A simple way to set and achieve your physical therapy fitness goals for 2024
How to Keep Your Physical Therapy/Fitness Goals in Reach
We all know someone in our lives or maybe it’s you, looking forward to the start of a New Year to set new goals. A fresh start, a starting line, and all the intention to become the best version of yourself, but a few weeks in you tend to return to your old habits. Hey, you’re not alone in the goal-setting boat. If you want any results with fitness, health, or personal goals it comes down to setting intentional action plans.
At Fresh Pond Physical Therapy, we advocate for setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. What are S.M.A.R.T. goals? Keep reading for a step-by-step breakdown and examples to reach your specific physical therapy goals.
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Realistic
T – Time
Let’s Start — Do You Experience Any of These Pains?
- Joint Pain
- Knee Pain
- Hip Pain
- Osteoarthritis
- Hand Pain
- Shoulder Pain
- Low Back Pain
- Neck Pain
STEP 1 – CHOOSE A GOAL
Take a few minutes to think about what is important to you, what goals align with your lifestyle, think big and small. Make sure to be specific and break your goal down into individual step. A few examples of specific goals are the following:
- I want to improve my posture to help ease the stress of remote work and prevent back pain
- I want to reclaim a strong and flexible back to live a more independent life
- I want to build strength and flexibility for everyday tasks
- I want to add power to my athletic pursuits to be the best version of myself
STEP 2 – DESCRIBE HOW YOU WILL MEASURE YOUR FITNESS GOAL
We recommended you write down this part to keep yourself accountable. At the top of the page write down your main goal. Below this create a criterion for measuring progress, such as a habit tracker, a checklist, calendar, journal, accountability partner. Next, consider how you are going to show improvement, impact, or success of your goal (remember success looks different for everyone be sure to commit to what works for you). For example, if you choose a goal from above:
Goal: I want to improve my posture to help ease the stress of remote work and prevent back pain
Measurable: I will log my efforts on my habit tracker, checking off days when I met my goal.
STEP 3 – THINK: HOW ATTAINABLE IS MY FITNESS GOAL?
This step helps you to make sure you’re setting clear and realistic goals to achieve the best results for you. If your goal is to do 100 lunges every day, then you probably will find it difficult to check off your boxes which in turn will demotivate you and that’s where your goals come crashing down. Let’s avoid this altogether and instead works towards maintaining our goals in check. Celebrating small wins and tracking your progress is the best way to fuel your motivation and confidence, in the long run, this helps you achieve larger achievements.
STEP 4 – THINK: HOW REALISTIC IS MY FITNESS GOAL?
In other words, how likely is it for you to complete this goal. Let’s be real life has unexpected circumstances from work, school, and home responsibilities, some of which are not fully in our control. How does your schedule look like? Realistically do you want to achieve this goal in the morning before going to work? At night before you go to sleep? What materials or space do you need to have?
Think about these questions and rate your answers on a scale of 1-10 (1 being I don’t feel confident at all I will be able to reach my goal and 10 being I feel super confident I will reach my goal like a boss).
STEP 5 – GIVE YOURSELF BREATHING ROOM
Last but not least, set a date of when you are going to check-in with yourself to re-evaluate if you should keep doing exactly what you are doing or if you should change a few things around. Remember the goal is to achieve your goal, do what works best for you. There is no harm in making a few changes as you are getting it done. For example:
Time: I will get up 15 minutes earlier. I’ll check my calendar every Friday to decide if I should make any changes in my routine to succeed.
The year 2024 is here, this is your year to set clear goals with an intentional action plan. It helps to ease the worries, hesitations, and uncertainties of how to accomplish a goal and replace it with motivation, growth and intention. Ultimately, goal setting enhances the ability to prioritize activities and tasks in a way that focuses attention on what is most important to you based on your lifestyle.
Here at Fresh Pond Physical Therapy, we help you reach your goals. Want to achieve your health goals in 2024 and live a more independent life? Contact us at any of our 10 clinics in your neighborhood by calling (619) 685-9731 or visiting the appointments page.
We help you reach your goals.
