challenge goals - need help?

[spezzy]

ideas for goals but not sure how to implement?

post here!

we'll help

[QuinnFerno]

I think maybe I've got the goals downpat for my first ever challenge, but if you could take a squiz over them and give any pointers that would be great!

For fitness goals, as I'm a noob I don't know what my body will achieve over what period of time, so instead I am aiming at just pushing myself to make fitness a part of my daily routine, which will still be a tough challenge with the demands of my work. I aim to get my weight below 60kg, do 3 strength workouts and 3 running/cardio workouts a week with one day of rest (since I can't be out of breath while on call lol). In order to do this I'll have to curb my nightowl habits and make sure I'm in bed by 10:30pm every work day.

Diet goals are pretty vague. No more junk from work (our wholesaler gives us a free pack of junk food with every daily order), bring own lunches instead of buying (more of a budget goal really), less takeaway dinners (hoping my new slowcooker will help with this), more veges (perhaps try to hit the 5 serves/day recommendation). Challenge is coming up with meals to please everyone at home, have vegie-phobic carnivores living with wannabe vegos, it's interesting. Also some health-related diet restrictions to contend with, lol!

Have some responsibility goals - more household chores eg vacuum once a week and not dump all my stuff on the floor, groom my dog and brush her teeth at least twice a week, exercise her more (she'll be joining me for cardio so that should fit).

Level up other areas of my life goal - I've had an idea for a website that I actually think could be pretty successful. I know a lot of ppl try to make money this way but I've put a lot of thought into this and I think I've got a solid system worked out. Creating the framework for this website will be another of my goals.

Not sure at this point there's enough time in the day for all of this in the next 6 weeks, but hoping more fitness = more energy and less sleepiness, and rearranging what I have of a routine will hopefully help.

Have I got the idea more or less right?

Thanks muchly

[dracopervicax]

I have a question --

I'd like to make body fat percentage part of my goal, but I'm not sure how much I should really expect to lose in 6 weeks. I eat paleo, and my fitness is mostly walking around and taekwondo.

[NorthRoad]

I have a question --

I'd like to make body fat percentage part of my goal, but I'm not sure how much I should really expect to lose in 6 weeks. I eat paleo, and my fitness is mostly walking around and taekwondo.

I have the same problem. But I'm aiming low as it is my first challenge, and I just started measuring body fat so I don't really have any experience.

[dracopervicax]

I have the same problem. But I'm aiming low as it is my first challenge, and I just started measuring body fat so I don't really have any experience.

Yeah. I'm at like 28-29% and would like to be at 25 or less. Possible? I don't know...

[afflictionreckoning]

http://nerdfitness.com/community/showthread.php?1406-Goal-Setting-A-Quick-How-To&p=53121#post53121

Instead of going with a goal of lowering your body fat percentage, maybe you could go with goals that would lead to a lower body percentage.

[smedly]

I have been doing strength training and Paleo for two weeks now and my goals will obviously be to continue these. What I'm not sure about is should I be going for personal records for squats, push press, bench press etc... or should I just focus on being able to do a 5 by 5 of a certain weight?

Since I'm in college I also want to be more social but at my school I only have a few real friends and when I'm there on the weekends I feel really alone because they go back home to see their girlfriends and such... I guess one of my goals is to have more real friends.

I had good goals on my last challenge and failed to implement them so I'm glad Spezzy made this thread.

[catspaw]

Below are three objectives I have, and the goals (measurable, obtainable, etc.) that I believe lead me towards those objectives.

Objective: Decrease body fat, preserve muscle.

* Goal: Eat 1550 - 1750 calories per day.

* Goal: Complete NRLW Stage 4 and 5, increasing weights at every gym visit.

* Goal: Attend 5 Intro to Aerial circus school classes.

Objective: Run the Nike Women's half marathon.

* Goal: Run 100 training miles.

* Goal: Actually run the half marathon.

Objective: Transition to Paleo.

* Goal: Eat under 150g of (paleo-approved) carbs every day.

* Goal: Eat over 110g protein every day.

* Goal: Teach my two new kittens to let me get a full night of sleep.

