This week I want to address a topic that applies to everyone who walks through our doors. Regardless of experience in the fitness community, all of us are goal-setters. Goals come in all shapes and sizes, and can be an incredibly helpful tool in reaching various achievements in the gym and for overall accountability. During the onset of our nutrition challenge, Nick, Heather, and myself were blessed with the opportunity to sit down with more than 40 of our members and find out what got them out of bed every morning and into the gym. (A feat not always celebrated but incredibly important.) For me personally, it was an awesome opportunity to not only meet some members I wouldn’t have normally had the opportunity with, but to hone my skills as an interviewer and nutrition coach.
One thing I noticed very quickly, and almost to a person, was that the majority of goals people were setting for themselves needed to be adjusted. Let me explain:
A popular one:
“I just want to get healthier.”
Or:
“I’m looking to get rid of some body fat and maybe add some muscle.”
If you’re reading this and remember saying something along those lines, I’m not picking on you. It was virtually everyone. Are those goals bad? Absolutely not. They’re just VAGUE. Be specific when setting your goals! The first thing we did during our nutrition consultation was slap you on the InBody scanner to get as much objective information as possible. Set objective goals!
Turn “lose weight” into “lose ten pounds.”
Turn “get healthier” into “log all calories for two straight weeks.”
Turn “exercise more” into “I want to come to the gym four days per week for a month.”
Do you see the difference? If you said you want to lose weight as a primary goal, go sit in the sauna for 30 minutes and sweat out two pounds. Mission accomplished. Did you want to eat better? Go get a banana from the store. They aren’t expensive. Technically speaking both of those were just accomplished, but is that setting us up for long term success? Nope.
Setting objective goals helps us keep track of our progress. Subjective goals can ebb and flow from day to day. They tend to carry very little accountability and are quickly abandoned.
The other side of this coin is that we absolutely, no doubt, 1000% need as much information about ourselves as possible. We know height, weight, and age. But what about muscle mass? Or body fat percentage? How are we ever going to set and meet goals if we don’t have that information? It’s necessary whether we think it is or not. LUCKILY FOR YOU: your friendly neighborhood NW Fitness has a biometric scanner! Use it! Don’t be scared! You can’t figure out where you want to go without determining where you’re at. And if you don’t like the numbers it gives you, work hard to change them. It’s that simple. Set objective goals, work objectively hard. The end.