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ChrisRob01, just know that it's not gonna happen.
You mention that you are a new dad. Congrats!
At 8 months, you aren't out of the woods yet. Yeah, your baby doesn't need to eat every 2 hrs, but it's still exhausting. At that age, between taking care of baby, mom, and work, you'll have very little time for you much less your hobbies for a couple more years or more. Seriously. You are probably still on a very short leash. You'll be fighting to find time for sleep in general, much less time to train and then enjoy the deep hours of sleep that you need to recover from training.
Young children require a lot of attention. Now that the baby is sleeping through the night this also means that when the baby is up...the baby is up. When the baby becomes mobile...GAME ON. There is a sweet spot of a few months when the baby is just crawling and content in a small area...and really cute. Enjoy it. The elastic arms will arrive soon enough.
It's great if you have the grandparents on hand to help. But if you don't, then whatever you don't do, your wife has to do. And speaking from experience, she may be going through more than you are aware of dealing with all of the changes she's been through, too (not trying to get in your business, just offering advice from a guy who's been there).
I say all of that to say this: "Disappearing"* for 8, 10, 15 hrs/week to train just may not be feasible unless you are pro and this is your day job (and it's hard on those families, too). *(By "disappearing", I mean you not being available to help with the baby outside of you at work making money.). You may spend more time training than you realize. Here is a relevant thread on how many hours amateur/masters athletes train to be competitive. 75% spend more than 10hrs/week training:
https://www.bikeforums.net/track-cyc...ng-racing.html
As others have noted, fully expect to slide backwards in fitness. Your goals at this point are pretty simple:
- Don't overeat and get fat.
- Watch your stress. It's there whether you are aware of it or not.
- Sleep is your friend right now. Intense workout plans require more than average rest. You may not be able to get it if you wanted.
- If possible, focus on the home gym (remember, you are on a short leash) and gather whatever pieces you are missing.
- Getting enough volume and intensity to get a training effect from lifting weights can be achieved in fewer and shorter sessions than riding a bike (even a spin bike). Like 30 minutes of squat and bench press may yield results similar to a 1-2 hr road ride in terms of fitness. Lifting for intensity causes muscles burn calories when lifting as well as recovering. Cardio rides only burns calories when you are riding.
- Lower your goals from "competitive athlete" to "fit dad".
- (trying to word this properly): After the ordeal of pregnancy and childbirth (which is utterly amazing), some women aren't happy with their decline in fitness. Carefully invite your wife to join you in the gym and maybe even trim down your routine so that you two can do the same things (just with different amounts of weight). She may welcome the encouragement. You are her partner.
- Again, trying not to be in your business (but, hey, you asked right?). Learn from the mistakes of others: Be careful not to appear selfish by spending x hrs/week pursuing your hobby.
Doing all of the above will have you ready to slowly introduce more frequent and longer workouts in the next couple of years (yeah, years) and have you ready to turn up the volume and intensity and spring into action...with a new fan in the stands shouting, "Dadeeeee!!!"