TICK-TOCK: 5 Advantages of Setting Time-Specific Fitness Goals

Goals are set in order for you to do what it requires to achieve them as you fix your eyes on them. Hitting them is the way they materialize. In terms of health, many people have different fitness goals, and varying motives for targeting them as well. Regardless of the differences, one thing remains the same: These goals demand effort and time. 

Some want to improve their physical wellness, so they could wear their old clothes and new clothes they like. Others wish to have a new look. There are those who are in need of better physical health to prevent hereditary diseases that run in the blood. Some want to get physically fit and improve their mental well-being at the same time. Others aspire to gain self-confidence through fitness. 

Accomplishing them is easier said and imagined than done. In reality, it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning, and you’re not very much interested in exercise equipment and visiting the gym. Actually, distractions, temptations and discouragements are everywhere. If you are not completely committed, you will let them hinder you. 

Here’s a thought to ponder: Time and timing are gold. Time is very important, and it seems like you’re having a taxing time sharing it to work out when you should be willing to. Timing is crucial. You must learn how to manage and run for it. Value time in setting your health goals. Be time-specific when eyeing on them and when working out. Why?

Below are 5 advantages of setting time-specific fitness goals.   

1 – You determine how long it takes to accomplish a goal.

People have this nature wherein they are too focused on the intensity of the process, that they choose to give up before they even get to try. You often concentrate on, “It’s hard!”, “I cannot do it!” and “That looks impossible to me,” but you have not even stepped an inch to find out. This shows how you become impatient so early into the course of action.

Having a view of your time-specific fitness goals, expect your mindset and drive to get refined. When you are aware of the timeframe of reaching a goal, you determine how long it takes to accomplish it. That means you will know that it will not be an endless battle. You will be sure that it will not be an infinite road. There’s a finish line. You will be rewarded. 

With this awareness, you will feel yourself challenging yourself. You will realize the ambition and feel a punch that says you can and you are ready for it. 

2 – It motivates you to do your best within the time limit set.

Make a comparison. An online quiz that can be taken only within 30 minutes from the moment you open it versus an online quiz that can be taken for as long as you want. The latter gives you all the freedom you want, so you have the tendency to procrastinate and care less. On the other hand, the first quiz urges you to work hard and fast because time is ticking, and it will not pause for you. 

The same concept goes in setting your fitness goals. If they are just whatever and whenever you can and want, there will not be enough craving for you to strive hard and to do it now. You know that time is in your hands, so you can just reach your targets anytime you feel like reaching them. This makes the process long and tiring, and at some point, you might really lose the dynamism to run for it. 

In contrast, time-specific fitness goals inform you that you are being timed and monitored. There is a progress tracker sheet, literal or not, that you must care about. It’s like you have a deadline to meet. You have a submission to fulfill. Because of that, time-specific fitness goals motivate you to do your best within the time limit set. You cannot afford to slack off and drag your feet because you know there’s a goal to ring in!

3 – Track your progress based on time.

Time is one of the major elements included whenever you are tracking your workout progress. 

During your first week in the gym, it took you three minutes to complete 20 pushups. In your seventh week, you can do it in two minutes. No matter the size of your progress, it’s worth bragging about. 

Use time-specific fitness goals to see how well you improve. Believe me, you will be so proud of yourself. 

4 – It’s an opportunity to challenge yourself. 

It’s hard to fight against time, and that fact makes time-specific fitness goals provide an opportunity to challenge yourself. Working out involves challenges that boost your abilities and your confidence. 

Just like work deadlines that push you to use all your strength and skills to give your best, time-specific fitness goals impel you to be all-out because time is one of your biggest opponents. 

5 – You get to manage your time overall.

For busy people who wish to maintain a healthy regular exercise as a lifestyle, putting up time-specific fitness goals is a huge help. Why? It enables you to manage your time overall. Because your workouts have boundaries in terms of time, it means you can do other things in life. Time-specific fitness goals aid you to have a healthy life that’s balanced in every vital aspect. 

TIME AND TIMING

The first step is always the most challenging, but when you’re done with it, the next steps won’t be as difficult. You just have to be intentional, strong-willed and persevering whatever is on the way. 

Making your goals time-specific has loads of benefits. It helps reduce the weight of the process. While you are in it, you know time is running, and you should make the most of what you are given. Time is pressuring, but it’s also stimulating. 

Get your body ready. Have the right mindset. Do not be disheartened. Chin up. Go for your goals.