“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
- Lewis Carroll

“He who fails to plan, plans to fail”
- Proverb

One of the biggest problems I see with people and their workouts is that they don’t actually have a tangible goal. They want to workout X number of times per week for Y number of minutes. But what does that mean? Does that mean walking on a treadmill? Or doing an hour of various weightlifting exercises (and which ones at what intensity)? Cardio-kickboxing? Beating on a punching bag? Running 15 miles?

Or they have goals like running a half-marathon in under 2 hours or squatting their bodyweight. But they have no plan to get there. Their efforts are haphazard and completely random. Unfortunately, without a set of goals and a plan to reach those goals, you never know where you’re going to end up. You’ll likely float from one thing to the next, never making any major progress because you never planned.

It’s time to set some goals and create a plan to reach them.

Goals Must Be S.M.A.R.T.

So before you sit down and decide just what it is that you want to do, we need to know what makes a good goal. Goals should be:

• Specific – Do you know exactly what it is that you’re trying to do and why?
• Measurable – Is there a set of criteria you can use for measuring progress?
• Attainable – I lump this in with Realistic, but I’m sure there’s some Life Coach out there that can tell us what it really means.
• Realistic – Can you really and truly accomplish this goal? Stretch goals are good. Unrealistic or unmotivating goals are bad.
• Timely – A goal should have a timeframe. “I want to do X by Y.”

Your goals can be anything you want them to be. Below, I list five of my current performance goals. But yours could be “Lose 50 pounds,” “Get under 12% bodyfat,” “Bench press 350 pounds”… You get the point. As long as your goal represents something to you, it’s worthy.

Are My Goals S.M.A.R.T.?

Here are a few of my fitness and performance goals:

• Run 100m in under 11.2 seconds
• Run 400m in under 52 seconds
• Deadlift 2.5 times my bodyweight
• Back squat 2 times my bodyweight
• 50″ box jump

So do my goals fit the 5 criteria above? Let’s have a look:

• Are they specific? Yes. I know exactly what it is I am trying to accomplish. No wishy-washiness in my goals like “Run faster”.
• Are they measurable? Yes. If the clock doesn’t read 11.19 or less or if I fail to deadlift 462.5 pounds, I didn’t meet the goal.
• Are they attainable and realistic? Yes. I didn’t get crazy and set a goal of beating Usain Bolt or holding a World Record in the 400m. Those would be ridiculous goals. But based on where I was when I set these goals, they are perfectly attainable, while still being stretch goals (details below).
• Are they timely? Yes. Next June is my timeframe for hitting all of these goals.

Now I’m going to add a 6th measurement for goals. Are they consistent? By that, I mean, do my goals mesh with each other or are they in competition for the limited amount of effort I can devote to them? Notice that my goals are not to run a 4:30 mile and to run a 11.2 second 100m. Those goals are not complimentary. The former requires an enormous aerobic capacity while the latter requires incredible power-to-weight ratio and fast-twitch muscles, but little in the way of aerobic capacity.

On the other hand, strength through the posterior chain (measured via the deadlift and squat) and speed in the sprints and jumping power are all inter-connected. Each one should help the others or, at the least, not harm progress toward the others.

You Must Have A Plan To Reach Those Goals

What good would these very measurable, realistic, attainable goals do for me if I didn’t have a training plan in place to meet them? Does anyone think I’d ever run as fast as I want to if I went out one day and ran a few miles at whatever pace I was feeling and then went into the gym and did a few random weight lifts in whatever rep/weight scheme I was feeling at the time? Or what if my workout was composed entirely of randomly selected circuits?

Of course not! I know that every time I set foot on the track or in the gym, I have to have a plan for that day’s workout. Each and every time I train, I know what my objective is for the day. I’m working on speed, or acceleration, or speed-endurance, or general strength. Or maybe it’s an active recovery day. Or maybe it’s a complete 5-day rest in preparation for a big meet (I’m sure looking forward to that rest next week!). It’s all part of a plan that I have written down hopefully culminating in the achievement of the goals above.

