Do you have a fitness goal? Three questions to get you started.

Most people are too general when they meet with a personal trainer.  Too general means too vague.  You need to be more specific to know if you reached your goal.

Fitness goals are different for everyone.  Some people may have similar end goals, but their journeys may be different.  A good example of this is the Olympics.  All the competitors had the same end goal...winning the coveted gold medal.  How they got to Paris was similar in that they had to win in competition.  Their individual training methods were different and geared to the individual's needs and abilities.

Fitness goals also change with time as we age.  When I was a teenager, I trained for sport primarily.  How I looked and felt came in a close second once I saw the body changes.  A third reason then became attraction to the opposite sex.  I'm sure this thinking still holds true today.

In my 20's I was no longer participating in organized sports, but the other two reasons still continued to be factors and kept me going.  Once I hit my 30's and settled down, my main focus was less on the vein and more on the health benefits and a longevity of life to spend with family.  That's where I have been for sone time now.

I ask again, what is your fitness goal in your current stage of life?

Once you know what your end goal is, how are you going to get there?  How motivated are you to get started?  How motivated are you to keep going when roadblocks occur and how are you going to get around those roadblocks?

Please don't let this seem like you are about to take on K2, the second highest mountain in the world.  These are questions that can be answered and acted on with simple steps.  The key is taking action.

Question 1: What is your end goal?  Put on muscle, lose fat, improve performance.  These are the three main ones I hear over and over.

Question 2: How much muscle do you want to put on?  How much fat do you want to lose?  What performance metric do you want to improve (speed, endurance, reaction time, distance thrown) for your sport?

Question 3:  What is the deadline to reach your goal?  Be realistic here.  It will not happen overnight.  Make your goal something you have to reach for.  If you make it too high, you may not reach it.  You will then be discouraged and give up on reaching your goal.  You also don't want it to be so low that you don't have to put forth any effort.  

Once you have these questions down, you can start to figure out what to do to reach your goal.

Bonus question to think about: 

What will you do when you plateau or have a set back?  This happens to everyone.  You lose weight, then you stop...or gain a little back?  You gain muscle then you plateau and don't seem to gain more.  You're on a set schedule to work out and an issue at work or with family keeps coming up.  This doesn't mean to give up on your goal.  You just have to tweak what you are currently doing.  This is one reason why I prefer to work out early in the morning and get it out of the way with no interference from work or family.  If I wait till later in the day, something always seems to come up.

If you have questions or are looking for a personal trainer, let me know.  You can contact me at RHWellsfitness@gmail.com 

How to be SMART to achieve your goals

As we approach the end of May and move into June, I am beginning to look at setting some goals for my business for the next few months.  This gave me the idea to share with you the process that I am using to help you too.  This is for any type of goals you may be chasing.


The steps to challenge yourself to achieve your goals are: SMART.


Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Timely


Specific means to be as specific as you can in your end goal.  For example,  instead of saying "I want to loose weight" (too vague and general), say "I want to loose 10 lbs of fat".  Be as specific as can be.  Instead of "I want to start a business", say "I want to start a computer repair business".


Measurable means breaking your final goal into smaller steps that can be measured.  A good example is breaking down the 10 lb fat loss goal down to 1.5 - 2 lb loss per week.  They are small, yet you can see your progress towards your final goal.


Attainable means setting goals that can be reached with a little effort.  Obviously, the goal "becoming a millionaire" is not achievable in a month.  "Earning $8,000 per month" is more easily achievable.


Relevant means asking relevant to your situation.  Let's say your goal was to get a college degree in four years.  Is this realistic?  Have others done this?  Will your lifestyle  allow you you to meet this goal?"  If you're a single parent, it may be possible...if not, you may need to adjust your goal to say get it done in five or six years instead of four.


Timely means giving yourself deadlines to meet your goals.  The person wanting to loose 10 lbs could have a deadline of 12 weeks.  The future business owner could say they want to start their business in three months.  Perhaps you are being sent on a business trip to Germany and you decide to learn some German in three weeks.