Everyone needs to exercise, but for some people it’s more important than others. Night shift workers face additional health risks due to their disrupted sleep patterns, but research suggests they can also experience even more benefits if they manage to fit regular exercise into their schedule (https://longevity.technology/lifestyle/night-shift-workers-how-regular-exercise-could-save-your-job-and-health/).
Night shifts aren’t easy for many reasons. First, you have to be at peak performance while everyone else is asleep. For most people, waking up as it gets dark isn’t natural, and neither is staying in bed throughout the day while everyone else is busy going about their lives. They end up fatigued and unhappy. There are other problems, too. It can make it much harder to eat a balanced diet or to exercise with any kind of routine.
People who work night shifts tend to have poorer cardiovascular health than average and are at increased risk of metabolic disorders. Now, we know that exercise is generally good for the cardiovascular system and for your metabolism, but researchers wanted to see how it would specifically impact people working night shifts.
They divided their participants into two groups, exercisers and non-exercisers, and they monitored them over several weeks. Criteria for assessment included both job performance and personal health. Both categories were improved in the group that was exercising more.
From the job performance perspective, the exercisers were more alert than the sedentary group. Their cognitive functioning was better, which is clearly advantageous when trying to work outside normal hours. It doesn’t just mean increased productivity but also increased safety in the workplace.
As for their individual wellbeing, the active group experienced less inflammation, which is often one of the most significant markers of deteriorating health. Their metabolic health improved, reducing the previously high risk they would develop a metabolic disorder. The extra exercise was helping them achieve more regular and higher-quality sleep.
Night shift workers could see impressive gains from exercising more frequently, but that doesn’t remove the challenges to establishing a regular exercise pattern. Workers still need to find the time, probably just before or after their shift, for both aerobic exercise and strength training. That means walking or cycling, plus some weights.
There are still difficulties to overcome, but if night shift workers can figure out how to make exercise more of a priority, they won’t be the only ones to see the benefits.
