How to get into a routine, when u have no work routine - random times

white_falcon

Hey lads,
Just wondering what any of you do to get a routine of working out. I mean, I have totally random times to work at - could be 8am til 4.30pm, could be 3.30 til 12pm could be 12-8.30pm.

Problem I'm having is, I can't seem to get into a routine of eating or excercising. I know that its all to do with your own determination, but having a routine, makes things miles easier for me.

One week I had a routine of workin 8am - 4.30, and was able to cycle to work, go for a swim after for an hr, come home eat a really healthy meal and be productive for the whole night.

Does anyone else have this problem at all?

PeakOutput

your shifts are always 8and a half hours so you should be able to get a routine for food together based around that no problem........after that you jsut have to decide how much time before work you need to get up to be able to go to the gym or get a workout in before work............this time(say 2 hours)does not change no matter what shift you are working

ali.c

Some people find it easy to change their sleep patterns week to week, if you are one of those people then get your rountine and fit it around work as peak suggested.

However if your not one of these people (i could never master it tbh) then i thinking prior planning is your friend. Do you have an idea what shift your on in advance? If so get a diary and mark up your hours and other commitments and plan your meals and workouts around them. If its a 3 week rotation it should be easy enough to see where there are gaps. Its hard when your working late shifts because when your finished work its like the day is over (in my experience at least). The gaps before and after work seem small and i know i never felt it was worthwhile to try to do anything. the time is still the same though so its up to you to use it as efficiently as possible.

Shift work is a pain, but with proper planning it is possible to work around it.

white_falcon

yea, well when i say shift work I mean I could be working this for instance:

Monday 8am - 4.30
Tuesday 3.30 - 12
Wednesday 3.30 - 12
Thursday - off
Friday 11 - 6.30
Saturday 8am - 4.30

So I just can't really figure out how some people work around this. I mean, say I'm workin 3.30 - 12, I come home at 12, want to unwind after work, so don't go to bed until later (maybe 1), so find it hard to get up in the morning. Might be able to do some excercise, but then the next day, I'd be getting up again at a different time

I'm sure it sounds like I'm making excuses, but I've never really had a routine at all, and for the few weeks that I did have one, I got on great. Anyhoo, its actually not so bad now, cuz I managed to convince work to give me more easy shift times, which are more frequent - ie. monday-saturday 8am - 4.30 for a week and rotate, so YAY!

justsomebloke

seriously I don't see any problem with fitting a workout around them days, Me personally I would go for 3 day TBT. on the monday after work (international chest day so you have to train then), wednesday before work (you have a chance to have a lie in after the previous night so should be fresh for the gym) and the friday before work (11a.m. start seriously loads of time to go to the gym before work especially after a day off and still have your friday night off).

Truthfully if anything you have it easier cause most of the times when you are going to be going to the gym it isn't going to be busy so no standing around waiting for stuff, so can be in and out even quicker

white_falcon

jsb wrote:

seriously I don't see any problem with fitting a workout around them days, Me personally I would go for 3 day TBT. on the monday after work (international chest day so you have to train then), wednesday before work (you have a chance to have a lie in after the previous night so should be fresh for the gym) and the friday before work (11a.m. start seriously loads of time to go to the gym before work especially after a day off and still have your friday night off).

Truthfully if anything you have it easier cause most of the times when you are going to be going to the gym it isn't going to be busy so no standing around waiting for stuff, so can be in and out even quicker

yea ur right. i suppose im trying to make excuses. its time to get up ff my arse and just feckin do it! the time has come!

cormie

I have the same problem, I could be working at any time, any day, with very little notice, 2-4am, 2-4pm or 9am-10pm or any other crazy times, my hours are all over the place. It's pretty much impossible to get a routine going with my hours so I think the only option is to forget about a routine and do what I can, when I can

davyjose

Just saw this now, as I was on holidays when it was submitted. As you can see from the time this is posted, I work some crazy-ass hours. Do I use it as an excuse? Sometimes. Do I know it is an excuse? Yes. at the end of the day, JFL! Maybe your hours might hinder you from being the very elite, but there's still no reason you can't be in pretty good shape.

cormie

Equally bad hours here