Achieving Your Fitness Goals

To reach your fitness goals, you must put together an achievable plan of action. There are no instant results when it comes to fitness. It takes time, patience and dedication to see the results you desire.

What’s important to remember is that you won’t see physical changes straight away. You will, however, feel them. For example: when you first begin an exercise regime you will find it difficult. Your -breathing will be staggered, and you’ll tire out quickly. If however, you stick to it, you will find as early as the third time you go that it is easier for you.

With clear goals put in place and a knowledge of how you’re going to achieve them, you are more likely to reach them. For tips on how to do this, we have put together some easy to follow steps.

Set Long Term Goals:

It’s a good idea to know what fitness goals you want to achieve long term from your fitness plan. This could be any number of things including weight loss, a leaner body, increased muscle mass and much more.

Whatever it is you want to accomplish, make sure that you write it down. This allows you to refer back to it to keep you motivated. It is important to make sure that your long-term goals are sensible and something that is possible within the time limit you have set. Long term goals should be at least 12 months or more of work so that you have plenty of time to get to where you want to be.

Set Short Term Goals:

Knowing where you want to be long term is fantastic, but to get there, you need achievable short term goals. As mentioned earlier the changes you intend to make won’t happen overnight, and short term goals help to break this down for you.

Make either weekly or monthly goals so long as they are achievable. For example: if you intend to lose weight it is recommended that you lose between 1-2 pounds per week. This is a healthy amount to lose on a weekly basis, and it is advised not to lose much more. Your monthly weight loss goal should, therefore, be between 4-8 pounds lost at the end of each month. This can be done in the same way with weight lifting. Aim to lift a heavier weight each week to build stronger muscles.

Are Your Goals Measurable?

It’s great that you have long and short-term goals in place, but you now need to make sure that they are measurable. This is important for knowing whether or not you have met your goals. Weight loss is by far the easiest goal to measure.

Getting on the scales at the end of each week will allow you to determine whether or not you have lost weight, gained weight or remained the same weight. By sticking with weekly or monthly weigh-ins, you have the tools and motivation to stay on track. Take note of times you are over or underachieving and make changes to your regime to put it right. This could include reducing the number of calories you are eating or adding more time onto your cardio workout.

Are Your Goals Realistic?

Setting yourself goals that are too difficult will set you on a path to failure. When we set ourselves goals that are too high, we struggle to achieve them and therefore become angry and frustrated. We overexert causing our bodies to become tired and weak. This is everything we do not want to do. By setting ourselves smaller and more achievable goals, we are much more likely to see changes, keeping us motivated to keep going. Remember results won’t happen overnight.

Make Sure You Follow Through Your Plans:

To reach your short term fitness goals, you will need to follow a nutrition and workout plan. Diet is just as important as exercise when it comes to fitness. Getting them both right will ensure that you reach your goals. Your diet and workout regime will differ depending on your goals. For example, those looking to lose weight will want to reduce the number of calories they consume and up their cardio. Those looking to bulk up, however, will want to consume more calories while partaking in a strict weightlifting and cardio programme.

Reward Yourself:

It is important that when following a fitness regime, you don’t forget to have fun. Restricting yourself too much will result in you becoming unhappy and missing out on things that you should be able to enjoy. Take part in sports that you enjoy playing and remember to treat yourself every once in a while.