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The SMART System
SETTING SPECIFIC GOALS Identify what you would like to achieve and what goals would benefit your health.
MEASURE Figure out how you will measure how close you are to achieving your goal.
ACTION-ORIENTED Make a specific plan about how you will reach your goal. State which days you will exercise, how long or how much.
REALISTIC OR RELEVANT Make sure your goal and your action plan are doable.
TIMED Put yourself on the clock. have a target date to come back and reassess or a midpoint date to see how you are doing.
SMART Exercise
Keep Your Goals Achievable
Strength training can slow age-related muscle loss, increase bone density and help ease arthritis pain.
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Most women know they want to get more fit and healthy, but the big question is how? When you’re not sure you’re taking the right steps and you’re not seeing the intended results, it’s easy to just give up. But Sue Schulte, D.Sc., coordinator of St. Anthony’s Wellness Center, says that women shouldn’t get exasperated — they should get SMART.
“SMART is an action-oriented exercise system that helps women clarify their goals and stay within a framework,” says Schulte. “It gives some organization to what you do, makes it very achievable and motivates you to see what else you can do. It’s a very empowering tool to use.”
SMART is an acronym for a system commonly used in project management to evaluate goals, but it also is applied to other fields, including health and fitness. See the chart below to learn more about SMART.
The SMART technique can be used for a variety of exercise goals. Schulte has worked with people who wanted to increase endurance, strength and balance,and those who wanted to lose weight or increase energy. She helps them formulate their SMART program.
For someone who wants to increase endurance, she may set a goal of walking from one mile to three miles each time over the next six weeks. The plan of action would be to walk four days a week, and increase the distance of each walk by one-tenth of a mile. That keeps the goal and action plan realistic and achievable.
“There’s one more thing that people like to get rid of,” says Schulte, “and that is stress. For women, I’d recommend a yoga class, meditation and maybe some tai chi, and I would also suggest they do some walking. All exercise reduces stress.”
After achieving their goals, many people will go on to further challenge their bodies. And that’s the beauty of the SMART system.
“Using the SMART system makes fitness seem achievable, and the more fit people become, the more they want to continue on that journey,” says Schulte. “They realize the changes and improvements in their lives. Their own bodies are giving them the feedback that they need to stay motivated.”
For information, please call our Health Access Line at 314-ANTHONY (268-4669) or 800-554-9550 or visit find a physician online.
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