Coppell Trainer Tip Importance of Setting Goals
(Hint! Read to the end to see what is in store for the next GYIS Fitness Challenge)
As part of our program, we encourage all of our clients to verbalize their goals when they join the program. This helps us better understand how we can encourage and motivate you toward achieving your goals. Whether your new or a veteran to our program, this tip is intended to help you with write your goals and understand what it takes to achieve them.
[The following information are excerpts from various articles from www.active.com that are specific to this topic.]
Setting and successfully sticking to a fitness goal requires you to first plan the work and then work the plan. Do it the other way around and you’ll set yourself up for failure.
Follow these six tips to help you pick and stick to those fitness goals.
1. Write Down Your Goals
Once you’ve done that, put them in the present tense as if they’re happening right now, and look at them every day. Show them to friends and family, or anyone who will ask you about them all the time.
2. Make it a Short List
You want to be able to focus on the one main goal that is related to your fitness. You can have financial, relationship and community goals, but keep your fitness goal to that big juicy one that you really want to achieve. (Note from Julie: I recommend focusing your fitness and wellness goals on short durations, particularly if you are just getting into or back into a fitness routine. For example, if you are trying to do more off day cardio, set a weekly goal versus a 3 month goal. “I am going to run or walk 12 miles this week.” is a much more specific goal and one you focus on for the near term versus “I will run on average 12 miles per week over the next 3 months.” This may be a good goal for those who have already established a routine, but for someone just getting into it, you may be tempted to put off your 12 miles this week and “make up some miles” in following weeks.)
3. Make it a Destination
If you want to run a marathon, compete in a mud run or an obstacle course type of race, then plan to do it in a cool location. Plan a vacation to the place you’re going to be competing at. Train hard for the race, and then reward yourself with a few days of vacation.
4. Make it About Someone Less Fortunate
If exercise is something that is super challenging for you, then turn the effort into something more altruistic.
If you’re healthy, can walk, talk, hear, see and have no ailments, then donate a certain dollar amount for every pound you lose, for every percent of body fat lost, or how many miles you can run in a week. It’s important to remind ourselves it isn’t always about us, and there are others out there who wish they could do what you can do.
5. Staying Motivated is a Mindset
We can come up with all kinds of reasons not to do something, and most of those excuses don’t pass muster. Every day there should be a plan of attack to go to that workout, participate in that group fitness activity, or meet your friend before or after work to do that long walk or run. Set a daily plan of attack!
6. Find an Accountability Partner
If you can find someone who will hold you accountable and vice versa, then you’re more likely to stick with your training or nutrition plan.
Showing up is the most important part of keeping that motivation alive and conquering whatever goal you want to reach.
So many people want to do this or do that, but never take that first step or action. When you stop, the momentum is lost, which equals a loss in motivation.
The tips above are great, but some of you may not know how to write meaningful goals which is equally important. This next section will walk you through it.
Set Specific, Attainable Goals
Determine your top two or three fitness goals, then follow these steps:
- Make sure your goals are S.M.A.R.T. (Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-Driven). See below for additional details.
- Write your goals down and put them somewhere you’ll see them every day such as the bathroom mirror or your computer screen
- Share your goals with a support team; training partners, coaches, family, friends, co-workers
- Re-assess your goals periodically to ensure you’re progressing appropriately (every 4 to 6 weeks)
- In the words of strength and conditioning coach Dan John, “The goal is to keep the goal the goal.” Essentially, stay the course and don’t lose your focus
Start off Slow
When you’re ready to put your action plan in motion, start with simple goals and progress slowly. “When you engineer early success, you engineer hope. Hope is precious to change and will fuel you,” (Switch by Chip and Dan Heath). Starting off slow will give you hope that you’ll be successful, and help you build the momentum you need to stay on track.
It will also help you transition back into a routine. If you took some time off from the gym during the holidays, you need to ease back into exercise, just like a professional athlete coming back from an injury or time off. Slow, steady progress is better than no progress at all. We must crawl before we walk and walk before we run.
Take Action
Now that you have the right mindset, it’s time to create your plan and take action. Choose the strategy that works for you, devise your plan, and figure out how to track your progress. Measurement equals motivation, and if you don’t have a program in place, it will be much more challenging to gauge your development, make appropriate adjustments, and ensure consistency. These are all valuable components that will lead to results.
Once you have your game plan, it’s go time. Check the excuses at the door and get moving. Lack of time, which is a common excuse, is simply a lack of priorities. You must make your health a priority in your life. As humans we’re goal-driven creatures; tap in to what inspires you, put your plan in motion, and do whatever it takes to get the job done. No excuses.
The S.M.A.R.T Approach
Specific
Make sure your goals are precise and stated in performance terms. For instance, if you want to lose weight, your goal might be “to lose 15 pounds in the next 10 weeks.”
