearly as physically-demanding as adult inpatient nursing. Interestingly, my bigger concern is actually sleep: I cherish my sleep during back-to-back shifts. Every hour that I'm at the gym (or driving to and from the gym) is an hour that I'm not sleeping, and those extra hours of sleep are precious.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

When I worked 12s (not as a nurse), I would exercise after work just before I went to bed. But I also walked or rollerbladed to and from work as long as the weather permitted it, so if I didn't get to that workout, at least I had some physical activity under my belt for the day.

My schedule was fixed, so I didn't have to worry about 12s rotating and stacking up. I had my 3 12s on the same days each week, then I was off for the same 4 days each week.

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