How to set achievable fitness goals for yourself
If you are totally new to the world of health and fitness, setting and achieving your own goals can be really tough – it can be disheartening when you aren’t achieving your goals as fast as you’d like to, and can become very tempting to throw the towel in all together. Many of us fall into the cycle of setting a super strict and, most importantly, unrealistic new routine – this inevitably ends up in failure, guilt and getting upset with ourselves when we fall off the wagon.
It is important to remember that the reason behind the failure is almost definitely NOT YOU. It is much more likely that the goals that you are setting are the issue. So, what can you do to set realistic and achievable goals for yourself and avoid disappointment? The key is organising your fitness plan around your life, not changing your whole lifestyle to a new and restrictive one.
Check your schedule. To stay consistent and committed to your exercise routine, it must be organised around your life and priorities. Work out when you can realistically commit an hour of your time to the gym. It does not matter if this is only two days a week, progress is progress. Can’t get to the gym? Don’t beat yourself up. Go for a walk, take the stairs, do some light stretching at your desk. There is an abundance of short workout videos on YouTube so that you can get your sweat on in the comfort of your own home! There is no rule to say that you must sweat buckets and exercise for hours for a workout to be effective.
Now you have worked out when you can realistically take part in exercise, you can start to set yourself more achievable goals. It makes zero sense to go from your couch to 5k in a month when you only have time for one training session a week. The key is to make small achievable goals which you can build up over time. Think about the sense of accomplishment that you’ll get each time you reach a new step, and how that will spur you on to keep going! Always be realistic and you will be much more likely to stick at it.
