Everyone wants to become better, healthier and more productive, but so many women know very little about how to set fitness goals. There is a lot of conflicting advice online from all sorts of professionals and enthusiasts, making it difficult to decide whose advice you should take.
Some people say you should throw yourself in at the deep end and get stuck in, while others think becoming fitter is only achievable by following a rigorous and time-consuming regime. We have looked at real people, psychology and personal experience to gather some tips that we have work time and time again.
Here is how you can set, work towards and achieve your fitness goals, whatever they might be.
What Are Your Fitness Goals and Why?
So, what are good fitness goals? Figuring out why you are going out for a run, lifting weights or enrolling in more online classes, is one of the top tips to ensure you stay motivated. All of us have made the same goal for different reasons and so keeping this in mind will help you get out there, on those days when you might not feel like it.
In those challenging times remind yourself that you are training for an event, working towards becoming healthier for the people around you or just seeing what you can achieve. Fitness goal setting in this way, will make you more likely to succeed and give your efforts and milestones direction on your fitness journey.
Great Workout Goals for Women
Our goals are personal to us and yours could range from improving your diet, achieving exercise goals or developing your overall well being in your everyday life. Here are some examples of fitness goals for women:
Aim for Something Measurable
While many of our fitness goals have very subjective outcomes such as improving our mood and motivating us, when setting fitness goals it is good to make it measurable. Feeling better about ourselves is a very valuable by-product of working towards your goals, but in order to improve your overall health and fitness you should make your goal quantifiable, so you can keep on track.
This could mean putting aside 10 minutes a day to meditate or doing at least 5 max reps during a strength training session when maxing out your efforts. This stops us from saying ‘I don’t need to today’, or ‘I’m already feeling good and don’t need to go to pilates.’ This helps to keep us motivated, keep us moving forward and will hold you accountable when you know you could be doing more.
At First, Make it Attainable
One key thing to keep in mind when creating and working towards fitness aspirations is to make sure it is attainable, at least at first. Don’t start too hard - this means that if you have never been for a run before, signing up for a half marathon might not be the best fitness goal for you. This doesn’t mean you're not capable, or that you won’t be in the future, but first start by signing up to a 5km run instead.
Setting realistic fitness goals often makes people more likely to achieve their goals and keeps them motivated to do and achieve more. Achieving the goal you set out to achieve is an incredible feeling, so enjoy the journey and the small wins you achieve each week along the way. This approach will see you fitter and happier in the long run.
Break Down Each Step of Your Journey
When you first sketch out what you want to achieve, it can seem like a daunting task. Breaking down your journey and picking apart the process can make you feel more prepared psychologically. Making a personal goal sheet also gives you a plan to work with.
Make a Benchmark
For many people, this means starting small and building up their fitness levels and what they are capable of. Make a benchmark for yourself by going for a swim, for example, and seeing how much you can do in one session. Note down your time, how many lengths you did, effort level and how you felt the session went, this will be your starting point.
Create Building Blocks
As you work towards your objective, you will naturally improve and get better. You can scale up and increase the time, distance or weight of your workouts, which will naturally happen as you become fitter and stronger. You can do this by considering the stats and effort level in your benchmark session, which should give you an idea of what you are capable of over the next few weeks.
Plan in Breaks and Rests
It can be very tempting to set wild goals and throw all your time and efforts into achieving them. However, an important component of improving your practice and fitness is planning in those vital rest days. This includes taking into consideration holidays, social engagements, as your fitness has to fit in with your life too.
Take Your Cycle Into Account
When a woman is to set goals around exercise or diet, it's important to mention the menstrual cycle. Too many women forget that this will affect the results in periods and thus should be taken into account. We recommend planning a calmer session around your period and most importantly - do not use a scale these days! This will make it easier to stick to your training plan, you won't be disappointed if it was suddenly harder to do the same workout you did some days ago. This is because most women do gain some weight when they’re having their menstrual cycle.
The Home Run
The moment you’ve been working towards, this is when you have to bring every you’ve got. If you’ve progressed well, kept on track and been smart with your rest days, you should be on your way to the finish line. If your goal was to join a race, event or class, you need to be prepared, well-rested and energised, so you can give it everything you’ve got. If your goal is to lose some weight or start training, it is when you're hitting your goal when the real work begins. Now it's time to put everything you have done and learn so far and make it a lifestyle to remain your results.
To find more about how to set to fitness goals and advice on becoming a better you, visit the YouCanShape blog to find out more. Or, take a look at our 30-day-free-trial, to start your health and wellbeing journey, today.
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What must women take into account when setting a fitness goal
