12hr shifts and commuting.....anyone else do it?.

specialized spence

Hi everyone, i work 12hr shifts starting at 5.30 each day in a papermill(2 days then 2 nights) and commute by bike as much as possible, its a 12 mile round trip on a very busy A road that is 50% hills both ways, i am really struggling to build up my stamina and general fitness levels, I am picking up colds and virus's regularly(even though my occupational health nurse says i am fit as a flea) and am struggling to re-gain my energy levels on my rest days between shifts, i eat healthy and sleep really well.....anyone got any advice? or indeed do the same sort of thing.

itboffin

up at 5:30am leave 6:30am ish in the office at 10am oh yeh! that's 4.5 hrs before i've started work, work until 6pm - 7.30pm, quick beer after work, train and home by 10-10:30pm

5 days a week

shower, dinner 1 hr to relax/digest then bed

Rinse and repeat

You get used to it

Buckled_Rims

Nothing can be done on those shifts. You're jet-lagging your body every 3 days. I used to work nights for many years. You can get used to regular nights, long hours, but constantly changing shifts simply makes many people ill. I ended up with stomach disorders and headaches the decided I'd had enough and changed jobs.

If you've never worked night shift before it's incredibly hard and not worth the 33% extra in the pay. Many of my work colleagues even used to go night clubbing and casinos over the weekend to stay in the night shift time zone rather then keep to days. We worked 2 weeks nights then 2 weeks days.

The only advice I can give is have a study of solo yacht sailors and their sleeping patterns. Ellen MacArthur only slept for short periods, but required intense fitness. I believe we all sleep in cycles (no pun intended) of 90 minutes or so. If you wake during part of that cycle you end up tired and grumpy. If you complete the sleep cycle and wake it's not so bad.

If so, then maybe a sleep pattern of 3 hours and later another 3 hours, then a last one of 90 minute sleep.

bikey2009

itboffin wrote:

up at 5:30am leave 6:30am ish in the office at 10am

Most of us on 12hr shifts have to start at 6.00am or 6.00pm :twisted:

I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of my work place, I wouldn't like to ride into and home from work because I'm so knackered it would be dangerous.

beverick

I did 8-8 shifts for years. I loved it. The door to door the commute was about 5 miles but, inlcuding changeover days (esp nights to days), I had time to do 50 mile plus runs on something like 13 days in every 28. I was hugely fit and never seemed to be troubled with illness or injury..

As I do now, I tried to build a fitness refime around my shift patterns. It gave me targets ambition and incentive.

Winter day shifts were the worst because there was little chance to do longer runs but on summer day shifts I'd occasionally set off between 5 and 5:30 if it was good weather.

Night shifts were where the fun was. Even in winter I'd usually do 20 miles around Leeds on the way in on an evening but the feeling of an 8am cycle into the countryside, against the flow of car-bound traffic jammed commuters still brings a smile to my face now some 25 years later!

On a summer's day a pootle out to somewhere like York, Ripon or Skipton, or just around the area was the order of the day. I could do 60-70 miles and be in bed for 10:30 if I was lucky!

Bob

cyberknight

certainly Do-able i do rotating shifts of 2 weeks days 2 weeks nights with a 10 mile each way commute.

We normally do a 9 1/2 hour shift including breaks etc, 1st few days of shift change are a swine but by the 3-4th day i am back into a routine.

ex-pat scot

I cycle commute, and lots of time I'm doing 12 hr stints at the office. It's just not formally "shifts".

sally65

paper mill? is it the Beetham one or the burneside one. I pass the Beetham one at 5am ish most days. If its that one and I see you then I'll give you a cheery wave.

AndyManc

I have the occasional 12hr shift and also commute a 12mile round trip, mostly flat.

It's OK, but 12hr shifts are exhausting (night shifts have proven health concerns) with or without a cycle commute and if it was much more than 12mile then I'm not sure I would do it, especially during winter.

If you have alternative transport use it on the days when your feeling physically down, don't force yourself into cycling.

It might be worth seeing your GP and see what they have to say, but, shift work affects millions of people negatively.

Unfortunately governments continue to promote a 24hr society, to the detriment of everyone's health.


.

andy83

I do 12 hour shifts but only days and only work 3 days a week

Im lucky as my commute in is 21 miles but if im really tired I have a 6 mile comuute home, yes I take a massive detour in the morning as direct is 4 miles

Its doable but not sure if was switching between days and nights.

Im taking it takes bout half hour to cycle, you eat anything substantial in the morning? maybe eating throughout the day is the problem. On 12 hour shift I have porridge with raisens. Get to work and have some fruit, sandwhich bout 11, pasta around 2, cereal around 4:30 then light snack bout 7, banana before I leave

Peacenik

9pm to 9am three shifts in a row. Then sometimes, 10am to 10pm, two or three days in a row. I always cycle in - a 20 mile round trip. Cycling home after a night shift beats falling asleep on the bus and missing your stop.

freddiegrubb

If it's k/clark park road Barrow count yourself lucky, in the old days summer consisted of 12hr. days & nights x 7, & almost all jobs it was out with drawings plus avo. & megger . Try working with 440v. 3 phase after 6 bad days of sleep & it's 4am. on your last night , remember matey "must do is a hard mistress" stop feeling sorry for yourself or change your job!

jthef

I work a 12 hour pattern but only 3 per week but I do rotate every 2 months day to nights etc.
Firstly get a check up just in case.
I use a recovery drink when you get to work and home (or protein bar, power in a yogurts etc); I try not to drink when I get home on nights.
Don't be afraid of having a day/ night off the bike if you are tired. I would rather be fit for my days off bike rides than commuting.

