How do you guys handle exercise after long work days?

So a couple days a week, I end up working these shifts that end up being 12 hours long. 8 of those hours are sedentary, but the next 4 are on my feet and I end up walking 11-15000 steps by the end of the day.

I am aiming to hit the gym 6 days a week, 5 with weights and 1 heavy cardio, and 1 rest day. I took my rest day yesterday on my first 12 hour shift.

I end up sleeping like crap on the long shift days because I'm just not a morning person, and these end up starting early.

I want to go to the gym. But I'll probably get there after 10, and I don't know if I'll have the energy to do the full sets of Back, Biceps and Forearms that I have planned. Certainly not to the weight that I am pushing.

So on these days where you are mentally fatigued, haven't slept well, and in my case, am in a rather substantial calorie deficit, how do you handle the gym? Do you just try to do one solid set on everything or something?... Coffee?

Let me know what you do!
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Replies

  • emmoen
    emmoen Posts: 218 Member
    Usually once you get to the gym and start moving you will feel better!

    But if not I recommend a good preworkout... my husband swears by his... but also I would try to do 5*5 (pretty heavy weight) full body... squats, deadlift, overhead press, and then max 2-3 max rep pull-up& pushups. That way you will still give a good workout in!
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 479 Member
    edited March 2019
    If you're really exhausted, maybe you aren't eating enough.

    You say:
    am in a rather substantial calorie deficit

    What does that mean? Are you eating more on exercise days? Have you set your weight loss goal realistically, with honest appraisal of your busy day-to-day activity/job?

    If you're tired, there's a reason. Listen to your body when it's tired. It needs fuel or sleep or both.

    I mean... isn't the nature of calorie counting for weight loss not eating enough by definition? My goal is aggressive, about 2-3 pounds a week, with 150 grams of protein, maintaining under 1600 calories a day. I definitely need sleep, that much I do know hahaha

    You aren't supposed to deprive yourself to the point of ill-effect, how sustainable is that in the long run? How overweight are you that you're aiming for 2lb+ a week loss?
    I just looked at your Food diary.

    No. Wonder.

    Every day out of the last six days have been at 1200-1500 calories: 1500 is the absolute bottom calorie goal for men, and it definitely doesn't suit your lifestyle and activity. It shows no extra food eaten on gym days (I assume you went every day, but there is no record of Exercise on your diary.)

    You look like you're set at Sedentary and the most aggressive rate of loss. How much weight do you need to lose to be in a healthy BMI?

    From Help at the top of every page: How does MyFitnessPal calculate my initial goals?


    (Video below is from this sticky thread)
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67USKg3w_E4




    There are 30 or so more pounds, then the diet would have to change substantially regardless.
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 479 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Personally, I would use those days as rest days. You're getting plenty of steps in those days. I would also run a full body program 3x per week rather than a bro split as it is more efficient in numerous ways (including results) and tends to work better with most people's schedules. I think it's important to be able to work your fitness around other life obligations.
    If you're really exhausted, maybe you aren't eating enough.

    You say:
    am in a rather substantial calorie deficit

    What does that mean? Are you eating more on exercise days? Have you set your weight loss goal realistically, with honest appraisal of your busy day-to-day activity/job?

    If you're tired, there's a reason. Listen to your body when it's tired. It needs fuel or sleep or both.

    I mean... isn't the nature of calorie counting for weight loss not eating enough by definition? My goal is aggressive, about 2-3 pounds a week, with 150 grams of protein, maintaining under 1600 calories a day. I definitely need sleep, that much I do know hahaha

    No, it's about eating enough to support a proper functioning body and to be healthy and still lose weight. You're netting 1200-1500 calories per day...frankly, you're wasting your time in the weight room with an approach that aggressive.

    I'm just trying my best to maintain on the way down, so far I have been building strength, but as soon as that changes, so will the diet. This is why I've been experimenting with so much protein.

    I've been trying to switch to full body, but its exhaustive in a different way, and I can't push as much weight. Probably needs a bit more conditioning. I hit the whole body in 3 days, and try to hit it almost over again in the second 2. I hit everything twice in 8.
  • 796fra
    796fra Posts: 46 Member
    Classes. For me the extra accountability of my classmates gets me to workout in the evenings. Also I don't have to think about what I'm going to do, or listen to. I just show up and the instructor takes us through a great workout.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    I do a light workout on work days, usually just cardio. Lifting weights requires more energy so I do that on off days. My work days are 10 hours
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,226 Member
    It’s hard. I’m working long hours now and am challenged getting my training in. What I remind myself is that “something is better than nothing.” Been doing some short yet higher-intensity workouts.

