After a few months of inactivity, I thought it would be appropriate to come out of hibernation and give some recommendations on how to be successful with your health and fitness related goals for 2015. This time of the year is renowned for a large influx of “resolutioners” in commercial gyms. While their motivations for being there are typically benign, they often lack proper direction and tend to default to their old ways within a few weeks. I want to cover SMART goal setting in order to help you succeed with your New Year’s resolution.
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. SMART.
Specific – As with all components of SMART goal setting, specific goals should have direction. Instead of saying “I want to get in shape”, the means for getting in shape should be defined and the goal should sound something like “I want to get in shape by going to the gym four times per week and managing my caloric intake”. The specificity component is is extremely important and allows the next component to come into play.
Measurable – Intelligent goal setting requires some form of quantifying the outcome. It isn’t enough to say something along the lines of “I want to increase my bench press”. Although this is a step in the right direction, the statement lacks a way of tracking progress and doesn’t give the individual a way to know when this goal has been met. Do you want to increase your bench press by 5 pounds or 50? And for how many repetitions? A measurable goal will sound like, “I want to be able to bench press 1.5 times my body weight for one repetition”. This will allow smaller, intermediate benchmarks to be targeted along the way and will give some context towards overall programming.
Attainable – In my opinion, this is the most important component of SMART goal setting. Goals should be achievable and challenging at the same time. It shouldn’t take you one month to achieve a goal that you planned on working towards for the next twelve months. On the other side of the spectrum, you shouldn’t be setting yourself up for failure with something that’s completely unattainable. Establish a goal that you’ll have to reach for, but should be able to attain with the proper focus and training.
Realistic – Realistic and attainable goals are very similar, but differ in the fact that realistic goals have more context as they relate to each individual. If you’ve never run a 5K, but you want to be able to run a full marathon in under four hours within the calendar year, you might be overreaching. Reaching your goals is a progressive process that shouldn’t involve skipping steps in order to arrive at an outcome. It’s all well and good to challenge yourself, but make sure your goals are realistic. This isn’t to say that someone who has never run a 5K won’t be able to run a marathon – it just may take more time to get there. This leads me to the last component.
Timely – SMART goal setting involves creating a timetable for your goals. This aids in creating accountability and will help you know if you’re on the right track. I’m a firm believer in setting long term (think one year or longer) goals that can be subdivided into shorter, intermittent goals. The intermittent goals create a check and balance system and ultimately lead you to your longer term goals in a progressive manner. If you want to add 60 pounds to your 1RM deadlift over the next year, a great way to break this down into a more manageable goal is to add 5 pounds every month.
I’ll conclude this post with some general things to keep in mind as you embark on your 2015 goals. When you enter the gym, make sure you have a plan every single day. This is a major reason that people quickly give up on their fitness aspirations. You should know exactly what you’re going to do in the gym that day before you even walk through the doors, and why you’re doing it. This comes down to every exercise, the number of sets and repetitions, the amount of rest, the amount of weight, etc. Keeping a journal to track your progress is a great way to help with this and is something that I’ve done religiously for the past two years.
Lastly, be patient. You’ll probably notice some small improvements in the beginning, but the majority of your progress will take a lot of time. Don’t give up just because you haven’t noticed any change in the way you look after one week or because you still can’t run two miles without sucking wind for the next 10 minutes. Understand that it’s a process that’s more about the journey rather than the destination. Small adaptations will gradually happen over time, and you’ll achieve what you set out to before you know it. Stay patient and be consistent.
Happy New Year and best of luck in 2015!
Rosenthal Fitness 