Common Fitness Goals and 5 Steps to Achieve Them

 Physical fitness means better overall health, so it is not unusual to see that people strive to be physically fit. We have often heard the saying, “A healthy body has a healthy mind,” and based on several researches, that is very true. A healthy body has more energy throughout the day, and regular physical activity will improve your mood, focus, and sleep. A physically fit body is much more resistant to chronic and acute diseases.

But much like most other life goals, if you are not fit, you cannot achieve it without planning, effort, and dedication. So, dive into the world of fitness and learn how to achieve your fitness goals in 5 easy steps below.

Common Fitness Goals

 Fitness means something different for everyone. A heavyweight lifter would care a lot about muscle mass. At the same time, flexibility will be the top-most priority for a gymnast. The roadmap and training may be different based on your fitness goals. Here are some of the most common fitness goals;

Muscle Building

 Some people have no issue with their weight or how bulky they get. They train specifically to become stronger. You see many weightlifters lifting hundreds of pounds, but that doesn’t mean it has no health benefits. Having more muscle mass means you burn more calories, as muscle consumes three times the calories of fat. Even if you don’t reduce your weight, you can change your look significantly by building muscle.

Losing Weight

 Obesity can increase the risk of chronic illnesses and reduce the overall quality of life. Losing weight by shedding fat is the most common goal of people who get into fitness. These workouts are designed to shed fat and reduce how much a person weighs. Some people also use dietary methods like intermittent fasting to further maximize their weight management progress. But does intermittent fasting work for women as well as it does for men when it comes to drastically decreasing weight? Well, it is best if women consult their physician first.

Improving Stamina

 If you focus on building muscle or losing weight, you rarely do anything to improve your overall endurance. People who target stamina training specifically focus on improving how long they can withhold intense workouts. Stamina training requires 20-30 minutes of high-intensity workout sessions that increase your heart rate.

Toning Your Body

 A toned body is the perfect middle ground if you want to get fit but don’t want to overdo mass gain, weight loss, or endurance training—workouts for toning focus on an all-round exercise for the entire body. You may not lose much weight or build very well-defined muscles, but your body will look significantly better.

5 Easy Steps to Help You Achieve Your Goals

 As described above, succeeding in your fitness journey doesn’t happen by chance. You must put in the proper effort and take the necessary steps to get where you want to be. Here are a few steps that will aid you in achieving the healthy body you want;

Know Your Long-Term Goals

 Make a firm goal that you want to achieve and set a timeline for that. Whether getting a sub-6-minute mile or losing 50 pounds, write it down and put it somewhere you see it daily. Set a timeframe to achieve that goal, anything you can comfortably reach. Stick to that goal and hold yourself accountable to it.

Make Short-Term Milestones

 Once all your long-term goals are set, it may seem like a gigantic feat that you have no roadmap to achieve. But when you make a long-term plan, you quickly lose sight of how to change your daily routine. You may start putting it off for the next day or week, resulting in failure.

 Set short-term goals and try to achieve them. Dividing your goal into small milestones will not only make your goal look more achievable but will keep you motivated and well on track for success. Ensure that your goals are attainable so you don’t frustrate yourself.

Monitor Your Progress

 The quantifiers of success determine whether you are on the right track when you have a business goal. You can see your business is on the right path through reports of growth and profit in your business. The same goes for your fitness goals. You can only track whether you are succeeding once you have measurable results. If your only goal is to lose weight, then a weighing scale is all you need, but it can get trickier with more complicated workouts.

Get a fitness watch to keep track of your workouts and overall health. This will give you better pointers to monitor your progress and give you the measurable results you need to stay on track.

Find Inner Motivation

 Naturally, you may not achieve your goals each time, but that shouldn’t make you lose sight of the end goal. The most important thing to keep hitting your short and long-term goals is consistent motivation. This motivation should come from the inside and not depend on validation or acceptance from someone else.

 An excellent way to determine whether you will succeed depends on why you want to attain that goal. If you are motivated by anything other than your desire to get fit, it can become much harder to stick to a routine and change your life. So, if you don’t want to hit your long-term goals purely out of personal interest, it’s best to focus on something that fulfills you.

Reward Yourself

 Fitness is a long and strenuous journey, especially if you last took care of your body a long while ago. Getting up and doing something out of your comfort zone can quickly make you miserable and frustrated. If you fail to reward yourself and don’t give yourself credit for the small steps you take, for sticking to a routine despite its toughness, you may give up on your goals.

Try to make your fitness journey enjoyable by finding ways that motivate you to go each day. Get a group of friends to join you on your fitness journey and find substitutes and alternatives for things you don’t like. In a nutshell, don’t force yourself to do something you don’t want to.