Tried searching for this and couldn’t find anything, so I thought I’d just ask.
Wife and I are expecting a son any day now and I’m not sure how I should approach my training over the next few months, considering the sleep deprivation, etc. Is there a standard go-to program for this sort of thing? Over the last few weeks I can already feel myself getting unusually tired at the gym, but I’ve done my best to keep pushing through the best I can.
Any advice appreciated.
37, 5’10", ~175 lbs
Recent raw/beltless maxes, in pounds:
DL: 385x5
LBBS: 310x5
OHP: 130x5
Brahms,
Congrats on the new addition and your lifting so far. Great to have you here.
As far as your question, I wouldn’t prophylactically modify your training based on reduced sleep. Rather, I’d encourage you to keep training as you are right now and plan on progressing. It’s been my experience that message in the story we tell ourselves is what ultimately ends up transpiring. Many people get used to dealing with less sleep here and there and I think you’ll be fine.
I have a 15 month old girl so I’ll share my experience:
She was a horrible sleeper so we were up all hours of the night. She also wouldn’t nap unless held and bouncing on an exercise ball or walking up and down the stairs in a front pack. Even with that I was still able to make some progress and be consistent with training. The time training is a great mental break and refreshing to be by yourself for a bit. Made me look forward to training. A couple things that seemed to work for me:
- Kept overall volume about the same but cut down from 4x week to 3x. After the initial couple months I went back to 4x without problem.
- Made large batches of protein/carbs that would last 5 days or so. Without this I would have missed lots of meals.
- Scheduled the workout days/times in advance so my wife knew that time was off limits.
- If I was extremely tired I would push my workout back a day. Only happened once or twice so I was still able to get in 3 days every week.
Good Luck!
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Thanks for the advice, guys. I’ll just push on and see what happens. Jemery: Seems reasonable to me, but part of what concerns me is that I’ve already started taking an extra day between workouts and the baby ain’t even here yet. I’m already fighting to keep 3x/week.
My son didn’t sleep through a full night until he was 10 months old. It was our fault, but that’s reality. I made gains.
I took the first two weeks off of everything, work, training, going out, all of it. I didn’t lose much in that time really, mostly like a de-load.
Just try to maintain your training the way it is, make sure you’re eating enough and don’t do anything to short yourself of sleep. If the baby is sleeping, you should be too.
I too have a 15 month old. Jeremy’s advice is very good and I second all of it.
I have a 16 and a bit month old boy. Kids won’t sleep through properly until 2.5 years old-ish (wisdom from a mate who has 5 kids). It will be a combination of all sorts; teething, hungry, growth spurt, separation anxiety, want cuddles, whatever. If you have a second or third or more, it will be just as tough.
What are you gonig to do? Not train? Any training will be beneficial.
There are concessions to be made, but that comes with being a parent. Gaming and you raid weekly? You may need to cut back on frequency. Friends are at the pub? Probably can’t go as often as you need the sleep. You need to go home for an emergency with kiddo (trust me, happens)? You go home and do what you need to do as you are dad. Planned training clashes with date night? You do date night as happy wife = happy life. Move the training. I sometimes train back to back days, but I aim to get it in.
The last word: you will be fine. Train and do the best you can and don’t sweat it. If it cruises along and you don’t get hypervigilant and anxious about it, the gains will come.
Oh, and bulk cook. BBQ all the things. Winner!
Power through it. You be tired and sore wither you lift or not. Your gains may be submaximal but what are you going to do …not train?
Brahms - Congrats on the kiddo. I am a 39 year old Dad of 2 boys (we are definitely done! I am currently recovering from a vasectomy :)). Our first one is 2 years old and we just had our 2nd, who is 2 months old. I’ve trained through both pregnancies. I am also a Regional Sales Manager for a large paint company and work at least 60 hours a week, wife works full time and our older son is in daycare right now. For both boys, I took off a month from training when they were born. I didn’t necessarily have to but I wanted to from a family bonding standpoint. When I got back to training, especially this last time, I had de-trained a little but not significantly. Again, what Jordan and Austin say many times in the lifetime of your training this won’t make much difference.
Some awesome recommendations from the other members here. Some of my own personal observations and recommendations.
- Train when you can. If you have to train back to back, so be it. Add GPP to a training day, do it or skip it. You’ll have the daycare call in the middle of your warmup and say your kid has a fever. You have to drop things and go. You are a Dad that needs to take care of his kid.
- Due to my work/travel schedule I’ve signed up for a 24 hours gym and been at the gym at 3:45 a.m. before the kids get up or 11:00 p.m. at night after they are in bed. Again, what are you going to do…
- Maximize your time efficiency. Don’t play on your phone at the gym, turn it off if you have to. Schedule when you are going to go, as in physically write it down but make allowances for flexibility.
- Take care of your wife. She is working as hard, if not harder, than you are.
- Enjoy this time and process. One day, when your kids don’t want anything to do with you, you’ll miss it! Thank goodness I haven’t experienced that yet.
- Take solace in the fact that you are stronger and fitter than 99% of all of the other parents with kids your same age and you are doing things to allow you to actively play with your child in the long run. Seriously, I didn’t notice how terrible most parents look and how out of shape/obese they are until I had kids and started seeing more parents at outings, daycare, etc.
- I have told myself training is a non-negotiable task I need to get done and I do it. 80% of the time I don’t want to go but I’m always glad I did.
- Remind yourself sleep is luxury you sometimes won’t have but it’s amazing what you can get done without sleep. Is it optimal, no.
Hope that helps.
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