How to Set Fitness Goals
Table of Contents
What Are Fitness Goals
Fitness goals are challenges or objectives that individuals set for themselves to achieve. These targets pertain to their training programs and activity. Fitness goals work to hold individuals accountable and encourage them to work towards improving their overall health.
How to Set Fitness Goals
When setting fitness goals, it’s important to include 5 key characteristics in order to be successful. These characteristics are comprised in the acronym SMART. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-specific.
Specific
It’s important to choose a clearly defined, sensible, and simple objective when goal planning. This makes it easier to recognize when you’ve reached the goal. It helps to think about questions that encompass “who, what, where, and why”. Think about what you want to accomplish, who will be involved, why it’s important to you and where will it take place.
Measurable
Being able to track a goal makes it easier to recognize if you are getting closer to achieving it. Tracking aims to keep you motivated and focused on your goal. When creating a goal that’s measurable think of questions such as how much/many and how will I know it’s accomplished. Examples of measurable goals include achieving a number of repetitions for an exercise, lifting a specific weight or losing a number of lbs of weight or fat, etc.
Attainable
It’s important that when setting goals, they should be realistic. Smaller/short-term goals are often more attainable because progression and successes are easier to identify. Measuring progress along the way boosts your confidence which drives you to continue pushing forward.
Relevant
When goal setting it’s important to set goals that pertain to you. Considering what your lifestyle is like, fitness level, how much time you have and what resources are available to you have a big impact. The more relevant it is, the more you will be inclined to stick to it and continue working towards achieving it.
Time-specific
Working towards a target date or deadline makes it easier to schedule, plan and allot time to achieving your goal. Without an end date, people are less inclined to remain motivated and fall off track, therefore time-specificity is important to remain focused and driven. Creating goals that are time-specific also reinforces choosing goals that are realistic within the time frame.
Typical Fitness Goals for Men & Women
Fat loss
Weight loss
Build lean muscle
Be more flexible
Better core strength
Typical Fitness goals for Mental Health
Sleep 7-8 hours a night
Eat well-balanced meals
Drink more water daily
Pick up a new activity or sport that you enjoy
Workout 3-4 times a week
Smart Fitness Goals Examples
Complete 10 push-ups from my toes in 4 weeks.
Lose 10 lbs in 6 weeks.
Resistance train for 45 minutes 3 times a week for 12 weeks.
Complete 5000 steps per day for 1 month.
Short Term Fitness Goals
Short term fitness goals are often smaller and more easily attainable than long-term fitness goals. They can be accomplished in a shorter period of time in comparison. Short-term goals can be achieved in days, weeks, and up to 6 months. You will also find that sometimes they are used as incremental steps towards a long-term goal.
Examples include:
Walk for 30 minutes 3 times a week.
Bench press 185 lbs for 6 reps.
Add 2 balance exercises to each workout per week.
Long Term Fitness Goals
Long term fitness goals are often larger more complex goals. They are usually goals that will take greater than 6 months to years. For example, losing 50 lbs cannot be achieved realistically and physiologically in weeks and months.
Examples include:
Run a half marathon in a year
Reducing your cholesterol levels
Compete in an Olympic lifting competition
List of Fitness Goals
Master 2 yoga poses
Take the stairs when possible
Drink more water
Complete 3 full pull-ups
Stretch for 20 minutes every day
Eat more fruits and vegetables
Build strength
Master box jumps
Try one new workout every month
Why Is Setting Goals an Important Part of Continued Fitness
Goal setting is an important part of fitness because it keeps people motivated and inclined to continue to progress. Physical, emotional, and mental progress is hard to achieve but is a key motivator for most individuals when goal setting.
Without motivation, focus, and progress, success is harder to attain. It’s important to continue to set new goals when others are achieved because it drives people to strive to push their boundaries and continue the momentum to change themselves on all levels.