A little explanation on each one.

For the first (decrease body fat, preserve muscle), where I'm aiming to be is the point where I can stop leaning out and start gaining muscle mass. Unfortunately, that's not a very measurable goal, more of a "I know it when I see it" kind of goal, and I also have no idea if it's obtainable in 6 weeks, since I don't have a lot of "measuring body fat %" experience yet, or "how much should I be losing on paleo" experience. So I've decided to instead just have this challenge's goals to be things that I know will be pushing me in the right direction. Oh, and the aerial circus school is just for fun. (Though I've heard it's a craaazy hard upper body workout.)

For the second (run half marathon), I know that there's a lot of "ugh, stop long distance running" suggestions floating around when I tell people my other goals. However I'm running this for charity ($1700+ raised so far) and it's a cause I believe in, so it stays in the goals. After this half marathon, I'll start tapering off long distance running.

For the third (transition to paleo), I like to think of this as "officially be 'on' paleo" by the end of the 6 weeks. The 150g carbs may seem high for some people, but I'm going to be eating sweet potatoes the day before, and immediately after, every training run, as advised by Cordain.

So here's my major question for folks: although the underlying work I'll need to be doing to achieve the above seems like a lot to me (revamp my diet, train for a half marathon, strength training 3x per week), my goals themselves feel kinda weak. Can anyone think of ways to epic'ify them up a little?

[67alecto]

Objective: Decrease body fat, preserve muscle.

* Goal: Eat 1550 - 1750 calories per day.

* Goal: Complete NRLW Stage 4 and 5, increasing weights at every gym visit.

* Goal: Attend 5 Intro to Aerial circus school classes.

Objective: Run the Nike Women's half marathon.

* Goal: Run 100 training miles.

* Goal: Actually run the half marathon.

So here's my major question for folks: although the underlying work I'll need to be doing to achieve the above seems like a lot to me (revamp my diet, train for a half marathon, strength training 3x per week), my goals themselves feel kinda weak. Can anyone think of ways to epic'ify them up a little?

The main issue I see with your goals is that the first one is going to really hamper some of the others. Running a calorie deficit is going to make you hit the wall much faster. In the gym, you'll find yourself stalling at adding weight. Pair the calorie deficit with marathon training, and you're going to be hardpressed to complete the strength training goals.

The same is true on the strength training - if you focus on those goals (while running a calorie deficit), you'll do it at the expense of your mile times.

I would recommend dropping the goal of adding weight each session, and either make it each week or pick a specific metric you want to increase. Overhead press XXXlbs, 25 regular pushups, deadlift XXXlbs, etc. While running a calorie deficit, the act of lifting itself will preserve the muscle mass - increase the weight as soon as you can, but don't consider yourself a failure if can't add 5, 10, 15lbs each session.

[FiendFyre]

I agree about trying to add weight on lifts while decreasing calories, you can't really do both at the same time (to the best possible outcome at least.) I had to decrease my focus on losing weight to make sure i have energy for my marathon training. Nice to know there's other distance runners here, the runner's guild is pretty dead so far.

[sp1365]

This will be my first challenge and had no idea where to go with the goals so I picked out some things that I want to work on in every aspect of my life. I'm having a bit of an issue knowing if they are achievable:

Fitness:

- Increase Body Weight circuit (MWF) exercises by 10 each set to:

Squats - 40

Pushups - 25

Lunges - 30

Dumbbell Rows - 25/arm

Plank - 30 sec

Inverted Chin Ups rows - 20

Jumping Jacks - 40

Agility (Parkour):

- Practice 20 landings (TTH)

- Practice 20 precision jumps (TTH)

Diet:

- 90% Paleo on Body Weight training days

Business:

- Write Company Profile section of my Business Plan

- Write 1 article/week for both Homebrew Academy and American Cask

Personal:

This is one that I am not really sure how to develop S.M.A.R.T goals for. What I want to do is develop confidence in social situations, but I am not sure what goals could be measurable.

[dracopervicax]

http://nerdfitness.com/community/showthread.php?1406-Goal-Setting-A-Quick-How-To&p=53121#post53121

Instead of going with a goal of lowering your body fat percentage, maybe you could go with goals that would lead to a lower body percentage.

