Currently I have a very restricted training program, consisting of LV workouts that are done at nights. This is accompanied by not-so-good rest every single night because of the little one. My typical timing goes something like this:
8/8:30pm: Bub goes to bed, I catch up with evening work
9:30/10pm: Jump on the trainer and begin workout (60 or 90 min depending on the workout)
11/11:30pm: Finishes (if no interruptions), stretch, cool down, and shower
12/12:30am: Jump into bed after bub’s midnight feed
4am: Get up, feed the bub
5:30am: Bub’s an early riser, dad (me) has to look after him … wife sleeps in for a little bit more
6/6:30am: Hands over care to wife, I get ready to go to work
And since I’m trying to lose weight also, my daily carb intake is usually very low.
I know one of the key to recover is “rest”, but as anyone that’s been through this stage, “rest” is luxury. Based on my timing above, and the fact I’m doing 3 days a week of sweet spot base (Wed, Fri, Sun), will it leave me with insufficient “rest” for desired training effect?
I know your question is about rest in particular but you may find some likeminded souls here.
Our nearly 3 month old is now sleeping through most nights from 11ish til 7am so we are very lucky there. Unfortunately our 5 year old has always woken early so I often up any time after 5-5.30am.
I top up my sleep over the weekends, where when he has naps during the day, I sleep then as well. Do that for a couple of days to recharge, then start the week again.
Certainly that amount of rest would be insufficient for me - even without any training. The same is true for most people
That said - if that’s what you currently have time for there’s little real risk in trying it out and seeing how it goes for a few weeks. You’ll be getting more sleep the other four nights, maybe your body can deal with that type of interruption without too much impact. Give it a shot and report back on how you’re feeling
As already suggested, you are in a chronic fatigue and most definitely not getting enough sleep!
Personally, I would treat this time of your life as something you’re going to dedicate 100% of yourself. Look after your partner, your bub and yourself. Go for longer walks with the baby and even that will give you some form of an exercise. You’re going to have plenty of time to catch up on your workouts later on!
As I tell to all my friends and people I coach, fitness is an ultra-marathon that spans the entire life. Treat it that way.
For now, simply enjoy this new experience of raising a child, that you may not even be able to repeat again.
Thanks for pointing out that thread. My little one is just over 1, he has always been an early riser which my wife hates (she likes her sleep ins) and doesn’t sleep through the night (has done so for a few nights when he was sub 6 months young), so I guess his behaviour is more like your 5 yo.
Anyway, from reading that thread you linked, it is obvious that communication is key. Not that I haven’t tried, but maybe I haven’t been prepared enough lol, it always backfires (… the communication usually ends like this: “you only think about yourself, what about the 8 hours you’re at work, whose looking after him!!!”). I’ll work on another approach lol
Your typical training schedule is very similar to mine. I usually hop on the trainer on Tues/Thurs at around 9pm, finish up by 11, get to bed by 11:45. I wake up at around 6am for work and my kids are sleep through the night (more or less).
Personally for me, LV plans are all that I can recover from nowadays, supplemented with weekend rides and I do feel the fatigue during the day. I can still make improvements to my fitness, but it is more “fragile” as there are days where I am too tired to even do a recovery workout and have to rest for an additional day or 2, before I feel that I am ready to hit a hard session.
Something that will help your situation is for your child to sleep all the way through the night. By 1 year old, most kids should be able to sleep through the night without any feedings. Your schedule indicates that you’re putting him to bed between 8:00 - 8:30 PM, but then you’re feeding him again 4 hours later, and again 4 hours after that. This is more akin to a newborn’s feeding schedule, not a 1 year old’s. I have 3 kids (8, 6, and 2). My first slept through the night (12 hours) within about 14-16 weeks. The second one took about a year before she was finally sleeping 12 hours at night. And my 3rd didn’t really sleep through the night until about 18-19 months! Every kid is different, but when they are 1 year old, they definitely don’t need to be fed every time they wake up. Check out the book “The Baby Sleep Solution” by Suzy Giordano. She walks sleep deprived parents through the process of sleep training your kid to sleep 12 hours a night. A lot of it hinges on weaning them from nighttime feedings. Pick the feeding that is the MOST inconvenient for you (whether that’s the midnight feeding or the 4 AM feeding. And start reducing the volume of food (assuming it’s a bottle) at this feeding every few nights. It takes some time, but it is wonderful when the baby sleeps for 10-12 hours without waking up! That will go a long way towards helping you get some rest.