Works for me but I don’t rotate every week. That is not nice. Who ever came up with that shift pattern never works them!!!

hells

I have a physical job and do 4-6 12hr shifts per week, due to the nature of the job I usually finish atleast 1 hr late every day. It's a rotational shift pattern which changes every week doing nights 1800-0600, earlys 0600-1800 and lates 1200-0000. I commute by bike everyday partially because I sometimes have no choice as public transport can't always take me both ways and takes forever which isn't great on top of long hours. My communte is shorter than yours being 2.5 miles each way for the closest station and up to 10 miles each way for the furthest. it's doable but make sure you eat properly so that you don't become exhausted.

overthebars

Just on tea/dinner/breakfast break from work now.

Have to agree with posts about the detrimental effects of nights. I do five 8-8 nights a week (for 15 of the past 21 years) and I have seldom met anyone who honestly believes the body ever gets used to them. I notice the slightly 'macho' posts are from EX shift workers lol! I have read in the past that it takes 13 weeks for the body to recover from a shift change, anyone else know anything more about this?

Only thing I could add to the more sensible advice is perhaps to give yourself ten/fifteen minutes between arriving at work and mixing with colleagues and their germs. Don't know if there is any scientific value to this but it seems to work for me (I work in health care with lots of ill people so that may have something to do with it).

Good luck.

fungus_the_muffin_man

I'm a nurse who has to do a rota of 5 weeks night 4 weeks days. 12-13 hr shifts consisting of 3-4 day shifts a week and the same with nights. However we tend to get our night shifts all together so you do a run of 7-8 consecutive nights.

My commute is 6-10 miles depending which route I do.

There's no getting away from the fact that your. Body clock never gets used to alternating shift patterns. Research shows it can take 15 yrs off your lifespan compared to people who just work a regular shift pattern of either nights only or days only.

By the end of my run of nights I'll be taking gentle rides in on the shorter route as I'll be really starting to feel it by then. Also we've ( I have cycling buddies at work) all found out the hard way that when finishing nights our bodies can't handle a good proper ride out somewhere for at least 2 days after finishing nights. As such we never organise a ride out without proper rest time first.

It never gets any easier you just have to learn ways to deal with it.

Keiron Curtis

I work 12 hour shifts 3-4 times a week alternating nights one week, day the next, double back from nights to days with 24 hour gap, it's hard work. My commute is 40 miles roundtrip, which takes means 3 hours in the saddle on top. Most people think I'm mad, but I love it, so what can I do ? I work for Network Rail, which is trying to impose new shift rosters based on 8 hour shifts only, which is a real killer, studies prove that shiftwork lessen one's lifespan, I think a nurse suggested, as much as 15 years, in this thread. Network Rail wants us to come to work at least another 80 days a year, on this killer shift system, despite the proven detrimental effects on their workers, with no extra money, and the public wonders why we are on the verge of a strike. But getting back to the point, I'd stick at it, cycle through the colds etc..

cjcp

itboffin wrote:

up at 5:30am leave 6:30am ish in the office at 10am oh yeh! that's 4.5 hrs before i've started work, work until 6pm - 7.30pm, quick beer after work, train and home by 10-10:30pm

5 days a week

shower, dinner 1 hr to relax/digest then bed

Rinse and repeat

You get used to it

:shock:

domjon

12 hour shifts here too, 4 days, 4 off, 4 nights. 7 - 7. My commute is 12 miles round trip too, moderately hilly. Before I started the commute I'd done literally no exercise for about fifteen years, though being naturally slim and doing semi-manual work I wouldn't have considered myself unfit per se. I am a smoker though which can't help. For the first six months or so it pretty much killed me...as you say, constant tiredness and spending my days off just recuperating...I generally only biked 3 of my 4 shifts to conserve some energy. My advice would be...stick with it, it will get easier in time. I've been doing it 12 months or so now and only recently do I feel as though I've truly cracked it...to the extent where the 6 mile journey isn't enough now and I find myself taking detours on the way in. I'm not sure why but at some point it became a pleasure rather than a necessary chore...hopefully you'll reach that point too.

Tonymufc

Another 4 on 4 off here as well. Only my shifts are only 11.5 hours. Start at 7am finish at 6.30pm. Up at 5am out the door for 5.45am in work at 6.10am shower, change, breakfast and ready for the day ahead. Happy days.

domjon

4 on 4 off days is the greatest shift patterrn known to man! tbh I'd rather do 4 on 4 off days and nights than the dreary 9-5 monday to friday but i do love it when we take the nights out of the equation from time to time...it's pinching money

The worst shift I've had to do commuting wise was the three-shift system...7 days on, 4 days off, 5 nights on, 5 days off...all 12 hours. Climbing on the bike at 6am for the 7th consecutive morning was a killer. :roll:

NGale

used to do two days, two nights followed by four days off. Quite honestly it turned me into a jibbering wreck and there were points in the rota where I wouldn't see Jake for near on a month and that's with living in the same house :shock:

now on lates (10 hour shifts) latest finish at 2am, home by 3am (driving that is) already feeling better after just two weeks. No arguing with Jake, sleeping well and generally feeling better.