How to Set Fitness Goals That Stick

When it comes to the attainment your fitness goals, one of the top tips to keep in mind is consistency. But consistency is not always easy. We often start fitness routines with good intentions because we are excited about looking and feeling better. That enthusiasm is great fuel to get started, and setting fitness goals is a good next step, but even combined, they may not be the golden ticket. You must also create the behavioral change necessary to adhere to them.

We know that reaching your fitness goals is important, and we’re here to help you achieve them. So let’s go over some essential steps to creating goals that stick. You can also explore these fitness goals for more ideas on planning your personal health and exercise journey.

Why health and wellness goals are undervalued (and essential)

Yes, we went there. Setting goals is fun. You begin to visualize how your body looks and feels healthier and fitter. But dreams alone won’t get you where you want to go. The secret sauce? Behaviour change. Behaviour change occurs when a new set of actions becomes habitual. That is, the behaviour no longer requires as much conscious thought, but is instead triggered by contextual cues, for example, seeing exercise clothes placed next to the bed, having the alarm go off at the same time every morning, seeing someone else doing exercise online or getting a reminder from the FitOn app to exercise on your phone.

You may be thinking: “exercise will never become a steady thing for me”. And even for the most experienced, exercise can seem like an imposition on some days. But ask a fit individual to go a week without movement, and they’ll be crazy and restless in a few days. Exercise has become such an in-built part of your life that cutting it out creates more discomfort than the routine issue. No matter where you are in your fitness journey, take the following steps, and soon enough, exercise will become a hard habit to break. Keep in mind that creating an exercise habit is not the same as exercise addiction, which can be harmful.

The First Step: Setting SMART Fitness Goals

Why is it important to set goals? It is the first step to creating a new habit. But it takes a special kind of goal actually to lead to behaviour change. The objectives that are maintained are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

This is your “how-to”. If you set a goal to lose weight, think about the steps you will take to achieve it. Will you exercise three days a week? Sleep a certain number of hours?

Measurable

How will you track your progress? This should include quantifiable data. Returning to our weight-loss example, how many kilos do you want to lose? How many kilos per week is realistic?

Achievable

Setting lofty goals is important, but going beyond what is reasonable will only lead to failure. When you create achievable goals, you can see progress. The more you achieve, the more confident you’ll feel about setting new goals.

Before deciding on a routine, consider how much exercise you should do based on your current fitness level and goals. Start with a manageable amount of activity and increase it gradually as your strength and endurance improve.

Relevant

Your goal should be meaningful to you. It should motivate you to get up in the morning and work through your day. If you set a weight-loss goal because your doctor told you to, it may not be very intrinsically motivating for you. It is an invitation to find your own “why”. Is it about losing weight so you can live long enough to meet your grandchildren? Spend less money on medical expenses? Ascend the stairs without getting out of breath? Whatever it is, find something that seems relevant to you.

Time-Bound

A deadline should be associated with your goal to keep you on track and create a sense of urgency. Decide how many weeks or months it will take you to reach your goal, and set smaller milestones to check your progress along the way.

How to set long-term fitness goals

Thinking about big goals is exciting. Give it a try, think of a really important personal health or fitness goal that you have for yourself. When you do this, do you notice your eyes widen? Maybe it will put a smile on your face. But then you start thinking about how long it will take to get there, about the obstacles that will stand in your way, and soon you convince yourself not to even try.

That’s why it’s so important to break down your big personal fitness goals into smaller ones to avoid burnout. If something seems too far away, it’s much easier to come up with reasons why it won’t work.

Start by asking yourself what you need to do each month to reach this larger fitness goal. Then consider what you need to accomplish every week. This will help you create the SMART goals that will ultimately lead you to the big goal. Simply by meeting your short-term goals, you will achieve your long-term ones.

Your plan should also reflect your age, current abilities, and recovery needs. Learn how often you should do physical activity according to your age to help build a consistent and sustainable routine.

List of good fitness goals

So what does a good fitness goal look like? Here are some examples:

  • I will lose 10 pounds in the next 5 weeks by strength training 3 times a week, doing cardio for 150 minutes a week, and eating lean protein, lots of vegetables, some fruit, healthy fats, and some complex carbs.
  • I will increase my deadlift from 130 to 170 lbs in the next two months, adding deadlifts to my lower-body training days twice a week and increasing the weight by 5 lbs each week.
  • I’ll be able to run for 30 minutes straight next month by running three times a week. I will run 15 minutes straight in the first week, 20 minutes straight in the second, 25 minutes straight in the third, and 30 minutes straight in the fourth.

How to reach your fitness goals

#1 Create an exercise routine

If you can, try to schedule your workouts at the same time each day or week. Successful fitness routines need to have some structure, especially in the beginning. Exercising at the same time will help you start to associate that time of day with breaking a sweat. This is one of the best ways to create habits that stick.

#2 Use sensory cues

Whether it’s packing your workout clothes the night before, filling your water bottle, playing specific music, or setting a reminder on your phone, the more sensory cues you can create to remind yourself to exercise, the better. Your brain will recognize these signals and start preparing your body for exercise. You may feel restless or start daydreaming about how good you’ll feel when you exercise. This means it is working.

#3 Give it 30 days

Most people have been told that it takes 21 days for a habit to become established, but it can take longer. At that 21-day mark, there may still be a desire to return to previous behaviours. For example, you have gone 21 days without meat. The desire for meat may continue to exist. After all, you have cravings and you can’t wait for three weeks to eat it again. If you’re not going to be a vegetarian for life, this is fine. However, exercise can be a beneficial long-term habit. So if you still yearn for a more sedentary life, don’t assume you’ve failed. Give yourself more time and keep building a routine that fits your life. Habits develop at different rates for different people.

Remember to have a little grace

No matter how long you’ve been exercising regularly, there will be days when you don’t have time to train, feel under the weather, or just can’t muster the motivation to break a sweat. It’s okay, you’re human. Take a breath, dust it off, and do it again the next day. Behaviour change takes time and effort. Create realistic standards for yourself. You are human and not every day will be perfect.