5x5 Question - Odd Work Schedule
thefuzz1290
Posts: 777 Member
I'm wanting to start Stronglifts 5x5 program, but I have an odd work schedule and don't get enough sleep as it is. I work 12 hour shifts (overnights, 5:45pm-6:00am), but with getting ready for work and commute, its more like 14 hours each day I work. Then on the week days I take my daughter to school, which puts me home around 9:00am each day. However, I have to be home by the time my daughter wakes up so my wife can get ready to go to work.
I know 5x5 programs are usually 3 days a week, with a rest day in between. I've also used Madcow's 5x5 in the past and had great success, which is why I want to try Stronglifts 5x5. Now the question is, do I suck it up and go to the gym after I drop my daughter off and potentially only sleep 4-5 hours before going back into work, or should I just scrap the idea of a 5x5 until I get a better schedule? I currently lift on days I don't work.
Week 1:
Mon - work
Tues - work
Wed - off
Thur - off
Fri - work
Sat - work
Sun - work
Week 2:
Mon - off
Tues - off
Wed - work
Thur - work
Fri - off
Sat - off
Sun - off
Scrap it until I get a better schedule? Or who needs sleep, suck it up and be tired!
I know 5x5 programs are usually 3 days a week, with a rest day in between. I've also used Madcow's 5x5 in the past and had great success, which is why I want to try Stronglifts 5x5. Now the question is, do I suck it up and go to the gym after I drop my daughter off and potentially only sleep 4-5 hours before going back into work, or should I just scrap the idea of a 5x5 until I get a better schedule? I currently lift on days I don't work.
Week 1:
Mon - work
Tues - work
Wed - off
Thur - off
Fri - work
Sat - work
Sun - work
Week 2:
Mon - off
Tues - off
Wed - work
Thur - work
Fri - off
Sat - off
Sun - off
Scrap it until I get a better schedule? Or who needs sleep, suck it up and be tired!
0
Replies
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Not being an expert in this field but I would have imagined for optimum results, you would need a good sleep pattern (eg about 8 hours) May pay to look at something else until the schedule is better for you, or can you modify it a bit to work in better with your hectic schedule? Just a thought0
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Rest is critical to recovery. For one week or so my sleep schedule was all out of whack and my lifting suffered. I'm gonna say wait until you can get 7-8 hrs of rest. Some may disagree. But rest is just as important (maybe more so) as adequate nutrition. I think working out on your off days is probably your best bet.0
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sleep is important, does your gym have an area for the kids like a drop off area. The gym my wife and I go to has a kids club that we can use for up to two hours a day, do you have any family that could watch your daughter for you during your gym time?0
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Getting someone to watch my daughter isn't the problem, she has day care. I get home at 6:30am, wife and daughter wake up at 7:30am, by the time daughter is ready for school its 8:30am. If I drop daughter off by 9:00am, get home and in bed by 9:30am, fall asleep by 10:00am, and wake up by 4:00pm to get ready to leave for work at 5:00pm, I've only had 6 hours of sleep on days I work. Off days there is no problem because I go to a 24 hour gym and just work out in the middle of the night to keep some balance to my work schedule.
I just wasn't sure if there was a way to modify it so I didn't have to have the rest day in between. I'm of the opinion that there are people much smarter than I am when it comes to creating workout programs and I don't want to mess with it too much. I have a pretty decent program right now, which incorporates all the big lifts, but I know 5x5 is proven to work.0 -
Look don't be too concerned about sleep.Getting someone to watch my daughter isn't the problem, she has day care. I get home at 6:30am, wife and daughter wake up at 7:30am, by the time daughter is ready for school its 8:30am. If I drop daughter off by 9:00am, get home and in bed by 9:30am, fall asleep by 10:00am, and wake up by 4:00pm to get ready to leave for work at 5:00pm, I've only had 6 hours of sleep on days I work. Off days there is no problem because I go to a 24 hour gym and just work out in the middle of the night to keep some balance to my work schedule.
I just wasn't sure if there was a way to modify it so I didn't have to have the rest day in between. I'm of the opinion that there are people much smarter than I am when it comes to creating workout programs and I don't want to mess with it too much. I have a pretty decent program right now, which incorporates all the big lifts, but I know 5x5 is proven to work.
