What is a good workout program for working swing shift?

[daniel_661]

I work 12 hour shifts, and rotate from days-nights nights-days every 4 weeks
Mon- on
Tues-on
Wed-off
Thurs-off
Fri-on
Sat-on
Sun-on
Mon-off
Tues-off
Wed-on
Thurs-on
Fri-off
Sat-off
Sun-off

Just wondering if anyone else works a shift like this and what would be a good workout program to stick with to gain size. thanks for any help

[nystangkid]

thats a tough work schedule...i'd say a full body workout 3 or 4 days a week would be ur best bet.

[daniel_661]

I fell like im at a disadvantage by working this schedule. I dont want to work a 12 hours shift then come home and do a workout after i have been up and running for over 14 hours, plus if i come home and workout after a days work...that only leaves me around 5-6 hours sleep before I have to get up and work again. Also I never workout 2 days back to back, I like to give myself plenty of time to heal. Thanks for your thoughts.

[dcamnc]

daniel_661,
That looks like the modified dupont schedule. I was on that until about a month ago. Honestly, I just did the same routines that everyone here does. Yes, sometimes I only got 5-6 hours of sleep if I did a workout on a workday. My non-helpful advise would be to do the best that you can with what you have. Just be consistant, that's the key IMO. Good luck!

Oh, another quick tip. I found that short, bang for your buck, compound movement programs (rippetoe, 5x5, texas method, etc.) worked out for me better than long bodybuilding splits. Done with the workout in an hour routines save time on workdays when sleep is precious.

[Pairunoyd]

I'd try to find out when my body is feeling its best and stick w/ working out on those days, getting maybe 3-4 workouts a week. If possible, this would fall more heavily on days I'm not working. Nothing really wrong w/ working out 3 days in a row and then off for 3 days or whatever.

You should also maximize compound movements over isolation movements, because you're getting a lot of stimulation in a single set.

Try doing supersets to reduce your workout time.

3 hrs of training a week should be plenty. 3 hrs isn't much.

Eat when you can. Relax when you can.

P.S. Try to reduce or avoid stimulants while working. Take 100-200 mgs of caffeine 40 mins before your workouts. Theres other stuff for energy as well. However, you'll hurt the positive effects of it if you abuse it and use it for non-workout related times. You must be disciplined w/ it.

[envier]

Mon- on
Tues-on
Wed-off =chest shoulders tris A1
Thurs-off =back bis and legs A2
Fri-on
Sat-on
Sun-on
Mon-off=chest and tris B1
Tues-off =back and bis B2
Wed-on
Thurs-on
Fri-off=shoulders and traps B4
Sat-off=legs B4
Sun-off=rest
I know you said you did not like to workout two days in a row but I belive this is your best option. Keep your volume low especaly when you are doing the three bodyparts. Its a push pull split so you should have no problem doing these workouts back to back.
I would do the following:

A1= Incline press 6x croosovers 4x military 3x side lat 2 x dips(strait for tris)3x pushdowns 2x
a2= bent over rows 6x pulldowns 4x barculs 3x cable curls 2x shrugs 3x
b1=flat press 5x5 Incline press 2x 8 flys 2x 8 dips (strait up) 3x5 pusdowns 2x
b2= Deadlift 5x5 pulldown 2x8 seated rows 2x8 -reverse close grip toward u pullups 3x5 Incline dumbel curls 2x8
b3=miltary press5x5 wide grip upright rows 2x8 cable lat 2x8 barbell or dumb shrugs 3x8
b4=squats 5x5 leg press 2x8 leg ext 2x8 calf raise 5x20
good luck! If you follow I promise you cant go wrong with the plain I have laid forth for you!

[envier]

One more thing workouts a1 and a2 are in the 10 to 12 rep range.

[daniel_661]

Well I can do some workouts at work. I'm a police officer and we get one hour for lunch, but its strictly one hour so I would have to make sure im done within that one hour. I would hate to get started and not be able to finish the workout. Also what is push/pull split? Thanks for the help

[Pairunoyd]

if youre a cop, you dont need to workout on your lunch hr. you might need those muscles.

[envier]

pushing movements are chest shoulders and tris and pulls are back and bis. If you hate to rush during your lunch trying to lift -don't -you would benifit better from eating foccus your energy to your off days when you can give it 100 percent rest and food is one of the bigest parts of the hole process.thats the way I would handle it.

[Skwidward]

Design two nice fullbody workouts and just rotate them as and when you can.

That's what i did, works fine. I used to get 2-3 workouts in per week.

The more often you can do them the less volume you'll use. The less often you can do them, the more volume you'll use.

[daniel_661]

sometimes thought about a full body workout but never took the time to make one...just done a little of everything when I got to the gym

[envier]

if you go to the gym with no plan how can u expect to make any gains. so many new lifters these days focus on splits and change things around but never focus on increasing their weigths.