The 7 secrets to your ideal body: Secret #1 - Set Goals

Would you start out on a road trip without a map?

We are not all as adventuresome as Captain Cook, Magellan or Columbus, so we must have something to help guide us on our way to good health, fitness and a great looking body. Our roadmap is a series of goals with the final one at the end of the road being the aforementioned health, fitness and great body.

Establishing the purpose (goal) of our endeavors is essential in providing a benchmark for measuring progress along the way. Picture it like a ladder with each rung upwards representing an achievement.

It is most important, however, to know where we want to go, why we want to make the trip and how we are going to get there. In essence, our goals are a critical part of the plan for our body.

The training plan you develop should include regular exercise, for both strength and cardio-vascular health. Nutrition is the other side of the coin and is equally important to bodybuilding and fitness. A proper diet is necessary for the repairing and building of muscle tissue, as well as the energy to perform the exercises that tear down the muscle fibers.

A written record or ledger should be kept to track all activity. The ledger should be set up with the personal data recorded - height, weight and measurements - for the beginning, the transition period and the end.

A record should be made of the exercise program; the exercises performed, the weights used, the repetitions and sets completed and the progress you’ve made; and the nutritional data; a detailed log of everything consumed.

In this manner, you the exerciser are kept very aware of your actions, both negative and positive, and you are better able to control and direct your total fitness program.