Last week I was having several conversations in my DMs about fitness goals. One comment I repeatedly heard was, "I'm just trying to stay active", or "I'm just training for general fitness". The way people worded it in the messages made it seem like their goals weren't *actually* goals since it wasn't something specific like, "I'm running a 10K in October" or "I'm climbing Mt Shasta next year".
You don't have to have some big extravagant goal in order to train consistently. In fact, I encourage you to train regardless of whether or not you have a specific goal.
You can still aim for progressive overload.
You can still improve your cardiovascular fitness.
You can still gain strength, muscle, and endurance all without having a specific goal.
I understand I'm going against the typical SMART goals right now, but I think there's some value in knowing you don't have to have a goal to do something. Does it help with focus? Sure. But is it absolutely necessary? No.
You don't brush your teeth every morning because you have a big goal for being the most efficient tooth brusher. Or, maybe you do 🤪. You brush your teeth every morning because you know it's a healthy habit that improves and maintains your teeth and gum health.
The same can be true for fitness. You may not have a big goal in fitness right now, but you do it anyway because it helps your muscles, bone density, and overall health.
I recall times I've been working out at commercial gyms and a few people have come up to me over the years asking me what I was training for. To be honest, there's only been a handful of occasions where I actually had a specific answer. More often than not: training because I like it or training because health were and are usually my go-to responses.
You don't need to justify training for general wellness.
Maintaining and improving general fitness is a valid goal.
Remember, fitness is for life. Benefits of fitness go far beyond signing up for a competition or race.
