Category: Fitness Goal Setting

Key to Success, Establish SMART Fitness Goals by Kaa Yaa

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRvrf_GZzCU[/embedyt]

Visit any gym and you will see a lot of folks randomly doing exercises based on their mood or equipment availability. A workout done without any goal in mind is useless and leads us nowhere. A journey is only meaningful if we have a goal in mind and to ensure success the goal must have certain characteristics.

Consider the case of Alan and Dave who have their wedding coming up in 6 months. They both want to get in shape for their wedding. Technically speaking, both of them have a goal “To get in shape”, however lets see how the difference in framing it, makes a big difference in terms of attaining it.

Alan defines his goal as “I will give my best effort to get in shape” while Dave starts out by defining his goal as “I will become lean and strong”. Who would you think has a better chance of succeeding? The fact that Dave has narrowed his goal down to “becoming lean and strong”, gives him a huge edge over Alan, whose goal has vague undefined terms such as “give my best effort” and “get in shape”. So the first characteristic of a good goal is that it should be specific, wherein it mentions exactly what we want to attain.

Dave did not just stop there though, he made his goal measurable by saying “I will become lean and strong, so that I can do 10 pull-ups non-stop”. By making his goal measurable, Dave can now see how much progress he is making towards his goal. The closer he gets to his goal, the more motivated he becomes, therefore increasing his chances of attaining his goal. For Alan, since his goal is vague, nothing of this sort happens. So the second characteristic of a good goal is that it is measurable such that all the small progress you make towards it motivates you further. This is the same phenomenon of the cue, action and reward loop we discussed in last week’s video.

Important thing to note in Dave’s goal is, how reasonable it is. Being a beginner, it will be challenging for him to be able to do 10 pull ups non-stop in 6 months, but not something that he cannot attain. If Dave would have set his goal to be able to do 100-pull ups non-stop, then he would have soon realized that it is almost impossible to attain and would have given up. So the third characteristic of a good goal is that it should be challenging but attainable. Such a goal will stretch us beyond our comfort zone but is not impossible to attain.

The fact that Dave is going through all the pains of defining his goal, suggests that he is obsessed by his goal and really wants to attain it. He goes to the extent of saying that he will buy gym membership and commit to spending an hour there three times a week. This clearly shows that Dave’s goal is relevant for him. So the fourth characteristic of a good goal is that it should be relevant to us, wherein we have a strong urge to achieve it.

The fifth and the last characteristic of a good goal is that it should be time-bound, wherein we commit on a time by when we will achieve our goal. In both Alan and Dave’s situation, their goal is time bound by their wedding date.

So to summarize, if we are serious about attaining any goal in our life, we must make sure that the goal is
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• And Time bound

Such a goal is called a smart goal and research has shown that chances of success increase dramatically if one sets such a goal. Dave finally framed his smart goal as follows
“I will regularly go the gym three times a week, so that in 6 months I will attain a fitness level where I can do 10 pull ups non-stop”. Indeed he was in great shape during his wedding.

This concludes our video on setting fitness goals. From next week onwards, we will start getting into the basics of designing workout programs. In next week’s video, we will go over the most important attribute that a workout should have. Unfortunately, most often it gets ignored leading to suboptimal results. We will go over the case of Tim, and see how his workout actually ended up negatively affecting his health.

Website Link: https://kaa-yaa.com

How to Create Custom Workout Optimal for Your Fitness Goals by Kaa Yaa

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q0qo-3FNtE[/embedyt]

In this video we describe how to create a custom workout based on your fitness goals. Most of us usually have one of the four goals when we start a strength-training program, these are

1. Gain Mass

2. Get Lean

3. Build Strength

4. Sports Performance

 

Let us get into the details on how we can design a workout optimal for each of these fitness goals

Build Mass: This type of workout is optimized for muscle growth. Compound movements provide better stimulus for muscle growth, although isolation exercises may also be used to target a specific muscle group for aesthetic purposes. Generally the goal here is to take the muscle to failure and not to lift maximal weight. This can be achieved by lifting moderate weights over moderate rep ranges. Ideal rep range is between 6-12 reps per set. Rest between sets should be 60s-120s for compound movements and 30-90s for isolation. Generally compound exercise must be performed at lower rep ranges (6-8) while isolation exercises should have higher reps (8-12). Compound exercises mostly should be performed before the isolation exercises.

Get Lean: This type of workout is optimized for fat loss while maintaining muscle mass. To lose fat we need to burn more calories, since compound movements engage more muscles they burn more calories and are preferred. An optimal fat loss program is the one with high reps ranges 10-30 reps/set. Generally the rest between sets must be minimized to provide best results. Also, the faster and more explosively the workout is performed, higher will be the calories burnt. Most often the strength training is performed in the form of HIIT or cardio strength training, where an exercise is performed fast and explosively for certain period of time followed by a short rest and then the cycle is repeated. Steady state cardio should also be incorporated on rest days to optimize the fat loss.

Build Strength: This type of workout is optimized to increase your ability to lift heavy weights. Compound movements are a must for this goal. The focus should be on the three big lifts bench press, squat and deadlift. The target should be to lift as heavy as you can near your 1 rep max. For such a goal ideal workout is the one with low reps (2-5 reps per set) and long breaks (2-5 minutes) in between the sets. Since the weights lifted a near maximum, the muscles must be give given atleast 72 hours of rest in between.

Athletic Performance: This type of workout is optimized for power production, that is, how quickly can we move the weight? Explosive movements such as Olympic lifts or plyometrics should be included in such a workout. Usually the athletes who do sports training are looking for a balance between strength and endurance hence the rep ranges generally are similar as that of building mass 6-12 per set. The approach followed is that of periodization where a certain period of time is dedicated for building base strength and power for the sport. As the athlete gets closer to the event the training is shifted more towards the sports performance while strength training decreased to sustaining levels. This way the athlete just maintains their strength gains, while honing their sports skills. So there you have it, the difference in the workouts program for different fitness goals. In next weeks video we will talk about somatotype or how the training should change based on an individual’s body type.

Visit our website https://kaa-yaa.com

Goal Setting + Preparation = GAINS with STRENGTH CAMP

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR5hchS1gSA[/embedyt]

HOW TO CONSULT WITH ELLIOTT

COACHING LUNCH WITH ELLIOTT – If you would like to sit with me over a lunch together at my favorite organic / local food restaurant in St. Petersburg FL, and “pick my brain” for an hour or two… I’m here for ya.

Also, available to speak via Skype –

Use this link to register: http://www.elliotthulse.co/consulting

BUSINESS CONTACT – Colleen@ElliottHulse.com 

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Setting new FITNESS GOALS and how to reach them! with Kryss DeSandre

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezx0jsHFgaM[/embedyt]

 In this video I break down my new fitness goals leading into 2020 for the new year. Why not get a head start on some New Years resolutions right?! I highly encourage that you join along during this video and take a minute to write down what your fitness goals are and how you intend on reaching them. Let’s chase after these goals together! Setting goals is a great way to give you focus, ambition, direction and some extra motivation in your day to day life. Plus, the end result from setting goals and achieving them is so rewarding! I hope this video has helped you in some way, thank you again for watching. See you next time! XOXO – Kryss

 

Thank you so much for watching today’s video on my current fitness goals and how I intend on reaching them, if you enjoyed this video be sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you don’t miss my future videos! Click to Shop Gymshark Apparel: http://gym.sh/Shop-Kryss-DeSandre

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