Nick Warrington, owner of kitchen showroom and plumbing trade counter Stephen J. Warrington, on how cycling helps him improve his business performance, as part of our KBB Retail Health & Fitness Club series, sponsored by Hansgrohe

Q: How does cycling enhance your business performance?
Cycling helps me in two main ways. First, staying healthy gives me higher energy levels throughout the day and if I do a short, hard turbo trainer session in the morning, I find that boost helps my mindset and focus for the entire day.

Second, it gives me an important focus away from work. As a small business owner, it’s easy to let work become all-consuming, but having a hobby that forces me to step away from the desk and the showroom four to five times a week helps me maintain perspective.

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Q: How do you keep motivated?
A: Unfortunately, I’m no spring chicken (52), and after hitting 50, I realised I needed to be more focused on staying fit and healthy.

I’ve been reading and listening a lot about longevity and health into old age, and I’ve found that to be a great motivator when it comes to exercise!

Alongside that, I’m a numbers guy—I use power, time, and speed as targets in my training to give it structure and to track my progress

Q: What are your cycling goals for the year

A: My main goal is to ride more often and more consistently to regain some of the fitness I’ve lost over the last few years.

To help me stay focused, I’m planning to get back into riding a few local club-level time trials.

Later in the year (September), I’m also planning a trip abroad to enjoy some mountain climbs.

I’ve previously had trips to the Stelvio, Alpe d’Huez, the Pyrenees, and Mont Ventoux, so something along those lines would be ideal although I’ve not booked anything yet.

Q: How are you progressing?

A: I had a slow start to the year after picking up a couple of bugs in January, despite having a solid few weeks of riding over Christmas.

Now, I’m back to riding four to five times a week, covering about 80–100 miles overall.

This is split between a longer road ride at the weekend and shorter, more focused turbo sessions during the week.

Hopefully, by the time I get to Easter, I’ll start seeing improvements all around.