Setting Smart Fitness Goals
At the beginning of the new year, many of us make decisions to achieve personal, financial, career and fitness goals. We promise ourselves that we will lose weight or eat healthy or be fit, but when we revisited our list of resolutions at the end of the year, we found that none of them were committed. Huh. We beat ourselves up for not meeting our expectations, wondering why we could not achieve our goals.
While it is great to start with the intention of improving our health and our lives, sometimes the purpose is not enough to reach our goals. Although we can fully blame you, the reason you do not reach your goal is because you do not work hard enough or take care enough. Often, we do not reach our goals because they are too vague or unrealistic. What do you really mean by "I want to lose weight" or "I want to be fit"?
By making sure that your fitness goals are smart goals, you are more likely to achieve them.
What are SMART Objectives?
What are the Smart Fitness Goals
Even vague, unrealistic goals can often lead to frustration. When we feel like we are failing to reach our fitness goals, we give up on it and decide we can not do it easily. We compare ourselves with those around us and wonder why they can achieve what we cannot.
Smart goals are the key to becoming fit and healthy. SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. This five-step method allows you to create realistic and achievable goals, setting yourself up for long-term success.
As long as your fitness goals have these features, you can reach them.
Benefits of Smart Fitness Goals
What are the benefits of SMART Fitness Goals?
You are motivated to reach your goals.
You can easily track your progress.
You have set reasonable expectations for yourself.
You can be accountable to yourself.
Smart goal setting is an easy way to make sure you have reached these fitness milestones.
Specific
To achieve your fitness goals, make sure they are specific. When it is precisely and clearly defined, the chances of achieving your goal are high. If your goal is very vague, how do you know you have achieved it? For example, if your goal is "weight loss", when will you know that you have reached your goal? When do you lose pounds? Five pounds? Ten pounds? Thirty pounds?
The first step in setting SMART fitness goals is to make sure your goal is specific. That is your goal.
The following are examples of very vague fitness goals:
"I want to lose weight."
"I want to get in shape."
"I want to be able to run."
How can you make these goals more specific and clear? Here are some examples of SMART fitness goals:
"I want to lose 10 pounds."
"I want to lose my belly ***."
"I want to run 5k."
Let them know what you want to achieve so that you know exactly when you have reached that fitness milestone.
Average class
Your fitness goals should also be measurable. Your goal should be quantitative so that you can measure it and track your progress. Scalable is specific - you need to set a target number or time frame. For example, it could be the number of repetitions, the amount of weight, or the duration of the exercise.
When setting SMART fitness goals, your goals should be measurable so you can track your progress. How You Achieve Your Smart Fitness Goals - How You Track Your Progress And When You Reach Your Goal.
Here are some examples of measurable fitness goals:
"I need to be able to pull-up."
"I want to be able to run a mile."
"I want to go to the gym four times a week."
"I want to lose five pounds."
"I want to do 10 reps that weigh 15 pounds."
Being able to measure your progress will motivate you to work towards your goal.
Adaptable
For a fitness goal to be smart, it must be achievable. Are the goals you set for yourself realistic? Starting with your current fitness level, can you reasonably expect to achieve this goal? Have you considered the external factors that affect your ability to reach this goal? If our goals are not realistic, we may find ourselves frustrated.
Setting long-term goals is great, but you may want to start with smaller, more short-term SMART goals that can be easily achieved. The small successes you achieve in your fitness journey will motivate you to continue working towards that long-term goal.
The following are examples of unrealistic and unattainable fitness goals:
"I want to lose 30 pounds a month."
"I want to set a world record."
"I want to have the perfect swimsuit body by summer."
If you are new to fitness, keep your goals realistic and divide them into smaller, more reasonable goals. The following are some examples of achievable fitness goals:
"I want to lose half a pound a week."
"In four months, I want to run a 15-minute mile."
"I want to reduce my body - *** percentage by 1%."
Consider what your current capabilities and limitations are to set goals that can be achieved for you.
Appropriate
To set a SMART fitness goal, you also need to make sure that your goal is relevant. The goal is relevant to you, your lifestyle and what do you hope to achieve? That is your goal. Why do you want to achieve this goal? Why is there a time in your life when you want to work towards this goal?
Relevance drives you to reach this goal. For example, if you set a goal to run before work every morning, you want to get in shape, but you hate running and you are not a runner...
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