Atlantic Women in Law Enforcement Les Femmes Policiere des Provinces de L'Atlantique

Fitness & Lifestyles

Combining exercise with your shiftwork schedule means you need to think outside of the box. One form of training which may help is cross training. There are many benefits of cross-training including participating in a variety of physical activities (cycling, weight training, swimming, soccer, yoga, aerobics).

 

Components of Fitness Remember to include all of the different components of fitness each week of your training regime. Cardiovascular: Any type of continuous, rhythmic motion that uses large muscles and increases the body’s demand for oxygen. Muscular strength: The maximum force created by a single muscle or group of muscles. Muscular endurance: The ability of a muscle group to perform repeated contractions over a period of time. Flexibility: The range of motion about a joint. Flexibility is specific to each joint. Balance and coordination: Balance is the maintenance of equilibrium while coordination is the ability to integrate movements involving different muscle groups into a single pattern. Most activities involve balance and coordination at the same time.

Exercise can provide a total-body tune-up. It can strengthen the heart, bones, muscles, and joints. It can enhance cardiovascular (heart-related) fitness, build muscle, reduce body fat, and aid in flexibility. But to see all these gains, cross-training may be needed. Cross-training combines different components of fitness, as well as different activities into one or several activity sessions. For example, a distance runner may also lift weights twice a week, perform daily stretching exercises, and do high-intensity bicycle sprints every Tuesday. Exercisers turn to cross-training to fight boredom, but also because no single exercise can yield all the potential benefits of exercise outlined above. Jogging, for example, enhances aerobic fitness (which improves cardiovascular health and requires sustained use of large-muscle groups like those in the legs). But jogging contributes little to developing muscle mass, especially in the upper body. Weight training increases muscle mass, but it does not promote flexibility.

When to Exercise During Shiftwork Avoid exercise within 3 hours of going to bed. Physical activity increases your alertness by raising your heart rate and body temperature. Exercising before going to bed will make it much harder to sleep.   Try exercising before starting work. Increase your alertness and concentration by taking a 20 minute walk or jog before the start of your shift. Be careful not to over exert yourself, this may make you tired and fatigued.   Try taking short 10 minute walks during your breaks. This is especially helpful when working night shifts as it will help fight off drowsiness and increase your energy level.

Exercise Examples for a Cross-Training Program Aerobic Fitness: Walking briskly, walking, power walking, race walking, jogging, running, swimming, water walking or running, water exercises, bicycling, cross-country skiing, rowing, roller skating, in-line skating, ice skating, canoeing Anaerobic Fitness: Sprinting, interval training Muscle strength: Resistive training (free weights, machines, equipment) Muscle endurance: Low-resistance high-repetition weight training, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, other calisthenics Flexibility: Stretching, yoga