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He who fails to plan is planning to fail

When we embark on a new exercise regime, motivation and enthusiasm are what gets us started, and keeps us going... to a point. However, motivation only lasts so long. We've all been there:

• super enthusiastic at the beginning
• new gym gear
• alarm set ready to get up early
• they'll be NO wine this week
• the water bottle is filled because we defiantly will drink more water this time
• the fruit bowl is overflowing with all the extra fruit that we absolutely will eat this week
• As for chocolate,....forget it! I'm sugar free from here on in.

But when the alarm gets snoozed, the exercise skipped in favour of something else (there's always tomorrow right?!), the wine creeps in (it's been a stressful day) the fruit goes mouldy and ends up in the bin (again), the chocolate was a necessity (emotional day). What then?

• What is going to keep us going when motivation starts to decrease?
• And how can we stop the yo yo dieting and start stop exercising?
• How can we make it different this time?

The answer — personal goals. Or perhaps a better way of looking at it is, our "whys". When a new client starts personal training with me, I'll want to know what the goal is. But more importantly, why?

• Why do you want to lose weight?
• Why do you want to get fitter?
• Why do you want to get stronger?

When motivation starts to leave the building, it's the why that we draw upon and that is what gets us doing what we need to do every day to achieve our end goals. Types of goal setting for personal training

Types of goal setting for personal training

There are a few different types of goals and looking at all 3 helps to work out what we want to achieve and moreover, what steps we need to take to ensure success.

Outcome goal

Focuses on results — e.g, completing a 5k in less than 30 minutes within 5 months / losing 2 stone within 6 months

Performance goal

The milestones you hit along the way to your outcome goal e.g doing a 5k run/walk in 45 minutes after 1 month, 40 minutes after 2 months etc / losing 7ibs in 6 weeks

Process goal

This is a goal that can be achieved by completing an action. It's a mini goal which we complete often and doing just that, helps to make the outcome goal happen e.g, walking every day/counting calories/daily stretching.

Sometimes the big goal can seem too challenging and so far away that we end up giving up. Through understanding why our goal is important to us and building process goals into our day, we make the end goal achievable. Every time we hit one of these process goals, we get a hit of dopamine (the "feel good" neurotransmitter) and this helps keep the motivation high.

"But I just want to (insert goal here) lose a few Ibs / walk a bit further / get a bit healthier,..... I don't need to do all that". Yep, you're right, you don't NEED to, but it sure does help to give you that little nudge and remind you what's important when the going gets tough and you decide yet again that you'll start again tomorrow. What is it they say about tomorrow,....

Let's look at some goal setting examples

Weight loss

A very vague goal but one that I hear most days (and this could be and probably will be a whole other article on its own!)

• How much do you want to lose?
• Why do you want to lose weight?
• What will you be able to do once you have lost x amount?
• How will you feel?

The answers to these questions are personal and will vary from one person to the next.

It could be that your weight puts you in an unhealthy weight category, so you want to lose weight to improve your heath which in turn could lead onto you feeling better in so many ways, reduced load through the joints, day to day life feeling easier, lower blood pressure, reduction in medications, improvement in asthma. The list goes on and on.

Perhaps the extra weight is also creating some health problems which are more mental rather than physical. Clothes not fitting can cause anxiety about going to work/standing up and doing that presentation with everyone looking at you/standing in the school playground/comparing yourself to others. Not wanting to eat in front of other people for fear of judgement.

"Feeling" uncomfortable in your own skin is a horrible place to be. Feelings of upset, disappointment and guilt pave the way for anxiety/depression/stress/poor sleep. Give it time and these "feelings" can start to turn physical.

Once you've answered the questions you will have a few whys to draw upon when you need to which will be more powerful than "I want to lose weight"

Don't think about the end goal (losing 1 stone/5 stone/ 10 stone). Break it down. You need to lose 1Ib and then you need to repeat the process.

Generally speaking, you need to do something to create a calorie deficit, and that can be achieved in a number of different ways.

Before I get anyone pull me up on this, I said "generally"! There will be some people who eat too little and have done this for a prolonged period of time so much so that the metabolism has got confused and actually you need to work on eating more but in a controlled way,.... But this is a whole other article.

Get stronger / get fitter

Again very vague. Go through the same process

• Why is getting fitter important to you?
• How is your lack of strength affecting you currently?
• Does your fitness limit you?
• What will you be able to do when you are stronger that you can't do now?

Feeling strong and fit is hugely empowering. Knowing that you are fit and strong enough to lead the life that you want to live is powerful.

• Is it that you have prioritised your career or raising your children and now you realise that looking after yourself has fallen by the wayside?
• Maybe you are getting a little older and tasks that you used to complete without any difficulty are becoming harder?
• Getting up and down off the floor to play with your grandchildren could be starting to feel like an effort
• Going up and down the stairs leaves your muscles tired and your lungs puffed out
• Or perhaps you find that your lack of strength means your body hurts, you rest and do less, which over time makes this problem a bigger problem

Getting stronger and fitter does not need to take up hours and hours of your time. Breaking it down into small process goals will lead to success. Consistency is key and by being consistent your body will thank you for it.

Get healthier

To be able to do what? why? Why? Why?

It doesn't matter what your goal is. The process is the same. Spend the time working out why it is important to you and then break it down.

What do you need to do EVERY day to be successful with this goal?

It is not selfish to take some time to look after yourself. We get one body to live in and our families get one of us. Prioritise yourself.

And if you've read all the way to the end and you still don't think you need to take a few moments to work through this stuff, tell me,.....

• how's it been working out for you so far?
• Have you achieved those goals?
• What will it hurt to try something different?

If you need help breaking down your goals and putting them into action then please drop me a message.