Happy New Year

It's 2010!  2009 was a great year.  I feet fitter than ever but this is the time for new goals.   Of course,  this is the time for the traditional  "New Year's Resolution".   I think these resolutions are fine.  I have often made them in the past and even (proudly) kept (some of)  them.   But, I'm guessing most folks either don't make a resolution or make them and then forget about it on a few days.

I really believe that when it comes to fitness, resolutions like 'I'm going to get in shape' or I'm going to lose weight' are not specific enough.   It is my firm belief that fitness goals need to be both very specific and difficult to achieve.  Why?   Well, 1st of all if you have no specific target, how do you know when you achieved your goal? 2nd, without a specific goal it is difficult to track your progress.

On the other hand, if you have a specific goal, like, for example losing 20 lbs. or 25 push-ups you can clearly track your progress and know exactly when achieve your goal.  This technique has worked very well for me. In fact, it continues to work well for me.

Even though I am very fit and have no body weight or fat issues, I still set specific goals for various fitness achievements.  In addition, my body fat goals and body weight weight targets are still big motivators for me even though I acheived them long ago.   I certainly don't want to lose something I worked very hard to attain.

One of the best ways to stay fit is to change your exercise routines periodically.  This challenges your muscles, keeps you from getting in a rut and allows you to find new goals.   A good example is my personal routine.  I am a big believer in body weight exercises like push-ups and pull-ups (more on this later).

Today, I decided to change my hand and arm postion for my push-ups by bringing my hands closer to my body and rotating my hands on the dumbell from a horizontal position to a vertical position.   Whoa!  I was able to only perform about a third of number of reps.  Great!  Now I have new goal:  To get my reps back up to what they were in the other postion.   Good for my arms; good for my overall fitness; good for my motivation and as important as anything: fun!

Fitness goals need to be difficult to achieve.  To me this readily apparent.  I want something worth achieving.  Difficult is what makes it worthwhile.   Plus, I want something that will take me awhile.  Think about it.  A goal of 2 push-ups for a someone starting a new fitness routine doesn't seem very worthwhile even if one push up can't be done when starting.  But, 25 is number that captures the imagination.  It's pretty hard and it's worth bragging about (even it it's just to yourself!).

Finally, set a reasonable time period for achieving your goal.   It'll make you give that extra effort that makes the difference.  I'm shooting for 6 weeks for the push-ups.

Quote of the day:  We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is habit not an act.

   - Aristotle