Goals are an important part of any fitness program. They give you an outline and a direction in which to go, without a goal your energy has nowhere to go.
Goals help to measure your progress and improve your fitness level. They do this by giving you something to focus on and also provide the route by which to accomplish them.
The General Goal
General goals are usually the first type of goals we make and they are not very specific. They give an outline of what we want to achieve, but not how to get there.
For example: I want to get stronger. This goal helps you to become aware of what you want, but it does not help you to understand or measure your fitness level. It is too broad and much too overwhelming.
It is therefore best to refine general goals into smaller more specific goals and then we can identify specific steps to reach them.
Specific Goals
Specific goals work better than a general goal when measuring and improving your fitness level.
They are also a refined plan on what you want to achieve. An example of a specific goal would be: I want to be able to do 100 pushups.
Now that you have a specific goal you can start to set up your plan to get to that goal. This gives you a target to work towards.
Keep in mind that the smaller specific goals are simply the route that will get you to the big picture, the end goal, which is being fit, no matter, if it is too lose weight, improve strength or simply be healthier.
There are several key factors that go into making a workable specific goal.
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Is the goal attainable?
Don’t set a goal so high that you will not be able to achieve it, this is a sure fire way to set yourself up for failure. The best way to go about this is to make smaller, more achievable goals that will eventually lead to the larger ones.
For example: Instead of working toward doing 100 pushups, target doing 25, then 50 and so on. Each time you reach a goal you will feel great. These milestones are an important part to keeping you motivated and focused.
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Measure your progress.
Keep track of how many pushups you do each day. That way you can see the progress you are making. By keeping track of your progress you will start to understand what your fitness level is and be able to see when it improves. Seeing viable results motivates us to keep going to the next level.
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Pick a time frame that you would like to accomplish your goal in.
Putting a time frame on it will help to keep you motivated and working toward your goal. It will also help you to set up times for your smaller milestone. This will show you how fast you are making progress.
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Keep your goal realistic.
The steps above here will show you how much progress you are making and how fast you are making that progress. After you get a feel of your goal you can fine tune it by adjusting either the time frame, milestones or the end goal to make sure you can accomplish it.
Remember this is to show you what you can do, if you bite off more than you can chew just adjust it down a little so you can succeed. You might even find that you set the bar too low and that you can do more than you originally thought you could.
Keep your goals flexible so that you can adjust them as needed. Never give up, even when the original goal could not be reached in the specified time frame, remember that progress, not perfection is the best motto for success.
Bottom Line
When you are specific about what you want, you are more likely to get it. Setting specific fitness goals will help you to achieve them faster and more efficiently.
Knowing your goal will help you to define the steps you need to get there and it will show you how much progress you are making along the way. Be flexible, adjust your goals where needed and above all else keep it fun!