Fitness
Creating Sustainable New Year's Fitness Resolutions
Setting SMART fitness goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) means setting yourself up for success.
We’ve all experienced the highs and lows of setting New Year’s resolutions – how the motivation of the new year fades with each passing day until you try to forget you ever set those goals.
You might be surprised to learn that failure to hit your health targets is rarely about how disciplined you are. Experts say it’s more about the strategies you have in place and the type of goals you set.
Here are our expert tips on acing your health goals this new year!
Understanding SMART Goals for Fitness
Setting SMART fitness goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) means setting yourself up for success.
Looking to exercise more in the new year? Why not set yourself a goal of 10,000 steps every day or going for a run twice a week.
These are achievable goals that are specific and relate to your overall purpose of exercising more. They’re also measurable (10,000 steps is your marker) and are conducted over a set time (every day).
You wouldn’t tell employees to simply do better at their job or your kid to just get better grades. You’d tell them to increase their sales by the end of the quarter or practise their maths homework every night.
SMART goals are the key to creating positive change and sticking to your resolutions.
Strategies for Setting Achievable Health Goals
Assessing Current Fitness Level:
Understanding your current fitness level is crucial to creating achievable yet challenging goals in the New Year.
There are many ways to quickly and easily test your current fitness level through health tests and body measurements. These give you a baseline that you can watch grow and improve as you exercise more and improve your diet.
Identifying Specific Fitness Objectives:
Health and fitness means different things for different people.
Some people might prioritise mobility while others want to focus on muscle development, weight loss or sport performance. You’ll want a goal that prioritises the things you care about most.
These are called your specific fitness objectives and they allow you to create targeted health goals.
Creating Actionable Plans:
This is the implementation stage of goal planning. It’s where you think about your lifestyle and all the practical ways to incorporate your goal.
This can include a workout schedule, meals plans or stretch routine. You should use your fitness objectives to determine your ideal schedule.
As part of this stage, you’ll want to think about other strategies to keep you motivated and on top of your goals. This can include accountability techniques like running in a group or working out with a friend.
A support system is a great way to stay on top of your goals.
Key Takeaways
SMART goals are truly the New Year’s resolutions of champions.
We’ve all been guilty of setting poor goals for ourselves. After all, it’s far easier to say you want to lose weight then it is to outline a clear plan with a timeline and ways to measure progress along the way.
However, SMART goals are more likely to drive positive change while the others will often amount to nothing.
Use SMART goals to create sustainable New Year’s fitness resolutions. Smashing your fitness goals has never been easier with the help of a few simple strategies.