On Kettlebells and Benchmarks and Goals and Such

Why do we work out? Do you know?

If not, then you are like most of the people who are out there struggling to get more fit. As an example, "I want to get stronger" is not a goal. "I will do 100 snatches in five minutes by July 1, 2009 " is a goal.

Goals are important to the success of any endeavor. I mean how can you do something if you don't know what you want to do. Right?

We need goals for each workout. Goals for life. Goals for love. Short term goals. Medium ones etc. etc. Sunday drives with no particular destination are surely nice from time to time. But every day?

The start of a workout is not the time to decide what you are going to do. You really ought to consider trying to create your workout the day before. You should know what you will do and then do it. Folks who have no goals before a workout typically don't want to be held to account. Don't be this person. Look, freestyle workouts are great from time to time. But you won't accomplish much if freestyle is your workout of choice.

The only way to set up new benchmarks is to keep a workout journal.I find that those who keep a diary are much more successful than those who don't. Write down your results, your state of mind....in short, anything that will impact what you were able to accomplish. And your benchmarks should be realistic for you. 100 snatches in 5 minutes isn't realistic for most of my clients in the foreseeable future. Now 50 in 5 may be good. Benchmarks are personal and need to take into account lots of things. How hard you are able and willing to work? Your age, your sex, etc...all will come into play. The key is to always be improving.