It’s officially September and I’ve decided to set a few goals for the month. But not just any goals—SMART goals. Have you guys heard of SMART goals before? The specific words that represent each letter in SMART vary slightly, but the basic idea is the same. A SMART goal is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
As I mentioned a few posts back, I really want to increase my endurance. That’s a good goal to have, but it’s not a SMART goal. Instead of being so vague, I came up with a few SMART goals related to improved endurance/strength that I’d like to achieve by the end of the month.
Don’t take more than 3 rest days in a row. My work schedule makes it hard to make it to CrossFit as often as I would like. It’s also been super busy at work lately and I’ve been having a hard time remembering to eat lunch, so making it over to the work gym for a quick lunchtime workout has been even harder. Work has really been getting in the way of my fitness goals, but I need to work harder to stop that from happening. I need to stop staying late and skipping my lunch breaks. Realistically, I know I probably can’t avoid those things every day because it’s been freakishly busy and I have no way of knowing when things will slow down. But, vowing that I will not take more than 3 days off from exercising will encourage me to stop what I’m doing to head to the gym for lunch, leave early enough to make it to CrossFit, or bust a sweat at home before dinner. I think this goal will also help improve my endurance by encouraging me to work out more often. Eventually, I’ll up this to no more than 2 days off, but 3 days is more achievable this month.
Hold a 2 minute plank (in pushup position). I used to do planks a lot when I worked out with personal trainers. In fact, one trainer made Sara and I do a plank challenge that required us to do some ridiculous amount of planking within a week. I’m pretty sure there is a picture of me planking in my work cube on someone’s cell phone. It was THAT serious! Since I hadn’t been doing planks regularly, they got a lot harder. I was struggling to hold a plank for 20 seconds during my CrossFit Elements classes. Today during the warm-up, I held a plank for a whole minute! I know a minute plank hold is nothing to a lot of people, but it was a big deal to me. My entire body was shaking like a leaf and I wanted to drop down to my knees and give up, but I held in there! It seems like it’s been a lifetime since I’ve held a plank for over a minute, but I know I can do it if I just keep practicing.
I found the picture, Karlye! 🙂
Run a mile… nonstop! Whew! This is a biggie. A lot of people aren’t fans of running and I am definitely one of them. I mean, I seriously loathe running. But, I also feel like it’s a necessary evil. We don’t all need to run marathons every year, but we should be able to run a mile without hacking up a lung. I’m not so concerned about how fast I run this mile; this month, my focus is on running it without stopping. Once upon a time, I ran at least 3 miles nonstop several times a week. Right now, I might be able to run for 3 minutes without stopping. It’s embarrassing, but true. Even though I really hate running, this is the goal I’m most excited about. Weird, right? Being able to run a mile again is going to give me such a sense of accomplishment and it’s going to be solid proof that my endurance has indeed
Are you making any fitness goals for the month of September?
Are your goals SMART goals? If not, how can you make them SMART?
[…] guys! In the beginning of September, I shared my SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) goals with you. I wanted to challenge myself to not take more than 3 rest days in a row, hold a 2 minute […]
[…] guys! Last week I told you about my SMART goals. On Monday I found myself in a situation that reminded me of how much I really need to push myself […]