A guide to setting attainable fitness goals is exactly what many of us are looking for this New Year. I have heard from many of my friends, family, and training clients about their New Year’s resolutions, and many of these resolutions revolve around fitness! While it’s great to involve fitness in your goals, it’s important to make sure these goals are attainable and customized for you. Setting goals can help you break through a weight loss plateau and/or help you create a sustainable routine. However, these goals need to be specific and realistic to you and your life. You need to know yourself and be honest about what you can commit to and what you’re looking for.
Take a look at a few helpful suggestions I have to make sure you’re successful in attaining your fitness goals.
Be specific about the changes you want to see.
Saying I want to get stronger is great, but what exactly does that mean? When you have a specific goal like “I want to increase my dead-lift by 50lbs in 3 months” allows you to create a more concrete plan for achieving said goal! Also, the more specific you are, the easier it is to measure your success. This is especially helpful when you are incrementally working towards your goal. As you see yourself get closer to your goal the easier it is to stay motivated and eventually reach your goal.
Break larger goals down into manageable steps.
Setting larger, more ambitious goals is great! But it’s important to also set “micro” goals along the way that serve as confidence building steps that can be achieved in a shorter time period. Just like Brooklyn mentioned in her post on #GoalGetting (check it out here) the best way to achieve goals is when you tackle them “low and slow” remembering that it is a marathon not a sprint. Mentally, it’s nice to be able to reward yourself as opposed to waiting too long! Goals that take too long to achieve can greatly diminish your motivation and even pull you off track entirely.
Make sure your goal is fits you.
Don’t set goals based on what others are doing. It can be so hard to stay focused on yourself. We’ve all been there, but seriously just focus on yourself. Your fitness goals are all about you. Your goals should be your own and be customized to your life. We are constantly bombarded on social media of what fitness should look like and it can be hard to determine what’s actually good for you! You need to be excited to work towards your own goal!
Have your goal in sight.
Make sure you set a deadline for your goal. This allows you to focus your efforts, develop a more structured plan and creates a sense of urgency. You’ll easily be able to determine if you accomplished your goal this way! This ties into breaking your goals down and being specific about them. Know what you want to achieve and by when. The more specific you are the easier it is to achieve your goals.
Lastly, REWARD yourself.
Don’t overlook this! Reward yourself for achieving your goals! A massage, a new gym outfit you’ve been eyeing, a bubble bath. Whatever you value! When you reward yourself, your brain releases the chemical Dopamine. Dopamine makes you happy and feel good. As a result, you become more motivated to do well and complete the task. And you will look forward to completing the task because it makes you feel good! PRO TIP: Try and stay away from food based rewards! You want to choose a reward that helps with your momentum rather than hinders your progress. And remember, writing those goals down never hurts!
In the end remember that fitness is a journey and no two journeys are alike. Focus on yourself and you will be one step closer to achieving those goals! If you’re looking for some more tips on how to stay motivated once you set your goals look no further than here.
