A guide for goals that are within your reach

It’s time to get S.M.A.R.T. about your fitness. This is a super approachable way to set goals for anyone at any fitness level and with any achievement, whether you want to go from couch potato to regularly active, to lose those 10 pounds that’ve been driving you crazy, or to prepare for a triathlon. The key is setting goals that will give you the tools to reach the endpoint successfully. Here are the basics:

Specific – Set goals that are specific to your needs. This means steering clear of open-ended, general goals, such as “I want to lose weight.” A more specific goal would be, “I want to lose 15 pounds by the time I leave for my beach vacation.”

Measurable – Is there a way to determine whether you’ve reached your goal? Try to stay away from goals like planning to running more frequently each week. This does not include a built-in unit of measurement. If you set a goal to run a 5K, there is a specific measure, probably with an end point of the race day.

Achievable – Are your goals realistic? Make sure you set goals that are challenging but not so lofty that you may fall short in the given timeframe or set of circumstances. For example, if you want to be more of a distance runner but you’re currently struggling to make it through the distance of a 5K, don’t set a goal to run a marathon. Look towards getting faster and stronger with your 5K instead.

Relevant – The goal should be something that is important and relevant to you. When thinking about your possible goals, reflect on why you want to reach them. Are you doing it for you or someone else? Make sure your motivation starts with you.

Time bound – Goals also need to have a time frame. If we go back to the scenario of the longer run goal, set a date that you plan to reach that goal. But in between, set a series of benchmarks to reach the end goal by accomplishing smaller goals. Maybe plan to run a 5K in 30 minutes by the halfway point.

So sit down and write out some fitness goals using this guide. Once you get the hang of setting a S.M.A.R.T goal, you’ll be surprised at how applicable this can be to every avenue of your life.