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Six Steps To Reaching Your Fitness Goals
This Year!

By Ginny Grupp

Did you set fitness goals in January? Did you resolve to "get fit" this year? Even if you are on your way to keeping that resolution, you can improve your chances of reaching your fitness goals by planning your workouts the way the pros do. Here's how.

Step one: Set some specific fitness goals. Don't set too many of these. Try to narrow the field down to one or two very specific, attainable goals. The theory behind fitness-goal setting is is to give yourself something tangible to aim for. Your goals should be something that you can achieve. If you set a goal that is too far out there, you will lose your motivation. It's just not reasonable for you to climb Mt. Everest in May when you are now in March and haven't done any mountain climbing before.

Think of setting fitness goals as drawing the map to get you to your fitness dreams. Perhaps your long-term goal is to run the Boston marathon, and you began hitting the treadmill in January right after you made your resolution. A reasonable goal for this year would be completing a marathon by the end of this year.

Step two: Periodize your plan. Do what to your plan? Periodize it. Translated, periodization means take out your calendar and make a plan for the year. The plan will loosely include the following sections, "base-building", "training," "competition," "recovery."

Periodizing your plan allows you to see the end of your training plan, the achieving of the goal. It also allows you to escape the boredom of doing the same thing every day and helps you to avoid over training and getting injured. You plan a time to get ready, then work hard, reach your goal and recover during a less intense training period. This doesn't mean that once you have achieved your goal you can now return to lazy habits. It does mean that after you run your race or achieve your goal, you can turn down the intensity a bit. Read on to get a feel for periodization and what it can do for your workouts. The real planning is up to you.

Step 3: Build your Base: Base-building is just what it sounds like. If you've been fairly sedentary, you cannot start out running 13 miles with no training (well, most people can't). So, begin with building a base of fitness. For this example, you may walk/run for 20 minutes or so. Steadily increase this effort over the course of 10 weeks. This happens by increasing running time while decreasing walking time. Once you can run consistently for 20 minutes, extend that time bit by bit until you are comfortable with running at least three miles 3-5 times per week. You now have a solid base of fitness…you can now really begin training.

Step 4: Enter your "In Training" Period: "In training." This means upping the intensity of workouts to improve speed, endurance and strength. You are doing the work to get ready to compete. This period can last 12-20 weeks depending on your goals and fitness level. Workout days increase to 5-7 days per week. Intensity varies throughout this period. You are doing speed drills and increasing distances day by day and week by week. You run hard and long and kick your own butt in workouts so that race day is the reward for all of the hard work done in practice.

Step 5: Get out and Compete: Now for the payoff. You compete. At this time, you will ease back on your training a bit. You are strong, you are fast. You have beat yourself up and now your body will incorporate all of that hard work. The trick to this stage is figuring out how much working out will maintain and integrate your gains without breaking down and over-doing it. Length of runs decreases, intensity decreases, you sleep more and let your body take care of itself. While you can control the length and intensity of your workout, there are some things that the body must do on its own. So, ease off and let it happen. This time is for reaching your fitness goal! If you are competing in multiple races throughout a season, this period may last a month or two. If you are focused on a single event, this lasts just a couple of weeks.

Step 6: Now it's Time to Recover: Fitness goal set in January… achieved! Check it off your list. Now it's "recovery" time. Don't lose everything you've worked for all year by doing nothing until next year. Use this time for a more regular routine. Mileage can increase slightly (not back up to "training" levels, but flattening out and returning to comfortable mileage you put in during the days of base-building). This is also an excellent time to return to some of the activities you may have put off to squeeze in more training time. Or try new activities, test your new-found fitness level or change to an entirely new sport and set some new fitness goals for next year.

About the Author:

Ginny Grupp holds an MS in Exercise Science and Health Promotion, is an ACE-certified personal trainer and a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance. She works with clients in Alaska and around the world via her website.