How to Set Realistic Training Goals In Your 50s (& Beyond)
APRIL 29, 2021
HOW TO SET REALISTIC TRAINING GOALS IN YOUR 50S (& BEYOND)
No-BS advice for setting achievable goals no matter your age.
By House Fitness
Deep down we all want change — but change takes effort. And the truth is: It’s not going to be easy to achieve your goals. It is going to take a lot of work.
In setting up our 50+ clients for success, we never limit what they want to achieve. I truly mean it when I say: ‘Anything is possible.’ There is no cap to what you want to achieve — you just need to be invested and face your challenges head-on.
Whether your goals are to sleep better, lose weight, tone up, exercise more effectively, build muscle, maintain healthy habits, or simply have more energy throughout your day — having the right mindset pieces in place is all you need to be successful.
Why You Need to Set Goals
When you set a goal for yourself, you are acknowledging the reality of what the commitment will actually look like and the effort it will take to get there. In doing so, you are also aligning yourself to a goal that you actually want. You don’t want to be aimlessly training for training’s sake.
Goal setting is especially important when you’re working with a coach. If you’re investing in a coach, you’re investing your time, energy, and money — so you want to have a personalized service tailored to your wants (AKA goals). You don’t want to be working towards something that you don’t actually want.
If you have been avoiding setting goals for yourself, it’s time to ask yourself: “What is stopping me?” Oftentimes, it’s failure. As people, we put barriers in place to avoid failure. If we set goals, we’re putting ourselves in a vulnerable spot — we might fail. As scary and uncomfortable as failure might be, it is a necessary evil. Feeling uncomfortable is part of the process. If you feel uncomfortable it’s an indicator that you’re making real progress. Embrace the discomfort.
How to Set Lofty Goals — Realistically
When setting lofty goals, there are a few key components you need to be aware of.
Firstly, it comes down to your commitment and how willing you are to see it through.
As great as it is to have a bunch of sexy goals laid out on paper, there’s no point if you don’t achieve them. You need to be truly inspired by your goals and have the discipline to follow through.
You can’t wait for motivation. Motivation tends to be this fleeting concept that we hope will one day kick in and give us what we need to push us forward on our fitness journey. The true key is developing discipline. Simply being committed to working hard on a daily basis and taking action that moves you forward toward your goal is what you actually need.
Don’t make your goals boring. It’s dull to work underneath your threshold of what you want to achieve.
Your goals don’t need to be realistic; they just need to be aligned with how hard you’re going to work. HUGE goals are inspirational and you CAN achieve them. You just need to break them down.
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”
— Vince Lombardi
SMALL Goals are the Key to BIG Success
Breaking down your goals will help you recognize all of the achievements you are crushing on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis! If you set goals for a year from now, it’s harder to take notice of the incredible progress you are making every single day on your fitness journey.
It’s not the huge milestones that drive results. It’s what we do Every. Single. Day. that really move the needle on our overall fitness and health.
A Good Goal Target for 50+
As our bodies age, our goals and expectations have to adapt alongside. Pushing yourself beyond your body’s limitations as you age can not only put you at risk for injury but lead you to burnout or leave you dreading working out.
Find goals that work with your age — not against it.
For your 50s and beyond, it is crucial to choose activities that are both healthy for your heart and low impact on your joints. The three major training components you need to focus on are 1. Mobility 2. Strength, and 3. Cardiovascular.
Set goals around mobility to improve and maintain your range of motion, goals around strength training to maintain a healthy muscle and bone mass, and goals around cardiovascular training to maintain heart function.
The reality is, you’re losing muscle and getting less fit simply from the process of aging — you need to incorporate strength training to regain lost muscle
"If you think lifting weights is dangerous, try being weak. Being weak is dangerous."
— Bret Contreras, PhD
No matter your age, creating realistic training goals is paramount. Whenever you create a new goal, reference this Fitness Goal Checklist. If you can put a checkmark beside all of these questions, odds are your goal is realistic.
Your Fitness Goal Checklist:
Is my goal specific?
Is my goal measurable?
Is my goal important to me?
Will I take the action necessary to accomplish this goal?
Do I acknowledge the realistic steps it would take to meet this goal?
Do I know what to do to achieve this goal?
Do I believe I can accomplish this goal?
Need help developing goals and starting on target?
Check out our Forever Young program.
Written By House Fitness