Work,College,Fitness...ARGH!

[Blazed_Noob]

Okay so i have been attending college for the last year and have been working part time. I recently got an offer to work fulltime for a company that will pay me extremely well while i still attend college. The hours are 9pm-6am(work)-then i head to college for classes 8am-5pm. Only day i dont have classes is tuesday and half days friday.
So my question is before i started this job i was doing a great job of adding lean muscle , and was seeing great progress. Now that i have been at this job (3.5 weeks now) and doing the whole college thing, also i have had barely any sleep and little time to work out. i manage 30 minutes of cardio at lunch time at school and lift on tuesday and the weekend when i am not crammed with homework.
Thing is, this weird schedule has some how made me extremely hungry all the time and i am not gaining any weight and i am actually losing weight...more weight,muscle then i would like. My strength is going down and its really making me mad... i have been lifting most my life and this is causing me alot of grief, i dont like seeing all my hard work go down the drain...

So does anyone have any tips or info that would help me maintain or maybe gain some strength,muscle back?
I know the obvious answer would be to quit the job , which if it keeps getting worse i might have to do , but right now is not the best time to be unemployed.

:banghead:

 

[gordo14]

You have plenty of time to bodybuild in the future.

Right now eat clean, exercise when you can, and get your schooling and career on track. Then worry about bodybuilding. If you have a stable job making good money it will afford you the time to pursue bodybuilding. If your working 50 hours a week for chump change.....then when will you body build?

Do what you can to maintain, and when the time is right you will add it all back on.

 

[Michaelthomasj]

You have plenty of time to bodybuild in the future.

Right now eat clean, exercise when you can, and get your schooling and career on track. Then worry about bodybuilding. If you have a stable job making good money it will afford you the time to pursue bodybuilding. If your working 50 hours a week for chump change.....then when will you body build?

Do what you can to maintain, and when the time is right you will add it all back on.

absolutely agree. education should be your priority, unless you are a pro bb and making money in that fashion. Work should be your second priority. Sacrifice your lifting for now..so in the future you can have the career you want, and the lifting will come. Stay strong and focused..it will be worth it in the end!

 

[Cactus kid]

I'm in the same boat as you, I go to school and work.

Last semester I had 2 days to lift, but stil made great gains.

I focused on high intensity, low volume. I train very similar to dc training, and would typically do an upper, lower split.

Day one, upper
I did warm ups for every lift, with 1 work set w/ rest pause or drop set

deadlifts
incline smith machine
wide grip chins
side laterals
barbell curls
weighted dips

legs
standing calf
seated calf
stifflegged deads
legs press or squats, 1 working set followed by widow maker set

this is just a sample but workouts were usually less than an hour

Food was an obsticle, but I found you can take protien powder, beef jerky, almonds, peanut butter, and bagels any were.

 

[MR. BMJ]

I'll give you a huge bit of true information, learned from personal experience......PUT SCHOOL FIRST!!

If that means not going to the gym for a semester here and there....i'd not think twice if I could go back in time.

I'm doing my dietetic internship right now and working, and haven't been to the gym all year. Gotta do what ya gotta do.

This is one time in your life to get you career in line, don't let going to the gym screw it up. If you can go, then go, if not, then don't sweat it. The gym will be waiting for you when you are done. Trust me


Good luck.


BMJ

 

[Mega Squat]

Those hours sound brutal. If it is effecting your school work, quit the job.. unless the job is really a HIGH paying job. If the job was $15-20 or less an hour, I would have quit those hours while in school. Do what makes you happy.. is it really work working those hours during school, and giving up the rest of your life outside of school? Money can only do so much. If you were supporting a family, then it would be a different story.

 

[triathloncoach]

My 2 cents

Can you reduce your work hours? Do you have a friend you trust enough to recommend to your employer as a "job share"?

You also may be sufferring from the effect of shift work (people who work nights) with you exercising. Google shift work and it's effects on people. Lots of police and health care workers for instance have trouble with working nights.

 

[Blazed_Noob]

Thank you all for your responses.
gordo14 i agree with your statement. I should focus on school first, and then the bodybuilding will come after i have graduated and can put all the time i need into what i love. It just depressing seeing your gains and such drop , but i guess there not much i can do right now then what i am already doing.
Thanks again guys for helping put it in perspective.

 

[wasp]

so what 3 hours of sleep? figure in study, schoolwork etc.......... no way i could do that, better man than me

 

[betito]

3 days of lifting + some cardio sessions+clean diet= enough to keep a fit body. do some high intensity program that you can fit in the days you have and focus on strenght.

 

[Huge_C2]

It can be done but for sure put school first.. My fiance goes full time to one of the top academic schools in the country, is on the deans list and works two and sometimes three jobs plus is starting her own business... We just got back from the USA's yesterday and she did very well... So it can be done... you just have to learn to use your time wisely.. Lunch hours are good times for lifting.. If its not enough time you need to re evaluate how your doing it..

 

[Blazed_Noob]

i started DC training last week and i can say it is awesome. I get a awesome workout in no time and i can already feel my strength going up. Thanks again for the advice and the idea to try a different workout method.:headbang: