Anyone work 12 hr days and still workout?

lexiyoo

Im scheduled to work 3 twelve hr days and am really struggling with getting in my 5 or 6 workouts per week with such a long day. I get up 645 to get ready and get my kids going and don't get home till 930 p. I'm exhausted after a long day. Any advice or tips?

ejbrin

Do you have a desk job? You could get one of those exercise balls and replace your chair with it. Or run around the block during your lunch break. I had a coworker that would take a 30 minute longer lunch break so she could eat a light lunch and then run for 30 minutes.

musenchild

I used to work at least 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, and it was all physical. The only thing that could get me off my *kitten* after work was to find something I LOVED doing (in my case, ballroom dance). It was not just physical, but mentally challenging, and social. Some additional tips to fight the exhaustion:

- DON'T SIT OR LAY DOWN. Seriously. Come home, shower if you need to, get ready to go, put together a healthy meal, and then get yourself out the door. Don't watch TV for any amount of time, pick up a book, lay down in bed, or say you are going to rest for just x amount of time; you will never get moving again. Laws of physics.

- Have other people keep you accountable. Whether you have a workout buddy or trainer who expects you or just friends at the gym who will say, "hey, where have you been?" make sure there are people who expect you to be there and who you respect enough not to disappoint.

- You have to love what you're going to do. If it feels like a chore, you will never wake up and get into it. There are lots of workouts you can love, but at the end of the twelve hour day, if it's leg day or whatever and you hate it, you are never going to feel good about doing it.

That's what worked for me, getting myself out the door as quickly as possible to dance five days a week after work, I lost 20lb without changing my diet, before joining MFP.

GOOD LUCK and I'm sorry you have to work such icky long days!

nxd10

A lot of the women at work walk every break and at lunch. Inside or out. Can you do that?

lexiyoo

Thanks everyone, all good ideas. I will try walking during breaks between my patients! It can get pretty busy in my urgent care, but i will try

tadpole242

get up at 0530, every day, get home 1930 every evening Work 12 hours a day, five days a week, 48 weeks a year. Cycle 30 minutes x two per day, five days a week, gym on a saturday, and walking and gardening on a sunday. Average 6500 to 7500 calories a week burnt.

witchy_wife

I don't work 12 hour day but with travelling I am out of the house 11 hours a day and then have to make kids dinner, eat mine, get them bathed to bed etc...

The only way I can squeeze my exercise in is get up at 5am and I am on the treadmill by 5.15 or doing some strength exercises. I know I never have energy or will to do it at the end of the day.

sgarrard01

I leave for work at 7am and get back at 7pm, however i still manage to work out 6 days a week and cook all my breakfast/lunches/dinners (and snacks) from scratch... its a bit of a pain but you get used to it! Probably burn around 7500kcal a week or there abouts!

shoneybabes

If I worked a 12hr day I would take my running gear or my bike and commute home via bike or my feet. It helps destress and get rid of any emotional ties from work or stress and is great for going home to bed for. I always feel better the next for it- if I am not shattered but it doesn't mean you should work out 100% just enough to destress and any exercise counts.

My sister commutes to work on her bike and she works 2x 12hr shifts but she alternates the biking and car but she does apx 20miles one way so can be quite exhausting but her work has a gym so she uses it on her lunch break. Not everyone is as lucky but go outside and take a walk or run if you can.

Rowan813

I am a nurse and work 12 hour shifts. Luckily I work 8-8 and don't have to be at work too early, I try to arrive at about 0730. Nobody is waiting on my arrival to go home so I have a little wiggle room in my arrival time. I get up and go to the gym at 0500, shower and go to work from the gym. There is no way on earth I could work out after work. Maybe you could get up a littler earlier and try something at home. I know other nurses who climb stairs or walk on breaks. I also take all of my food for the day with me. I pack it the night before. If it doesn't come out of my lunchbox I don't eat it. With a little trial and error you will find something that works for you.

lexiyoo

The getting up earlier thing is probably my best bet, although doing the stairs a couple of times a day would help. I'm a nurse practitioner in an urgent care, and most days don't even have time to pee let alone actually take a walk. I eat lunch while charting.... ahhh the life of a health care provider, lol! I do love my patients though

Restybaby2012

Im up between 2 and 230 a.m every single day...work all day and come home to do a 40 minute CT session and absolutely love it. I look forward to that t ime for ME...

I may not always be excited over it but as a rule I am. More than anything I love the results Im feeling, seeing and hearing

Nics1009

I wake up at 5am and drive an hour to work, don't get home until 8pm. I do this 5 days in a row and then the 6th day I work a second job and am gone from 11am to 5pm. No I don't find much time for exercise and I'm trying to figure out a routine but I'm down right exhausted by the end of the day. I'm going to try and just suck it up when I get home and work out before doing anything else but that's going to take a lot of will power on my part. I don't know what it is about driving that long but im full of energy when I get off work but the drive wipes me out for some reason.

amh50530

I think my long workday and finding time to workout has been my biggest challenge so far in my quest to lose weight and get fit. I work 10 hour days 5 days a week. I wake up around 5:30, get to work around 7 and come home around 5:30. After dinner (which is usually around 6ish or later depending on what I fix for dinner) I really don't feel like working out at all. I recently started P90 but am considering switching to Tony Horton's 10 Minute Trainer. I just feel like after a hard day, 45-60 minutes of working out is not really what I want/have time to do! I'm really hoping Tony's 10 Minute Trainer is going to be my answer. Working 12 hour days sounds tough, but I bet if you found one of those high intensity short time interval workouts, you would be able to squeeze in some good workouts!

rkr22401

I work 12.5 hour rotating shifts (sometimes 6 am to 6:30 pm, sometimes 6 pm to 6:30 am). With commute, its 14 hours driveway to driveway. Rotating shifts are worse because you are in a semi-constant state of jet lag. You first day off is spent adjusting your body clock to your next schedule rotation.

