Are you frustrated because you aren’t reaching your fitness goals? If you’re not making the progress you expected, it’s time to step back and ask yourself why. There are many reasons why you could be falling short of reaching your goals. Your workouts might be inconsistent, you might be doing the wrong exercises, not pushing yourself enough, or finding reasons to skip your workout.
Lack of progress is a common problem that often comes down to mindset and the way you’re approaching your workouts. With getting fit, mindset is everything. If you have your mind in the right place, you’ll be motivated to do what you need to do to move forward. So, it may be your brain that needs a tweak rather than your workout. Let’s look at five reasons you’re not reaching your fitness goals and getting the most benefits from your workouts.
Your Fitness Goals Are Too Vague
Vague fitness goals are a motivation destroyer. It’s not enough to say you want to “get in shape.” The best goals are well-defined and concrete. “Get in shape” is far too open-ended and poorly defined. With such an ill-defined goal, you won’t know in which direction to go. Start with a broader goal, but then break them down into smaller goals you can tackle one at a time. Smaller goals are easier to work with, and when you add them up, you’ll have reached your bigger goal.
You should also know why you want to achieve your goal. Without having a “why,” it’s easy to let other things get in the way and lose your motivation. When you have a compelling reason to work out, you’re more likely to do it and be consistent with it. It should be clear in your mind why you want to reach a certain goal. Too many people fall off the exercise wagon and lose the motivation to sustain an exercise program because they don’t know why they’re doing it, or their reasons are too vague.
Here’s an example. If your goal is to lose weight, dig deep and ask why losing weight or building a lean, strong physique is important to you. You might want to shed those extra pounds because it will help you enjoy more outdoor activities with your kids or because it’ll keep you around longer and you’ll see your grandchildren grow up. That’s the kind of goal that has a deeper meaning to you and will help you stay motivated and committed. Positive emotions are more likely to result in productive behaviors than negative ones. Think about what drives you to be better!
You Have Too Many Goals
Your brain doesn’t enjoy pursuing too many goals at one time, and if you force it to do that, it might rebel. You may want to lose body fat and build muscle size and strength. You can do both things, but it’s helpful to focus on one at a time, so you can focus your energy and training on that particular objective. The way you eat and the way you train will be different for each goal. Plus, it usually works better if you push full steam ahead on a single goal rather than several. Don’t confuse your mind with too many goals.
Your Fitness Goals Are Too Open Ended
You need to know what you’ll be focusing on, break it down into smaller steps, and then give it a deadline. For a goal to become a reality, it needs a time frame. Once you break your goal down into smaller, “bite-sized” goals with a time frame and deadline, you’ve given yourself a blueprint for success. If your goal is open-ended, it’s too easy to mosey along and not move forward. Don’t set a goal to lose 10 pounds, for example. Instead, set a more realistic objective of losing 15 pounds over six months. With the latter, you have an endpoint and a deadline to strive for.
You Don’t Have a Plan to Get There
You need concrete steps to get from where you are to where you want to be. If you don’t have a plan, you don’t have a viable path for achieving your weight loss or fitness goal. Without a plan, you don’t have a path to success.
Have you ever belonged to a gym? If so, you might see people who show up every day and never seem to leave. Yet their physique or fitness level never changes. Instead, they spend hours in the sauna, stretching, and talking to people. These folks don’t have a plan to reach their fitness goals. They wander around and do what feels good at the time. If they’re there for leisure, that’s appropriate, but it’s not a formula for achieving a fitness goal.
Don’t let that happen to you! Create a plan first, that is the only way to get from point A to point B. Make sure the plan works for you and is realistic. If your goal is to do 30 push-ups and you struggle to do one, know that it will take time to get there.
You’re Not Charting Your Progress
Writing down your progress makes you accountable and it lets you celebrate the small victories that keep you motivated. Keeping a fitness journal is the best way to keep track of your goals and how you’re progressing. Based on feedback from your fitness journal, you can adjust and fine-tune your workouts and diet to better move to your goals. Without it, you’re training blind.
Too many people use only the scale to monitor their progress but that’s not enough if you’re trying to increase your fitness level or build strength. Wearing a fitness tracker is helpful, but it’s also important to keep a physical fitness journal where you can document more in-depth information and look back on it over time.
The Bottom Line
These are some of the reasons you might not be meeting your fitness goals. There’s a better way! Be specific with your goals and understand what’s driving you to reach them. Doing so will help you stay motivated.
References:
- “Set Your Fitness Goals | American Heart Association.” 18 Apr. 2018, heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/staying-motivated/set-your-fitness-goals.
- “Goal-setting And Achievement In Activity Tracking Apps: A ….” cs.stanford.edu/people/jure/pubs/goals-www19.pdf.
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It’s a New Year: Is It Time to Reexamine Your Fitness Goals?
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