Achieve your Health and Fitness Goals

Make 2013 the year that you achieve your health and fitness goals.

The first step to achieving your goals is knowing what you want to achieve. If you don't know what you actually want to achieve, how will you ever know if you have achieved it. So actually take some time to think about them and write down your goals for 2013. Be honest and be open about what you want to achieve with regard to your health and fitness. Once you have confirmed what your goals are, you can then go about achieving them.

Knowing what you want to achieve is great. However, once you do its vital to then make your goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time focused (SMART).

People often say to me "I want to lose a bit of weight" or "run faster" or "get stronger on my upper body" etc. However, these goals are not very specific, they can not be measured and they have no time frame. They are too vague, general and not clear.

So lets have a look at the 3 expressions above and make them more SMART goals:

1) "I want to lose a bit of weight" could be made more SMART by "As of 3rd January 2013 I weigh 15 stone 2lbs. I want to lose 2 stones (28lbs) by 3rd May 2013 so that I will weigh 13 stone 2lbs. I will do this by exercising 3-4 times per week and following a balanced/healthy eating/drinking plan".

2) "I want to run faster" could be made more SMART by "As of 3rd January 2013 I can run 10km in 1 hour 10 mins. By 3rd June 2013 I want to run 10km in 45 minutes. I will do this by running 10km at least 2-3 times per week rather than my current 1".

3) "I want to get stronger on my upper body" could be made more SMART by "As of 3rd January 2013 I can lift 40kg for 10 repetitions on the bench press. By 3rd April 2013 I want to lift at least 65kg for 10 repetitions on the bench press. I will do this by progressively increasing the weight I lift each week by 2kgs".

By making vague health and fitness goals more Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time focused (SMART), you are more likely to achieve them. You can keep track of your progress, analyse whether you are on track or behind your target, decide whether you need to increase your effort etc. SMART goals also act as a great motivational tool and will help to keep you focused.

Achieving your goals will give you a great feeling of satisfaction, pride and sense of achievement. It will make all the hard work worthwhile. Write down your goals, make them SMART, make the commitment to achieve them and constantly review them throughout 2013. Relentlessly go after them. Knowing what you want to achieve in 2013 is the first step you need to take in order to achieve your health and fitness goals. Make your goals Specific, Measurable and with a time deadline. Remember, regular, small steps lead to giant, progress strides.

Make the commitment. Celebrate your successes and look forward to the next 12 months with enthusiasm and excitement. Make 2013 the year you not only achieve but dominate your health and fitness goals.

Live life in the active lane,

Matt