According to “Fitman” Eric Brown, who is an NGA Pro Natural Bodybuilder and owner/head coach at The Fitman Performance & Physique Center in Roslyn, the best way to ensure you make progress on your fitness journey is to set personal goals.
“I believe that most folks have great intentions when they set goals,” he said. “But knowing how to set personal goals and then actually achieve them requires more than just good intentions.”
No Accountability = No Achievement
Fitman says that while setting goals is a tremendous thing, the problem is that most people just set general goals. He says that general goals do not create any true accountability.
“Being a lifter or an athlete who has general goals is better than having no goals at all,” he said. “But general goals have a high chance of not being achieved because there is no accountability attached to the goal.”
What he said works much better for actually reaching your goals is to set specific goals.
“When your goal hinges on a certain performance or numbers, it carries real weight. This means that you will be more determined to actually hit the goal,” he said.
Using himself as an example, Fitman recalled his experience when he returned to competitive sprinting at the Masters level after 10 years off the track.
“When I returned to the masters’ track game in 2015, I only had the general goal of running the 100-meter dash, he said. I finished the race, but my time (11.91) was not good, and I got smoked,” he said laughing!
“In 2016, I had the specific goals of getting into the 11.5-11.6 second range in the 100-meter dash and also breaking 24 seconds in the 200-meter dash. I trained and fought very hard, but I was unable to accomplish those goals in 2016. I ran 11.74 in the 100-meter dash and 24.18 in the 200-meter dash.”
“But during the 2017 summer track season, I smashed both of those goals as I ran 11.57 in the 100-meter dash and 23.78 in the 200-meter dash in the open men’s 30-34 age bracket ,” he said. Nationally, I was ranked 28th out of 67 in the 200m dash and 30th out of 96 in the 100m dash for Masters track in 2017.”
“Without having specific numbers to aim for, I would not have been able to create the urgency or drive to run those times.”
You Have To Be Specific
According to Fitman, it requires a shift in your mindset to change a general goal into a specific goal.
“It requires a different approach to make the change,” he said. Fitman provided the difference between general goals and specific goals below.
General Goals:
1) “I want to get stronger.”
2) “I want to get leaner.”
3) “I want to build muscle.”
Specific Goals:
1) “I want to add 10lbs to my bench press, 20lbs to my squat, and 30lbs to my deadlift.
2) “I want to lose 10lbs of body fat.”
3) “I want to add 5lbs of muscle mass to my frame.”
“Look at how the narrative instantly changes,” he said. “When the goal you set is specific it gives you a clear frame of reference. This is how you set goals and actually achieve them.”
He also said that setting specific goals makes the process real. When personal goals are specific, it forces you to be accountable if you are unable to reach them.
If you fail to reach a goal, it should also inspire you to work harder in order to reach it. “Losers will fail once and quit forever. But anybody who is truly serious about unleashing their inner greatness cannot be satisfied with falling short.”
“I’ve lost a lot more than I’ve won in life. But I don’t give up and I don’t give in despite how I may feel. Trust me when I say nobody ever thought I’d be where I am right now as a pro natural bodybuilder and business owner.”
He Was Specific And He Succeeded
Fitman said he had a story to share before he got back to the gym.
“For years this guy I know had a vision of opening a gym that catered to athletes, natural bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts.
“The problem was that there was nothing specific about this so-called plan. It was just a hollow, general goal.
“8 years passed, and the gym was not open. But halfway through that eighth year something changed. He actually set a date to open the gym in the fall of 2016 and began to aggressively look for a location.”
“He secured a location within one month after his specific goal was set and the rest is history.”
That guy was Fitman himself. “If you apply the same concept to your fitness goals, you will see progress that you may not have thought was ever possible. But your goals are possible if you are specific about what you want to achieve.”
Fitman: How To Set Goals And Achieve Them
Consult With A Professional For Free
Fitman Eric Brown is offering free client consultations at his gym for the remainder of April 2023. These consultations (a $75 value) include a physique/performance evaluation, a nutritional assessment, and a professional recommendation on program design after the consultation.
His assessments are available for everyone including natural bodybuilders, high school/college/pro athletes, and people who are not competitive athletes but just want to improve their fitness levels and change their lives.
Schedule your free consultation by booking an appointment on his website at FitmanClassicBodybuilding.com/Book-Appointments-With-Fitman. New client assessments will be available in April, Monday through Friday from 10:45a to 1p and Saturday from 12p to 1:30p. But you must book your appointment online to get your spot while you can.
When you are working with Fitman, you are working with an honest, certified professional whose primary focus is on getting results.