4 Elements of Genuinely Compelling Fitness Goals
Imagine you’re going on a quick bike ride across town to pick up a pack of gum from the dollar store. You don’t know exactly where the store is, but you’ve been there once before and know you’ll find it eventually. You don’t necessarily need the gum, but it would be nice to have.
For many years, my attempts to get in shape resembled this meandering trip for a pack of gum. The stakes were low, I had no urgency, and when I came up short I didn’t care all that much.
Throughout this time I prioritized exercise and read everything I could get my hands on about running faster and getting stronger (my two main goals), but despite implementing rigid training plans, diets, and exercising 5 times a week, I never became noticeably faster or stronger.
I journal regularly and I found I was constantly recommitting to the same fitness goals every few months. I got fed up and decided to do something about it. After some thought and the terrifying click of a button, I registered for a Half Ironman triathlon. Having never run farther than 5 miles this was a drastic commitment, but there was an immediate shift. The next day when I went for a run, I wasn’t working out anymore, I was training.
I started to notice progress 2 weeks in and now I’m training 6 days a week, eating clean, waking up at 5 am and I can’t believe how far I’ve come in the 12 weeks since I registered for the race. I now realize my stagnant fitness was not from a lack of effort, but from poorly set goals. This new goal has 4 key elements that have contributed to the consistency and commitment that are driving my fitness gains. Signing up for a triathlon conveniently has all the elements built-in, but these can be applied to any training goal.
Commit to something that scares you
Previously, I was focused on building strength and running faster. I had specific numbers I wanted to achieve in each discipline, but they were incremental improvements, like increase my bench press 3RM from 155 to 185 or complete a 5k in 21 minutes instead of 23 minutes. Much like the trip to grab a pack of gum, these objectives were within my capabilities. All I really needed was more consistency in my training to hit those numbers. Because they were relatively easy to achieve I never felt a need to work hard or stay consistent.
Now that I am registered for a Half Ironman, I know I need to work harder each day to even come close to hitting my goal. Completing the race is well outside of my current levels of fitness. Before I started training, I had never swam a lap in a pool or ridden a bike farther a few miles. I have an incredible amount of work to do, not just to run a strong race, but to even cross the finish line.
I feel like I’m studying for an important test on a subject I care deeply about, whereas before I felt like I was prepping for a test I didn’t care about and I knew I could get a B- on with no preparation.
Flip the hourglass
I never had a timeline or end date for my goals. Instead, they floated around my head like a boat drifting away from the dock. I knew what I wanted to achieve and I was close to achieving it, but without a ticking clock, I had no reason to push myself. My training was suspended in time with no urgency to make progress, so I didn’t. I was chasing a deadline that was perpetually moving forward on the calendar.
With a non-negotiable race date, time quickly became finite. Each day the race gets closer I have less time to achieve the level of fitness required to cross the finish line. If I haven’t made progress at the end of the week, I can’t push back the race.
Knowing exactly what I will need to accomplish and when makes training black and white. Once these were defined I calculated the rate of progress I need to maintain in order to be ready for my race.
Training used to feel like sailing across the Atlantic with no sense of how long the trip was. The only things I knew for sure were that I was traveling in the right direction and I would arrive on the other shore eventually.
With an approaching deadline, I’ve been able to choose a trusted route across the ocean and as I continue along the journey, I hit milestones that remind me I’m on track.
Constantly check your course
Measuring your progress is a necessity when chasing challenging goals. I always thought I did a good job measuring and quantifying my fitness goals. I knew my current paces and maxes, recorded every rep and run, and knew exactly how far away I was from hitting each of my goals. However, just logging workouts isn’t enough.
If you keep track of every calorie you consume, it will have no impact on your weight unless you change your eating behavior.
To change my training behavior, I stopped reviewing my workout after it already happened and started planning data-driven training sessions.
Instead of going for a run, burning myself out after 3 miles, and checking the results once I finished, I now set specific paces, heart rate zones, or effort levels for each piece of the session and monitor my efforts in real-time.
Some days that means holding myself back to train at a lower heart rate and other days that is pushing myself to hold an uncomfortable pace for longer than I think I can.
There is no way to reach your destination unless you know you are making all the right turns along the way. Assigning a specific intention to each training session, quantifying the pace/effort/duration, and executing the work ensures you end at the right place on game day.
Leverage the people you love
A goal without accountability is just a wish. Without structures in place to provide external consequences, there is nothing to kick you in the ass when you don’t want to get out of bed in the morning or lace up your sneakers when it’s snowing.
When my goals were written down in a notebook, I didn’t have anything to keep me accountable but my own wishy wash commitment. Registering for a triathlon had the immediate benefit of a financial commitment and an organized race where event staff would be waiting for me to show up.
I knew registering for the race would help motivate my training, but I didn’t expect my family and friends wanting to come and support me. I knew they would be encouraging, but I never imagined they would physically be at the finish line when I cross it.
Their presence has completely changed the way I think about the race. I am not a very emotional person, but thinking about failing to complete the race and letting everyone down brings about a visceral reaction I can’t control.
The only force more powerful than my fear of letting everyone down is a fiery passion to finish the race and see all the people I care about waiting on the other side of the finish line. Even just writing about it now, I can hardly hold back tears.
All the early mornings, sore muscles, grueling training sessions, and doubts; all cashed in and all worth it.
With accountability, the only option is accomplishing your goal. It doesn’t matter how because with the right combination of encouragement pulling you along and fear pushing you forward, you will find a way. Accountability provides purpose and meaning that overpower bullshit excuses, laziness, and our evolutionary tendency to take the path of least resistance.
During the years I struggled to make progress with my fitness, I always assumed my problem was my work ethic. I figured I needed more time in the gym, harder sessions, and faster runs. Each time I veered off course and missed a few days of training, I kicked myself for my lack of discipline. Despite my best efforts, I consistently came up short.
In hindsight, I wasn’t lacking intrinsic discipline. Instead, I was missing the extrinsic motivation derived from genuinely compelling goals.
I used to be the only force pushing myself in the right direction. Now I have a combination of 4 immutable forces carrying me forward.
- Chasing a goal I’m not capable of forces me to get better every day if I want a chance to achieve it
- A concrete race date or deadline provides a ticking clock to understand the rate of progress necessary for success
- Creating intentional training sessions and measuring my performance each day ensures I’m always on course
- Intense accountability from all the people that matter in my life makes my goal larger than myself and carries me when everything else fails
Breaking out of a rut in fitness doesn’t require superhuman discipline. Chasing a goal that has inherent external motivators means you don’t have to rely on your own willpower to get the work done.
When the external factors are in place and your goal is powerful enough, progress will come. It will be slow and monotonous. You will hit plateaus and want to quit, but the driving forces built into your goal will always guide you to do the next right thing and guarantee the work gets done.
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