SMART fitness goals

Searching around the internet the other day for some financial planning tools, I stumbled across something that caught my attention and decided to borrow an acronym for use in a fitness goal-setting context.

Our middle-aged man gracefully-aging journey can best be a memorable one if we are physically fit and having smart fitness goals is one way to help us achieve our physical fitness.

You can develop your own smart physical fitness goals by making use of the following SMART acronym in laying out your middle-aged man physical fitness game plan.

SMART stand for the following words:  specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timetable.

Specific – What are your specific goals?  Grab a pen and paper and write them out or go to your computer and prepare a document listing them.  Then read them back to yourself or someone else.  I find that this process helps me be specific rather than internalizing them with brevity in my mind because “I know what I’m talking about.”

Measurable – How will use measure your specific physical fitness goals?  If one of your goals is to lose weight, then you can use a weight for a measure such as to lose 20 lbs. in one year.  To increase your likelihood of success, you should have short-term, intermediate and long-term measurements such as to lose 2 lbs. a month, 10 lbs. in six months and 20 lbs. in the next year.

Attainable – Ask yourself if other people have been able to achieve the fitness goal you desire because if others have then more than likely so can you if you’re willing to put in the work.  Ask for feedback from others, particular those who have achieved the success you desire and ask them how they did it.

Realistic – Does your fitness goal pass the “smell test” and realistic?  For example, if you’re a recreational runner and run 2-3 miles at a 10 minute mile pace, is setting a goal to run a marathon at a 7 minute mile pace within the next 6 months a realistic one?  It’s probably not realistic.  But to set a goal to run 5 miles at a 9 minute mile pace in 3 months probably is realistic. 

Timetable – Set goals for short-term, intermediate and long-term horizons.  And since if you’re like most middle-aged men, there’s never enough time in your day and life to achieve all your goals so set priorities.

Middle-aged man physical fitness goals are best achieved when you and I have SMART fitness goals.

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