Pep Talk
Sometimes it is just hard to stick with a healthy lifestyle plan. Things get stale over time. Or, when you hit a major goal, you have nothing afterwards to keep you motivated to stick with it. Setting goals, and more specifically, SMART goals, can help you stay on track!Making goals that are too generalized can almost be as futile as not setting them in the first place. If you aren't specific with them, how will you know when you've achieved them? How will you know when you are on or off track? It's not enough to say, "I want to be leaner, healthier, stronger, etc." You need to go a step further.
When you set goals, make them S-M-A-R-T!
- Specific - Don't just say "I want to be leaner." Say, "I want to drop 3 lbs. of body fat." Or, instead of, "I want to be stronger," say, "I want to be able to do 10 pushups on my feet non-stop."
- Measurable - How will you know when you've achieved your goal? Be sure to quantify your goal in order to measure your success. Whether it's running 2 miles, getting down to a certain body fat percentage, or hitting a goal number of repetitions, numbers and consistent measurements are your friends.
- Achievable - Make sure that this goal is possible. Set something that, with consistent effort, you CAN achieve.
- Realistic - Set yourself up for success. Setting a goal of losing 20 lbs. in one week is not realistic (or healthy, for that matter). But setting a goal of losing 20 lbs. over the course of 10-15 weeks is a much more realistic goal.
- Time-Based - Set a deadline. It's easy to push off a goal if there is no timeframe. But doing something like signing up for a race with a tangible endpoint will encourage you to keep working hard, even on days you feel like blowing it off.
Challenge Workout
Set a timer for 8 minutes. In that 8 minutes, perform as many rounds as possible, taking breaks as needed, of:- 8 Burpees
- 8 Hollow Rocks or Reverse Crunches (click here for an instructional video)
- 16 Mountain Climbers (each leg = 1/2 rep; both legs = 1 rep)
