Night Shift

>>42230284
The gym is best at night. I work 9-5 and I still wake up at 3AM to go lift while the gym is empty. When I was working overnights, I got fitter, because I basically kept to the same schedule, only shifted by 12 hours. You have to eat breakfast when you wake up and lunch in the middle of the night.

>>42230284
as someone who has been on night for three years..no we are not meant to stay up at night I feel healthy but get randomly tired sometimes. my advice to you is get a schedule I go to sleep at 6am and get up at 330pm everyday give or take an hour it helps ALOT also it will be a bit harder to be energized in a workout compared to days the only upside to nightshift is the extra pay...nothing else

I work overnights full time 11PM - 7AM. My weekend is Monday and Tuesday night. My social life has been devastated, my online social life has been devastated, I gained 15 pounds, and I was generally dissatisfied with everything going on in my life.
But that motivated me to start losing weight, exercising, and studying for going to grad school. Also gym in the early morning is pretty cozy.

I don't recommend it unless you are trying to hit rock bottom to motivate yourself to change your life for the better.

>>42230284
Full time night auditor for a hotel here. I usually work 9am-7pm Mon thru Thurs. I go to the gym after work and then sleep from noon till around 8 at night. Been doing this for three years now.

It's not ideal, but I have adapted to it. Or rather I've adapted to trying to maintain a normal life on the weekends and working overnight during the week. I am almost always tired, but I rarely can sleep for more than 6 hours. Still, what other job is going to pay me to play video games or study for my MBA?

>>42230443
Woops, I meant 9pm to 7am

I used to be on nights for years, switched to days and hated it. More work for the same pay as nights, and I'm socially awkward so I hate having to deal with small talk every time you walk past somebody in the fucking hallway. Now I want to go back to nights but I'd miss the walks I take in the sunlight ;_;

I thought switching to days might make me more of a normie but it just showcased how much of a fogey autist I actually am. I'm still not fit enough to date so I was hoping to go to night shift for about 6-12 months and treat it like monk mode and focus on getting a 20% body fat (currently 29%).

>>42230443
Back when I was on the audit, I would play WoW like 4 hours a night. Shit was cash. I also graduated cum laude after a shitty jobless fall freshman semester.

In IT been doing night shift for about a year, 10pm till 6 30, gonna shift now to 10hr shifts. I do intermittent fasting 20-4 and have successfully lost weight and now slowly bulking. I always stayed up at night throughout high school and college so it isn't too bad. Gym is always empty when I go, lifts generally go up consistently apart from bad days, social life is abysmall tho

>>42230483
Oh good you're doing IF on nights and it's been no problem? I do 20/4 on days and it's been pretty easy and I want to do the same on nights but it sounds depressing eating at 4am.

Granted I used to eat at 4 all the time but I was usually piss drunk and it was steak and shake shooters.

I'm semi-night shift I guess: 17:00 to 01:00. I go to the gym before work at about 11:00, then I freshen up and go to work. It works well enough, I just have to go to bed not too late (ie, not 'wind-down' much after work), and not sleep in too much.

>It sure gets lonely here

Part 1.
I worked night shift for a little over a year from 7PM - 5AM.
>What is your daily routine like?

I would treat the times like if they were normal hours, so waking up at 7PM would be like my morning. This helped me of making sense of my scheduling.

I couldn't workout before or after work because it was physically and mentally demanding. On the 3 consecutive days I did have off I went to the gym and the supermarket, this was pretty much the highlight of my nights. The rest of my time was spent in my room lit with a red lightbulb in silence and isolation (I didn't live alone which made things worse).

>Did you get fatter or fitter on night shift?

I made noob gains and got fatter, but that had more to do with me tracking calories for dat der bulk.

The gains you will make will not be as optimal unfortunately (it'll take longer) because you are working against your body 24/7 which is a stress and compromises recovery.

Calories in vs calories out will always apply to gaining / losing weight. Be aware of what you're putting into your body and how much. It's really easy to make poor nutrition choices during night shift, so I recommend meal prepping.

>What's the 24hr gym like late at night?

Never been to one, but at later times in the gym it's really quiet and equipment is open which is a positive.

Do you feel healthy despite having an awkward sleep cycle?

No because since you're working against your body's natural rhythm 24/7. Your body will constantly be under stress.

>Recommendations

Buy Melatonin to aid your sleep. Buy around 300 - 500 mcg (micrograms), more than that is way too much. Melatonin is a hormone that regulates sleep.
Buy a sleep mask in addition to black out shades or curtains for your room.
Buy a red light bulb for your room.
Use sunglasses on your way back home after work.
Use F.lux on your computer and phones.

