If you only need another 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of weight on the bar before hitting a 1x bodyweight barbell squat, then a month or two of training is a realistic time frame. While there’s nothing wrong with major, long-term fitness goals, most fitness programs should focus on what you can achieve within several weeks to months, as opposed to a monumental target that will take a decade to achieve.Īn attainable goal will always be relative to your current fitness level. The third SMART criteria you must consider is whether the goal is attainable. If you cannot put a number on it, it’s not measurable and leaves too much room for interpretation as to whether you met your goal. With the rise of fitness trackers that allow you to measure your vital functions and athletic performance, setting measurable goals for almost every aspect of fitness has never been easier. You may lose a pound and see no physical change and end up being disappointed even though you technically lost weight. However, simply saying “I want to lose weight” is too vague. In line with being specific, the goals must also be measurable to allow you to gauge whether you’re meeting them.įor example, “ losing 10 pounds in 12 weeks” is a measurable goal that you can track. Goal specificity should remove any ambiguity regarding whether you hit your goals. Given the lack of specificity, it’s much harder to gauge whether you’re meeting your goal criteria, and if you aren’t, what you need to change to make it happen. If you just do a few minutes of walking, you’re technically exercising more but unlikely to see any results. This goal essentially means anything and nothing at the same time. At the end of a week, you either did or did not perform the workouts as planned.Ĭompare this with a goal such as “exercise more.” This is so specific that it leaves no room for interpretation. Specific goals have a numerical value by which you can determine your success or failure.Ĭonsider the previous example of performing resistance training 3 times per week for the next 8 weeks. Specificity is a must when it comes to setting SMART goals. Let’s break down each SMART criteria in more detail. This allows you to be the driver of whether you achieve the goal, as opposed to outside forces beyond your control that influence your outcome. This goal fits neatly into the SMART paradigm and gives you a distinct set of criteria that you have a great deal of control over. “I will perform r esistance training 3 times per week for the next 8 weeks.” In fact, SMART is an acronym that stands for the following ( 1):Ĭollectively, these traits define a SMART goal, whereas other goals do not sufficiently meet these criteria.Īccording to a 2010 overview on goal setting and action planning for behavioral change, SMART goals are necessary because they “help individuals focus their desires and intentions and create a standard by which success can be measured” ( 1).Īdditionally, SMART goals should be intrinsically motivating, based on both approach and mastery outcomes, and appropriately challenging. When it comes to setting SMART goals, the term does not just refer to cleverness or intelligence.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |