Thread: What is the best of the two evils?

Originally Posted by TrojanMan60563

I am working 12-14 hours a day m-f and that probably wont change until I find a new job. I can either workout after I work and get 4-6 hours sleep each night......OR I can put in two days on the weekend of high volume and intense training and spend all week eating and sleeping to recover. More or less over train but with a lot of rest time before I do it again so it might not really be over training.

Those are my two options and I am trying to determine what would be healthier and better in the long run.

Thanks for your opinions.

Where are you working that you have 12-14 hour days??? I hope they're paying you some mad overtime.

Are you on a split shift schedule? What do you get for breaks?

And what are you doing during these hours? Is it physical or driving a desk?

Originally Posted by TrojanMan60563

I am working 12-14 hours a day m-f and that probably wont change until I find a new job. I can either workout after I work and get 4-6 hours sleep each night......OR I can put in two days on the weekend of high volume and intense training and spend all week eating and sleeping to recover. More or less over train but with a lot of rest time before I do it again so it might not really be over training.

Those are my two options and I am trying to determine what would be healthier and better in the long run.

Thanks for your opinions.

for me, legs exhausts me for the next two days, so I would do legs on friday after work. recover the legs on the weekend. Then I would experiment doing some push pull split during the week. 30 mins 2-3 times...

thats what I would try!!!

Originally Posted by TrojanMan60563

I am working 12-14 hours a day m-f and that probably wont change until I find a new job. I can either workout after I work and get 4-6 hours sleep each night......OR I can put in two days on the weekend of high volume and intense training and spend all week eating and sleeping to recover. More or less over train but with a lot of rest time before I do it again so it might not really be over training.

Those are my two options and I am trying to determine what would be healthier and better in the long run.

Thanks for your opinions.

Stuff like this makes me thankfull for once i do shifts and can go the gym through the week. Weekend workout probably sounds best doesnt it, as 4-6 hours sleep through the week doesnt sound like something i would keep up over a long period of time. Try hitting the gym mid morning at the weekend so you get a bit of a lie in and you get the workout out of the way to allow you to have a life too. There are 2 day splits all over this site. Good luck.

Im no expert mate, but how about this for a 2 day split you can do at the weekend to kick things off, people can then either knock it or improve on it, as nobody else has posted one yet:
Saturday – Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Hamstrings
Sunday – Back, Biceps, Quads, Calves

Saturday:
BB bench press 3x8
Shoulder press 3x8
Weighted dips 4x8
Deadlifts (any version) 4x5
20 minutes on whatever cardio

Sunday:
BB bent over rows 4x8
Pull ups various grips 4x8
Squats 4x8
Calves 3 x15 (seated one week, standing the next)
20 minutes cardio on whatever

Be in and out of the gym within 1 hour 20 mins, so you can relax the rest of the weekend.

Sorry for lack of explaining more about my actual situation but I was running out the door. I drive a truck for a large freight company locally here. I spend a lot of time loading and unloading trucks too. I would venture to say 80%+ of my day is physical labor. So my fear with not getting sleeping and adding week day workouts into this mix is I will get so burned out mentally and physically.

I do get paid a lot, but its really not worth it to me. I am looking for a desk job working 40 hours a week. I want my f'in life back! This is not living and its really making everything really hard not just going to the gym.

I was going to do a similar weekend split to what is mentioned above.

Saturday- Chest, Shoulders, Tri, Quads
Sunday- Back, Bi, Hams, Calves, Abs

And 30 minutes of cardio after each workout above.

No matter what, I think getting 4 hours of sleep per night consistently is horrible. Shortly on such schedule you'll feel like a zombie and your lifts will suffer tremendously. If I were you, I'd get quality long sleep on monday and tuesday, workout wednesday on which night you sleep less, make up for that lack of sleep on thursday and friday and put in two days on the weekend. This way you're training 3 times a week, getting 5-6 nights of great long sleep and only cutting 1-2 nights of sleep short.

Yea man ^ is right. After 14 hour shift, your body needs to recover not only from gym but your work too.

I like your weekend work though I would probably just take the whole sunday off to do nothing and let the body recover and only do a full body workout on saturdays. But thats me.

Do whats best for you brotha

Originally Posted by TrojanMan60563

I am looking for a desk job working 40 hours a week. I want my f'in life back! This is not living

I see THAT as not living. Surely there is something passionate, something that excites you in life besides working a 9-5 desk job?

In response to your post, I had the exact same scenario last summer. Working 10+ hour days, sometimes 6 or even 7 days a week split between two seperate (but sort of the same) contractors. One was general labour and renovations inside different homes, another was landscaping. I was gassed all the time, and had no time to go to the gym, let alone energy or motivation.

I did a total body split whenever I got the chance (worked out to about 2 times a week). It worked for me, and I actually got into the best shape of my life that summer and to this day have thoughts about dropping Journalism and going in to trades. I was the leanest I had ever been, and got paid good money to do so.

Good money, however, is not fair trade for good life.

Originally Posted by ArnoldsProtege

I see THAT as not living. Surely there is something passionate, something that excites you in life besides working a 9-5 desk job?

In response to your post, I had the exact same scenario last summer. Working 10+ hour days, sometimes 6 or even 7 days a week split between two seperate (but sort of the same) contractors. One was general labour and renovations inside different homes, another was landscaping. I was gassed all the time, and had no time to go to the gym, let alone energy or motivation.

I did a total body split whenever I got the chance (worked out to about 2 times a week). It worked for me, and I actually got into the best shape of my life that summer and to this day have thoughts about dropping Journalism and going in to trades. I was the leanest I had ever been, and got paid good money to do so.

Good money, however, is not fair trade for good life.

I enjoy dealing with people and came from a desk job where I managed sales in 8 states and made more money doing a whole lot less physical work. I am doing this now due to the economy in the toilet. Like most people I have not yet found my ideal career and that is ok with me. It will come when I'm ready for it.

It is easier to stay lean with a labor type of job because you burn calories all day....I have not changed my diet since working here and in the first 3 weeks I dropped 15 pounds and have got more vascular. But honestly I could probably do the same thing by cutting some calories out.

Thanks for the help and thoughts.

My work is seasonal and during the summer i work long hours so I'll just put more days rest between workouts: ie one day on the weekend, one day during the week with 2 or even 3 days rest in between keeping the workouts shorter.
Worked out pretty well for me.