Do any of you just NOT have defined goals?

[pichaelmoon]

@mayne70 You wrote this but it's my own thoughts exactly. To a "T". I think we're doing it the right way.

 

[doug1fisher1]

@mayne70 It can completely be a hobby! Of course it's fun and valuable to switch things up and try something new every once in a while, but it can just be for fun and because it makes you feel good.

I want to say a common driver for exercise is often the way it makes people feel regardless if they have specific goals or not. I notice that when I work out I have better energy, i'm less anxious, AND I get to eat more! Winning all around. Keep doing you

 

[mainechild]

@mayne70 No goals here either. For the longest time it was weight loss but now I just want to be physically fit, while continuing to push myself to gradually lift more and/or more repts.

 

[%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9]

@mayne70 I’d like to be in less pain, feel more stable, trust my body more. I don’t have any goals for how much weight I can lift or how long or far I can run. I just know that lifting and running help me in my pursuit of my goals!

 

[spinningplates]

@mayne70 No goals, I'm 40, I run, work out and lift because i like being able to pick my kids up and chase them around and play ball with them and climb trees with them, and hopefully have a fair chance being healthy as they grow up for a long while , I like that I can sprint for the train on my commute if i need to, ....... and I like that my wife thinks I look good naked.

 

[nikkic000]

@mayne70 AmAt

TA

 

[zandadred]

@mayne70 I have found that specific goals can be really detrimental for me mentally and body image-wise, so I tend to either keep goals very vague or not have them at all.

 

[victoris]

@mayne70 i miss the feeling when i could try to do it and my body would just effortlessly oblige. that sort of feeling is exhilarating. i hurt my hands a few years back so i got a taste of what being disabled is like and i really want to mitigate that as much as possible.

 

[coppertopranch]

@mayne70 I do not have any defined goals for training. Instead I mix modalities often (yoga, kettlebells, suspension training, free weights etc.) just to give my body different stimulus to maintain flexibility, strength, amd endurance. I mostly just enjoy being active.
If anything, your enjoyment and overall health are the goals.

 

[currycoma]

@mayne70 I started lifting after I started playing roller derby when I realized I needed to build muscle to be a stronger roller derby player. Here I am years later, no longer playing roller derby, but still lifting 3-4 days a week.

There was a period of time when I was aiming to squat and deadlift a certain number, but after I reached those numbers, I didn't really feel like I needed to lift more, just that I wanted to maintain. I guess I'm now in constant maintenance mode Mostly, I like working out because it feels good, keeps me healthy, and I'm a creature of habit.

 

[vagirl86]

@mayne70 Besides increasing weights every visit, I don't have any clear goals. It's great for my mental health and I think lifting is fun.

 

[ollieclews]

@mayne70 I just want bigger legs and butt for gender dysphoria reasons. It's not a hard number but more just how I feel when I look at myself.

 

[nerissa1969]

@mayne70 Yeah I'm a lot like this. I've been running for over 10 years and I've entered exactly 1 race and improved my mile pace by about a minute.

Even when I trained for a marathon distance my goal wasn't really to run a marathon, I just thought it would be super cool to run this one greenway path end to end, which happened to be about 25 miles so why not round up.

I make up short term goals when I feel like it, like I wanna crack 50 km next week or I should keep working on squats at least until I can do my bodyweight. But my most real goals are like, I want to run enough miles and do enough strength training that I can do a 14 mile long run every weekend if I feel like it. I love running 12-15 miles at a time, so I wanna take care so it doesn't hurt if I do.

 

[dawn16]

@nerissa1969 I am that way about races. I do all trail running and I just like running in nature.

Sometimes, I just want to be able to do a super long run and not have to carry a ton of water or run on new trails without worry about getting lost. To me, a race is just a supported long run lol

 

[holmie]

@mayne70 Me! I was a competitive athlete pretty much my whole life and went down the elite path after college. I can't even look at a training plan now without fully rebelling, but I still train 6-7 days a week and it's a huge part of my life. I do it because it makes me happy and it's an etch-a-sketch for my brain.

Whenever people ask me what my goals are and why I train so much I say "so I don't have to say no to things" but that also extends to being the best version of myself, cheesy as it is.

I hope one day I can feel excited about chasing a race goal or whatever, but I don't think everything in life needs to be goal driven. In fact, I think being overly goal driven is problematic and leads to disappointment and the "what's next" mentality.

I always ask myself, "Does running an ultra or a sub-whatever insert-distance-here, etc make me a fundamentally better person?" The answer is probably no. However, maintaining the discipline and showing up every day does make you a better person, even if there's no "end" in sight. It's the journey!

 

[aviari]

@mayne70 Yes!

Personally I always fail the SMART goals I set. Too much pressure, too much perfectionism, and too much stress and obsessiveness. My best progress has come from ignoring timelines, measurements, etc. outside of feel better, run faster and lift heavier bit by bit. Even if I have a measureable type of goal- like, I need to gain/lose 5 lbs before x date- I don't really track or measure anything up to that point. It usually works- even better than planned too.

I don't think goal setting is the best approach in all situations for everyone. Some people need to go with the flow to thrive in what they're doing. It drives me crazy when other people try to shoehorn that kind of structure into my routine and say it will work when it never has worked for me before.

 

[dawn16]

@aviari Same. Any time I set a SMART goal I spend too much my time trying to plan out the best way to achieve it and not enough time actually working on it. Sometimes I don’t even actually start working on it cause I get too hung up on trying to find the absolute best method! If I just say hey I’m going to run 4 times a week and don’t stress how far/fast/hard I run I see way more progress

 

[minnietaz]

@mayne70 I also do not have defined goals. I just have general goals like increasing strength and athleticism (power, agility and coordination put together)

 

[tanya31]

@mayne70 I want to climb hard everywhere in the world. Very unquantifiable but the first step is to climb hard locally

 

[dawn16]

@mayne70 Me. Progression and consistency is my main goal. I want to generally be healthy and feel good but I don’t quantify it.