Tips on Setting a Fitness Goal

by Molly Magunga, MS ATC, CPT, CES

Hello everyone! This week’s “Fitness Tip of the Week” is about setting a fitness goal. I have posted in previous weeks about the importance of incorporating in different techniques or equipment to help you be successful in reaching your fitness goals. That’s still very important, but what about helping you from square one? What if you don’t really have a concrete fitness goal? My goal (see what I did there?) this week is to help guide you in deciding on a fitness goal. 

Knowing what you are working towards AND having a plan to get there is how to stay on track and keep your motivation high. Not having a fitness goal is like walking into the supermarket without knowing what you want for supper. You know everything you need is in that building. If you wander around without a recipe and list, there is a chance you end up with everything but a complete meal. You may get lucky with enough variety to make supper, but it may not be as good as you hoped. Maybe you find yourself grabbing the same ingredients over and over again and make the same supper you have had a million times. These are all examples of going to the gym without a plan and a goal. You may not be getting a well-rounded routine, it may take you longer to see the progress you want, or you could end up plateauing because you keep doing the same exercises day after day.

Tips to Making S.M.A.R.T. Goals: 

Starting is always the hardest step. One tool to make deciding on a fitness goal easier is using the mnemonic device S.M.A.R.T. Any goal, fitness or otherwise, should be specific, measurable, acceptable/ attainable, realistic, and time-sensitive. So let’s break each one of these down.

Specific: When setting a fitness goal, the more specific the better. Goals like increasing strength or improving health are good goals, but they aren’t very specific. What specifically do you want to improve? What does improving health mean to you? Do you want increased strength in a certain muscle group? Adjectives are important when it comes to setting goals. 

Measureable: You need to be able to measure the goal you decide on, so you are able to determine if you have reached a goal. Maybe you want to increase upper body strength by benching 20% more than you can now. You can make that goal measurable by doing a one-rep max at the bench when you start, then retest when you progress through your program. A little math would determine if you met that goal. 

Acceptable/Attainable: The goal needs to be achievable with your resources. Goals are there to help you succeed. Goals should be challenging to reach, but never impossible to get to. Especially for weight loss, knowing a healthy way to progress to different goals makes them attainable. Trying to lose too much weight too quickly is very bad for your health. You can’t set a goal, wake up the next day, and suddenly be at your goal. 

Realistic: Goals need to be relevant for you and your life. Realistic goals show why you want to accomplish them. Realistic goals are worthwhile. This part in developing your fitness S.M.A.R.T. goal is the fuel that keeps you going.

Time-sensitive: The final part to a S.M.A.R.T. fitness goal is the deadline. It is too easy to coast along if you don’t set a time to accomplish your goal by. If you have an end goal that will take a long time to accomplish, set up smaller goals with closer deadlines to keep you motivated. 

If you have any questions on this topic, please feel free to email me at mmagunga@healthworksfitness.com or comment below!