You Must Write Your Plan Down

Where I am in the track season influences how far ahead I plan. I usually start with a solid 2-month plan in the pre-competitive phase of the season that I stick to regardless of what happens in any early season meets. After that, I start letting where I am dictate what I need to train. For instance, given my 100m time, I know that speed-endurance is my limiting factor in going faster in the 200m and 400m, so I’ve been targeting my training more to speed-endurance. Once I hit the off-season, I’ll shift back more to strength and raw speed work, then as I get closer to the season again, I’ll begin layering the speed-endurance on top of a faster top speed.

It doesn’t have to be a super meticulous plan either. But you do need some way of knowing what you’re focus is and when. Some form of planning and periodization is the name of the game.

Just because you write a plan down, however, doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. There are days I get to the track and, for whatever reason (poor sleep, poor eating, stressed by work or life), things just aren’t clicking. I may cut down on the training for the day or completely shift the focus of my training to something less intense that still has a purpose. For instance, maybe I planned to some heavy speed work, but I’m just not there that day. Maybe I’ll switch up and do an easy day of tempo running, then call it a day and regroup to get my focus back. As long as this doesn’t happen too often, it’s not a big deal.

You Must Measure Progress Regularly

If you aren’t measuring your progress in some way, how do you know when you’ve reached your goals or if your plan is even getting you there? I have regularly scheduled measurements for the first two, at least during the Master’s Track and Field season. Every 3-4 weeks, I show up to a track, put on my spikes, and get timed by a computer. There can be no question about where I stand.

I can tell you where I am in respect to my goals (11.29 100m and 53.36 400m) and that I am progressing towards them (one year ago, I was at 11.65 100m and 57.75 400m). When I set those goals, my 100m time was over 12 seconds and my 400m time was around 60 seconds, so the goals were not low bars to step over.

In the off-season, my measurements will switch to the strength-oriented goals and I know approximately where I sit with them right now as well. The box jump is one that I’ve failed at measuring. I haven’t had access to a stack of things to jump on that is that high (while being sturdy enough to give me a “warm and fuzzy” about jumping on them). But everything else has consistent measurements built into the training plan. This allows me to go back and tweak as necessary if I see that things aren’t progressing as they should be.

Are You Doing The Best For Yourself (And Those You Train)?

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because you’re completely wiped out after a workout, you’ve done something that’s taking you somewhere. Remember one thing: it’s very easy to make someone tired and leave them a sweaty mess on the ground. I could easily put a workout together that would do that to most anyone. The question is “does this workout have a purpose in my plan?” If the answer is yes, what is the purpose? Can you explain it to someone in terms that are S.M.A.R.T.?

If you’re a trainer, make sure you know what the goals of your clients are and then fit the training plan to their goals. One-size-fits-all doesn’t work. If the goal is just to be in shape, well, most anything will work. Just getting up off the couch and getting some decent activity will keep most people fairly lean and strong.

Running around in circuits might make you break a sweat and leave you gasping for air, but does it get you closer to where you want to be? Again, it kind of depends on where you want to be. If you just want to be in generally decent shape and lose some fat, getting your heart rate up and moving some weights on a regular basis will do it. (If your goal is general fat loss, check out our Fat Loss 101 course to understand the necessary components of your plan.) But if you actually have performance goals, you better know what they are and how you’re getting there.

Goals Are An Opportunity To Fail

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
- Thomas A. Edison

I think a lot of people hesitate to set goals because there’s one little bit of lingering doubt in the back of their minds that says: “What if I can’t do it?” Or perhaps worse: “You’re not good enough.” The reality is that when you set goals, you set yourself up for the opportunity to fail. But you also set yourself up for the opportunity to succeed big time!

Notice what I did above, by the way…I posted my goals very publicly. This page will be viewed several thousand times in the next few days. I am now setup for public failure if I don’t hit those goals. And it’s quite motivating.

Don’t be afraid to fail. You’ll learn far more by failing now and again than by always succeeding. Never failing means you never tried to stretch too far.

What are your fitness and performance goals? Do you have goals? How do you measure your progress towards them? Can you even measure progress towards them?