Eye on the Prize
Starting a fitness program without concrete and attainable goals is like walking into an all-you-can-eat buffet after a weeklong starvation diet.
How do you stay focused? How do you keep from doing too much to quickly? Good goal setting is the key.
Most people don't know how to set pragmatic and specific goals.
Some of the most common aspirations of people starting a fitness program or diet are "I want to get ripped for summer," or, "I want to bulk up.
" One of my personal favorites is, "I want to look like (insert famous persons name here).
" While all these goals sound great and may be motivational to you, they aren't specific or realistic.
When setting goals, I always tell my clients to set measurable incremental performance-based as well as aesthetic goals for themselves.
Good goals are based on your current status and abilities.
They take into account not only what you want to achieve but also how far you have to go to achieve it.
They should also encompass multiple representations of the changes you're making.
This is because your overall goal will almost always be made up of many smaller benchmarks.
For example, if your ultimate goal is to "get buff," then your benchmarks will be determined by body fat loss and muscle gain.
If you want to gain muscle you're probably going to have to get stronger along the way.
You can measure your strength increases before you see the image result that you're looking for, and know that you are headed in the right direction.
If, however, you've never done a pull up, and you want to do 100 in a month, that is an unrealistic goal.
A realistic goal might be to be able to do 2-5 pull ups one month from the start of your new fitness program.
Likewise, establishing your current body fat and tracking it consistently by measuring your weight, waist circumference and subcutaneous fat density if possible is vital.
As muscle weighs more than fat, tracking these multiple measurable components will help you understand your body composition and keep you on track to your ultimate goal.
When setting goals for body fat loss be as specific as possible and use the data at your disposal.
Take your starting weight and body fat and calculate how much weight in fat you are carrying.
For example, a 160 lb female at 30% body fat would be carrying about 48 lbs of fat.
A healthy weight loss is about 1 -3 pounds per week in most cases; therefore, you should set a body fat loss that would be equivalent to losing 4 - 12 lbs per month.
Remember, however, that muscle weighs more than fat, so you may lose very little or nothing on the scale, yet shrink in your circumference measurements and/or subcutaneous fat density, which means a lower body fat.
You need all the information to get a complete picture.
Goal setting is probably one of the most important and difficult parts of any fitness program.
It is your starting point, measuring stick, and ultimately your road to inspiration or feelings of failure.
By setting a goal that challenges you to do more than you currently can within a timeframe that allows you the ability to attain it over small steady increments, you create a specific focus from week to week.
This insures much greater chance of success, which will ultimately further inspire and enable you.
As your fitness level progresses, challenge yourself in greater increments.
The inspiration provided by your previous accomplishments will push you to do more than you thought you were capable of and will reinforce your determination in the face of your fears or failures.
After all, the ultimate success is always moving forward.
How do you stay focused? How do you keep from doing too much to quickly? Good goal setting is the key.
Most people don't know how to set pragmatic and specific goals.
Some of the most common aspirations of people starting a fitness program or diet are "I want to get ripped for summer," or, "I want to bulk up.
" One of my personal favorites is, "I want to look like (insert famous persons name here).
" While all these goals sound great and may be motivational to you, they aren't specific or realistic.
When setting goals, I always tell my clients to set measurable incremental performance-based as well as aesthetic goals for themselves.
Good goals are based on your current status and abilities.
They take into account not only what you want to achieve but also how far you have to go to achieve it.
They should also encompass multiple representations of the changes you're making.
This is because your overall goal will almost always be made up of many smaller benchmarks.
For example, if your ultimate goal is to "get buff," then your benchmarks will be determined by body fat loss and muscle gain.
If you want to gain muscle you're probably going to have to get stronger along the way.
You can measure your strength increases before you see the image result that you're looking for, and know that you are headed in the right direction.
If, however, you've never done a pull up, and you want to do 100 in a month, that is an unrealistic goal.
A realistic goal might be to be able to do 2-5 pull ups one month from the start of your new fitness program.
Likewise, establishing your current body fat and tracking it consistently by measuring your weight, waist circumference and subcutaneous fat density if possible is vital.
As muscle weighs more than fat, tracking these multiple measurable components will help you understand your body composition and keep you on track to your ultimate goal.
When setting goals for body fat loss be as specific as possible and use the data at your disposal.
Take your starting weight and body fat and calculate how much weight in fat you are carrying.
For example, a 160 lb female at 30% body fat would be carrying about 48 lbs of fat.
A healthy weight loss is about 1 -3 pounds per week in most cases; therefore, you should set a body fat loss that would be equivalent to losing 4 - 12 lbs per month.
Remember, however, that muscle weighs more than fat, so you may lose very little or nothing on the scale, yet shrink in your circumference measurements and/or subcutaneous fat density, which means a lower body fat.
You need all the information to get a complete picture.
Goal setting is probably one of the most important and difficult parts of any fitness program.
It is your starting point, measuring stick, and ultimately your road to inspiration or feelings of failure.
By setting a goal that challenges you to do more than you currently can within a timeframe that allows you the ability to attain it over small steady increments, you create a specific focus from week to week.
This insures much greater chance of success, which will ultimately further inspire and enable you.
As your fitness level progresses, challenge yourself in greater increments.
The inspiration provided by your previous accomplishments will push you to do more than you thought you were capable of and will reinforce your determination in the face of your fears or failures.
After all, the ultimate success is always moving forward.