What Should Your Fitness Goal Really Be?

Sonny Wilson
5 days ago
6 min read

Walk into almost any gym, scroll through social media for five minutes, or browse celebrity news, and you'll quickly get the impression that everyone should be trying to become thinner.

Not healthier.

Not stronger.

Not more capable.

Just... thinner.

As personal trainers, this is one of the most difficult conversations we have with new clients—particularly women, although certainly not exclusively women.

Many people arrive with a picture in their mind of what they believe they should look like. The problem is that image is often based on social media filters, Hollywood trends, carefully staged photographs, or someone whose full-time job is maintaining an appearance that isn't practical—or even desirable—for most people.

Our job isn't simply to help clients lose weight.

Our job is to help them develop goals that actually improve their lives.

That's a very different conversation.

Why This Matters

One of the first questions we ask new personal training clients is:

"What are your goals?"

Sometimes the answer comes quickly.

"I want to lose 40 pounds."

"I want to fit into my wedding dress."

"I want to look like I did when I was 25."

"I want visible abs."

There's nothing wrong with having aesthetic goals.

Appearance matters to many people, and it's perfectly reasonable to want to feel confident in your body.

The challenge comes when the desired outcome isn't consistent with biology, lifestyle, genetics, age, health history, or the amount of time and effort someone is realistically willing—or able—to invest.

Many people don't realize that the physique they're chasing may require:

Years of consistent training
Extremely strict nutrition
Careful recovery
Excellent sleep habits
Low levels of chronic stress
Significant sacrifices in social life
Maintaining body fat levels that are difficult—or unhealthy—for many people to sustain year-round

That's rarely visible on Instagram.

The Problem with Comparing Yourself to Highlight Reels

Social media has changed the way people evaluate themselves.

Instead of comparing ourselves to people in our neighbourhood, workplace, or community, we're now comparing ourselves to professional athletes, actors, fitness influencers, and heavily edited content viewed by millions.

Even worse, algorithms reward extremes.

The leanest physiques.

The biggest transformations.

The fastest weight loss.

The most dramatic before-and-after photos.

These become our new definition of "normal."

But they're anything but normal.

Many of those images involve professional lighting, strategic posing, dehydration, image editing, cosmetic procedures, or body types that simply aren't representative of the average healthy adult.

If your expectations are based on unrealistic examples, even excellent progress can feel like failure.

The Return of "Skinny"

In recent years, another trend has begun emerging.

After years of celebrating strength, curves, and athleticism, popular culture has shifted back toward extremely thin body ideals.

Celebrity culture, fashion, and social media have once again begun rewarding increasingly lean physiques.

At the same time, medications such as GLP-1 receptor agonists—including Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar drugs—have dramatically changed public conversations around weight loss.

These medications can be incredibly valuable medical tools for appropriate patients under physician supervision.

But they have also created a misconception that rapid weight loss automatically equals better health.

It doesn't.

Losing body weight and improving health are related, but they are not the same thing.

Science & Evidence

Research consistently shows that health is influenced by far more than the number on a scale.

Important indicators include:

Cardiorespiratory fitness
Muscular strength
Muscle mass
Blood pressure
Blood glucose control
Lipid profile
Mobility
Balance
Mental health
Sleep quality
Daily physical function

In fact, numerous studies have found that improving fitness substantially reduces disease risk—even when body weight changes only modestly.

Muscle matters.

Strength matters.

Physical function matters.

Those improvements often provide greater long-term health benefits than pursuing the lowest possible body weight.

Weight Loss Is Not the Same as Fat Loss

This is another conversation we have almost daily.

Clients often celebrate losing ten pounds.

But what exactly did they lose?

Fat?

Muscle?

Water?

Glycogen?

The scale doesn't know.

Rapid weight loss frequently includes significant losses of lean muscle tissue unless resistance training and adequate protein intake are maintained.

This matters because muscle supports:

Healthy metabolism
Functional independence
Bone health
Injury resilience
Balance
Blood sugar regulation
Long-term weight management

Simply becoming lighter isn't always becoming healthier.

Sometimes the Goal Needs to Change

One of the most rewarding moments in coaching happens several months into training.

