Fitness goals should motivate and challenge you, yet be achievable; otherwise they could leave you feeling like an impostor and cause you to give up on your journey.
Follow these expert-approved strategies for setting and reaching healthy fitness goals that are realistic.
Before setting fitness goals for yourself or joining an online class, it’s essential that they are specific, measurable and attainable.
Clarify Your Vision
Setting goals can provide motivation and guide your fitness journey. It is key to set clear, attainable and measurable objectives; setting both short-term and long-term targets allows for quick wins to keep you going when things become challenging while keeping an eye on long-term vision when necessary.
An overarching desire to “get healthy” may not be enough motivation for many people to hit the gym regularly or train for a marathon, so instead focus on what you hope to gain from your workouts – such as strength gains or relieving joint pain – can make sticking with a regular fitness regime much simpler. Finding goals that reflect both you and your personal values, such as mastering splits or attending yoga class weekly could make this easier still.
Make Your Goals Specific and Measurable
Fitting in fitness goals that motivate and excite can make all the difference to achieving results, but setting unsuitable ones could leave you frustrated, disappointed and demotivated.
An effective goal should be specific and measurable, such as setting 15 workout days each month or doing 100 push-ups by a set date or time limit. Setting an unmeasurable or vague target such as “to become healthier” won’t provide sufficient evidence of progress; while setting specific measurable milestones such as that can provide tangible proof.
As with any goal setting process, it is also crucial that your fitness goal fits with both your needs and interests. For instance, if powerlifting is your passion then setting out to compete in your first meet may be an appropriate and motivating fitness goal. Write your goals down somewhere visible so they stay top of mind; or consider creating a vision board so you stay engaged with reaching them! Ideally you should set both short-term and long-term fitness goals.
Break Your Goals Down into Smaller Steps
Not knowing where to begin can make maintaining an exercise regime daunting, while long work hours combined with other responsibilities make keeping on track and staying motivated more difficult than expected. Setting tangible, realistic and well-thought out fitness goals will keep people on the right path and ensure a better chance at success.
Setting goals that are both measurable and attainable is essential to tracking progress over time. Committing to working out 15 times out of the month provides an easy way to monitor improvement over time and see daily improvements as you track it.
Short-term fitness goals are those you can accomplish within one week, month or year. They may be smaller than your ultimate goal but still provide short wins that keep you motivated – for instance if your aim is to become stronger you could set an aim of doing more push-ups each session as this small milestone will add up over time to help reach it faster – use them as motivation to keep pushing yourself further!
Celebrate Your Successes
While having long-term goals is great, it’s equally essential to celebrate each step along your journey to meeting them. Kellen Scantlebury, fitness specialist and founder of Fit Club NY tells SELF it is crucial to assess progress to ensure you meet goals on time.
If that’s the case for you, adjust your short-term goals to something more achievable and keep moving forward. Don’t feel discouraged if there’s an occasional slip up; these slipups are perfectly normal and will only serve to strengthen a more mindful outlook on life.
Set short-term goals that are achievable within a day, week or month and reward yourself when you meet them (such as scheduling a massage, purchasing new workout clothes or joining yoga class). Doing this will motivate you to keep striving and reach further achievements; sharing in celebrations with others may also increase their sense of motivation to support you on your journey.