Used to think I didn't have time to workout on work days, until I discovered that I did. One day I had an appointment 2 hours after work. Rather than sit around for 2 hours, I worked out between shift and the appointment. Discovered it didn't kill me. Since then I have made it a habit to workout first thing after work.

I have never been one to prefer getting up early to workout (or do anything else for that matter). Not enough energy when I first get up. Many prefer the opposite.

kristyb1982

My boyfriend works 12 hour days with an hour drive each way. He lifts weights at lunch and does a run in the evening most nights. He is a maintenance manager, so he is on his feet most of the day, too. For him, it's about making the time for what's important. With that said, he is way more driven than most! I certainly wouldn't be able to do it! I would try to maybe do your workouts on your off days. If you can find some time in the morning and some time in the evening, that would help you get your 5-6 times a week logged. Good luck!

SandyCheeks2

On my longer school/work days where I go to school around 730-245 then head straight to work from 4-8. I just make sure to take advantage of any workout or extra exercise I can get in. I take the stairs, walk to the campus instead of riding the shuttle, I also get a good 60 min cleaning workout at work and I make sure to do anything extra I can. Then I usually (depending on hw) workout for 45 - 60 mins at my places gym and do cardio/strength. I always try to burn the most calories during long days so if I'm reallly tired I don't feel bad for not getting my cardio/strength in. I also workout on the weekends so the days I don't workout in the week are made up.

nomorebingesgirl2014

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wavyguy215

50-60 hour shifter here. I can' barely balance a social life and have prepped meals so I can only imagine if I had kids! I'd recommend splitting your workout routine to 3x a week. Balancing sleep and diet is more essential but if you insist on 5 day splits then sacrifices must be made. Eat at your desk and create a schedule to revolve around your workout.

SezxyStef

my husband does 4 12 hour shifts a week..2 days, 2 nights....he workouts on his day shifts when he gets home...on his night shifts right before he goes to work...

He then gets 4 days off...

But we lift so we workout 3x a week for 75-90mins.

sarafischbach9

So you have 4 days off? Is it possible to have your rest days or do something light on days you work, and keep the higher intensity/higher duration things on your days off?

tattedbarbz

I leave my house at 630 and get in at 830. I wake up at 430 to work out. Still get my 7 hours sleep. Sometimes, like if i've worked more than 6 days in a row, i find it SO hard to wake up.. but generally i've got used to it.

Francl27

I wouldn't sweat it. You're probably pretty active at your job.

debrag12

My 12.5 hr shifts are on my feet most of the time so I can walk up to 10 miles (including 1.7 miles to work & back) and burn up to 3000 calories each shift. I don't bother with exercise on those days.

Othelie157

Im scheduled to work 3 twelve hr days and am really struggling with getting in my 5 or 6 workouts per week with such a long day. I get up 645 to get ready and get my kids going and don't get home till 930 p. I'm exhausted after a long day. Any advice or tips?

I keep two 2kg weights at my desk and do some quick exercises whenever I have a chance.

Blue801

Honestly I don't work out on the days I have 12 hours shifts, but I run my butt off at work. My coworker gets up super early and runs while her hubby and kids are sleeping. She looks tired a lot. I just work out on my off days.

ETA: I log my work days as 720+ minutes of cardio labeled as Vigorous Nursing :bigsmile: :drinker: :flowerforyou:

zeussmith718

Sometimes I have to pull 30ish days of 12-15 hour shifts, but its different for me because my job is pretty physical and fast paced.. so I am running. When those days come I typically bump up to 3-5 hour energies a day and can eat whatever I want and still lose weight... usually 10-15 lbs the only draw back is that I lose muscle as well. Then when its all over trying to retrain myself to get back into a normal routine is much tougher.

geebusuk

I'm a nurse practitioner in an urgent care, and most days don't even have time to pee let alone actually take a walk.

What sort of workout are you looking for?
Not sure what your job entails, but it sounds like your activity levels are likely to be pretty high anyway.
You could make a point to take stairs rather than lift to add to that (though maybe not if pushing a bed!)

Kr1ptonite

Yeah i use to work terrible long hours. 2 jobs day and night, It was hard to workout and eat right, but i made sure i got it done. I just got up early and done my workouts, if not i would come home at night and do it.

Zondeare

I work 7p-7a 3-4 days a week. I always come home and sleep til 2:30p then hit the gym. I still have time to get home shower and make a healthy sitdown dinner for the family before heading back to work. It's hard. I'm tired, but it works.

Diesel_Girl

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