Yeah, I've read the post before. ;-) I decided, after revisiting it, to drop the BFP goal.

[catspaw]

I would recommend dropping the goal of adding weight each session, and either make it each week or pick a specific metric you want to increase. Overhead press XXXlbs, 25 regular pushups, deadlift XXXlbs, etc. While running a calorie deficit, the act of lifting itself will preserve the muscle mass - increase the weight as soon as you can, but don't consider yourself a failure if can't add 5, 10, 15lbs each session.

Thanks for the advice. Do you think "increasing weights each week" would be reasonable?

(I think I'm also going to change the calorie restriction goal to not apply to my long-run days. I ran 8 miles yesterday and found myself constantly hungry until I ate ~2100 calories to refuel, which is still a deficit.)

Maybe something like:

Objective: Decrease body fat, preserve muscle.

KR: Eat 1550 - 1750 calories per day (plus 100 calories for every mile run > 3 that day).

KR: Complete NRLW Stage 4 and 5, increasing weights every week.

KR: Attend 5 Intro to Aerial circus school classes.

[Loren Wade]

Objective: Decrease body fat, preserve muscle.

Objective: Transition to Paleo.

* Goal: Eat under 150g of (paleo-approved) carbs every day.

I think you'll quickly find that these things will contradict each other on Paleo. Eating 150g of carbs will make leaning out pretty difficult. That said, you'll still probably lose weight! But as 67alecto explained about hitting a fitness wall in a caloric deficit, you may find yourself in a weight-lost stall at a certain point as well. In fact, I completely agree with eating a sweet potato before and/or after workouts. It'll definitely help with energy and recovery... but I noticed I couldn't lean out very well until my carbs dropped below 50g a day. Of course, a lot of this depends on the person.

I guess my point is to maybe focus on things in phases. Try not to do all of this at once. Decide your priorities. Running a half marathon in a caloric deficit and still trying to lose weight is going to be super, super hard. Just my two cents though. I'll be rooting for you!

http://nerdfitness.com/community/showthread.php?1406-Goal-Setting-A-Quick-How-To&p=53121#post53121

Instead of going with a goal of lowering your body fat percentage, maybe you could go with goals that would lead to a lower body percentage.

Completely agree. On my last challenge my main goal was losing body fat percentage, but I also had stepped goals that lead me there!

[RDOwens]

This will be my first challenge. Did I miss the announcement? I notice that the challenge that just ended had a thread four days before it began to announce one was participating. If I am not mistaken, this new challenge begins tomorrow. Where should we post our goals/participation?

Sorry for the OT post.

[catspaw]

It'll definitely help with energy and recovery... but I noticed I couldn't lean out very well until my carbs dropped below 50g a day. Of course, a lot of this depends on the person.

I'm setting 150g as my upper bound, but I'm hoping to be in the 50-100 range for most days. Perhaps I should explicitly mention that in my goals. OTOH, I like the freedom to tweak as I feel the need on a daily basis. Hrm.

[Loren Wade]

I'm setting 150g as my upper bound, but I'm hoping to be in the 50-100 range for most days. Perhaps I should explicitly mention that in my goals. OTOH, I like the freedom to tweak as I feel the need on a daily basis. Hrm.

No, that's good! Paleo is a kind of diet you'll have to learn to tweak to your needs and goals. It's not black and white.

[Mama T]

Hey guys - this is my first challenge, and here are the goals i have so far... any advice for tweaks/am i missing anything (it's much appreciated!)?

FITNESS/HEALTH:

do

for at least 10 seconds

** involves practicing everyday, building muscle. I'm sick of only doing bridge pose at the end of a yoga class when everyone around me is doing wheel.

Deadlift 100-120 lbs.

** last time i did it i was at 50, and i'm pretty positive i can do more than that, but that was the heaviest weight at the gym. I'm not sure how easily i can accomplish this, so i'll do a check halfway through; if 100 seems easy enough, i'll move to 120. If it's not reasonable, i'll adjust the goal.

