The Ultimate 30-Day Beginner's Guide To Fitness Day 29

by Bodybuilding.comAug 25, 2014

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Short-term workout success is great—and pretty common. Success over the longer term is far rarer, and major reason why is that people struggle to set specific, measurable, and attainable goals. Not just achieve them, but set them!

Sounds crazy, right? You may think you know what your goal is—to be better, fitter, and healthier—but Kathleen explains in today’s video why that’s not enough.

Ultimate 30 Day Beginners Guide To Fitness:
Watch The Video – 02:42

Day 29 Challenge

Read about goal setting and set a fitness goal. Then publish it on your BodySpace page.
If you’re up for it, perform a sprint workout to keep your motivation strong!

Master Your Motivation

Over the last 15 years, Bodybuilding.com has published dozens of articles that go through the ins and outs of effective fitness goal setting. One of the most popular and successful methods, as Kathleen indicated, is the SMART method. In this approach, your goal needs to be: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

Specific: “Get fit” won’t cut it here. “Lose 10 percent of my body fat” or “add 15 pounds to my bench press,” on the other hand, both qualify.
Measurable: Numbers are great—and they don’t need to be high-pressure performance or body composition goals. Simply nail the goal of “perform three half-hour weight-training workouts per week for the next month,” and we can guarantee you’ll be in a better place!
Achievable: Fitness social media is fantastic, because everyone is so open and honest about their goals. But everyone also has different experience levels, time, and money. Make sure your dreams match up with your resources so you don’t end up frustrated.
Realistic: Big dreams are great in fitness, but they’re made of smaller, realistic plans. Start where you are and move forward in steps.
Timely: Give yourself a timeline like an event, a vacation, or a date to work toward. The days of “someday” are behind you!