Reaching Your Fitness Goals, One Victory at a Time
May 19, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Exercise & Fitness
In Defining Your Fitness Goals, we focused on the importance of having the proper goals in order to achieve your desired fitness level. Now let’s talk about setting the goal and making it achievable.
While you may be tempted to set a goal that at once audacious and daring, you should always be realistic. Setting the bar very high is sometimes advantageous, as even if you fall short and only reach 50% of your fitness goal, it’s still quite good. That may work for some, but it won’t work for many others. The reason why many people fail to reach their fitness goals is not because of lack of trying, it’s because they get discouraged when they don’t see the developments immediately.
The first thing you need to do is to set your fitness goal to paper. There is something about writing things down that makes them more real, kind of like a contract with your self, instead of just lip service. Write it down, and then make a detailed fitness training plan with specific steps toward reaching it.
Keep your goal ‘visible’ all throughout the day. Post it on your vanity, your dresser, your cubicle or office desk, on the key holder in your house, on the dashboard of your car. Do not allow yourself any time to forget that you are heading towards a goal.
Whatever your overall fitness goal is, you need to break it down into little steps in order to make it achievable and realistic. These are what I like call “Fitness Milestones.” Each fitness milestone is a stepping-stone to your “absolute goal” or main goal.
Make sure you choose a fitness workout that is appropriate for your goal. For example, your main goal is to lose 50 lbs, you can create a fitness plan that will allow you to lose 10 lbs in a month. If you’re goal is to compete in a marathon, you can train to run 5 miles a week, adding 1 mile per week until you reach your desired miles, etc.
To keep your fitness workouts fresh, you can try enlisting the help of an exercise buddy, then switch buddies every now and again. To keep things interesting, reward yourself every time you achieve a fitness milestone. For example, get yourself a nice spa or beauty treatment after every milestone. When you reach your halfway mark, you can make your personal reward extra special. Ramping up the rewards you give yourself can make reaching a goal really enjoyable.
If you’re feeling the strain, take a load off. Taking a break for maybe a day or two won’t impact your fitness program overall, it might even be beneficial as you get to recharge your batteries.
Remember that it’s the journey that counts, and reaching your fitness goal is only the last part. There’s all that time in between that you should enjoy. Succeeding does not have to be all pain and sacrifice. Reaching your fitness goals should be challenging yet fun. Click Here to take survey
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