Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned gym junkie, setting fitness goals is a great way to give you direction, motivation and set yourself up for success. Your goals should be realistic and achievable within a certain time period, and specific to your lifestyle, training habits and personal preferences.
Using the SMART framework, consider the following focus areas when setting your fitness goals:
1. (S) Specific
Start by clearly defining your goals. When you have specific goals, it’s easier to identify how to reach them and when you’ve achieved them. For example, “I want to get fit,” is too general. What does that mean to you? On the other hand, “I want to jog on the treadmill,” is clearly defined.
2. (M) Measurable
When setting your goals, make sure they’re measurable so you can track your progress against benchmarks. Continuing with our example, you can aim to jog 5km on the treadmill. As you hit the gym and build up your stamina, you’ll be able to measure and feel good about your progress.
3. (A) Achievable
While your goals should challenge you, it’s important that they’re realistic. Jogging 5km on a treadmill may not be achievable for a beginner or an elderly person in the first few weeks of training. A good way to tackle your goals is to break them down into smaller goals, so they’re more achievable. You could aim to walk 1km on the treadmill in your first week, and build up your walking ability over the course of five weeks. Then, when you’re ready for the next level, you can begin to jog 1km progressively until you reach your goal.
4. (R) Relevant
The goals you set should be relevant to your life and appropriate for your health and lifestyle. Think about why you want to be able to jog 5km on the treadmill. How will it improve your quality of life? Maybe it’ll allow you to keep up with your children when you’re playing outside or will help clear your mind on a regular basis, keeping your mental health where it needs to be. Whatever goals you set, make sure they’re relevant to you.
5. (T) Time Bound
Finally, setting start times and deadlines is critical. They help you develop a plan to achieve your goals and celebrate milestones along the way. Returning to our example, you might want to jog 5km on the treadmill within 2 months, which will help you structure your training program and achieve small wins along the way.
SMART Goals
Based on what we learned above, a SMART goal may look something like this: “I want to jog 5km on the treadmill within 2 months.” Use the SMART framework to set your fitness goals, then create a plan for how to achieve them.
Remember to assess your progress regularly and don’t be afraid to alter your goals to suit your needs, abilities and lifestyle.
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