Set goals y’all.

Let’s talk about fitness goals. You should have one.

I’M NOT LIKE, THAT INTO FITNESS

Not every goal has to be on the scale of completing an iron man or making the Olympic volleyball team. If you have one on that level, then you are awesome, and I am not sure why you are reading this blog, but maybe you can leave a message in the comments and direct us all to your way more hardcore blog. But, there are plenty of other goals, even on a weekly basis, that can help motivate you AND make you feel great about accomplishing them.

OK WELL I GUESS I WANT TO LOSE 10 POUNDS

omg this is EXACTLY what I wanted to talk about. So, cosmetic goals are not the best ones to have (she said, 20 minutes after weighing herself). I know we all do it, but it’s healthier, more fun, and a better challenge to make your goal about an activity you want to get better at, rather than how you want your body to change. And, chances are, as you’re taking the steps to get better at whatever thing you’ve targeted, your body will change as a result. See what I did there? Also though, no cheating by trying to get better at being thin. Don’t be a jerk.

Here are some great goals to make, split into short term and long term.

Short Term:

• Do 5 push ups really, really well
• Do 10 burpees without taking a break
• Run 6 miles
• Do a pull up (maybe this is long term? it’s like…. really hard)
• Cut 15 seconds off of your fastest mile
• Do Interval Training with a full minute for your sprints
• Make it through a Bikram yoga class without hating your life
• Do an 18-inch high set of 20 box jumps

Long Term:

• Do 100 burpees
• Run a marathon
• Cut 90 seconds off of your fastest mile
• Do the 8-angle pose in yoga (maybe this is short term for some people…. not for me)

Both of these categories take committed training to reach your goal, but on average I would say you can do the short-term in a month, and long-term in a year (I AM NOT A DOCTOR THIS ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR PHYSICAL ABILITIES AND STUFF). I like to mix both of them so I have something in mind to help me design my week, but a bigger, more intensive goal that I can work towards in the long term. Right now I want to be able to do 18″ box jumps (I’m at 16″), and I want to run the NYC marathon in 2014 (it was going to be 2012, but then an injury happened, and so did a hurricane, and I’m being VERY SAFE with my injury and postponing til 2014). I also secretly want to be able to see my abs someday, but THAT IS NOT WHAT WE DO HERE. We make goals, about our fitnessing ability and our strength, to make us stronger, healthier, more fit human beings. We do not make superficial goals that drive us crazy, and that we might have little control over anyway. That would make us idiots, and we are not idiots.

Okay so WHATCHALL GONNA DO THIS MONTH?