Health and Fitness: Get active with a purpose

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: MELISSA NOVACASKA
Just like climbing stairs, keeping active and including fitness into your lifestyle is great, but be S.M.A.R.T. about it. There are different tips and tricks on how to make a workout meet your needs.

Be S.M.A.R.T. about your fitness. Everyone has a reason for taking up a fitness regime. Among the top three are: To get big muscles/stronger, to lose weight and to just improve upon current fitness level. These are all fantastic goals and a step in the right direction however, you'll need to be more Specific in order to get the best results. This is the starting point of our S.M.A.R.T. acronym.

Let's say for instance you are looking to improve on your current level of fitness. How can you make this goal more specific? Ask yourself the following questions: What is it about my current level that is not working? Why do I want to be fit? What does it look or feel like to be fit? For example, someone may answer that they are not able to do something they did easily before like walk up a set of stairs without getting out of breath. They might say that they want to be fit because they think it will make them feel happier and that their appearance on the outside will start to match how they feel on the inside.

So let's start with the easy part and the specific goal of getting up the stairs without shortness of breath or rapid increase in heart rate. Now we need to make it Measurable. This means you will need to assess your current level and decide how you will know you are making progress. Using our example of the stairs, ask yourself how many steps do you take at a normal walking pace before becoming winded? Let's say its five steps. The staircase is 15 steps. As you improve with your full fitness routine, keep testing yourself on the steps to see how many more steps you can add each week (give or take a few days) without becoming winded.

Is this goal Attainable? If the goal takes a magician or divine miracle to achieve, then ask yourself if you are ready to take on this feat. Fifteen stair steps is reasonable for most, but if your stair goal is to climb the CN Tower stairs without becoming winded (and without stopping), then you would belong to a small percentage of people that can attain this. It's possible, but maybe it's a little far out of reach at this time. Is it Realistic or Relevant for you to have this goal? Make note of any obstacles that could get in your way of achieving your goal and possible solutions for overcoming them. Also, why is it so important to you? Will it make your everyday life better? Will it help you to complete a specific task? If climbing the CN T ower stairs is neither realistic nor relevant at this time, then maybe you can find something else to focus on until it is. It doesn't mean you have to give up on your goals, it just means you may need to think of the goal is right for you at this time.

Which brings us to the last part: Time. How much time do you need to achieve the goal? If right now you can only climb four steps without being winded, you could set a goal of adding a step every week. Your initial timeline would be 11 weeks to get to 15 steps. Keep in mind though, you are working on a full routine for your body and as your fitness level improves, you may speed up the process. It's always good to set a mi-way assessment date and see if you can make adjustments to anything. For example, at six weeks, you discover you can make it to 12 steps without becoming winded and believe that if you keep going, you only need a couple more weeks. The other part of the time factor is to consider the time it takes you to work out and how many days per week you will need.

Some other examples of S.M.A.R.T. fitness goals could be: run my first half marathon in six months, perform five pull ups in a row in eight weeks, improve my score on a fitness test done by my trainer, lift 20 pounds heavier on the bench press in three months. You may also have more than one goal at a time. It's a good idea to talk to a trainer as they will be able to help you sort out where to get started. When you are focused and results driven, then you will be able to celebrate the small achievements and your much larger goal will be achieved before you know it.