It is that time of year again...time to review the previous year and set those New Year’s Resolutions. Typical themes for New Year’s resolutions are weight loss, healthier eating habits and improved fitness levels. Setting the goal is easy, but how do you set yourself up for success so you don’t throw in the towel when February comes around?
The first key to success is to keep your goals “SMART”. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based, that is. These are 5 tips to help you stick to and achieve your goals. But what do they mean? Let’s break them down...
Specific means that you hone in on what you truly want to accomplish with your goals. Make sure whatever your goal is, it is easily measured by an objective metric. Make sure your goals are attainable and realistic. Losing 50 lbs in 1 month, not attainable (or healthy for that matter). If 50 lbs is your end goal, set a realistic timeline. For a goal of losing 50 lbs, a more realistic timeline may be 1-2 years. Which leads us to the last tip, make sure your goals have a time frame. This will help keep you on track and motivated.
An example of a “SMART” goal would be:
“I will lose 20 lbs of body weight in 3 months by exercising for at least 45 min, at least 4x/wk.”
Sounds like a good goal, huh? Well that is the easy part. How do we stick to that exercise commitment when life gets in the way? A good way to make sure your goals are measurable is to start out with baseline measures. In knowing where you are at the start line, you can better set realistic goals and track your progress.
Starting an exercise program can help to meet your weight loss goals, or it can be the goal in itself. Maybe you are looking to improve strength, flexibility or endurance to improve your overall health and wellness. A great way to know your fitness starting point is through a movement assessment. A movement assessment gives baseline measures for strength, general flexibility and general movement patterns to help identify areas of limitation. This can help you to work toward your goals, but can also help prevent injury as you start a new program.
Staying healthy and pain free throughout your exercise program is important to ensure that you adhere to your plan. If you sustain an injury because of poor mechanics, weakness or flexibility issues that were not identified prior to the start, you may find yourself on the sideline versus in the game. Your Physical Therapist can help you create a safe plan for exercise progression to prevent pain and injury. Along with injury prevention, your physical therapist can also help you recover from a tough workout with hands on techniques to ease soreness and keep you performing better without missing a step.
Knowing your baseline and tracking progress along the way gives you information about how you are doing with your program and lets you know when your goals are met. Performing follow up assessments to compare to your baseline measures can help you feel invigorated with your progress (hopefully), or give you that kick in the pants if you aren’t quite meeting the mark.
Ready to hit the ground running (or biking, or lifting…) in 2021? Come see us TODAY at Dynamic Physical Therapy and Wellness for your Dynamic Movement Assessment and let our expert Physical Therapists help identify your baseline measures and guide you to safe exercise. We will make sure you Perform Better. Live Better. Get Better.