How to keep good aerobic base when time crucnhed with 3 to 5 hours to train per week?
Since I became a father I have seen my fitness deteriorating, which was to be expected. I have been enjoying some zwift racing as they are short and intense, but still it seems it’s starting to bite as my power levels are going down. My guess is that I am focusing too much on MAP, maybe to the point of it being detrimental considering the amount of training I’m currently doing.
I’m thinking about doing an hour run instead of a turbo session to see how that helps, but I’m actually afraid I’m not doing enough Z2. But how can I, if I can only crunch in 1hr training 3 to 4 time a week. When lucky I can push it a bit more to 1,5hr.
@Reynaldo_Lopez The downside of doing a lot of high intensity training is that you need time to recover but if you only have 3 or 4 hours a week that might be a strategy - something like 2 or 3 sessions a week and then maybe 1 or 2 Z2 sessions on the weekends with days off between the HIIT sessions for recovery.
In SYSTM the All Purpose Low Volume plan may work for you. You may be able to find similar workouts on Zwift that you can swap out.
I’m not a morning person, I hate it, but after also becoming a dad, getting up very early was the only way to keep doing some decent hours. I’ve since learned to enjoy it a lot more and you get a ton of benefits - almost zero traffic, no hot sun and beautiful sunrises.
In SYSTM the All Purpose Low Volume plan may work for you
@JSampson Thanks, I’ll take a look. I have been struggling to follow plans and I actually feel I progress more when I structure the week myself and then do what I feel like doing. Maybe because I enjoy it more and I can go deeper when I choose to go for a hard workout. Nevertheless, I will probably be using the plan as a reference guide.
get up early. @hobbyhoarder with the current schedule, I’d have to wake up around 4:30 in the morning to go out for a ride. I don’t see that being sustainable, at least for me. But I do love an early ride. I used to go out just before sunrise a few years back for a 50 - 60 km ride - it was bliss ! sunrise, silence, breeze, birds… hitting the countryside on a bike at that time sets anyone up for a good day.
@Reynaldo_Lopez This is definitely a limitation of the plans - they are static and don’t adapt to schedule changes but you are on the right track with respect to using them as a guide. Also check out the progressions too - they bring intensity but again, you have time for recovery so should be able to manage one of those a week.
In general I find that I can put three days of workouts together before I need a rest day with one of them being more intensity focused and the others tempo or below. Then I try to do a deload week every 3 or 4 weeks which for you might mean the same volume but less intensity.
If you are using intervals.icu you can get a rough idea of fatigue levels and also cumulative training load which will stay low given your low volume of work. The data won’t be useful at the start but the overall trend will be useful at some point.
I’ve tried lots of different things since my son was born. During the difficult weeks I manage to train for 5 hours and up to 8 or 9 hours in the easier weeks.
Apart from the time constraints, I find that the most difficult thing is to recover, when the nights are difficult and the days are sometimes stressful and ultra busy. My son is 4 years old and last night I got up 3 times to go and see him, each time it took me a long time to get back to sleep…
After 4 years what works for me is…
During the week on the trainer (5h):
1 x 1h high intensity workout per week
2 x 1.5 hours of zone 2 (around 65/70%)
1 x 1h easy recovery ort whatever feels good
During the weekend outside (2 to 4h):
And when we have nothing planned for the weekend, I add a group ride of around 3 hours with my club. Often with some tempo or threshold intensity in the hills.
I’m continuing to make progress, but at my own pace… My FTP isn’t necessarily increasing, but I can see that I’m able to maintain the same intensity for longer. I still managed to finish the last “Étape du tour” with so few hours in the saddle.
From time to time I’m tempted to do a bit more intensity, a Zwift race or even just a tempo or strength workout. I can finish it but a few days later I end up completely flat… So I reserve that for weeks when I know I won’t be going to ride oustide during the weekend.
1hr tempo
2x15/20’ sweet spot/threshold even 1 interval followed by z2 top up for 1hr.
Cruise intervals. 3x10’ ±10% FTP (60/60s)
Or maybe sign up and try some zwift racing when it gets to winter if you’re not able to get out. I also find whilst dull, the trainer is MUCH more economical time-wise but is super dull.
Depends how you cope with more intense stuff, for me it works. I can cope (well I could cope better) with low volume high intensity. (~400TSS <6hrs). Managed to keep my FTP around 320-370w post kids without venturing much above 5-6hrs a week.
Most important thing is being consistent. But the hardest thing to do with kids around!
Similarly to @JGreengrass’s TV question. Is there any other time you can use? Can you cycle to work/shops/visiting friends/family etc?
Another option that works for me occasionally is cycling to a family day out. ‘To’ not ‘from’ I found after a day running around after small children I was happy to just jump in the car so haven’t tried that way in a long while.
On sleep and early mornings, as you’ve said, my children stole soo much sleep that was never a real option for more than about an hour’s workout.
Family bike rides, when you get to that stage, are my favourite recovery rides too.
Finally, this isn’t permanent, they do grow . I always targeted a minimum of maintaining enough fitness to enjoy a 2 or 3 hour ride on the odd occasions I managed to fit one in. It was then fairly easy to rebuild fitness when they finally got beyond waking up frequently.
Bring the kids along when you train. Mine loved it!
When my twins were old enough to ride in a bike trailer, we got one and attached it to my old mountain bike. One year, I mostly trained for the annual 150 mile, 10k ft climb RAMROD (Ride Around Mt Rainier in One Day) by riding flat trails with 100+ pounds of kids and their stuff in the trailer. As the summer went on, they learned that pushing their sneakers against the spinning knobby rear tire made a cool noise, so that increased resistance. My event time that year wasn’t noticeably different than other years…
. I always targeted a minimum of maintaining enough fitness to enjoy a 2 or 3 hour ride on the odd occasions I managed to fit one in. It was then fairly easy to rebuild fitness when they finally got beyond waking up frequently.