If you exercise or you’re thinking about starting exercising, there’s probably a reason behind it. Most people have a conscious or subconscious reason for exercising. I don’t think it’s an urge or a natural instinct to go and do loads of burpees or deadlifts. That doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy it, but for most of us there’s a catalyst and a motivator for it.
Sometimes that motivator can be super-vague though. For some people there’s a version of themselves that they want to become but it’s not well defined exactly what that person looks like or can do. Without defining this specifically it’s going to be almost impossible to achieve it.
Yesterday on a call with someone I inadvertently came up with quite a smart little system for both defining what you want and creating the beginning of the roadmap for getting there, by creating three goals: a performance goal, a vanity goal, and a consistency goal.
What do you want to be able to do?
Although I’ve put down ‘goal’ (singular) I mean this more in what do you want Future You to be able to do, so it can be a few different goals.
Here are mine:
20 unbroken pull ups
220kg+ deadlift
Sub 6:30 2km row
Back to running 15 miles comfortably
60kg+ strict press
(in bold are the ones I’ve achieved)
If I can achieve a state where I can perform all of those things in any given week, I’ll be very happy (and very strong and very fit). I’m not very close to that, but by ticking them off and ensuring I maintain that standard, eventually I’ll get there.
Have a think about what you want to be able to do and write it down in a list like I have above. Go big and try not to change course or add too many more until you've started knocking them off.
What do you want to look like?
I didn’t realise I had aesthetic goals until I got out of shape earlier this year and realised I did not like it one bit! When I walked around at 10% body fat because my output was so high it was easy to maintain, I used to just say I had performance goals and didn’t care about aesthetics. Lies. I want to maintain my new size (88-90kg) but be lean with it. Haven’t achieved this one yet either btw.
If you have a goal around aesthetics, there’s a few ways you can define it, but it usually comes quite easily to most people. It’s not vain to have vanity goals; you can have whatever goals you like, so go crazy and write down whatever it is you actually want.
How often do you want to train?
This one is slightly different in that it’s less intuitive, but it’s important to set a goal here as it’s what will help you reach goals 1 and 2. This one is a goal too because you should be working hard to achieve it and committing to it as you would the other goals. It’s very tangible and trackable too.
For me, right now it’s three times a week as a baseline. In those three sessions my training moves me towards all of those goals (minus running until knee healed). In most weeks I'll do four or more, but in my worst week I make sure those three happen. They get scheduled, they get done. Some days I’m the hammer and some days I’m the nail but I make sure I turn up for those three every week.
In setting a consistency goal, don’t set it at the most you could possibly do, instead consider:
What’s the minimum I need to do to reach these goals in an acceptable time frame?
What’s realistic? Rather than the most you can do in your best week.
If you set your target at 1-2 sessions below what you can do in your best week, you’re more likely to succeed and you can always add a few sessions on if you’re having a great week and have time. Hit your baseline sessions, then reward yourself with the extra fun.
By specifically defining your goals and writing them down, you’re creating a roadmap to the person you want to become (physically, at least). By understanding that, you can actually achieve it. If you don’t, or you have a very vague definition of what you want, then you’re not giving yourself a fighting chance of moving in the right direction.
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