About a month ago I wrote a post giving advice to people that want to start out being healthier. In the section on exercise, I said to make it a point to do some sort of physical activity for an hour a day, five days a week. You didn't necessarily have to join a gym, start lifting weights, or running (unless you wanted to), but just find something that keeps you physically active for an hour. I made it a point to say that you shouldn't have a specific goal in mind, because goals come later.
Well, later has come. After spending a month being active, you probably found something that you enjoy doing. Now that you've reached that point, it's time to start focusing on goals.
Goals are what keep us motivated to exercise. If I hadn't decided to run a half-marathon back in 2014, I wouldn't have ran five days a week, often for several miles at a time. It's a rare person that would decide to run nine miles for no reason. It was the race that kept me motivated.
So, whatever you decided to start doing, set a goal and work to achieve it. If you decided to start walking, you might consider walking a half-marathon. If you decided to start lifting weights, set a goal for how much you want to be able to lift. So on and so forth.
Make sure you have a short term goal and a long term goal. I did a series of small races before running a half-marathon, starting with a race that was just short of a mile. I moved up to a 5k, then a 10k, and a 10 mile race. Each race was a short term goal that eventually led to reaching my long term goal of running 13.1 miles.
My short term goals have changed quite a bit since then. Currently, my short term goals are to be able to squat and deadlift 350 pounds in a five-rep set, and to bench 250. I also want to run three miles in under 24 minutes.
My long term goal is to be able to do the Jason Statham Workout.
Don't be frustrated if you don't meet all of your goals, either. At the very least, you'll be in better shape than when you started.
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