Keeping Focused During Lockdown

The Coronavirus has changed the way we live, affected our plans for 2020 and generally made everything that little bit different. How do you keep focused on what's important to you and use the situation you find yourself in to your advantage? Do you try to keep going and maintain a sense of normality or do you embrace the change and try to make it work for you?

Below are the lockdown stories of three of our customers and how they have kept focused on training when their goals have become less clear and you'll also hear from one of our Tyco Cycling Road Captain's and how he has responded to the changes.

Sarah, Small Business Owner, Hertfordshire

I had been really looking forward to my Tyco Cycling trip to Yorkshire in April which was unfortunately postponed. I was determined to keep my fitness up despite not having the goal to work towards.

I became a member of Tyco Cycling club over the last two years and I definitely find that being part of a club helps my motivation. Exercise has always been important to me, and I’ve exercised more in the last few years than I have ever in my life.

For the first two months of lockdown I was going out every day, either for a solo ride or run or a family walk. I felt it was so important for my mental health as much as anything, but also to compensate for what I think we commonly call,  ‘The Lockdown Diet’..!

As a physiotherapist, it is my job to promote health and well-being in people. I’m a big advocate of the physical but also the mental health benefits of regular exercise.

Kevin,IT Consultant, London

Due to the restrictions in place, I have had my cycling plans changed. My major goal for this year is to climb the Mont Ventoux mountain in Southern France with Tyco Cycling, which has been on my bucket list since I started cycling in 2010.

The chance of riding this epic climb with Tyco Cycling was too good to miss, so, with the goal of climbing Mont Ventoux in September 2020, and not being able to get out and ride as much as I would like, I needed to buckle down and get some training in.

I did some riding online, but needing the structure of a training plan I started using an indoor training programme and used my goal of riding Mont Ventoux as my motivation.

There have been mornings when I've got up at 6:30 and wondered what I'm doing, but after a few minutes of riding my motivation to Climb Mont Ventoux has returned. Getting up early to train and know that the session is done for that day is a great feeling.

So, in summary, the COVID restrictions and working from home have allowed me to focus on my cycle training and follow a training plans properly ensuring I don’t skip any sessions..

Zoë, Head of Digital, London

While many aspects of what we considered to be our normal routine changed in the matter of mere days back in March, cycling has proved to be a real tonic both physically and mentally for me during lockdown.

As someone who lives by themselves, it offers me an escape from both being confined to my flat and acts as a way to take time out of my working day for a break.

As with many other's, my planned cycling events have been affected this year, as Britain adapts to the current situation we find ourselves in. This includes the 100 mile RideLondon event, which has been cancelled and the Tyco Cycling Yorkshire Dales trip, which has been rescheduled to the Autumn.

One way of keeping myself motivated has been to set myself the target of riding the 100 miles as well as well as the same elevation during the week I would have cycled RideLondon.

If, like me, you are struggling with keeping yourself motivated during this period, set yourself a target – whether it be small or large – as not only will it help you to refocus your mind but

keep you fit and healthy, both in body and mind, in the best way possible.