I told you recently that instead of making resolutions, I am setting 2015 SMART goals for myself. I prefer to set SMART goals, as opposed to making resolutions, and then work to achieve them. This last hear, I set SMART fitness goals, in addition to my other life goals, and then worked to achieve them. I’m happy to say that I did achieve them. I’m doing the same for 2015 and thought I’d share with you how I set SMART fitness goals.
First, fitness goals should be SMART goals, like any other goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Relevant, and Time-Targeted.
Specific– it’s important that goals are specific because specific goals have a greater chance of being accomplished than general goals. Determining the who, what, when, where, and why of your goals helps you frame in your mind what your goal will look like, and why it is that you want to achieve it.
Meaurable– to set yourself up for success, goals need to be measurable. If you can’t measure your progress, you have no way of knowing whether or not your getting closer to them. Setting both short range and long range goals are key to success. Break your long range goals into smaller goals, because little successes motivate you toward the bigger ones.
Achievable– Set yourself up for success by setting goals that are achievable. Do you honestly think you can achieve your goal and have all the resources, including time, to do so?
Realistic and Relevant– You need to be willing to work toward your goal to make it happen. If you’re not willing to work toward it, chances are, it’s not going to happen. Goals should involve work, so set the bar higher than you can currently achieve, but not so high that you give up before you start.
Time-targeted– Having a specific timeline for goals helps you get started and stay motivated.
So far, my 2015 SMART Fitness goals are…
As you can see, the top three are running related. I want to run daily, RUN an entire 5K (no walk breaks), and complete at least one half marathon. To that end, I am using Hal Higdon’s half marathon training guide, and on rest days I’m running one mile with my son. He and I are running a 5K together on Thursday. As part of the training, I am doing a 10K on February 7th, and my first half marathon is March 21st. I’ll be using the Jabra Step
and an awesome playlist to stay motivated and keep my feet moving.
My current body fat percentage is 34%, so I want to lose at least 10% body fat in a year. That’s less than 1% per month, which should be feasible.
I want to do 10 real push ups. I can only do about three real push ups in a row, so I do push ups on my knees in my body pump class, and feel like a real wimp next to some of the older women who bust out push ups from their toes like nobody’s business. If I add one real push up every week, I’ll be doing 10 in a row before the end of February.
I can do a 90 second wall sit and a 90 second plank, so I want to double my time on those. If I increase each by 15 seconds a week, I can be doing 3 minute planks and wall sits by Valentine’s Day.
I’m doing the max phase of an Advocare 24 Day Challenge in January and joined a Strong and Lean in 2015 Diet Bet with some friends that starts on January 5th.
As you can see, my fitness goals are all SMART goals. They are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and relevant, and time-targeted.
How do you set fitness goals?
