Core Daily
Mindset
Seek Small Achievable Goals
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Even though CorePerformance.com members and readers are among the most conscientious, driven, and consistent exercisers in the world, staying motivated to exercise is still a problem. "We all struggle, including me," says Mark Verstegen, founder and chairman of Athletes' Performance.
There are plenty of articles, books, videos and blogs on the subject. Among the standard bits of advice are to:
- Exercise with a friend or group
- Reward yourself
- Keep records and measure your progress
- Make the experience enjoyable
- Exercise to your favorite music
- Make exercise part of your daily schedule
Think Small—At First
All of the aforementioned suggestions are good. They have stood the test of time and have worked for a variety of people in different work and lifestyle situations. But the one suggestion that keeps coming up, both in popular literature and in exercise research, is to set realistic goals. This is one occasion when seeing the big picture is not a good idea. You can't lose 40 pounds overnight, you can't run a marathon after the first week of training, and you can't even lower your resting heart rate by exercising for a few days.
A study presented at a meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine found that small, achievable goals may be more effective in helping adults to adhere to a fitness program.
Seventy-eight people were involved in the study—48 women and 30 men, ranging in age from 30 to 58. All were inactive when they began the study. Participants wore pedometers to measure the number of steps they took each day. This gave researchers a baseline number for each participant, which was an average of 5,510 steps per day. The people in the study were then randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group was given a goal of 10,000 steps a day. The other group was given a goal of increasing the number of daily steps by 2,500 over their baseline. A control group was also measured at the start of the study, but not given a goal to increase steps.
At the end of the eight-week study, both groups with goals to increase steps showed significant improvement in daily activity, as compared to the control group, which had no significant increase in activity. Those who set a goal of 10,000 steps per day averaged an increase of 3,036 steps over their baseline. Those with a goal of adding 2,500 steps had an increase of 2,879 steps each day.
"What's most interesting is that 42.3 percent of the people who set the smaller goal, increasing steps by 2,500, were able to stick to their goal on four out of seven days in the eight-week study," says Mark Davis, MPh, lead researcher. "Only 15.4 percent of those who had a goal of taking 10,000 steps per day met this goal on four days out of seven in the study period."
Davis points out that the goal of taking 10,000 steps a day is widely promoted as a measure of moderate physical activity. With the growing popularity of pedometers, many people use this 10,000-step number as a goal.
"Based on our study results, smaller goals, such as increasing daily steps by 2,500 steps at a time, might in fact be a more effective way to help people not only reach a desired physical activity goal, but also stick with it," says Davis.
Wider Applications
While this study only involved steps taken during a 24-hour period for eight weeks, there is no reason to believe that the results wouldn't also apply to aerobic, strength, or flexibility training, as well as mastering the fundamentals of a sport.
Think small, or at least smaller, at the beginning. Set a goal that is challenging, but achievable, and then continue to build on that goal until you achieve something that is really big, something that will be significant for you, your health, your family, your colleagues or your teammates—and something that will last a lifetime.
About The Author
Jim Brown – As a contributing writer for CorePerformance.com, Dr. Jim Brown draws on his knowledge and experience in health, medicine and sports.
