When people start working out, the first thing they do is set goals for themselves. These goals oftentimes end up being unreachable or unrealistic. Having these unattainable goals can have very negative side effects on a person. They can span from how often one goes to the gym to how easily progress is made. The internet makes people think that these goals are easy to reach. These goals are often made without understanding how much effort it takes to achieve them.
“I feel like they’re unrealistic just because I don’t think I can reach it,” FHS senior Raine Babcock said. “I blame the self-doubt and thinking I have all these bigger people to look up to and I feel like I can’t reach them.”
Negative effects from not reaching one’s goals are very common. This includes loss of motivation, loss of energy or even just a loss of appetite. When discipline is lacking in these goals, people seem to suffer more by keeping the side effects away. These can affect a person’s day-to-day life, even when not working out.
“I end up not having as much strength or self-confidence to be able to reach them or it’ll affect how I go about my day-to-day,” Babcock said. “Sometimes how I interact with people, sometimes what I’ll eat, sometimes how I’ll feel and just that affects my school work.”
People tend to lean more towards goals that sound good even if they do not have a plan to achieve them. There have been ways that people have been able to flip their irrational goals to make them more attainable.
“Through enough hard work I think anything can become realistic,” FHS senior Alan Leon said.
There are also ways to make an impractical goal realistic.
“Just keep working towards those goals because they’re reachable,” Babcock said. “You just got to give in the work and have a support system to help you.”
Just because a goal is set does not mean it cannot be changed. Goals can adapt and change to a person’s needs and strengths over time. Whether a person gets stronger and needs to set an even higher goal or does not get as strong as they wanted, adjusting their goal a bit can always be helpful.
“When I first started to deadlift, my goal was 200 and I passed that,” FHS senior Milo Wholley said.
There are no rules keeping goals from changing or keeping goals from not being set if it is not wanted. Some people might find it more difficult to keep up with the expectations they set for themselves while some people might find it very easy.
“I wanna be able to be strong enough to protect the people I care about, which is the reason why I work out,” Leon said.
Goal setting varies from person to person depending on how they feel and what each individual person wants to get out of working out. Some people want to lose weight, some want to make tons of progress and some just want to go to the gym a certain amount of times in a week. No one is exactly the same. What people set in a goal might be something they know they can easily reach or something that might be more difficult to reach to pose a challenge.
“I thought I could lift 300. I can’t lift 300. Spoiler alert, I hurt my arm,” Wholley said.
The problem comes when a person feels completely burnt out or discouraged from their goal it affects them in various ways. This is when the goal becomes too unrealistic or harmful to the person even if it is only mental harm.
“[Goals] make me feel bad about not being able to do them,” Wholley said.
If people start feeling this way about a goal they made the goal can be changed for the better even if it is not super easy to make that change.
“I remind myself of the people around me and [the goal] makes more sense,” Leon said.
People who want to work out for the first time should not be frightened. If one knows what to expect it is easier to be more confident.
“Make a goal and stick to it,” Leon said. “At first you know it might seem impossible. You might not be making much progress. It could take a month, two months, maybe a year but eventually you’re going to reach there.”
People who are specifically interested in starting to weightlift can heed.
“Don’t jump to really heavy weights and it’s also better just to do a bunch of reps of small weights instead of just like a couple of really heavy weights because it trains your muscles,” Wholley said.
First-time people working out may think that they have to be perfect or think that their goal is too hard to achieve and just give up instead of trying to work it out.
“Do it,” Babcock said. “Don’t let people intimidate or scare you. I promise if you find a good community and system you’ll be able to do it. Just start working out, don’t be afraid to ask for help. And just believe in yourself, have a support system. You don’t have to look as ripped as many people as long as you’re healthy. That’s all that matters at the end of the day.”
