Introducing the Workouts Goal
Here’s the first post that explains how to use FitLogg. In these types of posts, I’ll explain one of FitLogg’s features, how to use it, why you might want to use it, and how it fits into real life.
First Steps
If there’s one thing that personal trainers, coaches, fitness buffs, and gym rats can agree on (except for one outrageous exception), it’s that doing something is better than doing nothing. Being active is better for your health than being sedentary. To encourage this behaviour, FitLogg has a type of goal called the Workouts Goal.
The Workouts Goal is used to motivate yourself to make exercise part of your routine. It can be set in two ways: by setting the number workouts you want to perform per week, or per month. For most people, a weekly goal is best, since it encourages consistent, evenly-spaced exercise. But for people whose lives are full of commitments that get in the way of getting to the gym or going for a run, a monthly goal might be a better choice. Monthly goals are more forgiving of life interruptions, allowing you to stay motivated despite your erratic workout schedule.
For many people, just getting started is a challenging first step. So, the Workouts Goal is a great goal to start with.
Note that you can only have one workouts goal at a time, but it can be changed at any time.
Tracking Your Goal
When you have a workouts goal set, FitLogg will always show how you’re doing on the top right of the website when you’re logged in, underneath your avatar. There’s a little progress bar, and some text to remind you exactly what your goal is. Fill that progress bar every week or month, and celebrate! Maybe you have a little dance that you could do! Or not…
To see your full history for a workouts goal, go to your Goals page, and then click the workouts goal in your list of goals. You’ll be shown a list of each week/month that has passed, and a graph of the achievement in each week/month. This will give you a good idea of how active you’ve been.
But In Real Life…
Always keep in mind the needs of your body. Achieving your workouts goal every week or month might look good on a graph, but ultimately your goal is to be fit and healthy. So, keep a few things in mind:
- Bigger numbers are not always better. A goal of 7 workouts a week isn’t better than 3 workouts a week. It all depends on what you’re doing. If your workouts consist of 30 minute walks, then 7 workouts a week is fine. If your workouts involve strength training in the gym, then 7 days a week is probably way too many! Figure out what your definition of a workout is, and then come up with your goal. Be realistic with yourself.
- Rest is important. The health benefits of exercise don’t happen during exercise, but during rest. Our bodies can only recover from exercise when we rest. If your workouts are strenuous, then you should plan to take a week or two off every four to eight weeks. While FitLogg might complain that you’re “failing” your workouts goal during these rest periods, who cares? It just means that the graph will show a few low points. In fact, you should plan these low points in advance, and expect to see them in your graphs. I like to plan my rest periods to coincide with holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. There’s nothing better than lots of food and relaxation to replenish the muscles!
- FitLogg doesn’t know you. The only way to know how often and how intense your workouts should be is by evaluating yourself. FitLogg can’t do that. A personal trainer can help. But ultimately, you’re the one who needs to decide when to take it easy and when it’s ok to push towards achieving your workouts goal. A workouts goal graph with occasional drops is ideal.
So that’s the Workouts Goal. It’s a great first goal to set yourself on the path to better health. Once you’ve got a taste of success with this goal, you’ll want to try the Milestone Goals, which I’ll write about next time.
