Setting The Right Goals

People tend to right goals. Many of them even look quite realistic. However, too often for one reason or another, people cannot reach them. To date, researchers have found out why this is happening and identified strategies for achieving success.

Determining the importance of goals

You certainly will not turn off the intended path if you constantly remind yourself the reasons and its importance. Suppose, for example, that the threat of osteoporosis led you to a decision to start a strength training program. Then a very powerful motivator for you will be the desire to increase the density of bones and prevent their fragility, not to mention the desire to avoid the hump. Who will like to regularly go to the hospital with broken bones, especially if there is a real opportunity to avoid this.

In addition, you can do strength exercises because you want to look better and live more energetically every day. Concrete reasons should be completely individual and clearly tied to your life.

Whatever inspires yourself, this will be the key to continuing strength training. Remind yourself of all the benefits that you can enjoy as a result of continuing your program. Glue the statement of your goals (and what their achievement can give you) onto the refrigerator, desk or computer monitor. Promptly place good role models of what you want to achieve.

After years of research, the best way to maintain motivation has been discovered. It just lies in the frequent reminding yourself of the possible benefits and negative consequences of deviating from your plans.

Reasonable goals system – S.M.A.R.T.

People who use the system with this abbreviation (see definitions in the list below) are far more likely to succeed. In fact, this system consists of small concrete steps towards a specific goal and focuses on the gradual change of your habits.

Everything is very simple. Setting goals for your workouts, you need to ensure that they meet the following criteria and are:

Specific. If you have problems with constant training, set yourself a specific goal that would not be too confusing and general. For example, make it your goal to complete the entire strength program every week.

Measurable. A measurable goal is called when you can objectively determine whether it is achieved or not. For example, such a goal could be training at least twice a week for at least 25 minutes.

Achievable. If it’s usually difficult for you to find a free hour for strength training, planning an hour of training is clearly not worth it. Instead, set yourself a more achievable goal consistent with your work schedule. For example, it can be two workouts of 25 minutes each.

Reasonable. If you have trouble training twice a week, do not set a goal to work out thrice. First learn how to set aside time for two workouts, and then move on. If it’s too difficult for you to organize even two classes a week, start with the goal in one workout and build on it. Remember that you do not have to achieve all your training goals in the first month.

Timed. Always set aside a specific time period to achieve your goals. For example, if you intend to do at least twice a week at least 25 minutes, immediately note that you want to achieve this within two months. If it seems to you that two months is too long, start with a goal of one month.

According to research, fifty percent of people tend to deviate from the new training program for the first six weeks. However, studies also show that it takes only about eight weeks to turn new behavior into a habit. Therefore, know that after you endure the first eight weeks of constant training, your chances of successfully achieving your goals and staying fit for life will increase significantly.

Do not forget that everything happens in life. If you accidentally go astray, do not waste valuable time, scourging yourself with negative thoughts. Just calmly think about what hindered your regular training, use the experience you have gained for your own good and start the program again. An ancient Chinese proverb says: “A path even of ten thousand li begins with one step.” This wisdom applies to your training too. Just keep moving forward and believe in yourself.

The main goals of training

All the necessary information on achieving the goals is posted on thematic sections:

Muscle gain
Fat burning (Relief)
Slimming
Strength increase
Endurance
Appearance and beauty

Means of achieving goals:

Nutrition and diet
Sports nutrition
Training
Sports pharmacology

Getting the support you need

If you find it difficult for you to continue to work on the program alone, consider hiring a personal trainer to support you.

Look for ways to enlist the support of friends, family, work colleagues, and training partners. Studies show that social support is the most important factor helping people to adhere to a particular training program. Share your goals with loved ones who care about you, but beware of those who might lead you astray. Let people know how important your workouts are and why you want to succeed. Tell them what benefits you expect to achieve and show your gratitude to those who help you succeed.

Choosing a training goal

Read the main article: How to create a training program

As one smart person said: “If you do not know, where are you going, then probably you will not get there”. In other words, until you set one clearly defined goal for the training program, it is unlikely that you will be able to correctly plan the load and get a good result.

I constantly hear people starting training, saying: “My goal is to become huge, very strong and, of course, with a good relief”. Sounds like what you want? Then I’ll upset you: these are three different tasks, each of which is better to work separately. You cannot do three things well at the same time. To get the most out of it, you need to focus on one main goal for a while.

Why can’t you do it all together?

Trying to simultaneously work on mass and on relief is ineffective. To grow muscle, you need an excess of calories. Its magnitude depends on the type of physique, metabolic rate and overall fitness, but the bottom line is that you have to get more calories than you expend in order to build muscle. Fat burning requires the opposite: calorie deficiency. You have to spend more energy than you get.

Nutrition affects the outcome of any type of training. If you do not eat properly to achieve your goal, then the best programs and sports supplements in the world will not help. I repeat once again: in order to grow muscle, you need an excess of calories. To burn fat, you need a lack of calories. That’s all. I admit that it is possible to add some muscle, losing a little fat, but not for long and only if you do everything perfectly.

Training on the strength and muscle relief at the same time also does not work. Strength is more determined by the efficiency of the nervous system, than by the size of the muscles, so it would seem to be a more suitable combination than mass / relief. But it’s not so simple. Competitive powerlifters usually increase results when they gain weight and lose in total when they cut the weight. There is something to think about. If you really want to set a personal power record, then do not try to lose weight in parallel.

The last combination, mass and strength, at first glance looks successful. However, training to stimulate maximum muscle growth is still different from strength training, in which there is more work to increase the efficiency of the nervous system. Of course, strength training can add muscle, but you must understand that this increase is not as great as with special mass training. So you better choose the main task for the current moment (to become more relief, strong or huge) in order to build your program to achieve this goal.

When you decide with the purpose of the program, you will have to devote enough time to it. For example, what happens if you work for 4 weeks on a mass, and then sharply turn around 180 degrees and will work on the muscle-relief for the next 4 weeks? You have a great chance to achieve nothing.

Muscles grow slowly. In fact, you can add from 100 to 800 grams of muscle mass per week, so at best during your “mass gain” cycle you will “pump” a whole kilogram of muscle. You don’t need to go to the store for new clothes.

Be prepared to devote at least 8 weeks to working on your Goal. Better – 12. This does not mean that you will train all the time on the same program, but all your programs of this period should be aimed at solving one problem.

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