Setting Fitness Goals

Chances are, at least once a year you set some fitness goals for yourself, January maybe? If you’ve had some trouble following through with these you are not alone.  We all have different reasons for losing momentum.  The bottom line is that if getting fit is important to you, you can do it in less time that it takes to watch the nightly news.

Set goals that are Specific, Measurable, and Attainable.  Goals that you can reward yourself for meeting as long as you meet them within a certain time frame.  An example can be to work out three times a week for 1 month for at least 30 minutes each session.  Keep a journal to record your workouts, calendars work great for these.  Another example would be doing X number of push ups in 1 minute in 4 weeks time.  Reward yourself when you obtain goals, can be something as silly as a motivational tee shirt or new workout shoes/outfit.  Try not to use food as a reward system for obvious reasons.

When goal setting think small obtainable goals vs. long term goals (lose 50 pounds).  Ideally you should be able to reach your goal in 2-6 weeks.  What does it take to reach your goal? Is it going to require that you workout 5 times a week but you only have a baby sitter twice a week.  Then you need to adjust that goal.  Can you see yourself reaching that goal?  You want a program that you can stick with for the long haul-not just this week.  Be completely honest with yourself and ask if you can realistically see yourself doing what it takes to achieve the goal at hand.  If you can and it meets the above criteria, then you probably have a goal!

Try this simple approach, setting fitness goals, write them down, track your workouts, set goals that can be achieved, and your success will be much greater than it has in the past.  If you find yourself struggling in the first few weeks chances are that your goals need to be adjusted.  Set easier to achieve goals, reach a few of them and slowly make them more difficult to obtain.  Good luck to all of YOU!

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Andrew Vertson

Andrew received his Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science from California State University, Fresno in 1991. He then earned his Master’s degree of Physical Therapy in 1996 and his Doctorate degree of Physical Therapy in 2002 from Loma Linda University. In 1996 he also earned his Certification as an Athletic Trainer. He has also completed extensive post-graduate course work in orthopedic manual therapy through Kaiser-West Los Angeles and the Ola Grimsby Institute.

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