Sleep on night shifts.

Working nights asks your body to sleep when its clock says wake. That costs sleep, and some of it can be won back.

Why nights cost sleep

Night work asks you to sleep in daylight, when your body clock is set for being awake, so sleep after a night shift tends to be shorter and lighter. Over years, shift work is linked with weight gain, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and accidents, though the studies behind those links are observational and mixed (Kecklund, 2016). Across 34 studies it went with about a 23% higher risk of heart attack (Vyas, 2012), and with slightly higher odds of diabetes, more so on rotating shifts (Gan, 2015).

In a small lab study, living about 12 hours out of step with the body clock raised blood sugar and blood pressure within days (Scheer, 2009). None of this means a night worker cannot get fit. It means sleep takes more planning.

A regular main sleep

A consensus of 55 sleep and shift-work experts suggests aiming for seven to nine hours of sleep in every 24, which can be one main sleep plus naps; keeping a similar sleep schedule for each type of shift; and a bedroom that is dark, quiet and cool (Shriane, 2023). Blackout blinds, earplugs and a phone on silent all count, and so does telling the people you live with when you sleep.

This is expert advice rather than tested in trials, but it is cheap to try and your sleep log will show what changes.

Naps

Naps taken during a night shift reduced sleepiness and improved performance in small studies, despite a few minutes of grogginess after waking (Ruggiero, 2014). A Cochrane review rated the evidence for naps and for bright light at work as low quality (Slanger, 2016), so treat them as worth trying rather than sure.

Give yourself a few minutes after a nap before you drive or do anything risky.

Light on the way home

Light tells your clock what time it is. The experts suggest limiting bright light before you go to sleep after a night shift, for example with sunglasses on the way home (Shriane, 2023).

Drowsiness on the drive home after a night shift is a real risk (Knott, 2019). If you are very sleepy, nap first or get a lift.

Eating on nights

Studies disagree on whether shift workers eat more in total (Bonham, 2016), but people on rotating shifts snack more at night and eat more foods they would call extras (Clark, 2023). The experts suggest lighter meals and less eating during the night shift itself (Shriane, 2023).

Your protein target does not change with your shift; when you eat can follow it.

Training around shifts

You choose your training days in Perdura, so pick days that fit your rota, and train when you have slept and eaten rather than straight after a night shift. Short sleep lowers performance in the gym (Craven, 2022), so a lighter week during a run of nights is reasonable.

If you have trouble sleeping more than three times a week for several weeks, talk to a doctor (Shriane, 2023).

Your training days are yours to set: pick the days that fit your rota and Perdura plans around them. Free, no card.

Start free

Sources

  1. Kecklund G, Axelsson J. Health consequences of shift work and insufficient sleep. BMJ. 2016;355:i5210.
  2. Vyas MV et al. Shift work and vascular events: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2012;345:e4800.
  3. Gan Y et al. Shift work and diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Occup Environ Med. 2015;72(1):72-8.
  4. Scheer FA et al. Adverse metabolic and cardiovascular consequences of circadian misalignment. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009;106(11):4453-8.
  5. Shriane AE et al. Healthy sleep practices for shift workers: consensus sleep hygiene guidelines using a Delphi methodology. Sleep. 2023;46(12).
  6. Ruggiero JS, Redeker NS. Effects of napping on sleepiness and sleep-related performance deficits in night-shift workers: a systematic review. Biol Res Nurs. 2014;16(2):134-42.
  7. Slanger TE et al. Person-directed, non-pharmacological interventions for sleepiness at work and sleep disturbances caused by shift work. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;2016(8):CD010641.
  8. Bonham MP et al. Energy intake of shift workers compared to fixed day workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Chronobiol Int. 2016;33(8):1086-100.
  9. Clark AB et al. Dietary Patterns under the Influence of Rotational Shift Work Schedules: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Adv Nutr. 2023;14(2):295-316.
  10. Knott M et al. Insufficient sleep and fitness to drive in shift workers: A systematic literature review. Accid Anal Prev. 2020;134:105234.
  11. Craven J et al. Effects of Acute Sleep Loss on Physical Performance: A Systematic and Meta-Analytical Review. Sports Med. 2022;52(11):2669-2690.

General information based on the studies above, not medical advice. If sleep, tiredness or your health worries you, talk to a doctor.