3 Goal Setting Tips For Your Health And Fitness Program

3 Goal Setting TipsFor Your Health

 And Fitness Program  

You wouldn't start or grow a business without an idea - a clear idea of where you would like to require your business and how you would get there. Instead, you will assess your income and expenses, choose a location for your office, select your hours of operation and develop strategies to overcome obstacles.

Your health and fitness program deserves the same level of attention, whether you are just beginning to develop your fitness plan or are looking to expand and improve your current program.

Setting goals for your health and fitness programme

You need to know why you want to get fit before you start a new health and fitness programme. Maybe your trousers ripped as you were getting up to greet your date, and you thought, "I really need to do something about this." Maybe you can't continue to hang out with your grandchildren. Maybe there is a heart condition in your family, and you would like to avoid carrying on the tradition.

Whatever the reason, confirm that you are doing it for yourself. You are not doing it just to please your mother-in-law or your doctor. Then, after assessing your current fitness level, start setting specific goals. Research shows that goal setting works.

Here we look at the different types of goals you should set.

Tip 1 - Long-term goals

Give yourself a time frame for the next six months. Some people get very creative with long-term goals for their health and fitness program.

You need to make sure that your long-term goals are realistic. If you have decided to run your first full marathon, you should not do it in your first training session. On the other hand, don't be afraid to dream. Visualise running in the local marathon competition. Choose a goal that stimulates you. This is often something that is out of reach at the time, but not out of reach. People are often surprised by what they will achieve.

My Uncle Dave was 60 when he started training for a half marathon. He trained 6 days a week alongside his boyfriend. After six months of training, Uncle Dave successfully completed the half marathon. He was the oldest in the competition, but not the slowest. His success inspired him to train to run the full marathon.

You have to judge for yourself what is realistic. Some people rise to the occasion when they set goals that seem almost impossible. Others get discouraged by setting extremely high expectations. If you are a beginner, try to set moderately ambitious goals. If you achieve your goals before you expect to, it's time to set more ambitious goals. Here are some concrete examples of long-term goals that will stimulate your imagination:

Complete a 20 kilometre race in 3 hours in six months. Lose 5% body fat in 20 weeks.

Tip 2 - Short-term goals

Six months may be a long time to feel a sense of achievement. To stay motivated, you need to feel a sense of accomplishment along the way. Set short-term goals, from one week to at least one month. Here are some examples:

Use the stairlift four times a week for half an hour each time you do it.

Improve your walking by one kilometre by 30 seconds in one week.

Cycle 50 kilometres every week for the next three weeks.

Tip 3 - Immediate goals

Immediate goals require goals for each week, each day or each workout. This way, when you walk into the gym, you don't have to waste time deciding what exercises to try for. Examples of immediate goals are

Going to the gym 3 times a week.

Run 5 kilometres twice a week.

Cycle 15 kilometres twice a week.

You see, goals are like points on a compass that will help you get to where you want to go.

Is there anything you'd like to look for on your way to improving your fitness? Once you exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet, you will live a healthier, happier and longer life.