“A goal without a plan is just a wish”
The What
One of the most common questions we get asked is “what is the best exercise for *insert condition here*?”. The answer is often “well, it depends”. While there is definitely best practice and a gold standard for most health conditions, it is also going to depend on
- The functional capacity of the person
- how much time they are willing or able to put towards exercise
- what they have access to (e.g. equipment or gym membership).
As an example, the recommended exercise volume for someone living with MS is moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise 5 times per week AND moderate to vigorous strength training exercise 2 to 3 times per week. This volume may very well not be achievable to most people, this is where it is important to set realistic goals and expectations rather than thinking “Oh well, I can’t achieve that, so I won’t bother at all’.
The How
Why are realistic goals important?
A goal that is realistic is not achievable. Part of our role as exercise physiologists is to help educate people on how to set goals that are realistic for them. This may be based on physiological understanding of certain health conditions, around average healing times from an injury, or how long it may take to make a measurable improvement in strength.
In our initial consultation, we (almost) always assess some kind of baseline. If somebody comes in with the goal to improve their leg strength and prevent falls, it is helpful for us to quantify what their starting strength and falls risk is. This also allows us to measure and track progress so that we know things are moving in the right direction towards the goal. Sometimes it is important to make smaller, ‘bite sized’ goals rather than just one larger one. For example, lose 3kg of weight in 3 months, rather than lose 20kg in 2 years.
SMART goals can help!
Which of the following would you consider to be a SMART goal?
- I want to get stronger.
- I want to be strong enough to be able to lift my 10kg grandson to put the star onto the tree this Christmas this December.
Recommendations:
Every person is different, and everyone’s goals are unique. At Effect we help to reinforce your goals through the completion of a management plan in your initial consultation. This helps us to outline realistic timeframes, and articulate a clear path on how we anticipate to achieve your goals. This is also very helpful to provide motivation and support.
Setbacks?
Setbacks are an important and normal part of making important changes to your Health. While ultimately you’ll have more ups than downs, there may be the occasion when you will feel like you have had a setback.
Remember to embrace consistency and progress over instant perfection. Realistic and meaningful goals often take time. Why not start working towards your goals today?
A blog post written by Daniel
