A Look at My Fitness Goals

Now that I have given you a 30,000-foot view of my fitness journey, I would like to talk about my fitness goals since my second attempt to get fit back in 2013. In this post, I will walk through my goals, discuss how I did, and share the goals I am setting for myself in 2015.

2013 Goals

In January of 2013, when I started CrossFit, I set out with two goals:

• Lose 40 pounds
• Get healthy

If you read my post on setting S.M.A.R.T.E.R. fitness goals, you will realize that my initial goals were not ideal and had a high likelihood of leading to failure both from a goals perspective and a motivation/fitness perspective.
So how did I do?

• I lost 40 pounds.
• I was way more healthy than when I began.

How did I reach them?

• A consistent workout schedule.
• A lot of determination.
• A lot of motivation.
• A lot of hard work.

In 2013, I trained hard. I typically worked out three days a week. For me, just becoming active made a big difference. Being completely out of shape and doing CrossFit was a big shift and was very hard, but the results were quick and motivating. Knowing that I was out of shape always kept me determined.

2014 Goals

In January of 2014, I was selected by CrossFit 2A as the member of the month. As part of this award, I was asked a series of questions and allowed to talk about my CrossFit experienced and fitness journey — you can read the post here. One of the questions asked was what my fitness goals for the future were. While I was not really thinking about fitness goals using the S.M.A.R.T.E.R. method, unintentionally, it was very close:

• New PRs: 450 DL, 405 BS, and 250 Clean
• New skills: DU, KPU, HSPU, and MU
• Competition: place in scaled and compete in RX

I ended by saying:

At the end of the day though, my fitness and lifestyle goals are to be healthy and stay healthy in every aspect. Anything else is a bonus.

So how did I do?

• I achieved all the PRs.
• I picked up DU, KPU, HSPU, and T2B (though HSPU and T2B still need a lot of work).
• I took first place in a scaled partner competition, and I competed in two RX competitions.

In short, I achieved everything I set out to achieve except for MU, and I suspect I have at least one MU in me at this point, but I have not tried. The most exciting part of what I achieved for myself was that I did all of it in a year. Why does this matter? I am competitive in nature, and being successful competitively keeps me motivated. Staying motivated is what keeps me fit. By achieving the goals I had set myself, it was much easier to stay motivated and to continue prioritizing my fitness.
How did I reach them?

• A consistent workout schedule.
• A lot of determination.
• A lot of motivation.
• A lot of hard work.

In 2014, I trained a lot, and I trained hard. I typically worked out three days a week and as much as five days a week. I also worked out as much as I could while on travel. I worked on my weaknesses as well as my strengths, which allowed me to develop new skills and achieve new PRs.

2015 Goals

So what’s next? Looking at 2015, I would like to expand on my 2014 goals and add some entirely different goals — notice how I said goals and not resolutions:

• Blog about fitness: the goal is two posts a month, so far, so good!
• Do well in the CrossFit Open: I have been training since October for the Open, intending to ensure I do not hit a movement that drops me out of the workout.
• New PRs: 500 DL, 350 FS, 275 Clean
• New skills: consistent kip, multiple HSPU
• Competition: in 2014, I competed 4 times; in 2015, I want to compete at least 5 times and at least once in an individual RX competition.

How do I plan to reach them?

• A consistent workout schedule.
• A lot of determination.
• A lot of motivation.
• A lot of hard work.

Summary

Initially, my goals were very vague, but I managed to hit them. In January of 2014, I set some S.M.A.R.T.E.R. fitness goals for myself, and while I did not follow the recipe exactly — I completely missed the “T” — I achieved most of them by the end of 2014. In 2015, I have added some new goals and expanded on some old ones, but my success plan remains the same.

For me, this post is a moment of reflection on my fitness progress, an opportunity to celebrate my accomplishments, and a way to motivate me and hold me accountable for my goals in 2015. Looking back, I would have never guessed this is where I would be today and looking forward, I cannot wait to see where I can go.
So what are your fitness goals, and how do you plan to achieve them?

© 2015 – 2021, Steve Flanders. All rights reserved.