    Last week, I did 100 two-hand kettlebell swings with my 24kg KB as quickly as possible. 3:09 later, my workout was over and it was a good one.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    edited March 2019
    rosiorama wrote: »
    You need to eat more, and change to a more modest goal per week. What you’re doing is not sustainable and you can’t perform well in the gym because your deficit is too big.

    Plus, I’d cut the day of agressive cardio, if you’re looking to gain muscle, cardio won’t help.

    Cardio done with proper load regulation within a well written program can be beneficial to lifting which can help with hypertrophy or strength gains.

    It might not be necessary for a lifter but at some point it can certainly be beneficial opposed to not for many individuals.
  • gentlygently
    gentlygently Posts: 752 Member
    Mmmm

    Sounds to me like a good rest would do your body and your mind far more good than pumping iron.

    Stress is not good for you - you seem to me at least a bit stressed and possibly too self-imposed goal orientated rather than listening to what your body actually needs.

    That tortoise won the race...and enjoyed the view on the way no doubt!

    Good luck with those long work days
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,496 Member
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    rosiorama wrote: »
    You need to eat more, and change to a more modest goal per week. What you’re doing is not sustainable and you can’t perform well in the gym because your deficit is too big.

    Plus, I’d cut the day of agressive cardio, if you’re looking to gain muscle, cardio won’t help.

    Cardio done with proper load regulation within a well written program can be beneficial to lifting which can help with hypertrophy or strength gains.

    It might not be necessary for a lifter but at some point it can certainly be beneficial opposed to not for many individuals.

    Nice thoughts, some additional support for this:
    http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/long-duration-low-intensity-cardio/
  • JBanx256
    JBanx256 Posts: 1,479 Member
    My shifts are a minimum of 12 hours. I train before work because I know after a long day I'll be too tired/grumpy and just not have the motivation to hit the gym (also when I'm on day shift, I'd rather spend my evenings with my family than to take time away from them to be training).
  • rosiorama
    rosiorama Posts: 300 Member
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    rosiorama wrote: »
    You need to eat more, and change to a more modest goal per week. What you’re doing is not sustainable and you can’t perform well in the gym because your deficit is too big.

    Plus, I’d cut the day of agressive cardio, if you’re looking to gain muscle, cardio won’t help.

    Cardio done with proper load regulation within a well written program can be beneficial to lifting which can help with hypertrophy or strength gains.

    It might not be necessary for a lifter but at some point it can certainly be beneficial opposed to not for many individuals.

    I DO agree with your correction, and your comment. OP’s schedule and deficit sounds alarming, and the HEAVY cardio he/she mentioned on top of everything else was just too much.

    I’ve been on an agressive fitness/work schedule - only one rest day and working lots of hours - and it was wrecking me... and I was on maintainance calories. Not in a deficit. Cardio was sacrificed for my sanity.
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 479 Member
    edited March 2019
    rosiorama wrote: »
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    rosiorama wrote: »
    You need to eat more, and change to a more modest goal per week. What you’re doing is not sustainable and you can’t perform well in the gym because your deficit is too big.

    Plus, I’d cut the day of agressive cardio, if you’re looking to gain muscle, cardio won’t help.

    Cardio done with proper load regulation within a well written program can be beneficial to lifting which can help with hypertrophy or strength gains.

    It might not be necessary for a lifter but at some point it can certainly be beneficial opposed to not for many individuals.

    I DO agree with your correction, and your comment. OP’s schedule and deficit sounds alarming, and the HEAVY cardio he/she mentioned on top of everything else was just too much.

    I’ve been on an agressive fitness/work schedule - only one rest day and working lots of hours - and it was wrecking me... and I was on maintainance calories. Not in a deficit. Cardio was sacrificed for my sanity.

    I do the cardio the day after leg day as it helps with recovery, the extra blood pumping down there makes it so I'm less sore. Otherwise I'm hobbling for a few days.

    Also the cardio is with max resistance, so I imagine that it works the muscle a bit. It's like auxiliary leg day haha
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 479 Member
    Mmmm

    Sounds to me like a good rest would do your body and your mind far more good than pumping iron.

