How to train like a dad – my principles for getting fit in amongst the chaos!
- davids-son
- Feb 24, 2025
- 5 min read
Having been on and off structured training since 2020 I can safely say I've made all the mistakes. My biggest takeaway - its very easy to put yourself in a hole when juggling family, work & riding – especially if you are an obsessive type.
The challenges of full time dadding?
Sleep deprivation from night feeds & teething. No weekend lie ins. Nursery bugs. Cleaning spaghetti off the highchair at 10pm. Constant clothes washing.
Your toddler who wants to go to the park at 8am cares nothing for these, and they shouldn’t have to.
These hurdles can be literal barriers to the non parent things you want to do, but also mental barriers either in the form of a lack of motivation or “I should really be doing something with my family instead of this silly hobby!”.
For this reason, I think the normal principles of training must be adapted for parents.
The key tenants of progressive overload, specificity, intensity & structure are pillars discussed by the guys at Trainer Road: https://www.trainerroad.com/blog/the-elements-of-getting-faster-training/. These are less important to me.
Instead I look to balance consistency v recovery v fun.
In short, in my training for this year (starting in November) I have been exercising regularly, not too hard, without big peaks and troughs, and doing what I find fun. This means I prioritise cycling, but not exclusively. I run, lift weights, and walk. If I wanted to kayak, do yoga, or climb I would count that as training too.
Why?
1) All forms of exercise contribute to building an increasingly fitter & more resilient body.
2) All exercise creates fatigue and stress which the body doesn’t differentiate. Stress from family, exercise & job is all treated the same and all have an opportunity cost (time) against each other.
3) With kids around, true recovery is not possible.
4) My week is busy with work, my weekend is busy with family, my evenings are busy with cleaning or cooking. I don’t have time or motivation for complex plans or juggling session based on fatigue.
5) If its not fun there is no point in doing it. I can’t be solely motivated by my potential performance at an event in 4 months’ time .
Ok, you have limited time, why not get a coach?
I love the idea of being coached. The community, the quality in plan provided, the professional analysis after. But I cannot bring the level of commitment I know I would want with someone else involved. I can’t provide weekly expected availability, reliable fatigue levels or even confidence that my personal investment wont wain over time. For these reasons it would be a constant challenge that I am convinced would end with disappointment for both of us.
I am a nerd – I enjoy the learning & failure almost as much as the successes. I am a big fan of any online content from a range of professionals, my favourites here:
I am constantly balancing my boredom with odd schedules which means I will not stick to some of the plans discussed by the guys in these videos (or coached or Zwift plan).
So, what do you do?
This year I have come up with a set of key dad principles, that underpin my exercise (in order of importance). These are current, might be updated over time, and will be supported by specific actions at different times of year. It is important that I believe these are possible to stick to and will see my progressing over time.
Principle | Why? |
Regular exercise of any type | I enjoy it, it makes me feel good and ultimately builds towards a more resilient body. The exercise type I am doing in the long term is irrelevant as long as I'm doing something. |
Short term focus in 4/6 week blocks | I can’t work in the standard 3/4 week training cycles because I can’t guarantee the consistent build then recovery. I also get bored. So throwing this out the window and giving myself the flexibility to spend a period focussing on what interests me at that time means I’m having fun. |
2x sessions a week on the block focus | When I’ve decided what is fun at this point, do it regularly & don’t worry too much about the others. |
No intensity until spring | Intensity – especially Z5 builds fitness but also a huge amount of fatigue. This doesn’t play friendly with sleep deprivation & nursery bugs from the kids. All of which are worse during winter. |
And what does this mean today?
In winter, I’m often on the turbo at lunchtime, for an hour eating my lunch whilst riding Z2. I’m a firm believer in Z2 training. Its good for your health, very unlikely to result in overtraining. Also, volume is king for improving.
Getting on a club ride when I can, often early in the morning or overlapping kids nap time. The club meets 5 mins from my door and leaves at 8am. They stop for a coffee, I don’t. This often allows me to get a 3/4hr ride in, some social contact, and track my fitness against others.
My current primary focus is lifting weights. I have a home gym I use that is within reach of baby monitor signals. 2 evenings a week I spend in here but I’m becoming bored with this (in my 7th week) so it will need to change soon.
My secondary focus is cycling, so I make sure to keep riding in for 3 focused hours a week on the turbo minimum even when I don’t want to. Its not a lot, but it is a minimum.
Conclusion & success metrics
If you got this far I appreciate it sounds like a lot to keep on top of, and it is when written down. But I find it keeps me focussed, which is particularly important through winter. If I come out of winter not ill, not overly fatigued, and with a good level of fitness then this is a massive success. The last 2 winters I pushed too hard and failed to enjoy or complete the Dales Divide and Headstock 500 because I picked Zwift training plans, copied friends plans, and tried to build too quickly. Last year I made a commitment this will not happen again.
As winter ends, so will my short term focus, but so will the bad weather, light and my kids sleeping patterns. This should allow for some longer rides and the turbo might become redundant…
In my next blogs I will discuss:
My training phases so far & what the plan is next
How I tracking fatigue & load – hrs, Garmin data & feel
Efficient training v fun
How to recover and how not to overtrain
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