Goals and How to Use Them for Success!

Yesterday I spoke about motivation and the different ways you can achieve it. I mentioned that the most important way to stay motivated is through setting goals. Today I'm going to elaborate on this very crucial aspect of your training.

Why set goals?

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, goals give you a sense of direction, not only in the gym, but in all aspects of your life. We all have some idea in our head of what we want to look like, how we want to feel , or what we want to accomplish. For many of you, it is the reason why you train, or the reason why you decided to start training. This is a very good start, but you can always take it a step further with specificity. Being specific with your goals is an age old secret that many successful people use to achieve there goals. This can be broken down into three categories, Long, medium, and short-term goals. Be as specific withe the goals as possible. Write down all your goals and circle the ones that are most important to you. Now make a separate column for each one of those circled goals, and write down what you are going to do each day to help you move one step closer to achieving it.

Take a piece of paper and a pen, and write three columns, Long-term goals, Medium-term goals, Short-terms goals. 


Long-term goals are goals you want to accomplish within 3-5 years

Medium-term goals are goals you want to accomplish within 1-3 years

Short-term goals are goals you want to accomplish within 3 months to a year

Now there is one more category I haven't mentioned and it is one that will bring you great satisfaction.
Immediate goals! What are your immediate goals? These are goals that you would like to accomplish within the first 3 months of training, or even as specific as on a daily basis. An example of an immediate goal could be that you want to hit the gym 4 days this week. Immediate goals should be written and looked at daily to keep you motivated. The simple act of writing down your goals will do wonders for you psychology and motivate you to keep you driving for the next little step.

Remember, you can only move one step at a time. If you have a long-term goal to gain 30lbs of muscle, you can only do it one pound at a time. The question you should ask yourself is, what can I do today to help me move closer to my goal? Often times we become fixated on the end result and if we do not get the immediate gratification of getting to where we want to be, we become unmotivated and we begin to doubt our capabilities. The trick is to take little tiny steps and set individual goals that get you closer to where you want to be every single day. Not only will this help you move closer to your goal, it will help you develop good habits and a steady routine. We all know the way to fitness success is through hard work and consistency, but we often let our emotions get the better of us, and we lose faith in ourselves.

Think of your body as the vehicle and the goals you've set as the driver of that vehicle. You can't get to where you want to go without the driver of your vehicle right?

Another important tip is to not set limits on yourself. You are capable of anything as long as you've set your heart and mind to it. You'd be amazed at what you can achieve by simply thinking you can achieve anything. Thinking or even saying "I can't do that" or "this isn't for me" is only re-enforcing the subconscious mind that you can't do something. This is the worst thing you can do for yourself. Re-enforce your subconscious with positivity. Say to yourself "I can do anything" or "If he can do it, I can to."

Many times we have the belief in others, but we tend to be harder on ourselves. You would never tell your friend, "You can't do that" or "your dreaming." Why? Because we our making objective observations. It is easy to make decisions when our emotions aren't involved. You can achieve ANYTHING you set your mind to. Believe in yourself, set goals, and watch the positive changes in your life unfold before your eyes!

What's Your Motivation?

We've all been there, you're sitting at home thinking about going to the gym but you're just dreading that car ride there. You know the gym is going to be packed and you're probably going to hit traffic on the way there. So you say to yourself, "I'll just skip today and go tomorrow."

What you don't realize is you've just created the beginning of your inanimate doom. There is no tomorrow! putting it off, is just creating a bad habit. In order to create those good habits we have to overcome the temptations that move us away from what we should do. Let's first consider why you feel this way. You know you should go, and you need to go but something inside you is just keeping you from getting up getting in your car, and getting there. What can you do to change this? 

The answer is so simple and so obvious and you've heard it time and time again. Goals!......Goals! Goals! Goals! What are your goals? The lack of motivation stems from a lack of direction. You wouldn't get in your car and start driving to a destination without knowing the address, would you? Of course not! That would be silly! The same thing happens when you don't have goals written down for the sole purpose of what you want to accomplish in the gym. It is something so simple and it can be done in about the equivalent amount of time it takes you to get dressed in the morning. 

Your brain operates with purpose and direction when you set even the smallest of goals. Without them you'll end up wondering the gym, watching everyone else, and getting sucked into mindless conversations with the other joes that are there to mingle. Don't fall into this trap! Go there with a purpose!

