Don't Make Weight Loss Your Goal

Go to a gym, randomly choose ten people, and ask them a question. Really. I'll wait.

Here's the question: What are your fitness goals? Chances are, they're going to say, "to lose weight." I did this last night, and 9 our of the 10 gave me a variation of the weight loss goal. Some had a specific ideal weight, while others just wanted less of them to go around.

The tenth person's goal was to complete a workout without being bothered. So maybe you shouldn't do this after all. Guess I'll have to write myself a post on gym etiquette next.

I'm going to propose a better type of goal. Not that weight loss is a lousy one, but it's limiting. This doesn't even begin to address the fact that building muscle is essential to overall health, and how muscle weighs more than fat. Moreover, even with a specific target weight in mind, it's vague. That makes it an unlikely goal to meet.

I'll prove it. Go back to the gym and ask those same people for their phone numbers, so you can call them in 6 months and ask them whether or not they met their weight loss goals. We both know what will happen if you do this. You'll be asked to leave the gym. (I learned that one that hard way.)

But if you did follow-up, most of them would still be over their "ideal weight."

What's the better way? Performance related goals.

When I started out, I had a hodgepodge of goals. "Lose weight," was a big one. I also needed to lower my blood pressure, and get rid of my belly fat. Fortunately, I followed an excellent plan and began to see some of these results. That's about the time that the workouts became easy. When your workouts are easy, it's time to change them.

Had I not refocused my goals, I guarantee you I'd be on my way back to obesity already, and all in the name of "maintaining."

Instead, I decided to continue my transformation. I want to be stronger. Quicker. More agile. And that means performance related goals.

I learned about the 300 workout, which I mentioned briefly before. Here's a great article from the good people at Nerd Fitness that discusses it in detail. Here's the breakdown.

In 30 minutes or less, perform each of these exercises, which will total 300 reps. Take as many sets as you need, but remember the time limit. You don't move to the next exercise until you've completed each of the allotted reps in the prior one.

• 25 Pullups
• 50 Deadlifts with 135 lbs
• 50 Pushups
• 50 Jumps onto 24 inch boxes
• 50 Floor wipers with 135 lbs
• 50 Single-arm Clean and Press with 36 lbs Kettlebells (Each arm. Ugh)
• 25 Pullups

And yes. I keep thinking there's no way you have to do 50 kettlebells with EACH arm. And you do.

I took several weeks, alternately working on these exercises individually, and then putting them all together to see how far I could get in 30 minutes. The effect is cumulative. 50 box jumps wears you out, but it's nothing compared to doing them after 50 deadlifts, 50 pushups and 25 pullups.

Finally, I managed to complete it in 29:40. Nobody even looked at me funny when I cried out, "THIS IS SPARTA!" That's because I waited until I got into the empty pool area to yell it though.

What's my point? I pushed myself much harder than I had been, prior to finding a performance related goal. I got stronger, faster and more agile. I still don't look like King Leonidas, but maybe it's because I don't have a beard.

I continue to do this workout once a week, and hope to cut down on the time. But I've moved on to different performance based challenges that will build on this one. I also still have appearance based goals. There's not much belly fat left, but it's still there and I want it gone. But it's through these challenges that I will accomplish that.

What are your performance challenges and goals?

Keep transforming. Keep regenerating.