A New Way To Make Goals

Tell me, how long have you had the same fitness goals for?

How many times have you gotten frustrated with your body for not reaching those goals?

If you have been trying to lose (and keep off) 25 pounds for the last decade... and you've spent hours crying, complaining and pulling your hair out because your body won't cooperate - it's time for a different strategy.

Also, no judgement here! What I'm describing used to be me.

I used to workout super hard, eat so little, and still struggled to see the results I wanted. I would weigh myself everyday and measure my waist every week. My stress levels would sky rocket when the numbers wouldn't go down, and my mood would plummet.

Being so focused on my weight loss goal was controlling my life.

And even though I was extremely focused on fat loss and vigilant about my routine, my weight would go up and down 20 pounds every other month.

My goal and my dedication to the goal were getting me nowhere. The added stress of wanting to reach my goal was halting my progress (stressed out bodies cling to body fat)

So, I decided to change my goal.

I changed my goal to something that had NOTHING to do with the scale, tape measure or how my body looked.

And guess what happened...?

The scale, tape measure and mirror finally showed what I wanted them to ??♀?

I am a firm believer that "ability goals" will get you much better, faster, more rewarding and consistent results.

Ability goals have nothing to do with how your body is physically changing and everything to do with what your body is capable of.

Here are a few examples of ability goals:

• Being able to do 10 push-ups
• Being able to do a handstand
• Being able to run a 5k in a certain time
• To be able to workout without feeling anxious
• To improve your balance

These goals give you something SUPER SPECIFIC to work towards.

You need to be doing a highly personalized routine to reach these goals. Not just any workout is going to help you feel less anxious or be able to do a handstand. You need a really particular plan.

That plan is going to help you reach your ability goal, but it also requires you to be focused and consistent with your exercise.

This in turn will give your body all the positive effects of exercise. Which means your body will change without you needing to obsess over your appearance.

Let me show you a real life example of how this works.

I starting working with a client over the summer whose only goal was to be able to touch his toes by Thanksgiving.

He had never been able to touch his toes before.

He had also never successfully completed a fitness goal in his adult life. However, he'd also pretty exclusively made extreme physical goals before we started training together.

Four weeks after we started working together, he touched his toes.

By Thanksgiving day he had a stronger core, more hip flexibility, more energy, no more back pain, no more foot pain, a lot more strength, had lost weight... and could do much more advanced stretches than a standard forward fold.

And he was only working out twice a week! ?? ??

Here's how we made that happen: We were focused on the goal.

Every single workout I gave him was designed to, at the end of the day, help him touch his toes.

But the combination of:

1. Cardio that was used to make body warm and pliable
2. Mobility exercise that were intended to improve flexibility
3. Balance and core exercises to help him remain stable when reaching down for his feet

All three of those elements got him to reach his goal fast, BUT absolutely transformed his body as a side-effect.

Ability goals aren't just effective, they are also fun and exciting (and stress free)!

I don't know about you, but I hate tracking my progress by examining my body in a mirror. But it's really freaking cool to actually see your abilities changing.

You will ALWAYS look exactly the same as you did yesterday when you look in a mirror today. You can't see physical changes day-to-day.

You can see your skill change day-to-day though. And let me tell you, the day you are able to do a handstand after months of training is going to be so much more rewarding than the day the scale change by 0.5 pound.

? Being able to see changes everyday in your potential is going to motivate you.

? Feeling stuck in your body and not seeing changes, and getting stressed about not seeing changes, is going to leave you worse off and extremely unmotivated.

So, who is team ability goals?

Let's continue the conversation in the comments. ??

?? Leave a comment with ONE ability goal you are making in 2024!

#SustainableFitness #LifestyleChanges #FitnessCoach