A client who originally wanted to lose 30 pounds suddenly says:

"I don't really care what the scale says anymore."

Instead they start celebrating things like:

Carrying groceries without pain.
Climbing stairs easily.
Hiking with their family.
Sleeping better.
Feeling stronger.
Keeping up with their children.
Reducing chronic aches.
Feeling confident in the gym.

Ironically, these clients often achieve better body composition than the ones who obsess over the scale every day.

Why?

Because they begin focusing on behaviours instead of outcomes.

Practical Application

When setting fitness goals, ask yourself these questions:

Is this goal based on my health—or someone else's appearance?
Could I realistically maintain this lifestyle for the next five years?
Does this goal require extreme restriction?
Will achieving this improve my quality of life?
Am I chasing a feeling instead of a number?

Many people think they want to weigh 120 pounds.

What they actually want is:

More confidence
Better health
More energy
Less pain
Better movement
Feeling comfortable in their clothes

Those aren't always achieved by chasing the lowest number on the scale.

Common Mistakes

Some of the most common mistakes we see include:

Setting appearance goals without behaviour goals.
Expecting six months of results after years of inactivity.
Assuming celebrities represent realistic standards.
Equating lighter with healthier.
Ignoring muscle while focusing exclusively on weight.
Comparing yourself to genetically gifted individuals.
Expecting perfection instead of consistency.
Believing every setback means failure.

The PuncHIIT Perspective

One of the biggest mindset shifts we try to help our clients make is moving away from asking:

"How small can I become?"

…and toward asking:

"How healthy, strong, capable, and resilient can I become?"

Those questions lead to very different outcomes.

Over more than three decades of coaching, I've seen countless clients arrive with goals that were shaped by magazines, celebrities, or whatever happened to be trending on social media at the time.

Very few of those goals survived six months of purposeful training.

Not because clients gave up—but because they discovered something better.

They realized that feeling energetic every morning, hiking without pain, carrying grandchildren, lifting heavier than they ever imagined, or simply feeling comfortable in their own body mattered far more than chasing someone else's definition of "ideal."

That's why our philosophy has always been:

STOP EXERCISING — START TRAINING.

Training isn't about becoming someone else.

It's about becoming the healthiest, strongest version of yourself that you can realistically sustain for decades—not just for a vacation, a wedding, or a photograph.

Key Takeaways

Healthy fitness goals should prioritize long-term health, not short-term appearance.
Social media often presents unrealistic standards that aren't sustainable.
Weight loss is not the same as improving health or body composition.
Maintaining muscle is critical during any weight-loss effort.
GLP-1 medications can be valuable medical tools but are not substitutes for healthy habits.
Sustainable behaviours produce better long-term outcomes than chasing quick results.
The best fitness goal is one that improves your quality of life and can be maintained for years.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should my goal be a specific weight?

A target weight can be helpful, but it shouldn't be your only measure of success. Strength, mobility, energy, cardiovascular fitness, and daily function are equally important indicators of health.

Can I be healthy without having visible abs?

Absolutely. Visible abdominal muscles are largely determined by body fat levels, genetics, and lifestyle. Many healthy, athletic people do not maintain visible abs year-round.

Are GLP-1 medications a bad idea?

Not at all. For appropriate individuals under medical supervision, GLP-1 medications can be effective treatments for obesity and related health conditions. They work best when combined with resistance training, adequate protein intake, and sustainable lifestyle changes to help preserve muscle and improve long-term health.

Why do trainers focus so much on strength?

Strength supports healthy aging, bone density, metabolic health, independence, injury prevention, and physical function. Improving strength often improves body composition as well.

How long should realistic fitness goals take?

Meaningful, lasting changes often take months or years rather than weeks. Sustainable progress is typically slower than social media suggests—but it's far more likely to last.

References

American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription.
Garber CE, et al. Quantity and Quality of Exercise for Developing and Maintaining Cardiorespiratory, Musculoskeletal, and Neuromotor Fitness in Apparently Healthy Adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand: Resistance Training for Health.
Westcott WL. Resistance Training Is Medicine. Current Sports Medicine Reports.
Jastreboff AM, et al. Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity. New England Journal of Medicine.
Wilding JPH, et al. Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. New England Journal of Medicine.

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