Short Term Fitness Goals

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and nor should your fitness.

The Importance of Short Term Fitness Goals

When starting a new fitness journey or trying to lose weight it is important to not focus on results that may take years to achieve. Focusing that far down the road will likely cause you to be disheartened and lose motivation if you are not seeing results quickly.

Let’s face it – any kind of fitness or weight loss journey will feel like it is an uphill battle to start with, but by setting small milestones each week/month, you will quickly look back and wonder where the time went.

It is far more important to enjoy the journey rather than always focusing on the end result.

What is vital to remember with fitness and weight loss goals is that there is no real end point. What you are doing is making an active decision to change your lifestyle and better your health. If there was an end point to your fitness journey, then you are likely to continually repeat goals over and over, perhaps without positive motives.

You should set small goals and work to achieve them along your journey – they will keep you growing and motivated.

Whilst long-term goals are not a bad thing to have, setting short term goals that can help bring you to that point will increase your chance of success.

A great thing to do is to set a long-term goal and work backwards from that end point, creating multiple goals to act as steppingstones to get you to your long-term destination.

What is a Good Long-Term Fitness Goal?

A good long-term goal will differ from person to person and your own individual lifestyle, aspirations and current situation.

A long-term goal may be fitness related, like running a marathon or getting a six-pack. Both of these goals are more than achievable with the right diet, dedication and hard work but they will not happen overnight. It is easy to get disheartened and lose motivation if your only focus is achieving a goal that, for a time, will seem impossible.

It is better to have a long-term goal in mind and set out mini motivational steppingstones to get you there than just trying for the end goal from day 1.

By making the decision to improve your health and live a healthier lifestyle you have already achieved your first goal!

What is a Good Short-Term Fitness Goal?

If you are looking to lose weight, then short term goals like 1-2lbs per week (0.5 – 1kg) is a healthy figure to aim for. Over 12 weeks these short-term goals will get you to your target destination in no time.

If you are planning a long-term goal like a marathon, then why not start with short term goals like running 1k, then 3k, then 5k first? Or even just getting off the sofa and going for your first run or even just a walk. Making exercise a regular habit means it becomes part of your daily routine, and you will be running miles before you even realise it.

There are tonnes of options to keep you motivated on your journey to your long-term goal, but even when you get there you shouldn’t see it as a finish line. Living a healthy lifestyle is about the journey not the end of the road. Small, regular, amounts of exercise are enough to maintain healthy habits and fitness progress.

Why not try taking part in an online challenge to set yourself fitness goals? Challenges like Race At Your Pace allow you to set goals to improve your fitness and health and keep you motivated along the way.

With how connected the world is these days it is hard to imagine how many other people are in the same situation as you – just starting out on their fitness or weight loss journey. By committing yourself to a monthly challenge you are joining a community of 1,000’s of like-minded, supportive people who will either be where you are right now or have already been in your position and are achieving their goals.

Check out our success stories and testimonials to get inspired.

By surrounding yourself with other people who are also making changes in their lifestyle you will pick up invaluable advice to keep you on the right track.

Check out Race At Your Pace’s fantastic short term-goal challenges and start your journey today.

Sign up today!

Keep Up To Date