shift work and training

[bancemillstone]

ive read posts that mention circadian rythms and how disrupting them is possibly catabolic. problem: im a paramedic and work 24 hrs on/ 48 off. lets assume i never get sleep on the days/ night that i work. when would be the best time to weight train/cardio etc in reference to optimum recovery and avoiding catabolism. im in the middle of a cut or rather a leaning out period now but this is a general physiological issue. also, when would be the best time to stop eating my every 3rd hour meal to avoid catobolism/ fat gain? finally i cannotsleep in the day time but get 8 hrs on all the other nights. thnx.

 

[firefighter21]

Im a firefighter and also work 24/48. as far as training i train on my days off with a 4 day split and use my work shift as a day off i have had great results with this for a while. I also prepack my meals and take them to work.

 

[bancemillstone]

thanks for the response. i honestly thought that i would get more feedback on this but oh well. i do the taking the premade food to work thing and have found that that is actually the only way to go nutrition wise in this field although most everyone where i work (fire and ems) look at me like im nuts initially. i guess where my problem is coming in is in the over training dept. cutting is fine in this regard usually, but when i go heavier im not sure if its the lack of sleep (recovery) or my workout timing that is off and obviously i cant quit my job or change up my schedule. ive been doing cardio in the mornings before work, lifting when i get off the next day and also on my full off day and getting 8 hrs when i can. thats really about all that i can do wouldnt you think? thnx.

 

[bancemillstone]

also i forgot to mention this, if i am having t stay up the entire 24 hrs do i continue to eat every 3 hrs, if so would it be more benificial to only do protein powders to maintain muscle tissue or cont eating regularly scheduled meals. i work in a busy station, 3-4 hour sleep intervals are rare even. thnx

 

[jaydee]

also i forgot to mention this, if i am having t stay up the entire 24 hrs do i continue to eat every 3 hrs, if so would it be more benificial to only do protein powders to maintain muscle tissue or cont eating regularly scheduled meals. i work in a busy station, 3-4 hour sleep intervals are rare even. thnx

That is a very good question and one that I struggled with also when I was pulling 24hr shifts. I used to just keep eating the way I normally would as in I worked out how often I eat...say every 3 hrs and had a certain amount to get my daily needs over a normal day and then just kept that going throught the long shift....hope this makes sense..its late...lol

Ususally though, i ended up chugging down a lot of protein shakes cause once your that tired you dont feel like eating. Aslo I would assume there would be a degree of risk with consuming a lot of food and your body being too tired to process it all and going into somthing nasty like chronic fatigue or somthing...or at least burning out bigstyle. Though even with quite a few shakes, my gains were still always good....it worked for me. Be carefull you dont get stuck into too much milk though....water is better with some good fat.

 

[brywal312]

With these shifts cortisol is going to be your biggest enemy. May want to try some 11-oxo or some form of cortisol blocker. You also may want to take reset AD and reduce your stim intake. Protien shakes would definately be a good idea as long as it is whey or another easy to digest protien. You definately want to stop eating foods with fat or carbs about 4-5 hours before you are going to sleep. Before bedtime especially if you plan to sleep for a long period of time you may want a slow digeting protien like casien so that your body is not starving while you are sleeping