Personal Fitness Goals - and Keeping
Them
Fall of last year you figured a donut once in an awhile
or some other fat and sugar laden nasty food wouldnt hurt. Your
excuse it is the muscle-bulking season or you will work it off.
The next thing you know your waist measurement is almost the
same size of your chest. You look in the mirror and you see
your v-taper look like a square block.
You say to your self what the heck happened to all my hard
work in the gym? Well, all of your hard work is still there if
you have been training hard, but it is covered in fat. My
better half, my wife once asked me when I was expecting? At
that moment, I knew it was time to shed the fat.
Well the first thing to do is to make a final personal goal.
For example, the abdominal muscles showing by May. But to start
you need to start with other goals to build to the main final
goal. These could include;
Physical Well Goals. This could be working up to 30 minutes
of physical activity daily to start. Light stretching to make
the muscles feel good. Maybe adding some sit ups to strengthen
the core.
Physique goals. After achieving your physical well goals you
can start adding more demanding goals such as reducing your fat
percentage. Add aerobic fitness of 30 minutes to your workout
schedule. Or maybe start a weight resistance program.
Performance accomplishment goals. This could include small
goals in your weight resistance program such as benching a
certain amount. Or running the mile in a certain time. This is
where you place the goal of seeing your abdominal muscles by
May.
Each goal that you set and reach is a stepping stone to your
final targeted goal. You could keep a personal diary of your
fitness progress and see how far you have come in your health
and strength pursuit. I used to put pictures of ab shots on my
refrigerator to help keep me focused. Now I also keep a
watchful eye in the mirror.
When I drop an inch or two off my waist I reward myself. And
not with eating a whole pie or chocolate cake. Usually I buy
some kind of hiking gear, camera equipment or clothing.
Make sure you keep a supply of healthy foods around you to
help prevent eating some junk food when you do get hungry.
Fresh fruit, nuts, non-fat cottage cheese, you get the
idea.
When you start your diet don't go crazy eating little to
nothing. If you follow this practice you will lose all the
muscle you worked so hard to build. I cycle my carbohydrates
and protein around my workout days. I eat the carbs during my
bodybuilding workout days and carb deplete on non-bodybuilding
workout days. I will increase the protein on the nonworkout
days.
Here is a summary of the topics above:
- Establish small goals to achieve your main personal
fitness goal.
- Use pictures to keep focused on your main goal.
- Reward yourself when you meet your in-between
goals.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Always keep plenty of healthy foods around to snack
on.
- Dont go crazy dieting.
Make sure that you keep on the right path and you will see
your goal of abdominal muscles showing when the warm weather
returns. Otherwise your spouse may do like mine and start
taking measurements for maternity clothes. Perseverance and
focus will help keep you on track of your personal fitness
goal.
About The Author: Kevin Doberstein is a Certified
Fitness Trainer and has been a natural bodybuilder for the past
25 years. 15 years as a gym owner. For more articles about
bodybuilding, bodyshaping and nutrition you can visit his site
and join his at www.nature-boy-bodybuilding.com. You
can join the Nature Boy bodybuilding Newsletter for the
latest information about bodybuilding fitness at this site.
You can contact him at natureboy_bodybuilding@hotmail.com.
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