Setting Goals & Developing Good Study Habits

"Study habits? I graduated from College years ago. You've got to be kidding!"

Nope. Sorry, but you've got to understand something about me: I may endeavor to be an artist for the rest of my life, but I was born and raised a scientist, and that's going to be part of me forever. In my opinion the best approach to tackling a goal is to study as much as you can about the field, develop a fundamental understanding of how and why things work the way they do, and apply that knowledge. It saves me a lot of time wasted spinning my wheels.

Here's what you risk if you don't plan on taking a studious approach: you get a gym membership. Show up maybe four or five times a week. You put some weights on some of the machines, push, pull & pump as seems appropriate. Four weeks later your shoulder and back hurts, you've put on twelve pounds (and it's all turned up on your midsection) and you are officially burned out. You decide this isn't going to work, stop showing up at the gym (despite the fact you're paid up for the next eleven months!) and decide it's just never going to work.

Am I being melodramatic? Maybe, but I've probably described the basic outcome for thousands of people each year. You don't just get credit for showing up, you've got to know a little bit about what you're doing.

Okay, so what should your goals be? Here you raise your hand in the air and say "Oh I know! I'll hire a trainer! He or she will know what I want!"

Bzzzzt!

Murray's Rule #1: Don't assume your trainer knows what you want.

Many people seem to envision giving to a specialist, turning their own brains off, doing whatever Super Gym Person instructs, and waking up a month later with their own Killer Bodies. If only it were that easy! I've now spent over a thousand dollars on trainers, and for me most of it was a waste. I'm not saying you can't get value from a Personal Trainer, but's like everything else: value comes from smart shopping. You have to know what you want. (Most on trainers in a later section!)

Now is the time to do some soul searching. Why is it that you've decided to make a positive change in your lifestyle? What do you want? What are your priorities? I certainly can't answer this question for you, but I can mention some common themes.

I want to improve my general fitness.: Wow! Congratulations! You're in luck because there are about a million things available for you to do, and you're likely to even find some that are fun! Remember that you are really looking to change your life habits: not to find a three-month fix that you perform and then drop.
I want to lose weight.: This is about as easy as the "general fitness" goal. There are a million different things you can do. All you need to do is commit to being persistent, try to find activity and diet that you can enjoy, check your progress every few weeks, and try to adapt your routine to "tune into" what is working the best.
I want a muscular body.: Tired of being the 98 pound weakling? Me too. Unfortunately this may take some careful study and a scientific approach to discover how your body works, and how it responds to different regimens. Finding the right goals can even be a challenge.
I want to prevent/fix injury.: I'm willing to bet almost none of my readers thought of this one, which is a real pity. The American Lifestyle can wreck havoc on our bodies (especially the Office Job) and even typing at a computer can cause permanent crippling injury. Things like chronic back pain are almost epidemics, and few people are addressing them. A good exercise (and diet) program can sometimes do as much good as tens of thousands of dollars of physical therapy, and with work you may discover that you have better insights to the workings of your body than any doctor! Emphasizing good stretching, strengthening knees, shoulders and your back—all these can reduce pain and injury down the road. THIS SHOULD BE EVERYONE'S GOAL.
I want to gain muscle and lose fat. (Ie. The Perfect Body): Yeah, don't we all? Well this can be done, but often these two goals require conflicting approaches. Nevertheless, I'm convinced it's possible for everyone. (To some extent.) But you have to be willing to be (a) realistic and (b) patient.

Okay, so let's say you've now got a better handle on your goals. (Chances are they'll change down the road, but you need your starting point.) How are you going to achieve them? Here are some suggestions that will get you pointed down the right path:

Ask your doctor. Chances are your physician will be jumping up and down with glee (in her own head, probably) because a patient has finally decided to take a proactive approach to fixing his own problems, instead of waiting for an injury to occur and expecting a magical pill or surgery to fix everything. Your doctor probably doesn't know everything about Sports Science and Nutrition, but she will certainly have some basic suggestions. Maybe your cholesterol levels and/or blood pressure are a bit high and could stand to be lowered. Maybe she has a good suggestion for a target weight you would want to shoot for as a six-month goal.
Ask a trainer. Many gyms offer a free trial training session, with the hopes of getting to spend money on lots more. This is the perfect time to ask lots of questions.
Read a magazine. Buy four different "sports and fitness" magazines and read all their articles. (Don't bother with the full subscriptions. It seems to me most magazines rotate through the same articles every three months.) Try to determine which goals are best handled at the gym, and which can be done with outdoor sports and recreational activities.
Read a book. They are easy to read through, often have wonderful illustrative pictures, and cover a vast amount of good general information. Just be careful to make sure the book addresses your interest. If you want to lose weight, a book on weightlifting might not make perfect sense.
Consult your psychic. Just kidding!

As it turns out, must of "exercise and nutrition" can be boiled down into a surprisingly small number of truisms. Note that quite a few bits of "conventional wisdom" change every few years, and there are warring camps of "experts" with conflicting opinions. Keep all these in mind, and by all means memorize those tidbits that everyone can agree on! By the way, mentioning magazines I've got to point out...

Murray's Rule #2: Most sports and muscle magazines are a silly waste of money.

I'm sorry, but they are so similar to supermarket check-out-lane tabloids. How many magazines have you seen that declare "Get Killer Abs in Weeks with these 5 Exercises!" Any magazine that depends on sensationalism to sell copies is compensating for some inadequacies. The fact of the matter is after reading six consecutive issues you will be really hard pressed to learn anything new. My friend Dale calls these magazines "soft porn" and I'm inclined to agree.

Murray's Rule #3: Sports and muscle magazines can be a valuable resource.

I love contradiction! Let me elaborate: There is a certain amount of really good advice regarding exercise. This stuff can help you prevent injuries and more importantly, it can help you make the most of the time you spend in the gym. It's all a bunch of good advice and you should know it all by heart. (Some of it you'll read in these articles!) Here's the best news of all: this body of information is surprisingly small and compact. That's why it gets repeated so often in these magazines.

So if you haven't bought a muscle and fitness magazine before, pick some up and read them as long as you don't find the articles repetitive. If you've already been reading these rags for years, you should know all the salient tips already. (Or were you just looking at the pretty pictures?)

Next section: Anatomy & Kinesiology

Page last modified 08/29/2003 17:59