2 to 3 hours training per week

I’m lucky as I can devote same amount of time to both and sometimes more… children have flown nest!

If I was limited I guess I would pick running for the reason it’s cheaper, kit/gear (kids aren’t cheap) and so much easier to do everywhere, holiday, weekend away, events. Can transport my trainers easily anywhere. Also getting out and switching off, I find running at an all day easy pace the best. No traffic to worry about, get off into the trails and enjoy it all. This is one of the reasons I haven’t had my bike off the trainer for more than a year!

If I was to look at which one has been most beneficial in terms of base fitness and losing weight, staying fit and injury free then it would be indoor Zwift/TR sessions. If that was my goal then I would do indoor cycling.

It is a personal preference thing…plenty for you to consider and think about.

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Firstly, things will calm down eventually at home. You will both need your space, so that’ll be something to work out (over my now teenagers, this went from evenings on the turbo (and her going out), to now me getting up early to do my workouts.

Secondly, anyway of incorporating exercise into your day? If in an office job - could you run at lunch? Commute some of the way by bike. Or do a run- commute one way? I am still doing this the couple of days a week I’m in the office, as although a little slower than the train, it’s still more time efficient than trying to fit it in before or after work from home. I accept my cycle commutes are “junk miles” in terms of training adaptations, but they’re still exercise and definitely better than being sat or stood on the train.

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Three kids here. I get up at 5 am and do 1 - 1.5 hrs before the rest of the crew wakes up. Then I usually do a longer outdoor ride on the weekend (also very early). As long as I’m getting to bed at a decent hour this works well for our family. I get to do my thing, plus spend time with everyone.

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I also have 3 kids (1 is old enough to take care of herself). I do all of my workouts after the kids go to sleep, so I have a window from about 9 to 11. My wife goes to the gym in the morning.

It’s not always ideal, but I just work with what I have. It allows me to be with my family and still do the thing I like.

PTO is good for outside rides while kids are at daycare :wink:

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I ran a lot more when my kids were little and morning wake time was inconsistent. The best thing we ever got was a double Bob stroller with the infant car seat attachment. My kids are 7 and 4 and we still take it on long walks in case they get tired and to carry things. I would still bike when the opportunity arose.

Unless your a competitive racer and your paycheck depends on training, just enjoy this time and keep your fitness up as best as you can. It doesn’t last long, before you know it they’ll be ready to ride with you.

I would do 2 running + 1 cycling.

1 easy run
1 threshold run
1 High Intensity session in the bike.

Have at it!

It’s all a matter of scheduling and getting creative a bit. You have to make some sacrifices of course - waking up really early to get a session done before the family wakes up is one of the best ways.

I have 3 kids, and when we got our 3rd, the other 2 were already 3 and 6 - basically taking care of themselves on a lazy Sunday afternoon, if we got them tired enough in the morning. So I was doing my long runs on Sunday’s - with the little guy in the stroller taking a nap after lunch - turns out it’s a great workout for your arms too :slight_smile:

Best of luck !

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I have 3 kids under 12, born within 4 years of each other. I loved those early months and tried to get outdoors as much as possible. We had a baby carrier which strapped to the chest so I would go walking/hiking a lot. Then bought a rear bike seat when my youngest was about 2 and used that quite a bit, obviously not training level rides but again, getting outdoors. The advice around mixing other things in to your day is great and I still try and do this (core exercises, stretching during work etc). I also try to get up early if I’m doing a TR workout and find this helps balance family time/duties. I don’t run but this also seems like a sensible option if you enjoy/can tolerate running.

As someone said above, it kind of gets easier as they get older but then different challenges occur - ours are mostly around logistics (school runs, 3 kids all doing different activities etc). It won’t be long before your kids will be out riding with you :slight_smile:

John

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