Fitness: Is Setting SMART Exercise Goals Really That Smart?

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For years, fitness professionals have advocated goal setting to improve exercise motivation and adherence. Whether it’s taking 10,000 steps a day, running 5K non-stop, bench pressing 10% heavier, or meeting exercise goals set on your smartwatch, the sense of purpose provided by goals is believed to inspire the action.

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For goals to be truly effective, behavior change experts suggest that it takes more than writing a few generalizations on paper. They recommend that users set SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. In short, the best goals focus on an explicit outcome, like accumulating 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week, rather than a vague promise to be more active.

But with statistics suggesting that more than 50 per cent of Canadians are inactive, and dropout rates for those new to exercise also exceeding that benchmark, there’s reason to believe the goal-setting process could use some tweaking. , especially for novice athletes. Could it be that SMART goals are not the smartest choice after all?

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Australian researchers Christian Swann and Simon Rosenbaum first questioned the effectiveness of SMART goals in a article published in 2018. TThey reported that there was little research to prove that specific goals are more effective in getting people to exercise regularly than those that are more loosely defined. In fact, specific goals can have the opposite effect, causing more stress and frustration than satisfaction. The problem with achievement-based goals is that novice users may not have the ability or resources to succeed, despite following all the principles of effective goal setting.

There is a complexity to exercise that can make it difficult, if not impossible, for those who just got off the couch to reach their goals. Not only do they need to find the time and motivation to exercise, but they also need to learn the basics, like lifting weights, operating a treadmill, or navigating a masters swim practice. Then there’s the question of determining exercise intensity: How fast do you need to walk for your workout to qualify as moderate intensity? It can be confusing for those who are new to sweating.

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Also keep in mind that the purpose of setting goals is not just to achieve a specific goal. It is the action taken to achieve the goal that makes the real difference in overall health, wellness and fitness. In a 5K couch-running program, the stated goal is to run 5K without stopping. But the real benefits come from all the training runs that happen before you hit that mark. Gradual improvement in endurance, instillation of a workout routine, and mastery of running mechanics happen long before the goal is achieved, and it can be argued that that is where the emphasis should be.

Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals are more suitable for committed athletes who hope to achieve a well-defined, performance-based outcome (complete a marathon, achieve a personal best in the pool) than for those struggling to add more. physical activity into your daily life. Swann and Rosenbaum argue that when it comes to physical activity, there shouldn’t be a single model for setting goals.

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“You have to take into account a person’s developmental stage to become physically active,” said Swann and Rosenbaum, who joined four other researchers in advocating for update current theories and practices on goal setting within the field of physical activity.

What does that mean for someone who is struggling to exercise regularly? Feel free to focus more on how far you’ve come, rather than how close you are to achieving an arbitrary result that may or may not propel you into action. Or consider “learning” objectives, less quantitative and more qualitative in nature, that focus on mastering a specific skill or developing strategies to become active. Examples include identifying three strategies to add more movement to your day, rather than aiming for 30 minutes of physical activity a day, or aiming to master the front crawl instead of swimming 2,000 meters in a single workout.

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Less specific does not mean less ambitious. All goals should require purpose and commitment, with the main difference being that some focus more on process and others on results. The best goals are the ones that are challenging enough to inspire action, but not so challenging as to promote fear of failure.

So be smart about setting exercise goals, making sure they’re not only specific to your experience, but also lead to fulfillment and satisfaction, not disappointment.