Night Shift Worker

siberianski
siberianski Posts: 26
in Training, fitness and health
Hi i am a night shift worker i work permeant 4 on 4 off. I try to train 3-4 days a week but as of late i am struggling training wise.

I go on my first ride on day off work one then after this i feel wrecked i dont know if its age or what. Or if its my muscles have no strength i feel constantly knackered. Is there anyone else on here who works similar to me?? What patterns do you train etc??

Comments

  • brundonbianchi
    brundonbianchi Posts: 689
    edited March 2021
    siberianski said:

    Hi i am a night shift worker i work permeant 4 on 4 off. I try to train 3-4 days a week but as of late i am struggling training wise.

    I go on my first ride on day off work one then after this i feel wrecked i dont know if its age or what. Or if its my muscles have no strength i feel constantly knackered. Is there anyone else on here who works similar to me?? What patterns do you train etc??

    I’ve been on a 4 day 12hr, followed by 3 night 12hr rotating shift pattern for the last 20 years. The main tricks to training and riding properly are to make sure you rest properly on your first ‘off shift’ period. Don’t ride anything more than a low intensity short ride, or preferably don’t ride at all if you can, on that day. Put the lion’s share of your effort / distance into the rides on the middle 2 days, then do as little as possible on the last ‘off day’. It’s making sure you concentrate as much on resting as you do on training, and actually making resting as an important part of your routine, as training is. Think quality over quantity. If you want to put training efforts together which allow you to achieve whatever cycling goals you have ( sprint type racing / endurance distances / whatever ) you have to be very self disciplined, and organise your time carefully, so that everything that needs to be done, gets done, that isn’t cycling. Stick to the regime you find works for you, and don’t be afraid to tell people ‘No’. It’s not always an easy thing to do, but once you get into a routine, it gets easier. For me, a typical riding routine will be, cycle commute on the Tuesday and Thursday of the four 12 hour day shifts, then rest on the Friday, go out on a 100 miler on the Saturday, and make sure I’m measuring the effort accurately with power meters / HRM. Then I’ll do a 100Km effort on the Sunday, and rest throughout the Monday day of the following night shift sequence. I’ll cycle commute on the Tuesday and Wednesday night shifts, rest on the Thursday, 100 - 150 miles on the Friday, 100 Kms on the Saturday, and rest ( or recovery ride ) on the Sunday. In the summer months, when the days are at their longest, I’ll try to get between 150 and 200 miles done on the ‘long ride day’ after the night shifts. In the winter months, I tend to not go much over 100Kms on the ‘long days’.
  • MrsR
    MrsR Posts: 81
    The challenge for shift workers is the effect on circadian rhythms. @brundonbianchi has given a really sensible approach to deal with this "jet lag" to try to build in training without over-stressing the system.

    Various strategies exist for coping with circadian desynchrony and for hastening circadian realignment (if desired) - the most important factor being manipulating the circadian system by exposure to and/or avoidance of bright light at specific times of the ‘biological night’. I also have heard anecdotally that melatonin is useful but it is only available for OTC purchasing in certain countries.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3906341/
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1087079214001233
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2784228/
    https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article/60/1/10/1439565

  • siberianski
    siberianski Posts: 26
    brundonbianchi said:

    siberianski said:

    Hi i am a night shift worker i work permeant 4 on 4 off. I try to train 3-4 days a week but as of late i am struggling training wise.

    I go on my first ride on day off work one then after this i feel wrecked i dont know if its age or what. Or if its my muscles have no strength i feel constantly knackered. Is there anyone else on here who works similar to me?? What patterns do you train etc??

