Motivation and setting goals

Presenter - How important are setting goals with the whole exercise regime?

Lucy - Really, really important. As a personal trainer, I would never turn up to a client and not discuss goals, because we need to have a purpose, we need to have a plan, we need an incentive. So I think they are essential. I think it's good to do a short-term goal and a long-term goal. The short-term goal may just be, for example, that you just train three times a week and your long-term goal is that in a month you've dropped a dress size.

Lucy - It could be that every three weeks you set a goal where, if you're doing running or walking, you aim to reduce the time it takes to complete your circuit by 20 seconds. Because you want to feel like you're achieving something, you want to see results. It's all about motivation, it's all about the mind, so you've got to train your mind, as well.

Presenter - I think the moment you start realising that you're not out of breath so much then you know the results are kicking in, aren't they?

Lucy - Totally, absolutely. And the body reacts to fitness so quickly. You know, after you've done your first session, you'll feel out of breath so you're going to feel positive, mentally you feel fitter. And I say it's just a positive spiral, so I think goals are really essential.

Lucy - Goals you could do could be to drop one to two pounds of weight a week, no more than that because actually that would be too much. Or it could be just that you do achieve training three times a week or that you're drinking six glasses of water a day. There are loads of different things you could do.