Start small.
When I decided I wanted to delve into structured training, I tried various options, and tried to schedule 5 training days per week. To me that seemed ludicrous and impossible. I have been training 5 days a week for several years now. Schedule-wise I can do six, but I fare better with two days of recovery.
My advice: start with a one-hour workout 1 day per week, 2 max. Keep commuting by bike and stay within zone 2, i. e. quite easy.
Try different things, e. g. is it better for you to get up very early in the morning or do you prefer to do your workout after work? Can you head out early for your commute, do a few intervals somewhere, head to work, take a shower and then come back? Or is it better to do your training indoors? Do you have a second bike, i. e. a dedicated commuter and a bike for “serious” rides?
These are all variables you should consider. If in doubt, try it.
Here are a few things that have worked for me:
- Consistency is king. Forget about things like sweet spot vs. polarized training (if that doesn’t mean anything to you, ignore that for now), stay consistent. It is better to aim low and stay consistent than to overcook yourself.
- Rest is a crucial part of training. Let me repeat that: Rest is a crucial part of training. I’m serious. Take your rest days as seriously as the hardest training day.
- Sleep. If you train a lot, your body will need more sleep and better sleep. I ideally need 8 hours per night now, and I get about 7:30 hours. This is a limiter, because less sleep means less recovery. Sleep has so many benefits outside of exercise, getting enough of it makes you a better human.
- Fuel your workouts. Try to start with 60–80 g carbs per hour. You don’t need to buy anything fancy, order maltodextrose from Amazon, add a pinch of salt and perhaps a squeeze of lemon or lime juice for taste. Done worry about taking in too many calories, you will almost surely burn more calories than you take in.
- Generally, indoor training is more time-efficient. E. g. it takes me 15–25 minutes to get to a place where I can do intervals safely. Doing intervals outdoors would easily add 45–60 minutes of me standing at traffic lights and wading through traffic. I live in a bigger city, though.
- Working out in the morning works best for me. I have two young kids. So I get up before my family does (4:30–4:45), do my workout and finish about 5–15 minutes after my wife and one of our kids has gotten up.
- If you have any question, ask them here. TR is by far the best online forum I have been involved in, and I have been a member of various online forums for over 2 decades.