Of course this will take some planning and preparation, but if you want to succeed, planning and preparation is mandatory. Winging it will get you far if you're motivated enough to get there, but for the average person, winging it is a means to an end. 

Here's some tips that you might want to consider. 

1. Know exactly what you want!

This is the first and most important tip! Know exactly what you want.  Know what you want to look like, and imagine what you want to feel like. Imagine how your life would be different if you accomplished what you wanted. Ask yourself what you want to accomplish and then ask yourself what are you willing to sacrifice? You cannot simply ask of a something and give nothing in return. 

Remind yourself of what you want every time you go to the gym. Carry a notebook a make notes to yourself, so every time you look at your notes you have that vision in your head. This will give you drive and motivation! 

2. Write a program! 

Yes! If you don't know how to write a program, thats fine, the internet is filled with exercises that you can pick and choose from to construct your own basic program! If you need help, post on my blog and I will help you! 

Be specific. -

# of days you plan on lifting weights that week

# of days you plan on doing cardio that week 

# of exercises 

# of reps

# of sets

3. Write it down!

Writing down your workouts is an absolute must for the beginner and advanced athlete. 

This will give you something to reference, instead of trying to remember what you lifted last time. 

This is very important! 

4. Get a workout buddy! 

This one is great because it will create accountability on both your parts. It will also make it fun and motivating. Help each other out! Spot each other, challenge each other, have fun, laugh! Working out doesn't always have to be serious. Have fun with it. 

5. Join group classes!

This one seems like a no-brainer but the camaraderie you can develop in a team is very powerful and motivating. There is nothing like having a group of people cheer you on for the sake of finishing a workout strong. 

                 

6. Get a trainer! 

Yet another one that seems obvious, but if you don't have the motivation to do it yourself, get a trainer. My word of advice to you is, do some research on the trainer before you hire him/her. Take a look at them and see if they practice what they preach. No trainer should be overweight and trying to help people get fit, if they cannot be fit themselves. 

7. Join a team sport or do something active.

Besides going into the gym and working out, there are other options to help you get into shape. Try playing sports, basketball, baseball, tennis, etc. You can usually go to any nearby park and find a group of people that will be happy to let you join in. Try hiking, dancing, swimming or even going for a walk. Do something that will get you up and moving! 

I hope these tips helped. Now if you are finding it difficult to be successful in the fitness realm, take a look at these 7 tips and check off as many of these you're doing right now. If the answer is 0, then its no wonder you're having a hard time! Anybody would! Don't be so hard on yourself for being human. We all have to start somewhere and we all have to crawl before we can walk. Take it slow and accept the difficulties as challenges! Good Luck! 

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Why Free weights?

So to get straight to the point, I want to discuss the importance of using free weights in your fitness routines. Although there are many fancy gadgets out there promising the greatest results. Nothing, yes nothing will give you the results like free weights. Free weights allow you to move freely against the forces of gravity. Some equipment might include, barbells, dumbells, body weight, kettlebells, medicine balls, stones, sandbags, etc.

Many people, when working out at gyms, tend to gravitate towards the cables and machines, but they are only selling themselves short. Now I'm not saying that cables or machines are bad, because they can certainly be useful. However, Free weights should be used as the primary form of resistance in your weight training program. If you like cables and machines, no problem! Just think of alternate ways of performing those same exercises using free weights. For example, instead of a lat pulldown, try doing pull ups. Can't do pull ups? Well now you've exposed a weakness. Try performing negatives until you can build up enough strength to get there. Or you can use kipping pull ups which use a little momentum to help you get your chin above the bar. Instead of a cable row, try a bent over row, with a barbell or dumbells. Instead of the leg press, try free squats. Instead of the machine bench press, try push ups, or a bench press.

Nothing is better than free weights. We all move against the resistance of gravity. Our bodies are even constructed to move against the forces of gravity. Training with free weights allows you to develop how nature intended. Machines fix you in a position that removes a lot of the stabilization factors. Train your body to perform better in open space, without the assistance of fixed machines or stable surfaces. We move freely in space and when performing tasks in real life, we only have our bodies and the force of gravity to overcome. Challenge yourself!

Diesel crew