    Stress is not good for you - you seem to me at least a bit stressed and possibly too self-imposed goal orientated rather than listening to what your body actually needs.

    That tortoise won the race...and enjoyed the view on the way no doubt!

    Good luck with those long work days

    Oh I'm definitely goal oriented, I just want to get this over with so I can move on with the next thing, and maintain on the way down as best as I can. My life is not super stressful right now, and I have a lot of time other than on these few super long work days, so I thought I'd put in a really good effort.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    I got up at 3 a.m. this morning to make sure I got my workout in. If I leave workouts til after work, I find too many excuses not to do it.
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 479 Member
    edited March 2019
    I got up at 3 a.m. this morning to make sure I got my workout in. If I leave workouts til after work, I find too many excuses not to do it.

    ...you are hardcore in a way that I have to bow down to.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    Mmmm

    Sounds to me like a good rest would do your body and your mind far more good than pumping iron.

    Stress is not good for you - you seem to me at least a bit stressed and possibly too self-imposed goal orientated rather than listening to what your body actually needs.

    That tortoise won the race...and enjoyed the view on the way no doubt!

    Good luck with those long work days

    Oh I'm definitely goal oriented, I just want to get this over with so I can move on with the next thing, and maintain on the way down as best as I can. My life is not super stressful right now, and I have a lot of time other than on these few super long work days, so I thought I'd put in a really good effort.

    You have 30lbs to lose no? That's more or less the number of pounds that I have left until I hit my goal weight (more like 25 but close enough), though I appear to be taking a less aggressive approach with regards to calories. What exactly are you waiting to do that you can't do now? The way you're at it, you're on a path to crashing and burning by way of not consuming enough calories to sustain your exercising.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Don't weight training 5 days a week is a recipe to plateau right away and be exhausted without making any real gains. A body needs rest.

    What's going to happen when you reach your goal? For most of us, losing weight slowly is a useful learning experience, it helps recalibrate your sense of what a reasonable diet is. This is something you're going to need once you get to your goal weight of you want to stay there.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,616 Member
    On really long busy days, I try to get a walk or series of walks in ... and leave it at that.

  • mdreddie
    mdreddie Posts: 73 Member
    I'm not much of a morning person either, but since I know I'll be physically tired at the end of the day and would not want to exercise at that time, I've gotten in the habit of exercising within 15 minutes of waking up. I do accordingly work out at home with a calisthenics routine, and it has been working for me. So far, I've dropped 13 lbs. in two months, going from 140 lbs. to 127 lbs., which is just 2 lbs. shy of my weight loss goal. Therefore, working out in the morning works. The consistency of it, combined with a good diet will take the pounds off for sure.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    rosiorama wrote: »
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    rosiorama wrote: »
    You need to eat more, and change to a more modest goal per week. What you’re doing is not sustainable and you can’t perform well in the gym because your deficit is too big.

    Plus, I’d cut the day of agressive cardio, if you’re looking to gain muscle, cardio won’t help.

    Cardio done with proper load regulation within a well written program can be beneficial to lifting which can help with hypertrophy or strength gains.

    It might not be necessary for a lifter but at some point it can certainly be beneficial opposed to not for many individuals.

    I DO agree with your correction, and your comment. OP’s schedule and deficit sounds alarming, and the HEAVY cardio he/she mentioned on top of everything else was just too much.

    I’ve been on an agressive fitness/work schedule - only one rest day and working lots of hours - and it was wrecking me... and I was on maintainance calories. Not in a deficit. Cardio was sacrificed for my sanity.

    I do the cardio the day after leg day as it helps with recovery, the extra blood pumping down there makes it so I'm less sore. Otherwise I'm hobbling for a few days.

    Also the cardio is with max resistance, so I imagine that it works the muscle a bit. It's like auxiliary leg day haha

    So if you are getting a good enough workout in (that's debatable with what you've shared) that requires the normal 24-48 hrs of recovery/rebuild - you are killing that by trying to have another tough leg day basically. Recovery cardio is indeed great, another hard workout ....

    Of course how the body responds to this routine you got over time is not actually being able to push yourself to the point of causing much if any damage that requires repair anyway.
    Oh, while you are in this state it will feel like you are giving it your all - for the state you are in.
    But it's not actually to the point of doing much if any benefit for the muscles for what the lifting could do.
    Therefore not much needed for recovery since not much damaged.

