Define your goal

It’s important when starting an exercise regime to have a clear idea about what you want to achieve.

A common example is to ‘loose weight’. This is a generalised term and is unspecific. You need to break down what is behind your desire to loose weight. Maybe you want to fit better in your clothes? Maybe you have a holiday or a wedding approaching that you want to look better for? It also doesn’t go into specifics of where you want to loose weight from, for most people though this will be from body fat.

Once the goal is clearly defined a series of mini goals can be created. These mini-goals are measurable over time and can help keep you focused and motivated on the long term one.

Goals that are focused on performance work very well. Setting yourself a target of attendance at a gym is a first step. Another goal could be to increase your overall activity level during the day. This can be measured through the use of a pedometer (measuring the steps you take).

If the goal is fat loss then making changes to your eating regime is a crucial step. Examples of mini-goals could be increasing the amount of water you drink and the number of times you eat per day. Although it seems like a contradiction, eating more frequently then the typical three times per day will actually help you loose weight.

Setting a time line on achieving these mini goals is important as it gives you a sense of urgency and accountability to make changes. These goals should also be constantly reviewed and updated to reflect the changes you are making. Working on progression is critical, if you are not going forwards then something isn’t working.

Here are steps you must take:

* Define you overall goal in detail, Include feelings desires
* Set mini-goals that can be constantly reviewed and updated. It feels great when you feel you are achieving something every day!
* Set a time line on your goals, hold yourself accountable

Using the above strategies will help you achieve much greater success with your training goals.