By Daniel Swanbury: 12WBT Exercise Scientist
As Mish says, “You’ve gotta have a plan, man!”
The reality is there’s never a perfect time to start working towards your fitness goal. So let’s get goal setting RIGHT now!
At 12WBT we’re all about goals that are S.M.A.R.T. But what does that mean exactly?
Make your Goals Specific
You need to be focused on what you want to achieve. Have you always wanted to run 5km in half an hour, or perhaps swim 20 pool laps without stopping?
Make your Goals Measurable
A goal can’t be achieved unless you can measure the outcome, so choose something quantifiable. For example, wanting to feel stronger isn’t measurable, but aiming to double the number of push-ups you can do is.
Make your Goals Achievable
Saying “I’m going to start doing martial arts classes once a week for the next 12 weeks” is an achievable goal. Saying you’ll be a black belt in the same time is not.
Make your Goals Realistic
Realistic goals are sustainable. You might set yourself the achievable goal of running 5km in 12 weeks, but the method might be unrealistic. If your goal is to achieve that by doing yoga twice a week, that’s probably an unrealistic goal.
Make your Goals Time-Based
Hoping that you’ll achieve a goal “one day” will leave the door wide open for procrastination. Draw up a day-by-day, week-by-week plan to make it happen by a set date.
Whatever your fitness goal, begin with some simple benchmarking to get a better understanding of your current fitness levels.
Measure Up
All you need to accurately measure and record your performance is a 30cm ruler, a stopwatch and your local running oval. Document your results on a computer, in your phone or somewhere where you can easily access them.
See Your Strength
Push-up tests are great for tracking strength – see how many push-ups you can do on your knees in 1 minute. Don’t forget technique!
See what category you fall into:
- Beginner: 20 push-ups or less
- Intermediate: 21-30 push-ups
- Advanced: 31+ push-ups
If you can do 31 or more push-ups on your knees, you should be doing push-ups on your toes!
Crazy for Cardio
How’s your cardio? Test this with a 1km running time trial. Either run two and a half laps of your typical 400m oval or you can mark 1km with your car and retrace the route.
Here’s how you time will compare:
- Beginner: 1km in over 8 minutes
- Intermediate: 1km in 5.5 to 8 minute
- Advanced: 1km in under 5.5 minutes
Feeling Flexible
The universal gauge here is the sit and reach test. Sit with your legs extended and see how far you can reach towards your toes or if you can go past them.
If you reach before your toes, your score will be minus. Reaching past them will mean a positive score.
Compare your sit and reach test to levels below:
- Beginner: -5cm or lower
- Intermediate: -4cm to +5cm
- Advanced: +6cm or higher
Get Started
A good way to set a goal is to aim to do double what you do now. For example, if you can do 15 push-ups in a minute aim for 30 or more in a minute, after a month or so of training.
If you can reach 5cm past your toes, set a goal to make that 10cm. Running times are somewhat different, but if you can do a kilometre in 8 minutes, chopping one minute off that time would be a fantastic achievement.
So get started now and watch your fitness and health improve out of sight!
For more information on 12WBT visit www.12wbt.com/learn-more