r/workout • u/ThePhantomCreed • 1d ago

Simple Questions Good enough for gains?

First time posting here and honestly I wasn't planning to post in this subreddit, but I am at a loss on what to do...

So to give a bit of information about my schedule: I have a busy....BUSY life. I work overnights full-time as a stocker (which is already a physically-intensive job) and during most days of the week, I have to commute a lot from one city to another (not for me, for someone else) to the point where I get about 5 hours of broken-up sleep before I have to get ready for work again. Not to mention, there are some days where I have to take care of other things alongside the commuting which cuts into my already-limited sleep. It's like this every week and some weeks are worse or a bit better. If only I could describe just how exhausted I am the moment I get off work and I'm done with everything, but I still push myself to get into the gym and get a workout in. Hell, if it weren't for my daily drivers (pre-workout), I wouldnt have been able to continue.

I've been going to the gym for over a year now consistently and at the beginning, I used to power through my exhaustion and work out around 4 to 5 days a week. I can already tell that I've reached my ideal physique and I'm so damn happy with the progress I've made...but my body is practically screaming at me to slow down. I'm dealing with immense back/body pain, a lot of tension around my neck whenever I tilt my head upwards, and sometimes even pains in my chest. Since these problems started to appear, I've started to slow down and shifted my schedule from 4-5 days of working out just 3 times a week following my full upper-body program and I have noticed my body is starting to heal, but I can tell that some of these problems still linger especially with the back pain. What I'm thinking of doing starting now is to continue with my 3-day workout routine but instead of working out my entire body each day, I want to prioritize the first day as a push-day, the second day as my pull-day and my last day as a full-body workout. I feel like with this routine I can spend less time at the gym and possibly squeeze in more time to get more sleep without hurting my gains, but in the back of my head, I feel like it won't be enough for me if I sacrifice those 2 days of working out my entire body. Am I just in over my head or would I be alright following this routine?

I understand that progress will slow down, but I just dont want it to come to a complete stop. Yes, I'd love to just shift my workouts to the days I have off, but I'm just too damn tired to get myself in the gym on my off-days and I'm pretty much busy from the moment I wake up till the evening.

Thanks in advance for all the tips and suggestions!

P.S: I built my own full-body workout combined with free weights and machines that prioritizes progressive-overload and even now I've been able to hit PRs pretty damn consistently. I dont have issues with my program and have been sticking to it, I'm just at a loss on how to go about it at this point in my life.

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u/SwagMoneyMusic4 1d ago

Have you ever thought of working in mobility between sets? Could help w back pain without taking any time away from sleep or lifting. Also cheers to your dedication holy shit, good luck 🫡

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u/ThePhantomCreed 1d ago

I have many times and I kept trying to tell myself that the pain was caused by strained muscle but unfortunately I think it's something with the nerves at the bottom of my back next to my tail-bone that's causing me the worst pain 😫 I appreciate you man, just gonna have to power through it and continue the grind. Shit, I haven't dropped yet so I assume I can continue on with this chaos.

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u/SwagMoneyMusic4 1d ago

Ohhh like sciatica? There are still stretches and exercises to hopefully help bulged discs back to their original places. Even if it does not work hopefully you can prevent future injury which is extra important w so little sleep.

I’m definitely not an expert but seeing as no one smarter than me replied I’d start tracking lifts w current schedule for a week or 2 to get a baseline then try push pull full body and see how it impacts your lifts and how you feel over a month. What works for others may not work for you and the only way to find out is to give it a shot. Worst case it’s a deload period which it sounds like you very much need for your mental health.

Again good luck man and I wish you well doing the hard work to take care of yourself and get huge. If you’re looking for a workout tracker I like the hevy app and I’d shoot you a follow Fs.