Sounds like a pretty killer schedule… I wasn’t getting much sleep the first few years I was on TR. My daughter has been having nightmares for quite some time, then we switched her to the toddler bed, regular bed, potty training, etc… Even now I usually only get 6 hours of sleep. If you are getting in some good power naps elsewhere and catching up on the weekends, you are doing yourself many favors. Your body will tell you if you are getting enough recovery…
Any time you’re training with a young kid, just maintaining can be a successful outcome.
@nvayers That is a solid response, many thanks! I think you hit the nail on the head here, it feels more like the quality of sleep/rest I get over how many hours. I’d be thankful to have a 6 hour quality sleep over 8 hours of sleep intervals. I’ve forwarded your response to my wife and see what she makes of it. Last night, it was a off-the-bike day, so went to bed quite early (9:30pm). Did the usual 2 feeds, woke up at 5:30am (when the bub wakes up) and took him for a walk. Legs still feel tense/tight from the 1.5 hr workout on Sunday though.
@Bioteknik This is my first proper attempt at structured training, before that I was a couch potato, and before that, I “rode” (rather than trained). So there isn’t really anything for me to “maintain”, rather, aiming at building. This is our first, so there are so many unknowns. Then there’s the wife/mother, which you can understand, needs a different level of “management” lol
We started doing this with our daughter at 4 months and it really helped. We reduced the nighttime feedings by 1 oz., every 3 days or so, until she could sleep through the night without being fed. Make sure to make up the amount during the morning feeding.
Look into “sleep training” for your child - if you can get him to sleep through the night, then you and your wife will be better rested. It also means your child is getting more sleep, which is good for him too.
Baby’s schedule: I agree with those who say you should scratch some training in favor of sleep. There are a ton of books on helping the baby sleep and any of them are better than guessing or just dealing with the unnaturally-early wakeups. FWIW I’ve had four babies, including twins- and while they are infants I strongly advise mastering the technique of swaddling tightly, with their arms straight along their sides. If they can’t move their arms, it keeps them from waking themselves up as easily.
Your schedule: In the very least, I’d suggest switching your “Catch up with work” time to happen after your workouts, to give more space between bedtime and the workout-- otherwise your body will not cool down enough in order to achieve deep sleep. The podcast boys advise at least 3 hours between workout and sleep, I think, but maybe all you can do is 2- it’s still twice as good as 1!
I thought baby’s (he’s not actually that much of a baby any more) natural wake up time was just dependent on themselves, but I’ve just picked up the book recommended above and see how I go with that. If we can rectify his wake up time till 8 or later, I can even start training in the mornings, which I would much prefer!!
Good advice about the resting time, I think I missed that podcast.
I also agree with the recommendation to flip your “catch up on work” time and training time. Train first, then catch up on work (or try to leave work at work, if that’s even an option). The more time you can give your heart rate to decrease before trying to go to bed, the better. Helps you fall asleep quicker and stay asleep once you’re asleep.
Good luck!
Thanks guys. “work” referred to here is for my second job which is solely done from home and weekends. But I took that advice on last night, had an hour rest after workout before heading to bed did feel a lot better.
Hey @brenchen - sorry to bring up an old thread.
Just checked out this thread hope things are going better for you now.
Just thought I"d suggest early morning workouts instead of late night (as the wind-down time required will be killing your rest).
Although I’m sure bub has moved out of still needing the midnight feeds by now - and things would have changed.
