Quick & Easy Guide For Setting Realistic Fitness Goals

Here’s a quick guide on setting realistic fitness goals to work towards each day.

Are you struggling to take action towards your fitness goals?

Or worse, you could be holding yourself back if you don’t have concrete fitness goals to know where you’re heading.

Setting realistic fitness goals that motivate and inspire you is what’s going to keep you moving forward – even when you don’t want to.

Solely relying on motivation, will-power, and discipline might not always work in your favor (that’s why I believe it’s so important to ACTUALLY enjoy how you train, eat, live, and so on).

And at the same time, you must set truly inspiring goals for yourself.

No one wants to work their ass off for mediocre results.

You can pick out the people with weak fitness goals. They are the ones who show up to the gym on occasion. Complain about being there. Go through half-assed sets. Wander aimlessly from machine to machine. And then have the nerve to ask why they haven’t gotten any results after giving up.

WHAT FIRES YOU UP?

What was the initial spark that lit your flame of motivation?

Was it a bad break up?
Feel uncomfortable on the beach?
Not pleased when you look in the mirror?

When I was younger I was teased, made fun of, and constantly questioned if I had an eating disorder. I was so jealous of the more bigger, stronger, muscular guys that “always got the girl.”

I also went through a period of nasty depression. Fitness was the lowest hanging fruit that I could grab to prove to myself what I was truly capable of.

Things like that sparked my fire to drive my fitness journey.

I also do what I do because I want to live a long, healthy, and disease-free life. I want to be fully functional and active in my 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and beyond. And yes, I will admit, I just want to look and feel sexy.

Take a minute and start to think about those things…

There’s nothing wrong with having goals like that either.

I want to be able to look in a mirror and smile, patting myself on the back for my hard work.

FITNESS GOAL SETTING EXERCISE

The point is to find what truly drives and inspires you. So you’re setting smart fitness goals. Then taking that reason(s) why and riding it to the finish line without giving up.

To get your mind flowing with some ideas, yes, as I just mentioned if you’re focused on losing that last bit of belly fat on your stomach, great! I support you 110%. But I also encourage you to start thinking about how this is going to impact your life in a number of different ways such as your:

Work/career
Personal life
Current relationships
Family
Being a role model for others
Finally having the confidence in yourself

Getting that deep and thinking about those thinks is the secret to making this a lifestyle change, rather than a quick fad for yourself.

I recommend you get some pen and paper (bonus points if you take a walk and go somewhere out of your normal routine).

Journal Exercise For Setting Realistic Fitness Goals

Take a moment and begin to write down:

• Where you are now
• Your current body part measurements
• Current weight measurement
• Take some before pictures as well
• Where you want to be in the next 6 months
• How you are going to get there

And then I always love ending an exercise like this with a little free write. Imagine a day in the life in your future body.

How will your days look? How will you carry yourself? Will people treat you differently? What foods are you eating? How will you view the gym and working out

Remember, no holding back!

Imagination and visualization are your MOST powerful tools to connect to the future self you wish to create.

That’s not whoo-whoo hippy-dippy shit either. If you don’t know where you want to go and what you want to achieve, you won’t ever get there.

Most people don’t take the time to do this. Don’t be that person.

START SMALL FOR BIG WINS

If I’m looking to set muscle building goals for myself, it takes some of the burden off and breaks it down into small chunks.

I set goals to add 10 pounds to my key exercises. It’s small enough that it can be done in a short amount of time but also big enough that I will still need to push myself. When I hit each 10 lb increment, I reward myself in my favorite way. It keeps the excitement going like I’m leveling up a video game character.

You can even break your diet down into one or two-week sprints.

Plan to eat your calorie goals each and every day for those weeks. Then reward yourself at the end of the week or second week. Then keep doing it.

It’s simply a way to break down goals into smaller, more manageable tasks to easily accomplish. That’s just another idea to inspire you to set your own realistic fitness goals.

Here’s what you really should be doing. And that’s reverse engineering yourself to success. Success leaves clues. If you see someone who has what you want. Learn how they did it (I’m a link click me).

You can then compile a bunch of action steps into the years, months, weeks, and of course, the days.

This creates a schedule and structure you can follow that brings you closer and closer to your fitness goals.

WHAT SETTING REALISTIC FITNESS GOALS ULTIMATELY COMES DOWN TO

Remember your long term goal in the face of problems or struggle. You’re going to have ups and downs. You’re going to have days where you don’t feel like going to the gym of making that healthy choice.

The most important thing we can do to see results is staying consistent long enough. We can fall into the trap of sacrificing our long term goals for instant gratification and short-lived pleasures.

When you are faced with the decision of skipping your workout…skimping on your diet, etc., try this exercise:

Ask yourself, would you like to take a week or two off of lifting?

Would you like to not stick to your diet for a couple of weeks?

Of course not!

You won’t get results that way! Just get done what you need to get done.

The Sustainability Test For Realistic Fitness Goals

Here’s another thing to ask yourself before you get sucked into any quick fixes, fads, detox teas, gimmicks, and so on…

Can you picture yourself eating and training like this for the next year, 2 years, 5 years, or even 10 years!?

Far into the future yes, but if you can’t see yourself living like this – then you need a new diet and training routine.

Fitness should enhance your life, never consume it or become a full-time job.

It’s easy to get sucked into those but you’re going to be so much better off taking the time and effort to do things the right way ONCE rather than constantly yo-yo-ing back and forth month after month.

Want More Confidence?

I get asked quite a bit on how to create more confidence within yourself…

And it’s actually quite simple. Here’s what I’ve come to learn: The more you make a promise with yourself and KEEP IT.

Your confidence builds.

But if you say you’re going to workout and even tell those close to you what you plan to do – but fail to act on it. It’s going to tear you down from the inside out.

Start small and build yourself up. No matter what it is. That’s the secret.

Stay Humble. Stay Quiet. And Work Your Ass Off.

Now this can go either way. Some say to tell those close to you about your goals because the weight of looking like a fool has been more increased.

As opposed to keeping them to yourself, because it’s so easy to rationalize and make excuses to ourselves.

And on the other hand, some say not to tell anyone your goals because it’s been shown that talking about your goals and what you’re trying to accomplish makes it more likely for you to fail. Talking about your goals with others actually creates some gratification as if you’ve already reached success; hurting your drive to keep moving forward.

My opinion? It’s a little bit of both…

Stay humble. Tell those close about your goals to help build a supportive environment. Work your ass off. And let the results speak for themselves.

Cheers!

– Trent

What do you think about setting realistic fitness goals for yourself? Have you locked in your goals and started taking action? Let me know in the comments below!