Do 20 good form squats in a row

** been a big thing for me lately - i'm not so good at the squat!

Complete Level 2 to work my way to a pull-up

** i WILL do a pull-up before the year is over!

Eat more.

** pretty straightforward. i'm not big on counting calories, but i know i definitely do not eat enough to bulk up on muscle, which is what i want.

Limit drinks to one or two a week.

** this falls into a save money/be healthier/use your time more wisely goal. i'm not too big on going out to bars lately anyway, and grad classes are starting on 9/6, so i'll be pretty busy with that.

LIFE:

Study for ACSM test 5-7 hours a week

** i want to get my personal trainer certification! i rented the study materials to save money, so only have until the end of December, therefore, studying a lot during the week will be crucial.

Get all As in grad class homework

** We'll see how easy the teacher/material is, but I'm hoping this will fairly doable. My overall objective is to get an A for the class, which ends in December.

[afflictionreckoning]

This will be my first challenge. Did I miss the announcement? I notice that the challenge that just ended had a thread four days before it began to announce one was participating. If I am not mistaken, this new challenge begins tomorrow. Where should we post our goals/participation?

Sorry for the OT post.

I believe Spezzy will be posting the official forum sometime tonight. As you can see, some people have posted goals here, but I think it's mostly for advice on the goals.

[afflictionreckoning]

Yeah, I've read the post before. ;-) I decided, after revisiting it, to drop the BFP goal.

I hope I didn't discourage you. BFP is just hard to control because there are so many factors. But if you make in an objective and then make your true goals to eliminate something from your diet or workout a certain number of days a week the BFP goal is probably easier to obtain.

[afflictionreckoning]

One more post. Catspaw, if you figure out how to get a full night sleep with two kittens can you let me know? We just adopted kittens a few weeks ago and they're four months old. The one is pretty good about letting us sleep, but the other is constantly licking our faces and her new thing is attacking my hair. She also likes to lay on my neck. We'lol let you know if we figure anything out too.

[67alecto]

Thanks for the advice. Do you think "increasing weights each week" would be reasonable?

It's really about keeping it realistic so you aren't setting up for failure. You may find that 2, 3, and 4+ weeks in, you're still able to increase weight each session as it depends on where you started. Your muscles have a lot of functional strength that can be unlocked. On a calorie deficit, since you aren't increasing muscle mass, you'll reach the limits of functional strength much faster than if you were eating a surplus. What you need to do is deload on the weight and work back up to it.

So if you stall at a 100lb bench press, you should back down to 90lbs the next session, then do 95lb the one after that, and then try 100lb again.

I was doing Stronglifts for months while running a deficit, and what I would do is work in singles or low-rep sets at the higher weight as a way to break through the barriers.

So for squats, it might look like:

Mon - 4x5 at 350lbs, failed on set 5.

Wed - 5x5 at 330lbs, 1x3 at 350

Fri - 5x5 at 340lbs, 1x2 at 360

Mon - 5x5 at 350

And so on.

For bench press, I would occasionally spend a session doing pushups - wide grip, decline, close grip, etc as a way of deloading rather than bench.

[catspaw]

This is great advice, thanks 67alecto. I'll think about rephrasing of the goal to allow for some of these deload weeks if necessary.

[TraceurX]

My first challenge as well, LETS CRUSH IT!

FITNESS:

Workout 4 to 5 times per week

Rock climb once a week

Place in a fencing competition

Be able to do 10 consecutive pull ups

Be able to do 50 consecutive push ups

DIET:

continue with Paleo diet

Start counting calories again (2500- 3000)

LIFE:

Start a fitness blog

Work on the weekends to earn enough cash to join a Crossfit gym.

Keep up my grades

Rock climb an ACTUAL mountain

[catspaw]

One more question: if my goals are in conflict (which it sounds like they are) and my priority order is:

1) Run the half marathon. (Regardless of time. I don't need to PR this one.)

2) Body re-comp.

[...]

Where could I "give" in my other goals to help achieve better results with the body recomposition? Lift less heavy? That doesn't seem right? Run slower when training? Fewer long runs and more intervals?