Do any of you just NOT have defined goals?

@mayne70 My goals are only just 'get stronger' and 'reach a body fat percentage I'm happy with'.

I have some very loose numbers but no hard time in which to meet them.

I'm disabled; I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and building enough muscle to reach maximum stability and lower my unnaturally high dislocation risk (because anything that has the potential to dislocate, no matter how unlikely, can), is the big goal.

I'm also not hugely pleased with my current weight (despite having lost several stone already) but losing fat while putting on muscle is still my plan. And it has been working. So I'll just keep on lifting heavy and progressing safely with the help of my trainer
 
@mayne70 Right now I am working out for fun and general wellness. Life is very crazy right now and I don't want to think very hard about training goals. I just want to at least maintain what I have if not slight improvement in skill or amount of weight I can lift.
 
@mayne70 I have so many different goals that I kinda don't really have a goal. At any one point, one goal might be a bit more important than others, but it keeps shifting, none of them is a clear priority over the others. I started lifting because of a knee issue, so the first goal was to develop strong legs to be pain free. Then I started enjoying the exercise, so the goal is to do something that I like and that is good for my mental health. Then, in surprise, I started seeing changes in my body ("Wow, what is that? I suddenly have very visible quads!!"), which made a gradual visual change seem possible and therefore a goal. Now I want to body recomp a bit and gain muscle in my arms. Then I started doing more interesting lifts, so I started to also become stronger and I set a few goals for that: I want to be able to deadlift my own bodyweight by spring, I want to be able to do 12 standard push-ups (initially I could do zero), and the famous unassisted pull-up at some point. Lifting has also changed the way I feel in my body, both physically and mentally (if that makes sense) so a goal is to keep that up. I also realized that I had always had the vague idea to "do something for my back" as both of my parents have back problems, and that I'm finally doing that now. I had never thought that "something" would be deadlifts, but here we are, so a goal is also to maintain a strong and therefore healthy back. In addition, I would also like to improve my cardio fitness and my balance. The good thing is, my routine allows me to work toward all of those - it might be slow, but I'm not stressed about it and the overall outcome is really great, I'm enjoying it.
 
@mayne70 I want to be fit, toned and functional as I get older. My mom is 71 and has osteoporosis and I want to avoid this if possible. She is very thin and has almost no muscle tone.

Looking good is an added benefit;-)
 
@mayne70 I always get asked what my goal is and my goal is always just to get stronger. But I have no numbers. I just love to exercise. I run and the goal is to get faster. But again only vague numbers.

Next time someone asks why I do it I might just say "to have fun" because that's the real goal lol
 
@mayne70 I started working out because I wanted to be able to help my patients better (hospital worker here). Everything else felt like a bonus. I'm enjoying fitting in smaller sizes and seeing bones and muscles in the mirror, but I haven't stopped to think what I want to make bigger or smaller.

I'm just curious to try new things and see if my body can do them. So if anything... my only goal is to learn new abilities?
 
@mayne70 Oh absolutely . Lifting has been stressf relief for me from day 1, so while aesthetic and performance goals come and go (sometimes I reach them- sometimes i dont!) I keep consistently exercising.
 
@mayne70 That's me. I exercise to maintain my overall health. Getting stronger is fun, but I don't do specific goals other than a birthday challenge most years.
 
@mayne70 yep i just workout cuz it keeps me mentally sane - i dont have a weight in mind...i like getting stronger and my cardio to be good... but i don't measure my food..i do drink protein...recently ran an 8k race with a friend...i practice yoga also but none of it is defined..i have been consistently working out for past 7 years... and 85% of the time i workout 3-6 times a week...but then there are periods where id go a week or two without working out
 
@mayne70 I definitely have defined goals for specific sports, running and climbing: run sub 1hr 10k, sub 2:45 half marathon by next August… climb 12b in gym by January, lead 11a in gym by April, lead 10b outside by June, etc. many of these I’ve previously met but I’m getting back into it after five years in grad school.

For overall health goals I’d like to lose some weight and fit back into my pre-covid, pre-dissertation wardrobe, I guess that’s defined by measurements? Otherwise lowering my LDL would also be nice. If I don’t set at least a few measurable goals I won’t push myself to go as much and then I’ll get lazy :(
 
@mayne70 Absolutely. Content warning for weird body image/exercise stuff.

I went through a pretty big breakthrough with my relationship with my body and realized it's not been mentally healthy for me to exercise in the numerically goal-oriented way I had always done. It wasn't sustainable, and it would lead to me mentally punishing myself.

I'd always kind of feared that if I didn't have a rigid "system", I'd never exercise and get really sedentary. Turns out that's not the case. I exercise more often then not, but the goal is a certain feeling. Sometimes I'm mentally wound up and want to physically wear myself out, and sometimes I'm feeling run-down (I work a physical job) and need some tension release in certain muscle groups- hello my entire back. Overall I want to feel stronger, more capable, and more flexible.

It's been the same with food.

Ironically with all of this letting go of strict goals and ideals, I've been reaching my appearance goals where I wasn't before. I would never encourage someone to make an outlook change like this just for that though, as there was no guarantee it would go this way. I'd still choose it if just for how much less anguished my brain feels.
 
@mayne70 I stopped weighing and measuring myself a few months ago. It has eased my anxiety A LOT. I just want to focus on building a healthy lifestyle and improving my mental health through increasing my daily activity and eating healthfully. I do track my lifting weights because my workouts vary and my memory ain’t what it used to be lol. So I track to make sure I increase the weight each work out. One of my fitness goals is to be a strong ass bitch and I’m making gains💪🏿🏋🏿‍♀️
 
@mayne70 the mindset that you have is going to keep you fit for the rest of your life. Too many people abuse their goals in that they over do it trying to get to a certain point or they'll fall off when they reach their goal
 
@mayne70 Mine is to lose weight and that’s it, I actually hate working out but I’ve been seeing progress lately. I can’t afford a scale right now, though I can tell I’m getting closer to being back to where I was before and I’m happy about that.
 
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