Fitness Goals vs. goal weight

That's right. Most people, when they think of physical fitness goals or new year's resolutions, for the most part think of their goal weight or dress size. Let's try thinking about FITNESS GOALS as what they really are: goals to help you reach a level of physical fitness.

The "goal weight" idea is a good one, but too general. That is the problem with these goals: way too general, no plan in place, way too easy to let go of. Am I right? Yes, I think so, and I will further explain.
I have been conducting and hosting fitness goals in my neighborhood for the past year. The results have been great! We measure success on if the fitness goal has been reached, not by the goal weight desired. Separate the two. Especially for new exercisers, or shall we say "just getting back into it again" exercisers.

The first goal was a group FITNESS GOAL of getting 200 hours of working out COLLECTIVELY for 1 month. And we made it to 252! There was high attendance at every aerobics class I taught, and many participants who had not previously been exercising on their own outside of class, began putting in some more hours. The hidden objective in there was getting participants to commit to more exercise than they already were. Goal reached? Yes. What fitness attributes were attained? Higher level of endurance, toning up, more calories burned, and most importantly the HABIT as I so strongly believe in. For this goal it didn't matter what form of exercise they did, just that they spent time doing it. They had to report to me their hours, and no one wanted to report low hours. One participant owned a local restaurant, Barbacoa, and hosted our reward: a free dinner and girls' night out! Which we all thoroughly enjoyed!

The next few posts will be committed to showing you the other FITNESS GOALS I conducted throughout this past year. Hopefully you will find one that intrigues you or at least gets a spark going for your own idea. But remember, think FITNESS GOAL instead of goal weight. You can reward your hard work, your habit, your perseverance. The physical body change will take care of itself as long as you stick with your FITNESS GOAL! Too many people give up because they aren't getting to their goal weight fast enough, or they are too busy. A FITNESS GOAL will give you something specific to do, keep track of and think about doing. Specifics is the key to achieving your FITNESS GOAL!