I went from about 4 years of riding my MTB once a week for about 2-4 hours, then started TR Low Volume in Jan 2018 at 150W FTP. (With 1 yr old boy).
Over the last 15 months I’ve only used LV and averaged about 2 TR workouts in the week and one MTB 2-4 hours at weekends and I’m currently sitting at 238W FTP.
The only difference from you is that I get up at 5am and do them in the mornings. I also do gym twice a week, getting up at 0500-0530 on those days too. Anything that doesnt eat into family time.
I get up at 4:00 AM. On the bike by 4:15. done by 5:15 or 5:30. Shower and get ready alongside my wife before waking up the 2 year old at 6 AM. Works great when he sleeps through the night, which is 95% of the time.
Two kids here 6 and 9 years of age. I do my workouts either after picking the kids up from school and before dinner or after bedtime. My kids want to chill after school anyway so if I train 1 hour och 1,5h doesn’t matter all that much. After that we can hang out. My wife and I hang out whenever there’s time or during weekend nights.
Our son is going to bed around 19.00-19.30. My wife normally goes to bed somewhere between 21.00 and 22.00. And I used to stay up a little longer most of the times.
Now I go to bed together with my wife most of the times. When the alarm goes at 4:45 I’ve had my 7-8 hours of sleep.
So for me it is not eating away any family time. It may even add some “family time” since me and my wife are now in bed together at the same time. Hence our upcoming second son
I’m typically in bed between 930 and 10p. Wife would rather stay up later, but we’ve been going to bed “early” by her standards for years. I’m up 530-6a; she’s a late sleeper… basically a teenager still.
I’m on the bike 545-630 depending on the length of the workout. It’s been helpful that I’m not usually in to work until 8:45 or 9 and have about a 15 minute commute by car. With the weather better, newborn kind of on a schedule, and daylight hitting, I’m going to make the commute by bike on the easy days. I’ve found that to be helpful both for sanity (getting outside) and time efficiency/sleep.
Yor mileage may vary, but I used to get up early Saturday, get all my gear ready, wait until my son woke up (usually about 7), feed him breakfast, get him dressed & take my son along in a pull behind trailer. Put him in the trailer with a bunch of snacks, juice, & a diaper bag, and we were good for an hour or two.
You might not be able to do this with a newborn/ infant, but as an infant/ toddler, my son loved it. Also I wasn’t actively training, just exercise. And I have a nice bike trail close to the house.
It got so my wife would pout when I DIDN’T ride, because she wanted her morning time for herself.
It’s not ideal for training, but if your goal is to get some outdoor miles & fresh air, it works great.
I’ll agree with many here early mornings is where I have found I can best get time in to get a workout in while impacting my family the least (they like their sleep). As my son got older (3+) he woudl wake up a little earlier and actually find himself coming downstairs to sit on the couch by me watching some cartoons while I finished my workout.
On the weekends it’s more of the same, early mornings, especially to get the long rides in. I will get up sometimes and be on the road by 4:15am to get that 5 hour ride in and only really miss the first two hours of their day. The early morning wake up takes some time to get used to (I remember more than 2 mornings at 5:30 and I would be dead all week) but it does come around if you give your body the time to get accustomed to it. Mid day naps on the weekends help with those early morning wake ups. My wife and I just tell the kids it’s family nap time and we all conk out for 45-90 minutes.
I try to do most of my workouts after kiddos are sleeping.
Another stroke of luck, my closest community center does lane swim 30m after their bedtime so i get 2 swims in there
I can do my bike rides on the trainer any day i want after they sleep…although sometimes it’s on saturday, so then i’ll do it during the youngest one’s nap time.
I have a dog so sometimes i’ll take her along for a run. Or sometimes i’ll take the jogging stroller with the youngest one + dog for a run. At some point once my older one is more comfortable on the bicycle i’ll be able to have her ride while i run.
I’ll admit I didnt read the entire thread, please forgive me if this was already said. I’ve had good luck with one way rides. for instance I wanted to get a ride in on a day when the wife and I were heading 50 miles away to see her family. I biked and met her there and packed a change of cloths and such to change into
I’ve mixed in some crazy ones too. I had a wedding to go to as an usher. I cycled 50km to Heathrow Airport (quite dangerous actually), took the bike apart and put it in a bag, flew to Dublin, put bike together, cycled to Airbnb at midnight. Slept six hours. Cycled 100km north up the Irish coast to the wedding. Met my buddy, picked up the suit and got changed.
Yeah, maybe a TR session would’ve been better before the flight.
I traded unhealthy time away from home. Fewer guys nights out. More bike time. Wife feels better about it and so do I.
Commutes work great for me. Instead of driving 30 minutes, I ride 50 and get the value of the longer ride while only using 20 minutes of unspoken-for time.
Anytime the kid needs to be dropped off somewhere (birthday parties, karate, swim lessons etc) I would bring my bike and kit and bang out a 10 or 20 mile ride.
This is a biggie - enable and encourage HER non-family stuff. Pick up her slack every chance you get. Make sure she knows you care about it and that it is a priority for you that she have the time she needs. Goes a long way.
Having a good support system is key. Nothing would be possible without support and encouragement from my wife. I am training more than ever now, when our 4th child, a very active son, is 1.5 y.o. I do my part too: train at 6-6:30am, have everything ready the night before…
This is pretty much where I’m at, our first is 15 months old and planning on a second child shortly.
Work out before anyone else wakes up, get outdoor rides in when the opportunities pop up. It’s not as great as before children, but it’s temporary and worth it.
Late 30, with 2 kids (5 and 3), need to be in office at 9.
On SSB LV plan: Monday - rest Tuesday - TR from 6:00 - 7:00, shower, make breakfast, wake the kids up and head to work. Wednesday - 1.5hr moderate Outdoor ride from 5:45 to 7:15, shower, breakfast etc. Thursday - TR same as Tuesday Friday - rest Saturday - Either TR or 2 - 3hr outdoor ride with more intense hill climbing depending on my ride buddies schedule Sunday - Either TR or 2 - 3hr outdoor ride with more intense hill climbing depending on my ride buddies schedule
In general I try to keep up with all TR LV plan and add two outdoor rides per week. Don’t have a PM, so my TSS should be somewhere a bit over MV, but this is currently manageable.
I plan my Sunday as a full restday. And be flexible about adding another one any time needed. By having no training planned on Sunday it gives me a full day of family time. Instead of having a weekday morning where I can sleep some additional hours.
I saw a great quote recently…“You’re not short on TIME, you’re short on FOCUS. Focus enables you to make time.” A bit of a cliche perhaps, but it’s true.
This is half the battle, the other half is maintaining the domestic bliss.
When my missus got pregnant (boy is 2 now), I immediately went out and bought a trainer and signed up on TR because I knew my ability to ride as and when I wanted to was going to be impacted. I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy it, but it turned out to be a godsend and has made me a much stronger rider.
My usual routine is 4 sessions a week. 2 evenings (Mon/Thu) on the Kickr, after dinner/once junior is sleeping. He sleeps in the next room and neither he, nor the wife (usually on the sofa watching Netflix) are bothered by my gen 2 kickr noise output.
An early outdoor spin on Wed. Rolling by 5am, back home by 7am for the usual family morning routine. I’m not even missed here.
Saturday is my holy day, group ride day. Up at 5, rolling by 5.30, good hit out, coffee with the guys, back to HQ by 10am and spend the weekend with the family. Happy wife happy life.
Sure you have to make some personal sacrifices, but it’s doable. Sometimes after a long day at work, jumping on the kickr isn’t the most appealing thing, but you suck it up and are glad you did after the workout has ended.