    The fact you may have increased on some lifts really has a huge bearing on where did you start in training when you started this diet/routine?
    If just starting the lifting - then you would be having increases merely based on CNS improvements of using the muscles, and form improvements.
    Likely not even getting the full potential there.

    Well, it'll be great if you can report back how it's going near the end.
    As of yet all the topics I've seen of similar goals and methods has ended with confirmed failure well before goal was reached - or no reporting back but verification of profile showed a going off the rails.
  • JBanx256
    JBanx256 Posts: 1,479 Member
    heybales wrote: »

    So if you are getting a good enough workout in (that's debatable with what you've shared) that requires the normal 24-48 hrs of recovery/rebuild - you are killing that by trying to have another tough leg day basically. Recovery cardio is indeed great, another hard workout ....

    https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2018.00403/full

    There was a fantastic meta-analysis by Greg Nuckols in the June 2018 issue of Monthly Application in Strength Sports (MASS) where they compared research data from over 99 studies, "includes 80 studies assessing DOMS, 17 studies assessing perceived fatigue, 19 studies assessing inflammatory markers, and 37 studies assessing proxies of muscle damage. Recovery interventions assessed included active recovery, stretching, massage, massage + stretching, electrostimulation, compression garments, water immersion, contrast water therapy, cryotherapy, and hyperbaric therapy."

    I can't link to the actual MASS article because it's password-protected, but I'll copy/paste two relevant tidbits here:

    "Active recovery, massage, compression garments, immersion, contrast water therapy, and cryotherapy all significantly reduced DOMS, while stretching, electrostimulation, and hyperbaric therapy had no significant effects. Of note, massage was the most effective intervention for reducing DOMS."

    "This meta-analysis paints a pretty muddy picture for active recovery. On one hand, it was one of the most effective strategies for reducing DOMS, but it actually slightly increased perceived fatigue 24 hours post-training, on average (though the confidence interval for perceived fatigue was really wide). This meta-analysis also doesn’t do stretching any favors: While stretching continues to be a popular post-workout recommendation (with people claiming it will reduce soreness), it didn’t have any effect on either DOMS or perceived fatigue."


  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 479 Member
    edited March 2019
    heybales wrote: »
    rosiorama wrote: »
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    rosiorama wrote: »
    You need to eat more, and change to a more modest goal per week. What you’re doing is not sustainable and you can’t perform well in the gym because your deficit is too big.

    Plus, I’d cut the day of agressive cardio, if you’re looking to gain muscle, cardio won’t help.

    Cardio done with proper load regulation within a well written program can be beneficial to lifting which can help with hypertrophy or strength gains.

    It might not be necessary for a lifter but at some point it can certainly be beneficial opposed to not for many individuals.

    I DO agree with your correction, and your comment. OP’s schedule and deficit sounds alarming, and the HEAVY cardio he/she mentioned on top of everything else was just too much.

    I’ve been on an agressive fitness/work schedule - only one rest day and working lots of hours - and it was wrecking me... and I was on maintainance calories. Not in a deficit. Cardio was sacrificed for my sanity.

    I do the cardio the day after leg day as it helps with recovery, the extra blood pumping down there makes it so I'm less sore. Otherwise I'm hobbling for a few days.

    Also the cardio is with max resistance, so I imagine that it works the muscle a bit. It's like auxiliary leg day haha

    So if you are getting a good enough workout in (that's debatable with what you've shared) that requires the normal 24-48 hrs of recovery/rebuild - you are killing that by trying to have another tough leg day basically. Recovery cardio is indeed great, another hard workout ....

    Of course how the body responds to this routine you got over time is not actually being able to push yourself to the point of causing much if any damage that requires repair anyway.
    Oh, while you are in this state it will feel like you are giving it your all - for the state you are in.
    But it's not actually to the point of doing much if any benefit for the muscles for what the lifting could do.
    Therefore not much needed for recovery since not much damaged.

    The fact you may have increased on some lifts really has a huge bearing on where did you start in training when you started this diet/routine?
    If just starting the lifting - then you would be having increases merely based on CNS improvements of using the muscles, and form improvements.
    Likely not even getting the full potential there.

    Well, it'll be great if you can report back how it's going near the end.
    As of yet all the topics I've seen of similar goals and methods has ended with confirmed failure well before goal was reached - or no reporting back but verification of profile showed a going off the rails.

