One of the most efficient ways to start off your fitness journey is to set up some goals that you can achieve which will give you the motivation to keep going after you see that it’s possible to reach them. A smart way to approach setting your goals is to start with some short term goals that won’t require too much effort on your part to stick to them. If you start yourself off by setting long term goals that even the best athletes in the world are having trouble achieving them.
The feeling is just much better when you achieve your goals after only a week of exercising and makes you want to keep going toward your next goal and achieve that one as well.
Both short and long term goals are important for your overall fitness and it’s crucial that you set ones that are achievable and ideally your short term goals would help you eventually get to the long term ones.
A few short term goals that would definitely help you out when starting your healthy lifestyle are:
Exercising Regularly
The best short term goal you can set for yourself is to be consistent with your workouts. It’s much better to exercise 3 times a week for a long time than it is to exercise for a full week and then stop working out the following week. If you’re just starting out on your fitness journey, our suggestion is that you start slow, like 20-30 minutes exercise 3 times per week.
This will develop a good habit of working out as well as increase your stamina and you’ll feel more energized after a few workouts. It’s very important to stick to your goal no matter how hard you think it is and how lazy you feel at the moment.
The first week is the most important to properly develop the habit of working out. After a few weeks you won’t need to make yourself do the exercises but you’ll be glad to because you’ll notice that they are effective.
Burning Extra Weight
Another great short term goal to set for yourself is losing some weight. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount of weight or even a significant amount because the idea behind this is that it’s measurable and when you see that you achieved this small goal it will give you the motivation to continue on the same path.
This short term goal, paired up with the previous one we mentioned is a definite recipe for success because they complement each other perfectly.
Gradually Increase Stamina and Strength
It’s imperative for you to be as realistic as possible when setting up your short term fitness goals. It’s quite hard for someone that wasn’t active for a long time to get up and run for 20-30 minutes straight. Setting a goal of this sort will only discourage you because you won’t be able to accomplish it. Instead it would be much more beneficial to set the timer to 5 minutes and slowly increase the time as the weeks go by.
This will gradually increase your stamina and strength and you’ll eventually be able to run for 20 minutes without any problems.
On the other hand we have long term goals that are also good to have because while the short term goals are keeping you motivated because you’re able to accomplish them every week, the long term ones will encourage you to continue keeping your exercise routines in order to be able to get to them eventually.
Long term goals are usually a product of following all of your short term goals. They can’t be achieved in a couple of weeks or even a couple of months. It usually takes much longer and sticking to your short term goals is the key to achieving your long term ones.
A few long term goals you can set for yourself are
Losing Weight
While this is mentioned in the short term goals, it can be a long term goal as well. A short term goal would be losing a few pounds in the first month while a long term example of this goal would be to lose like 50 so you can fit in your dress or tuxedo you’re planning to wear on your friend’s wedding that is a few months away.
Eating Healthier
A lot of people consider diets as a short term goal that will help them quickly lose a few pounds for an occasion that is a month away so they search the internet for some ridiculously unhealthy diet that might help you lose a lot of pounds quickly but at the same time decrease your overall health significantly and damage your immune system making you much more susceptible to illnesses.
Committing to a diet is actually a long term goal that would not only help you lose weight because you won’t eat empty calories that increase your weight but will also help you live a healthier life.
When you consider going on a diet you have to know that the diet you are committing to is one that you will need to stick to for a long period of time and not just one month.
Running a Marathon
An easy to explain example of a long term goal is running a marathon. If you’ve never ran a marathon before this isn’t a goal that you can achieve easily and you’ll need to constantly practice and slowly add miles to your running routine.
If you start out with a 5k run it won’t be easy to get to a 42k in a short time. You’ll have to slowly increase the length of your runs day by day in order to get the desired 42k. This is a process that can take anywhere from 6 months to a year depending on your determination, current fitness level and free time.
Hopefully this post helped you differentiate between short term and long term fitness goals and motivated you to set a few for yourself in order to start living a healthier life overall.
If you’re struggling with setting some goals for yourself you can always ask us for help either by using the comment section below or contacting us directly.
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