Hi my name is Kayla, and I’m a fitness blogger + personal trainer without a fitness goal. Is that even allowed???
Two months after running the NYC Marathon (will I ever shut up about running a marathon? Probably not…) I got an in-depth body fat and muscle test. It had been exactly a year since my last test and I was curious and nervous to see where my body was post-marathon.
After the test I was absorbing the information when the trainer asked me: So, how are you going to use these results?
I shrugged. I was honestly just using this test as a check-in with my body post marathon. Hello, body fat percent, how are you doing? How ’bout you, arm muscles, still there?
The next questions was well what are your fitness goals for 2016… it was the end of December and resolution season was upon us.
I froze. I had already started thinking about the resolutions I wanted to accomplish in 2016 but none of them had to do with fitness. All I could think was I had just ran a freaking marathon, I think I’ve done enough fitness goal setting for the next decade…
He wouldn’t let the question go at first. I explained that I had no interest in running another marathon, I can’t swim so triathlon is out of the question, I don’t care about PR’s and I know I don’t need to lose weight. At that point in time I was far more concerned with taking the GMAT and shifting my gears from a year SO hyper focused on working out and hitting the prescribed mileage each week.
This isn’t the first time that I’ve been “called out” for my lack of fitness goals and it honestly pisses me off.
I’m super goal oriented in all other aspects of my life– a queen of to-do lists and hitting metrics. I’ve come to realize that I’m the exact opposite when it comes to fitness because I don’t need to be metric and goal driven. In fact, I really hate classes that focus on numbers because it stresses me out when working out is supposed to be my de-stresser.
I think fitness goals are great if they act as a motivator for you— whether it’s losing weight, PRing in a CrossFit workout or training for your first 5K. But you also shouldn’t feel guilty about not having a fitness goal, as long as you still feel motivated to work out.
This approach is working well for me, for now. I’m sure I’ll eventually crave a goal, whether it’s another marathon or some other physical feat. Until them I’m going to keep “training for life” as I like to think of it.
I love the idea of this! Since so many people are saying to make “lifestyle changes” instead of “dieting” I think it’s safe to say that setting a specific goal is totally reasonable!
Yes, it’s all about the lasting effect of fitness and being healthier
I love this. You have to do you. If you don’t have a fitness goal, so what? That doesn’t mean you aren’t healthy or that you aren’t doing amazing things to make the most of your life. You just don’t care about the number of push ups you can do. Why can’t your fitness goal just be to help other people with their fitness goals? Isn’t that what being a personal trainer is all about?
Aw I love that, and certainly feel that way in the blog-o-sphere + when I was working as a trainer.
This post really made me think!
I love to exercise and I do it almost daily…but I don’t think I’ve ever really had fitness goals. I’m not a runner, so I’m never training for a race. I’ve never done any fitness competition of any sort.
I exercise for the same reason that people read, or watch movies, or go out to eat – because I enjoy it and it makes me happy!
I was SO thinking about that with reading— I don’t make an effort to read nor do I have a reading goal, it’s just something I enjoy and know enriches my day.