[NCBB]

Hey folks, I'm looking for some input from some of you that have been at it for a long time. Up until 2003 I was a very avid lifter. In my best shape I was 187lbs @ 6%bf. I was injured in a car crash and wound up taking a little over a year off of the weights. Now I'm good to go and have been trying to get back into a routine but am having trouble putting it together with my current work schedule.
I have been in the bio tech field for over 7 years and changed companies last july and went to a 12hr night schedule. Give me some of your ideas on splits and days to lift. I am also an 11year US Army veteran (7 active) and 4 reserve and National Guard so I need to keep cardio in the picture. Here is my work schedule for two weeks hypothetically starting on a Monday night........

Work mon and tues night
off wen and thur night
Work fri, sat and sun night
off mon and tues night
Work wens and thur night
off fri, sat and sun night.......... and start back on mon night with the same rotation

It looks as though I only work 14 nights a month (and that is correct technically) but I am so damn spent after being up all night (12 hours@ work plus and hour drive one way) so that first day off is pretty much spent recovering.

Another thing that makes it difficult is I carry my daughter to school @ 0800 in the morning and have to pick her up @ 1500 in the afternoon. I am in bed by 0820 and have to get up @ 1415 to be there to get her. On the nights I have to work I have typically 30min to myself. The other time is spent sleeping or driving.

I apologize for the drawn out post, but I need some advice. Thanks in advance.

Vince

[NCBB]

Well damn. No one has an opinion or some advice to throw out??

Well, thanks anyway.

[Rocky]

Still trying to get my head around your schedule! But I'd suggest maybe doing your first session straight after your first shift at work (hopefully before you go to bed and before working nights starts to affect you too much, then do your next session on your second day off (2 days later), and then your third session 2 days after that again if you aren't too knackered! (Basically a 1 on-2 off split).
Because time and energy is obviously a concern I would advise (and not just because I do it!) a HIT style session. The longer you're in the gym, the harder it's gonna be to get through it.

I'd make your 2 hardest sessions the first 2 seeing as your third session will be when you've worked 2 nights on the trot.

Maybe: Session 1 - Legs & Back

Session 2 - Chest and shoulders

Session 3 - Arms and abs

This way hopefully you'll have done the harder sessions before the week takes it's toll on you.
Aim for 3 -4 exercises for the bigger muscles (i.e. the first 2 sessions) and then 2 -3 for your 3rd session.
2 working sets for each exercise and aim for 6 - 8 reps.

To be honest, a lot of it will depend on how you feel on the day. I'm working a lot myself a the mo so have to adjust my schedule by bringin a session forward a day or pushing it back a day depending on how I feel.
As for cardio - personally my cardio is the mile run back from dropping my little girl at school, and it may be convenient for you to do something like that in your daily routine rather than have to devote a session to it when it could be spent hitting the weights.
On top of this make sure you get as much sleep as poss ( on all days when you train when you're working nights, I personally would rather train before going to bed rather than when I wake up but that may be up to you!) and keep up taking in the right amount of calories/protein/carbs, etc.

Don't know if this is what you were looking for but good luck anyway!

[NCBB]

Originally Posted by Rocky

Still trying to get my head around your schedule! But I'd suggest maybe doing your first session straight after your first shift at work (hopefully before you go to bed and before working nights starts to affect you too much, then do your next session on your second day off (2 days later), and then your third session 2 days after that again if you aren't too knackered! (Basically a 1 on-2 off split).
Because time and energy is obviously a concern I would advise (and not just because I do it!) a HIT style session. The longer you're in the gym, the harder it's gonna be to get through it.

I'd make your 2 hardest sessions the first 2 seeing as your third session will be when you've worked 2 nights on the trot.

Maybe: Session 1 - Legs & Back

Session 2 - Chest and shoulders

Session 3 - Arms and abs

This way hopefully you'll have done the harder sessions before the week takes it's toll on you.
Aim for 3 -4 exercises for the bigger muscles (i.e. the first 2 sessions) and then 2 -3 for your 3rd session.
2 working sets for each exercise and aim for 6 - 8 reps.

To be honest, a lot of it will depend on how you feel on the day. I'm working a lot myself a the mo so have to adjust my schedule by bringin a session forward a day or pushing it back a day depending on how I feel.
As for cardio - personally my cardio is the mile run back from dropping my little girl at school, and it may be convenient for you to do something like that in your daily routine rather than have to devote a session to it when it could be spent hitting the weights.
On top of this make sure you get as much sleep as poss ( on all days when you train when you're working nights, I personally would rather train before going to bed rather than when I wake up but that may be up to you!) and keep up taking in the right amount of calories/protein/carbs, etc.

Don't know if this is what you were looking for but good luck anyway!

Great post Rocky....... I really appreciate the insite.
I have never done an HIT split but I will give it a shot seeing how it does save time.
Thanks again bro. :bananaroc

[Rocky]

Definately worth a go - it's what I do! If you want any ideas (although having trained so long yourself, I'm sure you've got plenty!) on a training split and routine, check out my log. Mine's high intensity, few work sets and each session only takes 45mins to an hour!
Good luck with it man! Let me know how you get on!
All the best!