Fitness Friday: Maybe Annual Fitness Goals Aren’t Your Thing–That’s OK!

They aren’t mine either.

I do make FITNESS GOALS…but not ones that take me through an entire year. When it comes to fitness, I prefer short-term goals—anywhere from 30-90 days long. Here’s why:

1. I feel like I can do anything for 30 days.

2. 30 days gives me enough time to see if what I’m doing is working. Whether it be a change in my diet or an adjustment in my exercise routine, it takes about 30 days to see changes in my body.

3. 30 days gives me enough time to see if what I’m doing is sustainable for the long-term. If I am making major changes to my diet, it takes me that long to see if I can keep it up. If it isn’t working (maybe I lost energy or didn’t like what I was eating or didn’t see the results I hoped for) then I can adjust my goals for the next month.

4. But 90 days is about as long as I can do one exercise routine before I get bored and need to change it.

5. It’s good for me mentally to break my big goals into smaller, more attainable mini-goals. Say I want to lose 10 pounds this year. Instead of a big, vague annual goal that I may forget about in mid-February, I can have a mini-goal to lose 1 pound this month or maybe 3 pounds in 90 days. (That sounds so do-able, doesn’t it?)

6. Doing the same exercise routine longer than a few weeks leads to a fitness plateau. Your body adjusts to your workout, even if it’s difficult, so you must mix it up in order for your body to continue changing. It stinks when it happens, and it will totally discourage you if you don’t expect it and plan for it. (I’ve written a few posts on this if you want to read more. One is Working out for Weight Loss and the other is Bust Through a Weight Loss Plateau).

7. I don’t know what my life will look like in 3 months. I have a very full life and you probably do, too. My schedule changes from season to season, depending on what the significant people in my life are up to. When I set 30-90 day goals, it’s easy to adjust goals if needed, without feeling like I’m failing.

My 90-Day Plan:

So, for the next 90 days, I’ve created myself a little hybrid workout combining P90X, P90X2 and adding a new Beachbody workout called TurboFire. Well, TurboFire isn’t new, it’s just new to me. TurboFire is fun and requires a lot more coordination than anything I’ve done since my cheerleading days.  Because it’s set to music and and actually requires a little dancy-dance stuff.  But it’s still intense, because it incorporates lots of High Intensity Interval Training. I have only done 2 of the workouts so far, Mostly, I’m just trying to keep up right now. You know…learning curve. I will give you a full report when I’m done with it.

(Does the word “hybrid” imply that I am combining 2 workouts?  Maybe I should call it a Tri-brid?)

Here’s a little preview, if you’d like to see it. But if you buy it, you have to promise you’ll get it from me, OK? Cuz I can hook you up.

Regarding my diet, I’m going back to what I did last year during P90X2 which worked really well for me. I tell you all about this here.

For one week in January, I’m participating in our church-wide fast. I don’t know exactly what I’m fasting yet, but I’m thinking it may involve some juicing and perhaps doing mostly raw vegan. But only for that week. Then I’ll go back to this.

After these 90 days, I’m going to try to tackle Insanity The Asylum for a second time.

 

(Heh.  That makes it sound like I’m actually DOING it a second time. No, no, no. I’m ATTEMPTING it for a second time. The first time I tried it, it was just too hard for me and I laid on my basement carpet looking up at Shaun T. thinking mean, ugly and un-Christian things. I’m hoping after doing my hybrid  tri-brid creation, I’ll be in better condition to kick it’s butt.  And also be a better Christian.)

We’ll assess in 90 days. Cuz that’s what we do when we don’t set annual goals.

See how beautiful this works?

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Not sure what to do for 30-90 days? Here are the programs I recommend.

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Want a little extra weekly encouragement? Follow me on Facebook or Twitter! Today I’m sharing a super-simple 3-step plan for your next 30 days.

 

(And sometimes I just share silly things that mean absolutely nothing.  As if I don’t do enough of that here.)

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Q4U:  Do you like annual fitness goals or are you more of a short-term person like me?  What are your fitness goals for 2013?