How to Set Effective Goals in the New Year

Goal-setting is one of my favorite things to work on with clients as a personal trainer. I find that when people have solid goals in the gym, it makes it a lot easier to stick it out through all of life's twists and turns. The goals that I have set in my own mind have helped me keep consistent in the gym through depressed moods, injuries, and busy schedules.

Where people tend to go wrong with the goals they are setting is that they over-ambitious. The best way to achieve a goal is to make sure that it's reasonable, specific, time-sensitive, and measurable.

If you are someone who is currently attending the gym 0 times a week, and are setting the goal to attend the gym 5 times a week as the New Year hits, this is not reasonable. If you were my client, I would recommend starting with 2-3 times per week instead. This way it would be a goal that you could more reasonably achieve, and not feel defeated by January 31st, when you have only attended the gym for a total of 6 times.

When I ask my clients about their goals in the gym, I usually get met with a response of "I just want to feel stronger." While this is a great ambition, this is not a very specific goal. Technically you could go from bench pressing 10 lb. dumbbells, to 12.5 lb. dumbbells in a week or two and you will have already achieved your goal. Instead, a more specific goal might look like: "I want to bench press the 20 lb. dumbbells in the next 6 months." Then, set it into your mind about how you will feel when you hit this goal, and use that as your fuel to make sure you bench press every week.

There are two major types of goals: short-term and long-term. I consider anything under 3 months a short-term goal, and anything over 3 months as a long-term goal. It's good to have both types of these goals for maximum motivation. Many of my clients have either weight-loss or body recomposition goals. These aesthetic goals take a long time to see results typically, and can feel frustrating if they are the only types of goals you have in mind. While you are setting out to achieve a more long-term aesthetic goal, it would be good to have a short-term performance-based goal or two. An example of this might look like wanting to decrease your body-fat percentage by 5% in the next 6 months-1 year, while also wanting to squat 135 lbs. in the next 3 months. Weightlifting will help you to build muscle, which will in turn help you increase your metabolism and burn more body-fat.

Although the New Year feels like a good time to set new goals and is a good fresh start, always remember that you can set new goals anytime of the year! If you don't achieve your goal 100% in the timeline you set for yourself, this is ok. This is just a good indicator that maybe you will need to rework your goal to make it more reasonable for next time.

A good way to make sure that you are hitting your performance and aesthetic based goals in the New Year is to track what you are doing using an app or with pen and paper. My Fitness Pal is a great app to help you track what you are eating and can make you more aware of what you will need to change in your diet to lower your body-fat percentage or build more muscle. On the Infinite Motion App we have premade programs and workouts for you to utilize and track your progress with. We would love to help you towards your goals in the New Year and help you be the best version of yourself.

Ilana Holt