The recommendations above will help with sleep and minimize the amount of blue light that disrupts Melatonin production

>>42230664

Part 2.

I forgot to add in earplugs in my recommendations, this is a must.

Pretty much you want to avoid the sun as much as possible so you can sorta trick the body into this routine.

>Pros of night shift

No traffic on the roads and less police too, so I was able to go 75mph on a 55mph during my commutes.
If you're into the party / clubbing scene you wake up at the perfect time.
Can crack a cold one during your "mornings" without judgement.
More people from the opposite side of the world that are awake and online you can talk to.
More alert than others around you during the night.
Most places are empty during the night, so less people in the way (Supermarkets for example)

>Cons of night shift

Stresses your body out.
Social life does take a hit.
Day time noises while sleeping.
Sluggishness.
Normal household tasks are difficult if you live with others because of noise.

Hope this info helps you out OP and remember we're all gonna make it brah.

>>42230284
Have been working nights for a year from 830pm-7am. I thought I would like it because less people contact and more pay.

Worst year of my life, I'm changing companies in a few weeks so I can go back to a regular schedule

You have to fully commit to the night schedule. Even on your off days you have to keep your night schedule otherwise you get horrible side effects. This is impossible though because eventually something will come up that you have to go to during the day.


Having an irregular sleeping schedule messes up your body and circadian rhythm so bad. It made me depressed. Then I began taking Vitamin D supplements which is a MUST. It definitely helped but I still feel depressed all the time. Not getting any sun exposure really messes with you.

I get random eye twitches now when I don't sleep enough, sometimes my eyelid will twitch for hours straight. I can't look at people when I talk to them when this happens. I get migraines now too.

It messes with your diet too. I've unintentionally lost 15 lbs because I'm never hungry when I'm awake at night. Even when I try to force-feed myself the calories like I used to do on days, I can't seem to eat as much. I have problems with acid reflux now too and have to take antacids for it.

Hopefully you don't care about having a social life either. Good luck trying to see your friends or family when you sleep all day on weekends. You can try to switch to days on weekends but that just fucks with your body more.

The biggest upside is that everything is less crowded. I never realized how crowded society felt until I moved to nights.. Now during the day it just feels like there's too many people. Nights are so much more relaxing and you feel less cramped.

Get yourself a sleeping mask and earplugs

I'll be up a little longer before heading to bed for my shift tonight if you have any questions.

>>42230512
>>42230512
I mean it's not bad, usually by the time I settle in, start project and watch some YouTube vids I got about half hour before lunch time. I also eat at my desk and just watch YouTube and eat as I work shit post and then it's about time to go home

I work night shifts, 10PM-7AM and I'd never want to go back to doing day shifts. I don't have a set schedule but I'm legally not allowed to work more than three nights in a row and have to have at least two nights off. Biggest drawback is that it's a hassle to plan for stuff and sometimes I feel sluggish and have headaches. When I'm off work I try to sleep somewhere between 2-4 AM to 12-2 PM and when I'm working I sleep 8 AM to 2-3 PM.

I haven't really noticed anything different in terms of my gainz but I've always had a fucked up sleeping schedule during my teens and up until now so night shifts are optimal for me, I get paid for doing basically the same stuff I would do at home anyways

>>42230664
>>42230812
>red light bulb
I've never heard this suggestion before. What kind of benefit could I expect from a red light? Do you use it just in my "evenings" (2-4 hours before bed) or do you use it all night? When I used to work nights I found the best experience was to turn on all the lights and pretend it's day time outside lol.

I love flux though, great addition.

>>42230884
I just bought a sleeping mask. Should I bother with black out curtains? I live in a little studio apartment and I'd have to curtain 3 fucking windows for it to be black in there during the day. Think I'd be OK with just the sleeping mask? I've never tried one before.

>>42230999
You should be ok without them but I recommend them. I sleep now with the mask on, a pillow over my eyes, and blackout shades over my bedroom window.

The first few months without blackout shades were rough. I tried just the mask at first but it would sometimes come off in my sleep and the light coming in the window would wake me up all the time. I eventually taped a blanket over my window in addition to the regular curtains which helped, but blackout shades are the real deal.

Also you might have a hard time adjusting to the earplugs like I did. Instead, I sleep with 3 fans on now to drown out all the loud day people.

Try to avoid melatonin, ambien, or other sleeping aids.... no need to become reliant on them to sleep, you don't need them.