    I’ve been on a 4 day 12hr, followed by 3 night 12hr rotating shift pattern for the last 20 years. The main tricks to training and riding properly are to make sure you rest properly on your first ‘off shift’ period. Don’t ride anything more than a low intensity short ride, or preferably don’t ride at all if you can, on that day. Put the lion’s share of your effort / distance into the rides on the middle 2 days, then do as little as possible on the last ‘off day’. It’s making sure you concentrate as much on resting as you do on training, and actually making resting as an important part of your routine, as training is. Think quality over quantity. If you want to put training efforts together which allow you to achieve whatever cycling goals you have ( sprint type racing / endurance distances / whatever ) you have to be very self disciplined, and organise your time carefully, so that everything that needs to be done, gets done, that isn’t cycling. Stick to the regime you find works for you, and don’t be afraid to tell people ‘No’. It’s not always an easy thing to do, but once you get into a routine, it gets easier. For me, a typical riding routine will be, cycle commute on the Tuesday and Thursday of the four 12 hour day shifts, then rest on the Friday, go out on a 100 miler on the Saturday, and make sure I’m measuring the effort accurately with power meters / HRM. Then I’ll do a 100Km effort on the Sunday, and rest throughout the Monday day of the following night shift sequence. I’ll cycle commute on the Tuesday and Wednesday night shifts, rest on the Thursday, 100 - 150 miles on the Friday, 100 Kms on the Saturday, and rest ( or recovery ride ) on the Sunday. In the summer months, when the days are at their longest, I’ll try to get between 150 and 200 miles done on the ‘long ride day’ after the night shifts. In the winter months, I tend to not go much over 100Kms on the ‘long days’.
    Thank you for replying what you said i will change things to what you said.

    Can i just ask do you take anything to help with you being a nightshift worker supplements etc etc I take a vitamin d and multi vitamin. I am hoping this is just a blip or i am training incorrectly as the few weeks i have felt on my knees with tiredness and my mental health has being horrendous.

    I think i am gunna do a short ride the morning i finish nights. Maybe just half hour to 45 mins at a slow tempo. I am working from home so normally i would stay up till 11-1130 then go to bed 2 hours max then get into a proper sleep routine.

    Then the two larger rides, then i was thinking a day off.

    Then i will do a half distance ride at a mid tempo early morning before going back on shift on the night.

    I am hoping a few other changes i have made to my diet will help. I am trying to drop another 3-4kg and eating super clean. I will be honest the pandemic has not being a help i think thats hammered my sleep in a bad way, as two teenager in the house while i have being sleeping has being hell.
  • siberianski
    siberianski Posts: 26
    therobertscollection said:

    The challenge for shift workers is the effect on circadian rhythms. @brundonbianchi has given a really sensible approach to deal with this "jet lag" to try to build in training without over-stressing the system.

    Various strategies exist for coping with circadian desynchrony and for hastening circadian realignment (if desired) - the most important factor being manipulating the circadian system by exposure to and/or avoidance of bright light at specific times of the ‘biological night’. I also have heard anecdotally that melatonin is useful but it is only available for OTC purchasing in certain countries.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3906341/
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1087079214001233
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2784228/
    https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article/60/1/10/1439565

    Thank you for posting all of those I will have a proper read of them later.
  • MrsR
    MrsR Posts: 81
    I do feel for you. I had a browse on the internet and found this which is a more palatable diary of a medic's experience. It is in relation to weightlifting but you can get the idea and apply it (also using @brundonbianchi 's example). Grounded in good science with a nice personal application you may find this useful. (The above links are a bit impenetrable if you are tired or not familiar with reading academic studies. I doubt you want to tax your brain any more given your shifts!)

    http://strongermedicine.com/2020/01/26/training-shift-work/

    The tagline, "start low, go slow" and "don't be a d***" sound really wise to not overextend yourself. I am concerned that your decline in mental health is already telling you that you need to rein it in and would be advised to allow your body to rest when it can.

    If you are interested in reading more on why sleep is so very important to us, Matthew Walker's book is brilliant to get stuck into. The perfect thing to relax with and remind yourself (without an ounce of guilt) that rest and sleep is as useful as the training bit.
  • brundonbianchi
    brundonbianchi Posts: 689
    The Garmin 1030 that I use is invaluable. It collects data on your efforts over time, and works out what your training load is, on a particular effort , relative to your ongoing efforts. It also suggests when, and for how long you should rest / recovery ride for, after each effort. Regarding supplements and the like, for night shifts, I tend not to take anything, but I do try to find foods that are richer in certain compounds, which does help. I used to find that the hardest thing to condition myself to, was others around me, on 9-5 type gigs, carrying on as usual, and trying to completely mentally ‘compartmentalise’ my mind, to allow me to function in a very different way to them. It’s about maintaining focus during shift periods ( especially nights ) and using any paid time off tactically and sensibly.
  • mully79
    mully79 Posts: 904
    Not going to lie. Not working shifts is the best life decision i ever made.

