Setting SMART Goals for Physical Activity

Host: Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director for Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, University of Kentucky

Guest: Natalie Jones, Extension Program Coordinator for Physical Activity

0:00 Welcome to Talking FACS - What you need to know about family, food, finance and fitness. Hosted by the University of Kentucky, family and consumer sciences extension program, Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families and communities to improve quality of life.

0:20 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Hello and welcome back to Talking FACS. Thank you for listening today. This is your host Dr. Jennifer Hunter, interim assistant director for family and consumer sciences extension. Today I'm pleased to have with us Natalie Jones, physical activity coordinator for family and consumer sciences extension. Natalie is going to share with us about goal-setting for physical activity. Natalie, thanks for joining us today.

0:42 Natalie Jones: Thank you so much for having me.

0:43 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: I think that this is a great topic, especially this time of year as the weather's getting warmer and people are starting to get outside. I feel like that at the first of the year and around new years that we set a lot of physical fitness goals with our new year's resolutions and so those may have waned by this point. But I think the warmer weather really encourages folks to get out and to be more physically active. So it's a great time to talk about goal-setting again and really how to get individuals motivated and working towards those goals.

1:14 Natalie Jones: Exactly I think that just talking about those strategies and how to set fitness goals is key. Because like you said we all have goals and we all want to overcome all these distractions and things that keep us from reaching them. So today I think we'll really explore different methods and creating ways to achieve those goals.

1:33 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Okay so let's just start with the basics on how we create an effective physical fitness goal.

1:40 Natalie Jones: So if we want to meet our goals, there are those best practices to help achieve what someone has set out to do and so one of the main practices that's known is setting a SMART goal in order to help someone achieve what they have in mind.

1:53 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So I love SMART goals and we can talk about SMART goals for all different aspects of life. If it's physical fitness or if it's personal finance or nutrition or whatever it may be. So what exactly is a SMART goal?

2:06 Natalie Jones: Right. So a SMART goal stands for something that is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. So all of these principles are important in achieving a healthy lifestyle change or like you said any type of goal that you may have . And having a SMART goal really keeps someone on track as well as reminds them what their priorities are.

2:28 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Okay so how does one get started on setting a SMART goal?

2:31 Natalie Jones: Right and I think setting a SMART goal for physical activity is hard. Because some of the common and vague goals that people have like for example is to run a 10k. So that can kind of be our example that we use throughout this smart goal-setting topic, is that that may not be exactly specific of running a 10k. It’s really general and so in order to make a specific goal, you really want to make sure that you know what you want to accomplish and where it will take place in the period as specific and clear and precise as possible. So that example would be like for running a 10k, you'd want to have a specific race in mind. So for this example we would say, my race will be the Kentucky classic 10k. So that would be how you would make it specific. Measurable, that second part of a SMART goal is measuring your progress and a way to keep you on track and feeling good about yourself for when you reach those target goals and I think that's something that people forget with these goals. It’s to really make sure that it's measurable. so you know how much, how many and how you will accomplish it and so with that example of running a 10k, you could turn it into a measurable goal of I will run the 2018 Kentucky classic 10k in 60 minutes. So there I have measurable, defined, when I'm going to do it and how; all aligned in one.

3:57 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: I think that that's one thing that I struggle with especially in setting physical activity goals, that I'll just say something like well I want to exercise more and I don't really state then what I'm going to do or how I'm going to do it and so then it makes achieving, well exercising more. Maybe I got in a few extra steps today or I walked around the block tonight. But it doesn't really maybe work me towards actually meeting the true intent of my goal.

4:22 Natalie Jones: Exactly. It keeps it really vague and so really making it specific and measurable are really keys to having those goals being followed. Again attainable, you want your goals to actually be achievable. So they should stretch you slightly. But you should also feel challenged and so that way you'll feel empowered when you achieve them. So by setting a SMART goal and making it attainable, you want to see those early wins. Right, that keep you motivated for that long-term consistency. because that's what a lot of people struggle with, with physical activity is they set a goal and then they can't meet it and so they get discouraged and just either stop altogether or just kind of just get inflated.

