Wednesday, December 12, 2012

New Year, New You, Set a Goal



The New Year is rapidly approaching, and as it does every year fitness clubs around the world will see a rapid influx of new members as the ‘resolutioners’ invades.  What is a resolutioner?  It is one of those people whom joins a gym during the January rush hell-bent on this being the year that fitness is a priority and health is reclaimed.  Most show up with great intentions but no game plan or sense of direction.  Almost all of them pour frantic energy into the new exercise regimen but without a defined goal or plan.  As a result, by end of February or early March, most resolutioners fizzle out due to frustration and a lack of success.

Avoiding this is a complicated process, but the dream of a healthier body can be achieved.  The process begins by setting a goal.  But not just any goal, a SMART goal: one that is Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, Time.   Do not say “I want to lose weight.”  Be specific; how much weight?  Specify a number and the goal becomes measurable.  A measurable goal is something that is attainable; the body can achieve what the mind conceives.  Attainable can be evaluated to determine whether or not it is realistic for a person to accomplish.  Sometimes, people become so fixated on seeing a certain number the scale the person never stops to consider whether or not that change would be a healthy one.  If person is only twenty pounds overweight but insists on losing forty pounds negative health consequences will come from this change.  Make sure a knowledgeable, certified fitness professional is working to help make this a health goal.  From here the proper Time can be established.  Many people that I have worked with get frustrated with this part.  If a person needs to lose fifty pounds, that will not happen in a month.  Understand that for permanent body composition change, for most people, it is not advantageous to lose more the two pounds per week.  Keep this in mind when establishing a proper time frame to achieve the goal.  I use the questionnaire below with all of my clients; use it to aid in developing a smart goal.


Goal-Setting Questionnaire
For Fitness Program Development



Client Name:                                      

Today’s Date:                                     

 
 






The purpose of this form is to properly identify the goal of the program being created.  Identifying a specific goal will maximize the effectiveness of the plan that will be created.  Please select an answer to the following questions or provide information where needed.

The primary goal is to:           Lose Body Fat             OR                   Gain Muscle

How many total pounds are to be lost or gained?                             lbs

I commit to losing/gaining                 pounds per week (Realistically no more than two for permanent changes in body composition)

I commit to exercising this many days per week:

2 days              3 days              4 days              5 days             6days

I commit to exercising this many minutes per day:

20 min             30 min             40 min             50 min             60 min


The expected time frame to achieve the desired results is:

1 Week            2 Weeks          3 Weeks          4 weeks           5 Weeks          6 Weeks

2 Months         3 Months         4 Months         5 Months         6 Months         7 Months

8 Months         9 Months         10 Months       11 Months       12 Months

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