Strength Training... As a Houseman.

This post is obviously inspired by Fendi's worries of not being able to train as a houseman. After 1 year of housemanship, these are my thoughts:


1) Let's face it, the most important step to being able to train as a houseman is to be at the right hospital so that you can choose the right gym.

Rules of thumb:

• You need to be near a gym with good operating hours. For example, during weekdays I train at Celebrity Fitness, Lot 10 (closes at midnight during weekdays). This is a big point as it allows me to sleep first before going to the gym, should I choose to train in between EOD's (!).
• The gym must be good enough so that you don't have to wait too long to use the equipment you want.
• The hospital shouldn't have EOD's as the rule. Having a hospital with stable on call schedules is best. For example, I train better during medical with 10 calls spread evenly throughout the month than during O&G with the same 10 calls but with EOD's and greater breaks between calls. If you can coordinate your calls with your leader, do so. As you'll be able to adapt calls to your liking for training.
• Find out gyms near areas you'll be traveling on off weekends. A good session in a per entry gym is a good session.
• The point is: getting a hospital suitable for you to train after work is doable, and the onus is on you.

2) Another issue is timing of training. Unless if you are working in surgery HKL with 3 calls a month, you are not training 4 times a week; 3 might be possible if you are single. 

Since medical posting, I have maintained a fairly regular schedule of training on post-post-call days. I was very lucky in medical as I was able to negotiate a very good on call schedule; I did not have EOD's ever in medical except during the Chinese New Year (and that was a passive EOD call; oh wait I'm too Jonah).

In O&G however, I was stuck with EOD's. This requires more precise planning in advance. On some days I'd train in between the EOD's with sleep before sessions, especially if the break after the EOD was only 2 days. On some occasions I'd train post call (of the 2nd EOD) followed by an EOD session at the gym if there was a 3 day break. You need to know your schedule.

3) Seeing the 2 points above, there's a conclusion to be made: you need to choose the right program. 

If you were a seriously body-building type of strength athlete you'll have serious problems: Your optimal program is always 4-a-week, which is not attainable. And forget 6-a-week body part splits. You'll have to change to a 3-a-week with an upper-lower split with high intensity during the training. Hitting one body part twice a week on 1 week, then once a week on the next week is the idea. 

Another idea is to go straight to full-body routines. For a bodybuilding program, it should work well if you're still a beginner. I'm not familiar though with bodybuilding programs that aren't in the traditional body-part split model. But I think looking up Chad Waterbury/Alwyn Cosgrove for interesting full-body routines might give clues.

And if you're more into powerlifting like me, the solution is very simple: Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 is king; devised by a lifter who wants to do more in life. And you can modify it to a 2 a week schedule and make great progress. This is an example of my 2/week, 2 week per round, 6-week training cycle:

Day 1 week 1:

Deadlift - 5/3/1 week would be 154.4 kg x 5 (+4) (just deadlifted 138.6 x 8 few days ago)

Reverse lunges, front squat grip - 5 x 10 x 52 kg

Lat pulldown, supinated grip - 5 x 10 x 47 kg

Out in 1.5 hours; it's changing the plates on the deadlift that take a lot of time training alone.

Day 2 week 1:

Bench press - 5/3/1 week would be 85.9 kg x 5 (+4) (just benched 77 kg x 10 today)

Penlay rows - 1 x 8, 4 x 7 x 61 kg

Standing DB press - 1 x 10, 4 x 9 x 30 lb

Warm up till done in 1 hour.

Day 1 week 2:

Low bar back squat - 5/3/1 week would be 131.1 kg x 5 (+4) (last cycle ended with 129 kg x 6)

Romanian deadlifts - 5 x 10 x 63 kg

Face pulls - 5 x 10 x 7 lb each side (pitiful, I know)

Warm up till done in 1 hour 15 minutes.

Day 2 week 2:

Military press - 5/3/1 week would be 59.1 kg x 5 (+4) (last cycle ended with 59 kg x 6)

Pullups - 2 x 3, 5 x 2, 3 x 1 (not awesome, but I'm 94 kg with a 34 BMI)

Pushups - 3 x 10

All are done in superset fashion. Warm up till done in about 1 hour, depending on how crowed the pullup station is.

As I'm still a beginner, such a program is sufficient for me to get stronger, with getting bigger as an interesting bonus.

3) Exercise selection is extremely important.

This is why body part splits are not so smart; too little bang for your buck. What builds more muscle: lying leg curls vs deadlifts? Pullups vs (stupid) pullovers?

But you can't choose exercises that are too challenging for your soft tissue nor your brain. A previous problem I had was that my deadlift days are too CNS heavy: deadlifts followed by squats followed by good mornings. It was common that I'd skip good mornings, or end up vomiting on the way out of the gym, and feel like a piece of shit at work the next day.

Not that I did not include isolated core work in my routines. The sole reason is that I want to save time. Hence why I do no supported work other than the lat pulldowns; all exercises are to involve the core when possible. Maybe I'll add them one day on bench days; assuming that my free time increases as an MO/specialist (I doubt it).

4) How about supplements?

Frankly, the supplement you'll most need is caffeine! I do not use protein power, stopped creatine after noticing that it actually had some not-so-nice effect for men with hormones, and never tried anything else than fish oil (which I tend to forget to take, but you should take it regularly even if you don't train). Eat a shit ton of real food and save some cash. If you weigh 100 kg's with 10% body fat, or a powerlifter with lifts of say, 200 kg/150 kg/230 kg, pretend I'm not talking to you.

5) Recovery will be an issue.

You are a doctor. Recovery will always be an issue. Hence a few rules you need to accept:

1. Your training schedule is never optimal.
2. You might train post-call
3. You'll feel like shit even on good days of rest (but feeling shitty is relative)

This is why you need to accept that going to a gym for fat loss during HO days is probably not a good idea. Just focus on overall mass/performance and you might make yourself happy with small progress. I actually halve the progressions for my squat and press for subsequent cycles to deal with long term fatigue and slow strength progress.

Notice how I did not mention cardio yet. It's because of this: sleep is more important than cardio for fat loss as a medical professional. Lower your overall stress hormones by getting enough sleep, whatever that is for a medical professional with on calls. Train for the stimulus to increase mass/strength.

I might amend this further down the end. When HKL goes into shift work for HO's, a lot in this post might be irrelevant. But if you've questions, I'll answer and probably edit/add some points I've forgotten in the main post. 

In the meantime, here's some inspiration:

And what you can do as a houseman: