Are You On Track With Your 2016 Fitness Goals?

We're now almost half way through the year, and it's time to review the goals you set at the start of 2016. Are you on track?

If not, there could be a few reasons why the first half of the year hasn't gone to plan. The key to moving forward with your fitness goals is to understand why - and review your goals so you can end the year in a better place.

Here are the most common reasons people don't stay on track with their fitness goals:

You Didn't Set Realistic Goals

This is the number one reason people don't achieve their goals. If the goal wasn't realistic to begin with, you were never going to achieve it - no matter how hard you tried.

It can be difficult to find balance between setting a realistic goal and pushing yourself. You don't want to make it too easy - or you'll put a limit on what you can achieve.

This is where your coach can help. Review the progress you've made since the start of the year, and ask your coach to help you revise your goal for the second half of the year.

You're Not Motivated Enough

If you haven't progressed with your goal as much as you'd hoped, your motivation (or lack of it) could be to blame.

When you're not motivated to achieve something, it will never be your priority. You'll always be able to find something else you'd rather be doing.

To give your motivation a kick, visualise how you'll feel when you achieve your goal. Why are you doing this?

Set yourself mini goals to achieve along the way, so you know you're making progress. This is another way to keep the motivation high, as you can see yourself getting closer to the end goal.

Your Goals Are Too Complicated

How many goals have you set yourself this year?

If you want to add 50kg to your squat, knock 3 minutes off your Fran time, and finally nail a 10m handstand walk - are you trying to stretch yourself too thin?

Different goals require different types of training - and there's only so much you can realistically do.

When you set too many goals, you're more likely to overtrain and neglect recovery too, which will burn you out over time.

Try to limit yourself to the same type of goals. For example, improving strength or getting better at gymnastics. If you're working hard to improve your squat, you can also expect your Olympic lifts to increase too - these goals are complimentary.

You Haven't Been Consistent Enough

If none of the above ring true, it's time to get honest with yourself. How consistent have you been since January?

This doesn't just relate to training, but everything else that matters too. Nutrition, recovery, sleep and stress management all play an important role in performance.

Which areas have you been neglecting? What can you do over the next few months to bring the consistency back?

You're Being Impatient

If you set realistic goals at the start of the year, and you've been consistent with training and recovery, be patient!

Just because your numbers aren't where you think they should be, it doesn't mean you're not progressing enough to meet your end of year goal. Have faith things are going in the right direction, and keep doing what you're doing!

Take some time to review your training diary from the past few months and appreciate what you've done since the start of the year. You got this!