On average I am probably up 17-19 hours a day. Hey, working nights suck but your body will adapt. Sleep when you die.0 -
Perhaps try the 5,3,1, program its very similar to the 5x5 progrma but you can train days next to each other as you dont squat every day.
I did the 5x5 ad when the squat got up to nd past 140KG's it was really difficult to recover fully for the next sessions. It also massively impacted on my other exercises.
5, 3, 1 caters for this and is a waved program, go to T Nation and there is a program on there by Jim Wendler.
Hope thsi helps.0 -
I would go with on your days off if it fits better, as far as too long of rest periods in between, Try it for a while if you don't feel your progressing with the program you can always change it. I love lifting and would go to the gym every day (I would say I am an addict ) but I have to remember that rest is very important, I even hate deload weeks because I feel like I am making zero gains.
I started messing around with the 5x5 program a few weeks ago for my bench press because I stalled out, but now I think I will be using it on all my four core lifts (squats, dead lifts, bench, and rows) this summer.0 -
I did Madcow's 5x5 and had insane strength gains for the 12 weeks I did it. Its sort of tedious on the Friday workout, but if you're an exerpienced lifter its a nice change. For my "deload week" I typically don't go to the gym at all....it usually falls on a week I go on vacation or something.0
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I think you could maybe fit it in if you try and align it with when you have a day off the next day, that way you could get sleep.
Eg.
Week 1:
Mon - work
Tues - work Gym here - off next day
Wed - off
Thur - off Gym here (work next day, nothing you can do about it)
Fri - work
Sat - work
Sun - work Gym here - off next day
Week 2:
Mon - off
Tues - off Gym here - work next day...
Wed - work
Thur - work Gym here - off next day
Fri - off
Sat - off Gym here - off next day
Sun - off0 -
I was thinking the same thing.I think you could maybe fit it in if you try and align it with when you have a day off the next day, that way you could get sleep.
Eg.
Week 1:
Mon - work
Tues - work Gym here - off next day
Wed - off
Thur - off Gym here (work next day, nothing you can do about it)
Fri - work
Sat - work
Sun - work Gym here - off next day
Week 2:
Mon - off
Tues - off Gym here - work next day...
Wed - work
Thur - work Gym here - off next day
Fri - off
Sat - off Gym here - off next day
Sun - off0 -
I think you could maybe fit it in if you try and align it with when you have a day off the next day, that way you could get sleep.
Eg.
Week 1:
Mon - work
Tues - work Gym here - off next day
Wed - off
Thur - off Gym here (work next day, nothing you can do about it)
Fri - work
Sat - work
Sun - work Gym here - off next day
Week 2:
Mon - off
Tues - off Gym here - work next day...
Wed - work
Thur - work Gym here - off next day
Fri - off
Sat - off Gym here - off next day
Sun - off
I thought about that schedule as well...the only thing is that it would put me with little sleep for 2 days on week 1 and 1 day on week 2. Now if I had a desk job or something, that wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm a police officer and I want to avoid my reaction time being slower due to lack of sleep.
Thanks, though, but I think I'll experiment with this and if it doesn't work just keep doing what I'm doing for now.0 -
wroseer fattty0
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I think you could maybe fit it in if you try and align it with when you have a day off the next day, that way you could get sleep.
Eg.
Week 1:
Mon - work
Tues - work Gym here - off next day
Wed - off
Thur - off Gym here (work next day, nothing you can do about it)
Fri - work
Sat - work
Sun - work Gym here - off next day
Week 2:
Mon - off
Tues - off Gym here - work next day...
Wed - work
Thur - work Gym here - off next day
Fri - off
Sat - off Gym here - off next day
Sun - off
I thought about that schedule as well...the only thing is that it would put me with little sleep for 2 days on week 1 and 1 day on week 2. Now if I had a desk job or something, that wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm a police officer and I want to avoid my reaction time being slower due to lack of sleep.
Thanks, though, but I think I'll experiment with this and if it doesn't work just keep doing what I'm doing for now.
Should only be 1 day week 1?
But also - it should only take like 45 minutes to do the workout so shouldn't impact that heavily?0
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