Prioritizing Your Goals in Training

When it comes to training for goals the water can become murky. What does it mean to train? What is your goal? Is all training appropriate for all goals?  The answers vary greatly depending on what exactly it is you want to accomplish.

To begin answering these questions for yourself, it is important to first outline some definitions. First is training. What is training. Training is simply working toward an objective with intention. You have a goal and you select the proper exercises, mode of exercise, intensity, etc… to achieve success.


Well, then what is a goal? A goal is the outcome. What is it that you want? Is it a feeling? An objective number? More ability? Skill acquisition? Goals are highly individual to the person training and come in many broad shapes. There are many ways to come to a goal for yourself. Perhaps you’ve heard of SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Bound). This is a great starting point that will help direct your training in an efficient way.


Many websites and books can help you work through your SMART goals (or any other goal acronym), but if you’d prefer to work with a coach- Send me an email or give me a call!

Once you have your goals clearly defined, the training program can be created.


Let’s use the example of myself.


I currently have two performance goals. My first goal is to increase my muscle mass by 5lbs. My second performance goal is to run a marathon in the fall.


Goal 1- Gain 5lbs of muscle mass. This is specific - I know the change I want to see (increased muscle mass). 5lbs is measurable on a home bathroom scale, but I also have access to a body scan that breaks down muscle mass, fat mass, etc. . . It’s also achievable (only a  2.5% body composition change). In addition, it's relevant to me because I like the way I feel when I fill out my clothing better. Lastly- it’s time bound to the third week of June when I officially being marathon training.


Goal 2- Run the Chicago Marathon.

• Specific- I’m running it!
• Measurable- 26.2 miles
• Achievable- I have a well vetted training plan
• Relevant- I want to do this with Elisabeth and raise money for a great organization
• Time Bound- October 13th 2024

The goals are outlined, so now how do I train to accomplish these goals. This is where it can become challenging. These two goals are generally inverse to each other. Why would I try to do both? Well, the timeline is different. My short term goal is to gain 5lbs before the major marathon training kicks up because I know that when I am training for the marathon, I will inevitably lose some muscle mass. So we can say my short term goal is to increase muscle size. My medium term goal is to run the marathon. 


So how do we train for that? 


We need balance!


It's not realistic for me to only strength train (which would increase muscle size). I need to do some aerobic work too because the marathon is coming up. My main priority is to increase size, so it will likely take the majority of my time. Aerobic training is definitely still important, but it is not acutely the most important. As a visual, my time spent training may be divided 70-30 Strength Training-Aerobic Running. 

I am prioritizing Strength Training workouts currently because these workouts will give me the stimulus to increase my muscle mass most efficiently. Large compound movements performed slowly and through full ranges of motion are currently the means for me to gain muscle. I only have so many hours a week that I can workout, and for now about 70% of that time is spent Strength Training. As previously mentioned, I don’t want to fully give up on running at the moment. I want to maintain what I currently have and make small improvements over the next few weeks, but it’s not biggest my priority yet.


As the summer progresses, Running will become more important for me as the mileage increases. Naturally, my time spent exercising will shift in that direction so my chart will look differently. For example, in late summer, my workouts may be represented as below.

This is just a brief example of how training should be chosen to help you work toward your goals. I believe that most all exercise is good. It will always help you, but we want to be as efficient as possible. The way that you train for running a marathon is very different than the way that you would train to be a weightlifter. Training for fat loss is different than training for sport. Specificity in the training plan is crucial for efficiency because remember, our goals should be specific and time bound. I would encourage everyone to think about their goals and make sure that the choices you’re making are inline with your goals. Your choices are broad ranging from exercise, nutrition, relationships, time commitments, etc…


How do you plan for all of this?

1. Outline your goals. Make sure you can define them using guideline such as the SMART goals.
2. Check yourself. If you have more than one goal, do they clash? Can you realistically accomplish more than one goal at a time? Is it better to prioritize one over the other first. This can be a big conversation.
3. Pick the training that will get you to your goal.

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I understand that this can be daunting. Any of these three steps can hang anybody up!


The third step can hang up a lot of people in the same way that I get hung up by taxes. I’m not an accountant, I don’t understand how to do taxes. I didn’t go to school for that. Yes I do them once a year, but really the tax website does 99% of the work. If you’re a tax accountant, it’s not expected that you should know how to exercise to reach your goals.


This is where a good coach comes in handy. Whether you have a coach you work with regularly or one you consult with, having a professional’s opinion can help you to formulate a training plan effectively. It can absolutely be DIYed too (like my taxes). Will it be perfect? Maybe. Definitely worth a try!
If you hit the nail on the head, that’s great, but if you are ever having trouble, please reach out!


If you’ve read this far into the blog I want to thank you and also offer to help you. Fill out the form below and I would love to have a chat about your goals and how you may be best served getting to them! Please don’t be afraid to reach out. My goal has always been, and always will be, to help as many people as I can to be habitually healthy.

Free Goal Setting Session

​*Note: The two goals that I wrote about in this article have been set for several months. We made the plan to run the marathon last November and spent the winter training to run a half marathon in April. We already have a good bit of mileage under our feet, we are not starting without experience. The second goal of gaining 5lbs began back in April which is about 2-2.5 months. Totally feasible considering it will naturally be both a mixture of muscle and fat. Gaining 5lbs of muscle from the time of writing this 5/30/24 and my goal 6/21/24 would be unrealistic for most. Make sure the timing is reasonable for any goal you set for yourself.