Setting health and fitness goals gives you direction and allows you to measure your progress. You can make your goals very specific and defined, or you may prefer to have more flexible, general goals. Either way, having goals will be beneficial. As well as a fitness goals list, this worksheet set includes a health goals list, a motivation strategy planner, a fitness benefits list and a general activities planner.
Do you need SMART goals?
You may have heard about SMART goals (read about them here). They have their place in sport and fitness training, but if you’re just starting out on a health program, you don’t need to be too rigid with your goal setting. It will take time to settle into new healthier habits and to understand better what goals are realistic and achievable. So start with some broad health and fitness goals and outline plans of how to achieve them. You’ll be able to refine your goals as you look back and reflect on what you’ve achieved. The worksheets will help you to do this.
Overall fitness goals
Your goals may change as you progress. Some people start running to lose a bit of weight and end up running marathons! But a good starting point is to have some goals that are reasonably achievable in the short term. Once you have some outline goals, break them down into smaller, more manageable goals. For example, your overall goals might be to lose 20lb and be able to run 5 miles. But your initial weekly goal doesn’t even necessarily need to be to lose weight or run at all. It could be to eat more vegetables and go for a 10 minute walk each day.
How to use the worksheets
Fitness goal setting worksheet PDFs 1-6
These are for general planning:
Fitness goals list – what are the reasons you want to start a health and fitness program
Some of the more obvious reasons are to lose weight, tone up and have more energy. But there are many more benefits to regular exercise, such as:
- Reduced risk of health problems
- Reduced stress and anxiety
- Better sleep
- Improved posture
- Increased flexibility
- Stronger muscles
This worksheet helps you to be clear on what you’re aiming to achieve and to stay motivated to achieve it.
What weight you would like to be
It’s important that your target weight is within the range that is healthy for your height, as shown on the graph below. Although height/weight graphs aren’t 100% reliable because someone with a lot of muscle may appear to be overweight, for the average person they are a good guide.
What changes you want to make to your diet
The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to make gradual changes towards a healthy diet. Making big changes all in one go is difficult, you should set yourself weekly targets for healthier eating. Read about how to have a healthier diet here.
How you’re going to increase your activity levels
This will depend on what you like doing and what time you have available. Again, it’s better to break it down into small, achievable goals rather than just decide you’re going to suddenly become super active. There are plenty of workouts and walking/running plans on this site to choose from – you could start off with a workout challenge or a walking program for example.
When you’re going to have relaxation time
Mental health is an important part of our overall health. Stress and anxiety have an enormous impact on our wellbeing and so it’s important to take time to unwind and relax. Often, this gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list and we never get around to it. If you schedule your relaxation time, then it’s more likely you’ll take it.
How you’ll stay motivated to achieve your fitness goals
Staying motivated can be hard, especially if results are slow to show. It helps to have a motivation plan. Tracking workouts and progress is very motivating, because change happens gradually and you may not notice it day to day if you don’t keep a record.
Fitness goal setting worksheet PDFs 7-8
These are for breaking your goals down into weekly action plans. From week 2 onwards, review how the previous week went to help you plan the week to come. Consider whether:
- Your plans were realistic – did you achieve what you planned?
- Could you have done more? If you achieved your plan easily, try to challenge yourself a bit more.
- Could you have planned better? If you didn’t achieve what you planned, how can you improve this? Are you trying to exercise at an unrealistic time of day? Are you trying to make too many diet changes at once?
Use your reflection to adjust your plans each week until you are regularly achieving your health and fitness goals and progressing each week.
Download the fitness goals worksheets
Sign up for My Fitness Planner updates and get a link to the fitness goal setting worksheet PDFs e-mailed to you:
After you sign up, you’ll get 2 e-mails, one will have a link to your printable download and the other will be a welcome e-mail.
If the e-mails haven’t turned up within a few minutes, please check your junk folder, as some service providers have very strict filters.
Related to fitness goals list
