Setting goals is super important in any aspect of your life, but in fitness, it can be especially important. Setting fitness goals allows you to track your progress, keep you accountable and motivated, help you to avoid a plateau, and give you a sense of achievement. Keep reading for our 3 top tips for setting fitness goals.
1) Set SMART goals
It is easier to succeed and achieve your fitness goals when you have clear, outlined objectives, which are realistic and therefore not too overwhelming. When writing out your fitness goals make sure they follow the SMART acronym: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Make your goals specific – Make sure your goal is specific! It is a lot easier to track progress and complete a goal if you know exactly what you are striving for.
When setting yourself a fitness goal ask yourself:
- What needs to be achieved?
- What steps need to be taken in order for this to be achieved?
- Why do I want to achieve this goal?
Make your goals measurable – How are you going to know when you have achieved your goal? What is the definition of achieved for this specific goal?
Making a fitness goal measurable is another great way to be able to track your progress over time. For example, if your goal is revolved around gaining muscle mass, pick a specific amount of muscle mass you want to gain (eg 8kg).
Make your goals achievable – set your ego aside and be realistic with yourself.
Setting unachievable goals will only hurt your progress and leave you feeling defeated rather than accomplished. A great way of making sure your goals are achievable, is by writing out the steps it is going to take for you to reach the goal. Seeing all of the individual steps in front of you will either leave you feeling confident or give you a slight reality check that you may need to re-think your outcome.
Make your goals relevant – make sure that the goal you’re setting is actually relevant to your lifestyle and overall whys and wants. It is pointless setting a goal just for the sake of it, it needs to add to your life.
Make your goals time-bound – Elon Musk once said ‘if you give yourself 30 days to clean your home, it will take 30 days. If you give yourself 3 hours to clean your home it will take 3 hours…
Now I am not saying to give yourself 3 hours to achieve your fitness goals (all the top athletes have undergone years of dedication and consistency to get where they are now), but be realistic with yourself, your capabilities, and what is a healthy length of time to achieve your goals. Having a specific time frame will keep you accountable and help you to know there is a finish line that needs to be met.
2) Use micro-goals to achieve your main goal
Going back to the point we made about outlining the steps it will take you to reach your goal, a good way to help keep you accountable and track your progress is by breaking your main goal down into micro-goals or specific measurable steps to take in order to reach your big daddy goal!
For example, if your fitness goal is to be able to run a marathon by the end of the year, some micro-goals could consist of:
- Run 5km without stopping
- Run 10km in a set amount of time
- Add a weekly or daily habit that will improve your cardiovascular health (keep track of this through a habit tracker for extra accountability)
- Adding a stretching or mobility routine to your week/ day – or setting a specific mobility goal to reach.
The point of micro-goals is to break down your macro goal, making it less intimidating and easier to achieve. Completing your micro-goals will also give you a sense of achievement and keep you striving for more.
For more in-depth information on how to write SMART goals check out this article from Mind Tools: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm
3) Tell Others About Your Goals / Get An Accountability Partner
By letting others know you are working towards a goal, not only gives them the opportunity to help to support you during your progress, but it also gives you accountability. As humans, we would rather let ourselves down than others (no this is not necessarily a good trait, but it is very common). By telling even one other person, a family member, a loved one, or a friend about your goals you will feel accountable to achieve your goal not only for yourself but because others are ‘watching’ your journey.
(advice: make sure the people you are telling are supportive and non-judgemental – you don’t want to be sharing goals with people who are only going to put you down)
Or even better, grab a friend and complete the goal together for even more accountability and double the motivation!
Now it’s time to put those goals into action!
Is one of your fitness goals this year is to start going to the gym or to stick to a fitness/ workout program?
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