Begin With The End Goal In Mind

You’ve decided to start looking for programs to help you begin exercising.

Whether it is your first time researching or you’ve tried a few programs in the past, it can be confusing and overwhelming. Between the endless information online or the many options available to you depending on where you live, its a real challenge to know what to do and where to start.

This is the first limiting factor and where I recommend you spend some time when getting started. Gain clarity on what it is you want from your training or nutrition program.

When you’re able to identify with an outcome, two things happen.

1. You will narrow your options by eliminating programs that don’t align with your goals.
2. It will lead to an increase in consistency especially when the initial wave of motivation wares away.

Now, how do you set specific goals?

I’ve created, modified, and sold fitness and nutrition services for a decade now with the aim to simplify things. Each consultation is unique in that each client is unique.

This isn’t completely on you though. It is the role of the coach or salesperson in a consultation to guide you and build on your desires. The more specific the better. Identify your unique “why”, the thing that keeps you engaged and showing up.

There are really only 3 categories or funnels that most every client goal will align with. These are important because each is measurable, subjectively and objectively.

1. Health
2. Performance
3. Body Composition

HEALTH GOAL

Health is the foundation. Lifestyle disease is among the greatest causes for early death. Good nutrition and physical activity are the antidote and greatest preventative measure.

Health markers. Blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, resting heart rate, etc.

• Do you have a general idea of your metrics?
• Do you know what is a healthy range for you?
• When is the last time you’ve been to the doctor or had these metrics checked?
• Is there immediate need to improve any health markers? Are you on any medications?
• Are you aware of the risks?

Resilience to stress. Physical, emotional, mental, environmental, etc.

• How often do you experience illness or injury?
• How quickly do you recover from illness or injury?
• Have you considered the role exercise and nutrition play in resistance and recovery to illness and injury?

PERFORMANCE GOAL

Performance is highly an external focus and improvements will be experienced in both training and everyday activities. Think strength, endurance, power, and efficiency or skill.

At Fort Worth Strong we use a progressive system in our group and private sessions to measure performance improvements.

1. ASSESS. We start by evaluating a clients baseline (starting point) through testing.
2. ADDRESS. We use this information to determine our best course of action in training. What are our current capabilities and deficits?
3. PROGRESS. To improve safely and effectively with each client, our program needs to be individualized to fit their needs. We reassess different performance points throughout our training experience to continue to move the needle.

BODY COMPOSITION GOAL

Body Composition is a great motivator for most and a significant reason for clients to make changes to thier physical activity and diet.

There are more ways to measure improvements to body composition than the changes we may experience on the scale (bodyweight).

We prioritize Skeletal Muscle Mass (lb/kg) relative to Body Fat (lb/kg) as the greatest indicator vs. BMI (Body Mass Index) or bodyweight.

Again, beginning with an intake or baseline. By utilizing a body fat measuring tool such as a DEXA or InBody (bioelectrical impedence) scan for initial metrics.

The metrics we record.

• Bodyweight (lb/kg): This number may or may not change but does not necessarily determine positive or negative change in health or body composition.
• Body Fat %: We target improvements through tiers. Depending on our starting point, our goal is to move from Sickness to Wellness or Wellness to Fitness if desired.
  • “Sickness”: 30%+ (Men) & 37%+ (Women)
  • “Wellness”: 20% (Men) & 27% (Women)
  • “Fitness”: 12% (Men) & 18% (Women)
• Skeletal Muscle Mass (lb/kg): We emphasis the maintenance or increase in skeletal muscle mass in any program we prescribe. Increases to this marker require an element of resistance training. Which is why it is a primary reason our gym is founded in strength training…Fort Worth STRONG.
• Body Fat (lb/kg): Body fat is an essential component of health. Although many clients begin or continuously work towards reducing this metric, we must understand that body fat plays a crucial role in our health and performance. By focusing on our percantage of body fat, we can make positive changes relative to our bodies and goals through prioritizing hard earned muscle. This should help shift our focus from a scarcity (lose fat/weight) to an abundance (gain/support muscle) mindset.

We believe overly aggressive changes to bodyweight is more detrimental to progress and health in the long term than a progressive approach that creates sustainable change over time.

Now, when goal setting, it isn’t about choosing a single path or category. All three; health, performance, and body composition, work congruently in a quality program. Altogether, this simply helps to understand what weighs the most when it comes to your desired outcome.

Goals evolve as your body and mindset evolve.