Over the last few weeks, we’ve talked about the basic components of working out. One of my pet peeves about folks who write about goals is that they always tell people to set manageable and achievable goals before we know anything about what is manageable or achievable, particularly when there is a time element involved. This is why I talked through the basics of cardio, strength training, Pilates, and stretching before turning my attention to goals.
The first question we need to answer when setting goals is what do we want? For some of us, this is obvious. We know we want to run a marathon or wear smaller clothes or show that gym teacher from high school that we actually can do stuff. Others of us are not so sure. We know we feel a little breathless sometimes. We struggle lugging groceries more than we used to. We wake up stiff and that nagging ache in our back lingers and lingers. It might take a little digging to come up with what we actually want.
This is important: our goals need to be things we want, not things that other people say we should want. When we get to the part where we have to do the work, we are not going to be motivated by someone else’s desires and values. Our goals need to be meaningful to us even if they make zero sense to anyone else.
What we want dictates the goals we make. Breathless folks need cardio goals. People who want to be smaller need both cardio and strength training goals. Nearly everyone will feel better with some Pilates and stretching goals.
Tomorrow: what those goals might be.
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