How To

Working 9-5: how to adapt your training to working life

Pro cyclist turned coach Dean Downing on how to make use of limited time on the bike

Striking the balance

Work and family life often impact on the time you have to train (Pic: Cycliscous/Richard Masoner, via Flickr Creative Commons)
Downing, centre, raced for NFTO Pro Cycling in 2014 and found his training was increasingly time-constrained as he entered the twilight years of his career (Pic: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com)
Structure is key to a successful training plan, says Downing, pictured right (Pic: Welcome to Yorkshire)
Downing says the turbo trainer is a valuable tool for a time-pressed rider
Increase the intensity of your training as the season goes on (Pic: Media24)
Downing also recommends using a WattBike for indoor sessions
Shift patterns can also be incorporated into your training schedule (Pic: Media 24)
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day (Pic: Media 24)

Striking the balance

In an ideal world, we would all be able to ride when and where we like, and it’d be easy to fit training for that major summer sportive or race into daily life.

But life is never that simple and the time constraints served up by work and family commitments mean that, for most of us, time in the saddle is limited to what we can squeeze into an hour or two before or after work, and at weekends.

As a result, squeezing in ‘enough’ training can be difficult – and it makes that looming sportive, race or big summer ride all the more daunting. It’s not an uncommon problem, however, and one which many coaches encounter – including former British criterium champion turned TrainSharp coach, Dean Downing.

The former Rapha Condor, Madison-Genesis and NFTO rider, 40, retired from racing and went into coaching with John Sharples and Sean Yates at TrainSharp last year – and we caught up with the Yorkshireman to find out his advice on how you can make the the most of your limited time in the saddle.