How to set fitness goals that stick – When it comes to the attainment your fitness goals, one of the top tips to keep in mind is consistency. But consistency is not always easy. We often start fitness routines with good intentions because we are excited about looking and feeling better. That enthusiasm is great fuelstartrted, and setting fitness goals is a good next step, but even combined, they may not be the golden ticket. You must also create the behavioral change necessary to adhere to them.
We know that reaching your fitness goals is important, and we’re here to help you achieve them. So let’s go over some essential steps to creating goals that stick.
Why health and wellness goals are undervalued (and essential)
Yes, we went there. Setting goals is fun. You begin to visualize how your body looks and feels healthier and fitter. But dreams alone won’t get you where you want to go. The secret sauce? Behaviour change. Behaviour change occurs when a new set of actions becomes habitual. That is, the behaviour no longer requires as much conscious thought, but is instead triggered by contextual cues, for example, seeing exercise clothes placed next to the bed, having the alarm go off at the same time every morning, seeing someone else doing exercise online or get a reminder from the FitOn app to exercise on your phone.
You English hawthorn be thinking: “exercise will never become a steady thing for me”. And even for the most experienced, exercise can seem like an imposition on some days. But ask a fit individual to go a week without movement, and they’ll be crazy and restless in a few days. Exercise has become such an in-built part of your life that cutting it out creates more discomfort than the routine issue. No matter anywhere you are in your appropriateness journey, take the following steps, and soon enough, exercise will become a hard habit to break. Keep in mind that creating an exercise habit is not the same as exercise addiction which can be harmful.
The First Step: Setting SMART Fitness Goals
Why is it important to set goals? It is the first step to creating a new habit. But it takes a special kind of goal actually to lead to behaviour change. The objectives that are maintained are smart precise.
This is your “how-to”. If you partake in a goal to lose weight, think about the steps you will take to achieve it. Will you exercise three days a week? Sleep a certain number of hours?
measurable
How will you track your progress? This should include quantifiable data. Returning to our bulk loss example, how many kilos do you want to lose? How many kilos per week is it?
reachable
Setting lofty goals is important, but going beyond what is reasonable will only lead to failure. When you create realizable goals, you can see them. The more you achieve, the more confident you’ll feel about setting new goals.
Germane
His goal should be the same as yours. It should roughly motivate you to grow up in the morning and grind through your day. If you set a weight loss goal because your doctor told you to, it may not be very intrinsically motivating for you. It is an invitation to find your own “why”. Is it towards losing weight so you can live long enough to meet your grandchildren? Spend less money on medical expenses? Are Ascent the stairs short of getting out of breath? Whatever it is, find something that seems relevant to you.
Opportunely
A deadline should be associated with your goal to keep you on track and create a sense of urgency. By what means many weeks/months it will take you to reach your goal.
How to set long-term fitness goals
Thinking about big goals is exciting. Give it a try, think of a really important personal health or fitness goal that you have for yourself. When you do this, do you notice your eyes widen? Maybe it will put a smile on your face. But then you start thinking about how long it will take to get there, about the obstacles that will stand in your way, and soon you convince yourself not to even try.
That’s why it’s so important to break down your big personal fitness goals into smaller ones to avoid burnout. If something seems too far away, it’s much easier to come up with reasons why it won’t work.
Start by asking yourself what you need to do each month to reach this larger fitness goal. So every week. This will help you create the SMART goals that will ultimately lead you to the big goal. Simply by meeting your short-term goals, you will achieve your long-term ones.
List of good fitness goals
So what does a good fitness goal look like? Here are some examples:
I will lose 10 pounds in the next 5 weeks by strength training 3 times a week, cardio 150 minutes a week, and eating lean protein, lots of vegetables, some fruit, healthy fats, and some complex carbs.
I will increase my deadlift from 130 to 170lbs in the next two months, adding deadlifts to my lower body training days twice a week and increasing the weight by 5lbs each week.
I’ll be able to run for 30 minutes straight next month running three times a week. I will run 15 minutes straight in the first week, 20 minutes straight in the second, 25 minutes straight in the third, and 30 minutes straight in the fourth.
How to reach your fitness goals
#1 Create an exercise routine
If you can, try to schedule your workouts at the same time each day/week. Successful fitness routines need to have some structure, especially in the beginning. Exercising at the same time will do it, so you start to equate that time of day with breaking a sweat. This is one of the best ways to create habits that stick.
#2 Use sensory cues
Whether it’s packing your workout clothes the night before, filling your water bottle, playing specific music, or setting a reminder on your phone, the more sensory cues you can create to remind yourself to exercise, the better. Your brain will recognize these signals and start preparing your body for exercise. You may feel restless or start daydreaming about how good you’ll feel when you exercise. This means it is working.
#3 Give it 30 days
Most people have been told that it takes 21 days for a habit to become established, but it can take longer. At that 21-day mark, there is still some desire to return to previous behaviors. For example, you have gone 21 days without meat. The desire for meat is likely to continue to exist. After all, you have cravings and you can’t wait for three weeks to eat it again. If you’re not going to be a vegetarian for life, this is fine. However, exercise is a necessary habit for life. So if you still yearn for a more sedentary life, the habit hasn’t formed yet. Give it another 10 days or more. Once the alternative behavior is less desirable than the new one, consider the habit to have been formed!
Remember to have a little grace
No matter how long you’ve been exercising regularly, there will be days when you don’t have time to train, feel under the weather, or just can’t muster the motivation to break a sweat. It’s okay, you’re human. Take a breath, dust it off, and do it again the next day. Behaviour change takes time and effort. Create realistic standards for yourself. You are human and not every day will be perfect.