    That's the desired outcome, though. I'm well aware of CNS, and that my strength gains are likely due to the physical understanding of how to inherently use the muscle. There have been some obvious muscle gains, on the arms and legs, but they are minimal, and visibly will likely remain so until I switch up the diet at goal weight. I have a large frame, and actually a surprising amount of strength. With about 3 months of training, I'm leg pressing nearly 600. Not all of the gains have been extraordinary; my bench is still unfortunately weak, but I understand I'm not really building a ton of muscle right now. Maintaining my muscle mass on the way down, as there still is quite a bit, would be a tremendous success.

    The cardio really does help with the soreness. Leg day is the most impressive day, but it is also the most painful. Without the cardio the next day, I would really hurt. The heavy resistance I think is just due to the lower body strength I've unlocked; it just isn't as heavy for me. Im really not bragging, and I'm not saying it isn't hard, it just is nowhere near as hard as when I started. I don't feel a ton of muscle burning after the blood is pumping. This cardio day is also followed immediately by a rest day.

    I'm not going anywhere this time. Don't you worry. And I am planning for more substantial changes to the diet if there are any dips or longer plateauing of strength. This just hasn't happened yet, and, surprisingly, I haven't found the low calorie diet incredibly difficult so long as I'm in a place where I have control of meal production. Well, until maybe now where I'm trying to fit 150 grams of protein in lol.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited March 2019
    JBanx256 wrote: »
    heybales wrote: »

    So if you are getting a good enough workout in (that's debatable with what you've shared) that requires the normal 24-48 hrs of recovery/rebuild - you are killing that by trying to have another tough leg day basically. Recovery cardio is indeed great, another hard workout ....

    https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2018.00403/full

    There was a fantastic meta-analysis by Greg Nuckols in the June 2018 issue of Monthly Application in Strength Sports (MASS) where they compared research data from over 99 studies, "includes 80 studies assessing DOMS, 17 studies assessing perceived fatigue, 19 studies assessing inflammatory markers, and 37 studies assessing proxies of muscle damage. Recovery interventions assessed included active recovery, stretching, massage, massage + stretching, electrostimulation, compression garments, water immersion, contrast water therapy, cryotherapy, and hyperbaric therapy."

    I can't link to the actual MASS article because it's password-protected, but I'll copy/paste two relevant tidbits here:

    "Active recovery, massage, compression garments, immersion, contrast water therapy, and cryotherapy all significantly reduced DOMS, while stretching, electrostimulation, and hyperbaric therapy had no significant effects. Of note, massage was the most effective intervention for reducing DOMS."

    "This meta-analysis paints a pretty muddy picture for active recovery. On one hand, it was one of the most effective strategies for reducing DOMS, but it actually slightly increased perceived fatigue 24 hours post-training, on average (though the confidence interval for perceived fatigue was really wide). This meta-analysis also doesn’t do stretching any favors: While stretching continues to be a popular post-workout recommendation (with people claiming it will reduce soreness), it didn’t have any effect on either DOMS or perceived fatigue."


    Wasn't referring to DOMS and helping the soreness.

    Was referring to the actual repair of muscle that has been torn up from a really good resistance workout.

    You can get to the point you don't even have DOMS but still need repair of the muscle.

    You can also get DOMS and not really do that much damage but overstretch muscle.

    So DOMS is not a good sign if you are doing damage.

    And yes cardio can be great for recovery in that 24-48 hrs of repair time - it's usually called Active Recovery aerobic for a reason, but what was described by OP as cardio done the next day is not that really.
  • timeforwork
    timeforwork Posts: 114 Member
    Hi, I know the feeling, I work 14 hour night shifts 5 days a week and have daily chores like kids shopping etc to do as well as getting a couple of hours sleep where poss. I go to the gym first thing after I drop the kids off so I don't miss it but I only go 3 days a week with some cardio and some weights each time I'm fairly new to the gym so still improving and I'm also trying to lose weight ( another 2 stone to go) but I have it set to lose 1-2 lb a MONTH so although I am tired from lack of sleep I'm not tired because of lack of food. I prefer to take longer and relax a bit more than push too much and regret missing out on meals out , family time away from the gym or sleep! Hopefully you will figure out a good balance for yourself , good luck ! X