    I used to sleep as little as possible, eat early and do as little as possible on 1st day off then revert to normal on 2nd day. I'd train hardest between swap from days to nights.
  • siberianski
    siberianski Posts: 26
    therobertscollection said:

    I do feel for you. I had a browse on the internet and found this which is a more palatable diary of a medic's experience. It is in relation to weightlifting but you can get the idea and apply it (also using @brundonbianchi 's example). Grounded in good science with a nice personal application you may find this useful. (The above links are a bit impenetrable if you are tired or not familiar with reading academic studies. I doubt you want to tax your brain any more given your shifts!)

    http://strongermedicine.com/2020/01/26/training-shift-work/

    The tagline, "start low, go slow" and "don't be a d***" sound really wise to not overextend yourself. I am concerned that your decline in mental health is already telling you that you need to rein it in and would be advised to allow your body to rest when it can.

    If you are interested in reading more on why sleep is so very important to us, Matthew Walker's book is brilliant to get stuck into. The perfect thing to relax with and remind yourself (without an ounce of guilt) that rest and sleep is as useful as the training bit.

    I can relate to the weights side of things i used to do it, i used to work a nightshift then on my public transport commute home i used to have to change buses i would have 45 mins to kill. Net result i used to pop to the gym do a quick 30mins then wander around for my next bus. I did this 3 morning a week then would train 2-3 times on my days off.

    Things are differnt now though i work from home. I have a partner and 2 stepkids that are teenagers and i dont have the same life. I am hoping i will improve given abit time i think alot of my problem has being diet and quantity and quality of sleep. At the minute i am in a fatigue state i know i am, i wake up even after 7-8 hours sleep feeling shattered. I have lost count the number of times after nights the kids arguing or fighting or being up and downstairs like yoyos. I even took to wearing ear plugs which helped abit, am praying my diet changes them now being back to school and training changes i will improve. As at the minute i am up and down mode wise and constantly shattered.
  • siberianski
    siberianski Posts: 26
    brundonbianchi said:

    The Garmin 1030 that I use is invaluable. It collects data on your efforts over time, and works out what your training load is, on a particular effort , relative to your ongoing efforts. It also suggests when, and for how long you should rest / recovery ride for, after each effort. Regarding supplements and the like, for night shifts, I tend not to take anything, but I do try to find foods that are richer in certain compounds, which does help. I used to find that the hardest thing to condition myself to, was others around me, on 9-5 type gigs, carrying on as usual, and trying to completely mentally ‘compartmentalise’ my mind, to allow me to function in a very different way to them. It’s about maintaining focus during shift periods ( especially nights ) and using any paid time off tactically and sensibly.

    I use a Garmin forerunner 45 watch i dont think it has half the settings on the garmin you mentioned. I am taking on board everything you said. I was gunna go out on the bike today but skipped it as i dont feel right my legs are aching off yesterdays 18miler. Hurricane Weardale ie 25-30mph winds has also put me off. I am going to go out tomorrow then monday i will do a small ride, i am back on shift Monday night for 4.

    Diet wise i am tightening it rapidly i have started using myfitnesspal to get my carb/fat/protein levels right and keep an eye i am getting the right levels of vits and minerals etc
  • siberianski
    siberianski Posts: 26
    mully79 said:

    Not going to lie. Not working shifts is the best life decision i ever made.

    I used to sleep as little as possible, eat early and do as little as possible on 1st day off then revert to normal on 2nd day. I'd train hardest between swap from days to nights.

    I wish i could change to days but its not currently an option due to finances at the minute ie shift allowance i get a hell of alot

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