Dan Barnett, cycling coach from Matt Bottrill Performance Coaching, reveals how you can find a little bit more ‘you’ time to train.
We’re busy, we’re all busy.
We live in a day and age where it’s positively drilled into us that we NEED to be busy. For some, ‘busy’ might be defined by a 70-hour working week. It might involve kids, or even both.
It’s widely agreed that there really are just not enough hours in the day.
All this makes it crucial to find a good balance, and to really maximise the time we do have available for optimum impact.
Here’s what works for me…
Plan, plan and plan again
The first thing you need to think about is forward planning.
Think about which hours you are going to train. It’s important to not just map out the hours you’d ‘like’ to train; map out the hours you actually CAN train.
That means talking to your partner and agreeing to a specific time and duration; do this, and your far less likely to have to miss a session.
Put simply, it’s far better to complete a six-hour training plan than do six hours of a ten-hour training plan.
Eat well
If you’re not fuelled for your sessions you won’t get the best out of them, and your immune system is likely to feel the brunt of it too.
So, make sure that you take time the night before to plan your meals for the next day, and when you’re going to eat them relative to what time and duration you’re going to train.
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Be organised
(This is from a cycling perspective, but it translates to all sports and even just going to the gym.) Be it that you’re looking at an early morning turbo session, or a late night ride after the kids are in bed, your routine should be the same.
Your kit should be out and ready to put on, drinks for the session made up and in the fridge, shorts and towel by the turbo, gloves on the radiator ready to go – whatever you might need.
If are racing at the weekend and there’s something local that your kids might enjoy, bring them along with you. If you’ve a longer weekend ride planned, arrange to meet your family at a café for lunch.
I’ve been known to take a bike with me to a weekend at Center Parcs so I can do an FTP test on the way home!
A coach can provide the structure you need to keep training on track even when life’s at its busiest
Consider a coach
When it comes to getting the best out of the training hours you have, things like power meters and having a coach really comes into its own.
In cycling terms, a coach and targeted training can bring about results from the time you have with absolutely nothing wasted.
Coaches bring about an element of accountability, too, which means you are far less likely to ease off/miss a set when under their watchful eye or training to specific numbers.
For more information about the cycling and triathlon coaching on offer by the team at Matt Bottrill Performance Coaching, check out mattbottrillperformancecoaching.com
