Adjusting your goals during lockdown 2.0

As part of our #NEMovement campaign, we’ve introduced a series of guest articles written by local experts and leaders in their field who have pledged their support to the campaign. We’ve already covered how you can keep motivated during lockdown, and why looking after our physical and mental wellbeing is more important now than ever. Our next article, around how you can adjust your goals during lockdown, comes from Graham Low of East Coast Fitness.

Graham started his career as a professional footballer. After moving to Dubai where he worked in one of the largest gyms in the UAE, he returned to his native North East where he managed the fitness facilities at a five star luxury spa and hotel. In 2015, he opened his award-winning studio, where as well as training his members in daily bootcamp sessions and 1-1 personal training, he also publishes a new healthy cookbook every month. We’re thrilled to have Graham on board and supporting #NEMovement:

“When we first went into lockdown back in March, lots of people committed to improving their health and fitness. They promised themselves they would improve their eating habits and spend more time exercising. But, after only a few weeks most people had fallen off the wagon. I think one of the main reasons so many people result in giving up on their fitness goals is that they’re putting too much pressure on themselves to be perfect. Maybe they’re setting the goals too high and expecting too much from themselves?

There’s no doubt about it, this global pandemic has been a very stressful time - we’ve all had to adapt our lives in some way. Whether it’s a change in your working environment, a change in your health or having less contact with friends and family, we’ve had a lot of challenges thrown our way! On top of those challenges, if you’re putting yourself under more pressure to achieve unrealistic goals, it’s no wonder you’re struggling to stay motivated.

Don’t get me wrong, aiming high is good, but setting yourself unrealistic targets can be counterproductive. If you continuously fail to meet your targets you’ll see it as a failure and you’re more likely to give up completely. So, the best thing to do is re-evaluate your goals and your expectations. Acknowledge the fact that we’re going through a challenging time and you must adjust your goals to make them more realistic and achievable, for example:

• Instead of trying to exercise every day, just workout 2-3 times a week at a higher intensity. That way it takes up less time.

• Instead of trying to eat healthily all of the time, follow the 80/20 rule. Allow yourself to have a treat every now and again.

• Instead of trying to lose a stone in one month, why not just aim for 1lb a week, or even to just maintain your weight until the gyms are back open.

Re-evaluating your goals isn’t a licence to give up completely though - it’s a tactic you can use to stay focused on your health and wellbeing without putting too much pressure on yourself.

The most important thing right now is to keep moving, because it’s vitally important for your physical and mental wellbeing. Any type of movement, at any time of day, in any place, is fantastic for our overall wellbeing and makes us feel good immediately. Just enjoy your exercise - whatever that may be - and don’t put too much pressure on yourself.