The Graveyard Athlete!

If you are one of those nocturnal creatures like me, you’ll probably understand my story. I didn’t really give it much thought until a little while ago. If you work a graveyard shift and train on a regular basis while maintaining healthy eating habits, you have a difficult job. It is hard enough to exercise daily and eat healthy even working a normal day shift. Now add a few more things in the mix. Working, while a majority of our population is sleeping and sleeping while most of the world is awake is not a normal thing sometimes. Your body’s clock is kind of out of whack in the beginning if you are new to the graveyard scene. It does take a while to get used to, but even then, your body can still be a bit messed up especially when your weekend comes around and you have to transition to a normal day schedule and sleep pattern. That sometimes requires you to change the times you will exercise. That in itself takes a lot of work.

If you are an athlete and train like an athlete, and work a graveyard shift, I want to commend you! It takes a very disciplined person, with tremendous dedication to stick to a regimen like this.Focus and willingness to succeed with your fitness on this shift definitely brings out your “A” game. These lat night hours do not always allow a person to go to a restaurant that is usually open during day hours. Now, there might be some fast food places open at this time to get a quick unhealthy meal if you want to give in to convenience. The real discipline is planning your meals, either week by week or just day to day and not falling prey to late night junk food. Finding a regular routine on a schedule that’s not considered to be normal is a difficult task. I have been asked several times by others how I stay on such schedule like and still able to function and perform at a high level of fitness while maintaining a strict diet. The key to my success is having a clear, mental approach, and understanding that in order to succeed , I must have the discipline to do so. There are several sacrifices I must adhere to in order to accomplish this. The most important aspect of all of this is being able to get an adequate amount of some sleep the days you are working. One of the decisions I had to make was whether or not I was going to train after work or before. I decided to train after work because I feel I have more energy. Just know that if you are struggling to maintain a normal routine, it is possible. It does take some time in order to get situated, but if you have a goal, this crazy shift will not slow you down and still allow you to train hard and make significant progress in your daily fitness.

So if you are a “GRAVEYARD ATHLETE”, keep plugging along and I promise it will get easier. It’s a little more work but well worth it. Find a plan that works for you and stick to it. Stay strong my friends and embrace graveyard as your new day shift. Rich