5:03 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So for someone that's fairly new to physical activity, how do they really determine what type of goal might be attainable for them?

5:10 Natalie Jones: Right and so I think for that, it's really setting something that's realistic and to start slow and gradual and step up the pace as they continue on and that way you hold on to that physical activity success. So with that example that we were talking about with the 10k, so maybe that's a goal that I have in mind. But have I ever even ran a 10k? Right what if I've only run one mile. So maybe I should set my goal back from a 10k to running a 5k.

5:43 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So small steps working towards a larger goal.

5:45 Natalie Jones: Exactly, exactly and that truly helps it be relevant. Which is that other part of a SMART goal. So that way when you're setting a goal, you make sure that it matters to you and so do I want to do this? Is it something that is important to me? Because all of those things will help you achieve it and making sure that it's relevant and a positive, so you should be able to answer if it's worthwhile. If it's something that you truly want to do and if it's the right time in your life.

6:15 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So essentially finding your inner purpose for working towards the goal. Not because one of your friends suggested, hey let's go run this 10k or maybe a significant other said we should get more physically fit. It’s something that's really meaningful to you.

6:29 Natalie Jones: Exactly, exactly. So making your goal relevant to your activity level, right really helps you set yourself up for success. instead of doing something that you may not want to do or that isn't relevant to you, which could set you up for failure and so that's not to say for instance if with our example of scaling it back from a 10k to a 5k, that's not saying that you know I would never run a 10k. But pushing myself beyond what's reasonable to attain if I've only ran one mile, then could just lead me to simply give up on that goal running a 10k all together. So the last thing is timely and I think this is one of the most important thing with making a smart goal is to have that endpoint of your goal and having a target date. Really drive someone to focus and work towards that deadline. Which can help keep you motivated and achieving whatever your goal is. if it's you know just walking more or going to Zumba class more or being able to play with your kids more. Any type of goal that you have, having that time endpoint is really key. so when setting your deadline, again you want to be honest with yourself about what you're able to accomplish and remember anything that you have scheduled or commitments that may deter you or that you should keep in mind when picking a date or a realistic time of goal and so in the case of a 5k, if that is my example; that's a really clear date and again I could create a target date of accountability throughout my training process for that 5k of working up to a mile or a mile and a half and then two miles. so really if we look back at this goal, then after all of our SMART goal and thinking it through, it would end up being, I would run the 2018 Kentucky classic 5k and 30 minutes at a 955 pace, five months from now. So that's drastically different than just that first goal of wanting to run a 10k.

8:32 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Right, right and there's a lot of information in that goal. so one thing that I think is also key about SMART goal setting is to make certain that you write that down somewhere and you post it where you can see it on a daily basis. Because otherwise we might really forget what it is that we're working towards?

8:42 Natalie Jones: I totally agree and I think also you know letting your family members know, letting your friends know and having that accountability partner or just someone there to encourage you forward on your goal. Because well hopefully it's something that is attainable and achievable for you. you will feel challenged at some points during physical activity and so having someone really encourage you, can help that goal process as well.

9:13 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So I will admit to you, because I knew that this was going to be our conversation today, I was talking to one of my friends about this and she said, ”Oh well maybe this conversation will remind you about us being accountability partners to each other.” She’s a much better accountability partner than I am about working towards meeting our physical activity goals. So definitely I think all key points that you shared with us today.

9:37 Natalie Jones: Right again you always want to make sure with those SMART goals that it's something that is important to you and that it's fun. That’s the most important thing with physical activity.

9:46 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: I think fun is key as well. Thanks for joining us Natalie.

9:47 Natalie Jones: Thank you so much.

9:50 Thank you for listening to Talking FACS. We deliver programs focusing on nutrition, health, resource management, family development and civic engagement. If you enjoyed today's podcast, have a question or a show topic idea, leave a like and comment on Facebook@UKFCSExt. Visit us online at fcs.uky.edu or contact your local extension agent for family and consumer sciences. We build strong families. It starts with us.