Falling Off the Resolution Wagon and Setting Targets with Research and Math

 And here we all are. The third week of January, and most of us have fallen off the resolutions bandwagon. I certainly did. What happened?

Well, a lot of people made resolutions they didn't want to make. They made resolutions based on what everyone else seemed to be doing- public declarations of the intention to lose weight, get out of debt, be more mindful. Those make wonderful, inspiring Instagram posts. 

But what if you happen to like chips in front of the TV more than you like the gym? Guess what's going to come out on top? What if you like your daily six dollar latter more than having a credit card balance of zero? Again, you'll find yourself with a latte in hand making a minimum payment on your card. It's basic human nature. 

Quit fighting yourself. If exercise is one of the levels of Hell for you and the thought of going to a gym makes you want to curl up in a ball and hide, DON'T GO.      

Really. Don't. Forcing yourself to do things you really hate is not a positive thing to do. Would you force a friend to do something they hated? No. You're not a sadist. 

Ask yourself the hard question: do you legitimately care about losing weight? Is there a reason to do it, such as being at risk for the health consequences of being overweight? Be honest. The basis for your investment makes a difference. If you swore to lose weight because you were having a low self esteem day and are afraid that going to the beach won't be fun if you don't look hot, that feeling will pass. You'll suddenly remember that you haven't been to a beach in five years and you don't like getting sand in your clothes. Now your motivation is gone and the resolution evaporates. 

If your honest answer is that you want to feel better and have more energy, that's an internal motivation that's easier to stick to because the feeling rewards come much sooner than aesthetic results. 

Now that you've sorted out your motivation and concluded that you really want to keep your resolution, you need a plan. A resolution without a plan is a wish. A resolution with a plan is a goal. You're going to need numbers and time lines for this. Reasonable ones. If you think you could take up weightlifting and be able to bench press 300 pounds in a month, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

What you can do is a bit of research to find out what's reasonable. What are the standard metrics? 

Let's keep looking at that hypothetical bench press. According to the nice people at Strength Level, a 180 pound woman just taking up training qualifies as a beginner. The average weight for that woman to bench press is 55 pounds. Let's make that our first goal. You might not achieve that the first day, because if you have a trainer, they'll want you to practice technique with an empty barbell which weighs either 35 or 44 pounds. 

Technique before trauma, y'all! If you can't do something safely, DON'T DO IT! Life is better off the injured list. 

So you might reasonably think you'll need a couple of sessions to get that movement down before you're comfortable enough to hit the beginner mark. Fair enough. That's week one and week two down. 

The next mark is what they call Novice, which is 88 pounds. Let's project that you'll be working out regularly and practicing your bench press every session. As a newbie, people make pretty rapids gains in the PR department, so let's guess that you'll be increasing your weight by ten pounds a week. 

What does that look like?

Novice mark:  88 pounds

Current mark: 55 pounds

That's a difference of 33 pounds. Divide that by your average projected weekly increase of 10 pounds to determine this will take three and a half weeks. It's easier to keep track if you round it to an even month. 

The next level is Intermediate, weighing in at a lift of 131 pounds. Math again:

Intermediate: 131 pounds

Current:           88 pounds

Difference:       43 pounds

That's going to take another 5 weeks, minimum. You've made a lot of progress, and the odds are good that your gains may be slowing down a bit. So budget your time for two months to hit this mark. If you get there sooner, celebrate your bad ass self! If not, remember that this is a journey and you're a work in progress and making progress! 

By this point, you've consulted the industry charts and have noticed that at the Elite competitive level, which is defined by at least 5 years of training, the recorded average is 239 pounds. And that 239 pounds is performed by women who are stronger than 95% of lifters. Basically, those are superheroes. That arbitrary 300 pounds you imagined at the beginning? That's exactly what it was- imaginary. But now you know that and can adjust your expectations accordingly. 

If you've decided that you love this lifting thing, you can plan your goals and training to try achieving elite status. It'll be fun, right? 

The key to any resolution to is give it goal status and treat it with the respect it deserves.