If you want to improve your athletic performance, your goal might be “to complete my first 10K race in the next three months.” If you want to improve your body composition, your goal can be “to reduce my body fat by 20 percent within the next six months.”
Measurable
A goal is measurable when it is easy to determine if it has been accomplished. The weight loss goal listed above is easily measured. Ten weeks from now you will either weigh 15 pounds less or not. Likewise, with the performance and body composition goals, it will be easy to determine if you are successful. Conversely, a goal to “reduce my risk of disease” is not very measurable. A better goal is to “reduce my LDL cholesterol by 20 points within the next year.”
Achievable
One of the biggest mistakes people make while setting goals is that they set unattainable goals. Goals should be set high, but they must also be realistic. A goal to lose 20 pounds in four weeks is both unrealistic and unhealthy. Likewise, if you are new to running and set a goal to finish a marathon in two months, you’re setting yourself up for both failure and pain. Make your goals challenging, but attainable.
Relevant
Your goals should be important to you. Don’t set a goal just because your friends, family members or exercise partners have set that goal. Your goals are your motivators to continue exercising, so make sure they are important to you.
Time-Bound
Make sure each goal has a specific time frame for completion. This allows you to easily determine if it has been achieved. It also increases the likelihood that you will accomplish each goal since you know the clock is ticking. For example, the goal “I want to lose 15 pounds in 10 weeks” has a time frame.
Source: http://www.active.com/fitness/articles/how-to-set-s-m-a-r-t-goals
http://www.active.com/fitness/Articles/3-Steps-to-Accomplish-Your-Fitness-Goals.htm
http://www.active.com/fitness/articles/6-tips-to-pick-and-stick-to-your-fitness-goals?page=2
The Challenge!
Now that you know how to set your goals, we are putting out another challenge for you and what better way is there to stay motivated then a challenge! Also, we have had such great feed back on how much you like the various fitness challenges GYIS has done that we thought it was a good time to introduce a new one.
Train for a Race
We have selected several types of races for the fall of 2014 that are very doable regardless of where you sit on the fitness scale today. Just a beginner? Train for your first 5K! (Maybe your first 5K in a while?). Did a couple of 5K’s and looking for that next distance? Train for a 10K! Want something a bit more challenging that isn’t just about running? Train for a Sprint Triathlon (swim, bike, run)!
During the first week of our July classes, we will have more details about the races and training plus a sign up sheet for those of you that are interested in taking on this next challenge. You pick a race or races that you might be interested in and the GYIS team will help you with your training plan.
Having a group of people to train with not only makes you more accountable, but also makes it a lot more fun. Sharing your victories and accomplishments together is a memory you won’t want to miss out on… AND there will be a celebration party at the end for all participants (and their fans)!
The following races are the ones that we are targeting for the “Train for a Race” Challenge:
September 27, 2014: Mercy Run 5K or 10K
September 27, 2014: Plano Balloon Festival 1/2 Marathon
September 13, 2014: Cooper Sprint Tri
October 26, 2014: Esprit de She. WOMEN ONLY duathlon (run, bike, run)
Article written by Get You In Shape Lead Trainer Julie McCan
Julie McCan, Lead Trainer @ Get You In Shape
Get You In Shape Trainer Since 2008
Certified Personal Trainer
American Council on Exercise
Julie currently is the Lead Trainer at Get You In Shape.
She leads and assists the other Get You In Shape personal trainers. She leads the clients as the fitness sessions
Julie spent 24 years in telecommunications industry before making the decision to retire from corporate life and embark on a journey to find a new passion. Since high school, personal fitness and overall wellness has been important to Julie. Once retired, she was able to refine her focus on her fitness and health goals.
After losing over 15 pounds through diet and exercise, she decided to try one of Brad’s Fitness Boot Camps to push her to the next level. Not only did she find what she was looking for in a total body workout, she also discovered her new passion may be in helping others with their fitness goals. Timing could not have been better since Brad was looking to grow his business and found Julie to be a great fit with his desire to “hand pick” his team and help them grow into personal trainers that can motivate, challenge, instruct and ultimately lead Get You In Shape Fitness Boot Camps. 
Julie has a great deal of empathy for Get You In Shape Fitness Boot Camp clients that struggle with keeping their fitness and health goals as a high priority. Her background, that included various high stress management positions, lots of travel, and a family life to juggle, mirrors many Fitness Boot Camp clients. Julie has been a resident of Coppell, TX since 1984 and feels a strong connection to the community and its residence. Being able to help people in her own community is just one more perk in realizing her passion.
It is in a large part due to the strong support of Julie’s husband, Chuck and daughter Erin (a 2007 CHS graduate and graduate of Colorado State University), that she has been able realize this passion. Through continuing education, certification courses and support from Brad Linder, she continues to learn and grow in her role as Lead Personal Trainer at Get You In Shape. However, the biggest reward for Julie has been to actually see the joy in clients when they realize their own fitness goals and see results from Get You In Shape Fitness Boot Camps.
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