Types of Fitness Goals
Welcome! to today's new course will empower you with the tools you need to accomplish your fitness goals. Within these 10 lessons, you will learn how the body responds to different types of workouts and how to shape workouts based upon your specific goal. You’ll also learn how to set realistic goals, how to track your progress, and how to gain the support you need to stay on track long term. By the end of this course, you will have a clear, step-by-step understanding of how to set and achieve your fitness goals. The first five episodes are focused on understanding the four basic types of fitness goals and exercise science. The last five episodes are focused on the practical components of achieving your goals.
Training for a Specific Body Type or Fitness Goal
While genetics have some influence over people’s body types, there is a great deal of room for people to shape their bodies to look or perform in a certain way. You’ve probably noticed that different athletes have very different body types. For example, runners typically have a very slim body, without a lot of excess muscle or fat mass, because their training and body type allows them to maximize their speed and endurance. Football players typically have a much higher body weight and much more muscular mass, with developed and coordinated strength.
Just as athletes follow specific training for their goals to maximize their performance, anyone can decide how they want their body to be shaped or conditioned. Once they have their goal in mind, they can use specific training techniques to develop their physique or conditioning.
Four Types of Fitness Goals
There are four general types of fitness goals:
- Losing weight
- Building endurance
- Building strength
- Gaining weight
So, what type of fitness goal would you like to achieve from the list above? What would that look like, and how would you feel if you accomplished it?
Setting Up Your SMART Fitness Goal
When you set a goal, it’s important to be detailed so you can have a clear guide of exactly what you are hoping to accomplish. SMART is an acronym that highlights guidelines when setting a goal, so you can know exactly when you have accomplished it. Following the guidelines will ensure that your goal is detailed, relevant, and possible. Get out a pen and paper or a digital note-taking app, and write down your goal. Then run it through the guidelines below to make it more detailed:
Specific: What exactly do you want to accomplish?
Measurable: How will you know if you’re making progress? Many goals measure an increase or decrease in a specific quantity, whether that’s weight or a race time.
Attainable: It’s very important that your goal is realistic. If you’re not sure what's realistic, try to be conservative with your estimate. For example, “I’d like to lose three pounds a week,” isn’t realistic (or healthy). It might be more realistic to say, “I’d like to lose one pound every week.”
Relevant: Does it make sense to pursue this goal at this time in your life? For example: if you don’t have transportation to the gym, it might make the most sense to focus on workouts that you can do at home or in a nearby park.
Timeframe: Make sure your goal has a specific time that you’d like to take to accomplish it. Short-term goals can be accomplished in a week to a month, and long-term goals may need more time. It may be helpful to break down long-term goals into shorter goals.
Have you written down your goal? Good! This goal will direct how you design your workouts and how you shape your diet, and will project the clear path forward. In the following lessons, you will begin outlining steps to accomplish your goal, now that it has been defined.
Stay tuned! In our next lesson, we will focus on how to workout to lose weight.
Cheers to your health.
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