#GOALS… or not?

Original Post by Chicago Personal Trainer Annie Fritz

SO, for the past few months (actually, it’s probably been more than a few, now that I think of it…), I really haven’t had any particular training goals. No specific personal bests to hit, no new skills to tackle or master, no body composition or aesthetic goals – nothing. I was still working out 4-5 times per week [side note: 4-5x/week because I like to workout that often] but instead of sticking to one of my usual, regimented workout programs, I would essentially make things up as I went along – decide on one or two main things to focus on that day and then program the rest around that. I’d never done that before. Going in without a PLAN-plan used to be enough to make me sacrifice the workout, all-together.

Has it been as scary or terrible as I thought it would be? Did I honestly fail to make progress because the goals weren’t there? ERMAHGERD, has all of this training been meaningless??

Not really. Not at all, actually. In fact, this has been one of the most enjoyable training periods that I can recall, simply due to the fact that each day I was choosing to work on whatever it was that I felt like working on – maybe it was a day centered around deadlifts, maybe it was pull-ups or squats or glute work…maybe it was conditioning work with the girls. Maybe it was bodyweight skill work. Maybe it was handstands. WHO KNOWS. You get the idea.

Were some workouts still better than others? Sure. Some days you’re just on and some days you’re just…not. And that’s okay – but it’s important to find that even though you may not have any specific goals in mind, you’re not just going through the motions; you’re still putting in an effort which, at the end of the day, is the most important part. Goal-less training and lollygagging don’t necessarily come hand in hand. That’s silly. Assumptions, in general, are silly.

My body is a priority. This period of goal-less training has helped me realize that having goal after goal after goal (whether it be performance, strength or aesthetic – related) could have had me (and most of us, probably) missing the point. What do we really train for? Are we really just training to be however strong? To look good naked? To impress other people? To feel better about ourselves? How often do we forget – or even completely overlook – the fact that our bodies are the only place that we have to live; that if we don’t take care of them, make sure that they are strong, functional, capable, durable & flexible, that we’ll be paying for it later?

I train to be a strong, capable human being. I train because I want to live in a body that is going to hold up for another 70 years. That is my end-all, be-all goal – always; to have a strong, functioning, capable, resilient body that I enjoy living in, that’s gonna last me a looooong time, so that I can do all of the things that I want to do and live how I want to live. And frankly, that doesn’t require an endless list of fitness goals to reach. There are times when you’ve #gotgoalz because you’re ready to take on a new challenge AND there are times when simple body maintenance and feeling good is the main objective and both are just fine.

Which begs the question: How is it that basic body maintenance – to be a well functioning human being – has become one of the least prioritized aspects of our culture? When did we decide that we are just supposed to have strong, capable, functional bodies without acknowledging (and then taking responsibility for) the fact that these things require constant up-keep? It’s like a car. If you buy a car, yet never take any action to maintain it’s performance, what’s going to happen? Breakin’ down all over the place is what’s going to happen. See, #samzies with the bodies. Crazy concept, right?

That said, I have learned enough about training to know how to train goal-less-ly and still make progress. I’ve gotten stronger. I’ve taken time to work on things that I’m not so great at. Found some weaknesses that I’d normally choose to ignore (to a certain extent) if they were getting in the way of my time-sensitive end goal. Really, just gave myself a lot of time to figure shit out (oh, the training-to-life parallels are never-ending…) and to decide what I actually wanted my next goal to be. Did I find that there was something that I genuinely wanted to spend time working on? Yah. Did I find that there were certain things that I wanted to improve upon? Yip. Did I decide that I was truly ready to take on the challenge of learning something totally new? Yap. Did I find out that goal-less training is actually super awesome at times because it allows you to enjoy the process not just worry about reaching an end goal? YUP.

And I thought I was pretty good at that already. Things to think about, my friends, things to think about…thou shalt not feel guilt for not having specific training goals all the time; that’s no way to live. Enjoy your training, enjoy your body and most importantly, enjoy knowing that you’re a strong, capable human being.

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