At Kôr Fitness and Performance in Newport, MN, we schedule goal review sessions every three months. In these sessions, members discuss fitness and health related goals with their coach. During these sessions, both work together in creating a plan to accomplish them. Do you have a plan for your goals?
What makes a good goal?
You might have heard of setting SMART goals. That acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Based. By setting goals this way, we know when a particular goal has been met, but it also starts the process of creating a plan for your new goal.
We like setting goals this way because CrossFit believes that by doing measurable and repeatable workouts, we can see our progress. These types of goals tie directly into our way of working out and training.
Let’s say you want to get your first pull-up. You’ve already accomplished the first 2 letters by making your goal specific to a quantity and a movement. The next question to ask yourself is whether your goal is achievable or not? For some there might be a goal to set prior to a pull-up that can be a stepping stone. If your goal is achievable in the next 6 months or less, you’re more likely to keep working on it compared to a singular long-term goal.
The R in SMART can trip folks up, but think about it this way – is this goal something that you are not just motivated to do, but disciplined to do? Don’t set a goal just because it sounds like one you “should” have, set a goal because you not only want to do the work but it aligns with your values. Reasons for wanting a pull-up include having the ability to move your bodyweight in a variety of ways, playing with kids or grandkids at the playground, or training for the military. And lastly, adding a time-based detail to your goal gives you the ability to set check-ins as you make progress towards the goal.
Using our example, a SMART goal could be “I want to do 1 unassisted pull-up before my 40th birthday.” Now you can take that to your coach and start creating a plan for your goals.
Why is it important to plan for your goals?
While many say that writing down goals can make it more likely you’ll achieve them, nothing beats having a plan to act on. You can really want a pull-up, but not knowing what to do or how to do it can slow you down or lead to frustration.
By creating a plan, the big picture goal that you created now has daily or weekly action items. Those action items tell you exactly what you need to do to progress to your goal. With our same example, those action items might look like increasing protein intake, switching up pull-up scaling options in class workouts, how many times a week to work on pull-ups, and looking at your InBody scan results to see if both of your arms have equal muscle mass.
How do you create a plan for your goals?
When our members chat with our coaches, they review the tools available to them at the gym for reaching health and fitness goals. Would a nutrition coach make building muscle easier? Could a personal training session help in reviewing scaling options and accessory work to get that first pull-up faster? What about coming to strength class each week or open gym to increase strength for that first of many pull-ups.
Are you ready to have a coach in your corner? Sign up for a no sweat intro and learn what Kôr Fitness and Performance has to offer!
photo by Molly Meyers