Setting challenges is a great way to motivate yourself to reach your goals. What’s the best way to choose what’s achievable for you?
The world is your oyster as they say, anything and everything is out there, so where to start?
Let’s have a look at where we are currently, what we enjoy doing and what we would like to be better at, all great words but doesn’t really point us in any direction!
So, maybe we’ve started walking, without changing what we do, measure how many steps we do in a week and add 10% let’s hit that target every week for the whole of next month. This will give us constancy, increase in effort and burn few more calories.
We can apply the same logic for most exercise challenges:
Aim for consistency, this is great if we need flexibility for time, doing the activity gets something done, we can work on volume later on.
Looking at distance, awesome can we add small amounts each month to slowly increase our body’s tolerance and keep us feeling great.
For those wishing to increase weight, having a program that includes progressive overload to increase is a must, this will also require consistency ticking that box as well.
Looking at calories, why not have an old school calendar on your fridge, big tick for everyday we ate well and kept on plan.
Challenges also need to be fun, working backwards from them can help break down large goals into smaller missions, let’s say we are looking at swimming a mile, long way and a daunting task.
First off, we just need to get in the pool, and we can see where we are at, lets use our imaginary person and they have managed 4 lengths without stopping, wicked start and gives us a great foundation to build on.
How can we use this to plan out our challenge?
Quick couple of examples:
Break down 1 mile into 4 length chunks – that’s 15 sets of 4 lengths, quite a lot still, can we do 5 sets of 4 lengths with some breaks?
Once we get comfortable with 5 sets of 4 lengths, add an extra one in, still with the breaks, until we get to the 15 sets at which point we are covering a mile.
From here we can lessen the rest time between and soon enough we will not need them.
Another option would be to cover the distance with breaks in as many chunks needed, we could also break this into a half mile if needed.
We then try to reduce the amount of breaks required.
As with all tactics, they are variations on a theme and you’ll know what motivates you, so if breaking it down a certain way appeals to you, go with that.
Tracking our progress is a great way to see how far we have come, it also allows us to keep up with the given routine, holding ourselves accountable with our plan.
Don’t forget to celebrate your success, hit a milestone treat yourself to a new item of workout gear or something similar.
It is important to note that there is no one-size-fits-all. The best way to set fitness challenges depends on your individual goals, fitness level, and preferences. Experiment and find what works best for you.
Need help with setting yourself a challenge? Why not speak to Team SF to see how we can help on info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.