photo credit: It's Holly
This is a guest post by Brittney.
Keeping track of fitness goals is a proven way to achieve results. Stating goals, recording progress, and realizing results are critical to any successful fitness program. There are many reasons why finding ways to record goals and progress towards them will facilitate a successful fitness routine.
Setting SMART Goals
Overall, setting SMART goals will inspire and offer extensive information for new goals and fitness tracking. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. Setting this type of goal can offer a specific finish line, and place it within reach.
Keeping Track of Your Fitness Goals With Tools
There are many tools available for free to help achieve fitness goals. These tools can measure fitness goals and weight loss goals. Most goal tracking devices are available anywhere an Internet connection can be found.
The Cron-O-Meter
The Cron-O-Meter is a convenient tool available anywhere an Internet connection can be found. While there are many different free calorie counting or fitness tracking software applications available, the Cron-O-Meter has several functions and is universally convenient. The Cron-O-Meter can track more than just calories and fitness.
The Cron-O-Meter has over seven-thousand foods built in for calorie tracking. The user can easily add a new food into their own version. This program can also generate reports on protein and vitamin balancing, as well as track weight, blood pressure and cholesterol.
Workout Plans From an Online Personal Trainer
There are a few websites offering an exciting new service, customized workout plans developed by the best personal trainer. They will use all of a trainee's personal information to develop a customized nutrition and workout plan that will jump start anyone towards their fitness goals.
On top of being a remarkable way to focus in and start achieving SMART goals, the online fitness expert plan will save a lot of money over a local trainer. A month long plan drawn up by an online expert should cost around one hundred dollars, where as a local trainer would easily charge over one thousand! Look around at some of the online personal training plans, and see if they are an option to further your fitness goals.
Flickr
Flickr is an excellent tool for uploading photos by desktop, phone or as an email submission. Calendars are a terrific way to get motivated. People have been using calendars for reminders, scheduling and motivation for hundreds of years. Put the two tools together and there is a powerful fitness plan motivator waiting.
Flickr can be set up to display picture sets as a photo based calendar based on the day the picture is uploaded. This can be quite a powerful tool in motivating with pictures of anything involved in the fitness goal. The Flickr calendar can be set to private, and photos can display pictures of physical progress, food eaten or even the gym equipment used that day.
Fitness Report Cards
Many sites are offering a complete fitness report card to help grade the trainee's current nutrition and fitness levels. These reports are immensely useful in offering an overall image of the current situation and an idea of where to head in the future. There are many sites offering free fitness report cards with registration.
Tracking the Old Fashioned Way
Sometimes, all someone needs is a pen and paper to create a powerful motivating tool. Remember the SMART goals? SMART means your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, reasonable and timely. A great way to utilize the SMART goal is to set up plan sheets for motivation.
Start developing a blank form. This form can be printed out on several blank pages, and filled out every time there's a step towards the SMART fitness goal. At the top of the form, type up a motivational article like:
"I want to lose weight and get back in shape for my family. I want to be there for my kids, and that includes being off the couch and outside with them to play sports. I'm going to watch what I eat every single day. I'm going to start walking at least 2 miles every day. For the betterment of my life and because I love my family, I'm going to record my exercise daily."
Next, write down what is trying to be accomplished, and the procedure for doing it. This accomplishment will be the SMART goal which will change every time it is completed. Now, place a section for activity description, and how long the activity was done. Now put a date on the form. If it is not being recorded elsewhere, also include a short description of how much this activity aided the final completion of the SMART goal.
Monitoring Goals Online
iStats is a fascinating tool for online monitoring of the overall fitness goal and the SMART goals. A user can register for free, and then use iStats to register workout details, monitor weight gain or loss. A member can also use the community to organize work out goals, share tips and compare results.
After weeks and months are logged onto the iStats website, users can ask for community reviews of fitness and diet activity. The community and professionals can make suggestions of how to change the workouts or eating habits to suit the SMART goals. Its an impressive site to find for group motivation and tracking of goals.
Achieving Fitness Goals
There are a lot of free and paid tools available online to help with achieving fitness goals. Finding the best one depends on the SMART goals being attempted. Remember these simple tips when setting goals and working towards them:
- Try an online community
- Track progress
- Verify online advice with a doctor or expert
- Set SMART goals
- Use all available tools
If you have been waiting to get started, but have had trouble with motivation, now is the time. Online fitness tools have become super additions to achieving fitness goals. The Internet fitness tools available will help you to turn your goals into reality. Check out some of the free ones and get started on completing your fitness goals today!
Author Bio: Brittney is a freelance writer for a fitness website called WeightTraining.com. WeightTraining.com is full of great exercises, workout plans, trainers, and everything fitness related! Brittney's friends call her the fitness tracking master, and she is always trying to find new ways to share her knowledge. When she isn't tracking her fitness progress at WeightTraining.com, you can find Brittney driving around town on her moped.
 |
Suunto M5 Men's Heart Rate Monitor and Fitness Training Watch (Black)
List Price:  |
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Keeping your fitness goals in front of you will help motivate you on those days you just don’t feel like working out.
Good article, I think the important question is how to maintain our fitness routine because at start we have motivation then it goes down gradually, so, there is the need to keep it up our fitness program.
Thanks for this! I wasn’t aware you can get workout plans online. That sounds rather nifty, and definitely quite helpful, especially with the help of a professional. Will try that very soon.
Cool list Brittney, especially liked iStats.
There are also other options for iphones such as FitnessBuilder and LoseIt.
I’ve never been able to maintain any fitness program. I would be inspired and interested for a few days then all the inspiration would go off. Tracking your own progress will surely act as an encouragement to keep going. It’s like a scale to see where you were and where you are going and where you are intend to be at the end of it all.
Keeping track of your fitness goals is a no-brainer. It’s hard to stick to a workout routine when you don’t even know what you’re working towards.
Nice point of view! I’m interested with The Cron-O-Meter, I’ll give it try. And ohh there a lot of tools available online. I will see what works for me. Thanks for the tips Brittney. Keep it up!
The importance of tracking your progress is mainly to tell you if what you’ve planned is moving closer or further away from your fitness goals.
Everyone wants an ideal body. Everyone wants a trim, sculpted figure, whether you’re a man or a woman.
But only a privileged few get to this point. They invest a lot of time (practically at the gym everyday) and money (on gym memberships and supplements) on getting the job done. Some even see their body as their work of art. They take no short cuts.
I’ve been working out for over a year now starting as the scrawniest kid in the gym. I workout nearly everyday for an hour. You might get stronger abbs with this 5 minute workout, but u won’t see changes for years with this intensity. There is no actual energy loss in this excercise either so dont expect weight loss. You’ll have a light stimulation of your ab and lower back muscles but you’ll never get a sixpack from it unless u do this atleast 3x in a row. For maybe 3 or 4 x week
Any idea why most people don’t consider Yoga as part of the fitness?
Thanks – Matt
A great article – goals are always good motivation
A common problem of fitness programs are we take them with great interest at the beginning and gradually the motivation level diminishes. I think it’s because fitness programs do not bring results magically, rather the process is gradual. Recording goals and progress towards them will help to overcome these problems; It may be a fun too.