Today I answer a question from a member.
Having cracked PHI, run a few park runs, things I had in the impossible basket. I’m worried that I won’t be able to maintain my weight loss, fitness etc. I think I’m in need of a new fitness goal. But how to set a Fitness Goal? Any ideas?
First of all, well done on your achievements!
It’s a tricky time. What happens when you’ve hit milestones you previously thought were unachievable? How do you maintain the level of focus, progress and enthusiasm? It’s a nice problem to have. But a problem that needs resolving. How to set a Fitness Goal?
I can’t set a new goal for you of course. Because goals should be specific and personal to you. Here’s some thoughts that might help you though…
Start with what you love
This should be straight forward. If you love sprinting, don’t sign up for a half marathon. If you hate workout out indoors, don’t make gym x 3 times a week your goal!
So start with the things you love. Make a list perhaps.
Or start with what you hate, and would love to change.
If you hate struggling to carry the shopping in, getting stronger might be a good thing to focus on. If you’re fed up of too much jiggling, this might be a good thing to try and work on. Fed up of me correcting your lunges / press ups / whatever, make mastering this technique your goal.
Think about the various components of fitness or health
There’s lots of different aspects of fitness or health. Here’s some suggestions:
- Strength. Think about an exercise or exercises you want to get better at. Squat, press up, plank. choose a rep range and or weight and make strength the focus of your goal. 15 pressups with Chris-approved technique. Squat arse-to -grass with 24kgs. Clean and press 12 kgs x 10 reps. The list is endless.
- Endurance. This is about running (or any other cardio activity) for longer or running a particular distance faster, or even running more consistently. Some ideas of goals:
- 40 parkruns before 40 (years old). or similar depending on your next birthday / relative frequency of park-running.
- 10km in less than an hour.
- Flexibility and / or Pain-free mobility. This one can be a bit trickier to define as a goal. But it is still a worthwhile consideration. As we age, things stiffen up. Injuries or niggles accumulate so keeping on top of them is a very worthwhile objective.
- Nutrition. The options here are endless. but I’d recommend picking something small that is dependent on your behaviour. Like: eat green veg everyday, plan your meals every week, I’m sure we know the drill.
So I’m afraid, there is no easy answer. I can’t do it for you. It HAS to come from you but the list above should provoke some thoughts. And I’m happy to help if I can.
