Focus on Performance Goals
By Susan Lucy
http://www.facebook.com/susanlucyfitness

After I had my third child in 2002, I remember meeting with one of the trainers at my gym to “get into shape” and he asked me what my goals were.

I cant recall all of them but i clearly remember saying “I want to be a size 6 (I was a 10 at the time). I am not sure why I was so attached to that outcome. Maybe it was that it sounded so “fit” ; single digit; almost petite; nothing I have ever been. During that time in my life I was very focused on the numbers – the scale, clothes size and spent lots of wasted time, dieting and doing endless cardio to try to get there thinking once I did, magically life was going to be perfect. Needless to say, I spent the next 5 years yo yo dieting and never achieved the end result I wanted.

Fast forward to 2007 – When I started p90x, one of the things I loved about the program was it focused on Performance Goals. In the DVD’s, Tony was always saying “how many you gonna do?, get a number in you head!” Even this past weekend when he and I did a mini chest/back workout after the airmen workout at Travis AFB and I was staring down at the 4 Medicine Balls in preparation of my first set of 4ball pushups – Tony had me set a goal – “how many” he asked. Once I said it and committed to the number, It didn’t seem so daunting anymore. The unknown is much scarier.

What I have learned over the last 4 years is that achieving performance goals is so much more doable than abstract goals like a “perfect weight or size”. Btw I know some very fit size 10 gals and some very unfit size 6 gals.

So I have continued to focus on small achievable performance related goals; improving my pushup count with deeper range of motion, better flexibility, improved posture, stronger core, deeper squats with great form, more agility. And I want 10 clean chin ups but I’m not there yet!

The funny thing is once I stopped obsessing about that “perfect size”(btw there isn’t one), and focused on what mattered, I surpassed my expectations. The other night I put on a size 2 pair of pants and thought “wow when did that happen”. Frankly, I was way more stoked about my clean pull-ups earlier in the day!

I think weighing yourself, taking bf% and measurements are important because you need to own where you are in your fitness and you need a benchmark to measure against. The problem is that people often focus too much on the “number”. If fitting into a certain size or weighing a certain amount are your only motivation, you most likely will not be successful in achieving your fitness goals!

Have a rock solid why and continue to set and surpass attainable performance goals as your progress through your fitness journey and you will be amazed what you can accomplish!