It’s Not Too Late to Set a Fitness Goal for 2019
Hey, remember January? It was a long time ago, but you probably set some goals for yourself regarding what you would like to achieve this year. (Are you out of memory? Maybe you participated in our discussion of fitness goals here.)
It is now November and it is a great time to revisit those goals. Not because you have to stick to arbitrary deadlines, but to see how you have changed as a person over the past ten months. For example, here are mine:
- Increase from 2 pull-ups to 10. I did 10 this summer.
- Bench press 100 lbs. I got there in January.
- Do a two plate deadlift (225 lbs). I got there this summer.
Wow, I’m such a beast. So far, so good. But then:
- Surpass my best 5K time. I didn’t even run 5 km.
- Run a half marathon, ideally less than two hours. I ran the half in 2:05 this spring, so this is a partial win. But I will not buy my time, because I am not interested in managing others.
- By November, I’ll be able to squat with a barbell with a barbell with my own weight for the number of repetitions equal to my age – the infamous “birthday squats” on Reddit. I can probably do bodyweight squats for 5-10 sets, so with a few rest breaks it will be a hard but doable workout. But why? My birthday this year falls shortly after the powerlifting competition. I have to focus on my recovery.
I find these goals a fascinating time capsule, and even if you haven’t formulated specific goals in writing, I encourage you to compare yourself now with what you were almost a year ago. What did you easily achieve that you think will be difficult? What turned out to be unimportant? What turned out to be more difficult than you expected, and what have you learned from this experience?
With that in mind, 2019 is not over yet. We’ve got two good months, and I’ve found (personally) that two months is the best place to set fitness goals. You will get a feel for how much progress you can expect and can count down the days you have to work on it. You can do an eight week workout program for jogging or whatever you like (sofa to 5K is nine weeks, so you can graduate in January). You can sign up for a competition, official or otherwise, and see if you can beat your current time or your current drills. You can even print out a blank calendar , just the November and December pages, and set yourself the goal of allocating X a certain number of training days . Or, if your original goal is still good, you can take one final push to end the year well.
After all, a goal for the year is a big dream; a two month goal is something you can plan for. Learn from the person you have been for the past ten months to spend the next two on what you really achieve and enjoy.