When selecting your fitness goals to train for, there are plenty of options available. Often, the answer to this question depends on your required outcomes: if you want to build muscle in your upper arms, for example, then lifting weights is probably a better option than running. However, if you don’t know what your goals are, choosing them can be hard – and it can seem like a stab in the dark. This article will explore what options a fitness enthusiast has when selecting goals – and will explain how you can begin to reach them. 

Think about what you want

The first thing to consider when choosing fitness goals is to think carefully about what outcome you seek to achieve. If you have a general goal, such as losing weight that is currently spread fairly evenly across your body, then cardiovascular exercises such as running will probably help you achieve it. However, if you’re seeking to achieve a specific end, such as building defined muscle in a specific area or becoming especially toned around your stomach, then you may need to be a bit more defined in your goals and practices. 

Even within each sport or fitness category, there are various subcategories that you need to be aware of. Swimming is a good example: certain strokes are more likely to build muscles in the legs, for example, while others will focus on the upper body. If you’re struggling to find answers to these key fitness questions, then it’s well worth considering hiring a personal trainer: they will often have a wealth of knowledge on the topic, and they will be able to use their professional judgement to work out what will work best for you. If that’s out of the question due to prohibitive cost, then it’s also worth checking out the internet as a source of research. 

Protect against injury

When setting fitness goals, it’s important to also think about your own health position. If you don’t experience any health problems, then it’s likely that you’ll be able to have a broader range of goals: it’s likely to mean that you can pick and choose which areas of your body you want to focus on, and give yourself more flexibility in how you actually go about achieving these ends.

If you regularly experience problems with a specific area of your body, though, then it’s likely that you’ll need to be a bit more careful when setting fitness goals. Say you experience muscle problems and have been prone to tearing muscles in the past: there’s no reason to avoid muscle-building goals altogether, but it is definitely worth factoring in other solutions. Compression gear is one such solution, as it helps keeps blood flowing to your muscles – and hence keeps them better defended. Checking out the Twitter feed of Tommie Cooper is one way to find some appropriate gear for you, while it’s also possible to pick it up in stores. 

Be realistic 

A note of caution, however: setting goals for yourself has to be a realistic process, and there’s nothing to be gained by going too far over the top. If you aim to lose several stone in a few weeks, for example, then it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to achieve it in a way that is both healthy and sustainable. Any method that helps you to reach that goal is likely to either cause you to suffer or cause you to lapse back into old habits fairly quickly. 

Instead, it’s important to be as realistic as possible about the fitness goal process. Instead of setting yourself an ambitious long-term target, set achievable and bitesize smaller goals. This way, you’ll be able to reduce the risk that you’ll fall off track, and you’ll be able to get to where you’re going in a way that is much more irreversible. 

Goals are part and parcel of everyday life as a fitness enthusiast. They help to keep you on track, and they also reduce the risk that you’ll spend all your time working out only to fail to get the outcomes you need. By choosing your goals judiciously, you’ll be able to ensure that you get the body you’re looking to develop. Whatever your health status, don’t forget to factor this in: from buying compression gear to thinking carefully about your body’s weaknesses, there are plenty of ways to do this.