Kat’s Chats – My 8 week goals

I’m so excited about the new 8 week challenge! I can feel and hear everyone else getting excited too – as the thought of baring our bodies is getting more and more real! Especially now that the weather is getting warmer and we approach Easter and Spring holidays.

I have really enjoyed planning my goals and have thought a lot about them. My main problem is always that I have too many of them. So I’m trying to follow my own advice and limit my goals to 3, with #1 hefty one.

Ok, here are my goals –

#1 goal – To get 60+ ticks on my daily success chart for at least 7 out of 8 weeks

This is quite a challenging goal for me as I currently get anywhere from 45 – 54 points at the moment. I keep the sheet in my locker at the gym and tick it off every morning and night. It’s basically 10 tasks that I need to complete each day, and includes  things like stretching for 5+ mins, drinking 8 glasses+ of water, eating 5 small healthy meals, getting 5+ veges/5 protein serves in per day etc. I think 60 points is realistic but tough. It’s averages getting around 8-9 ticks every day – which will still give me good results, without having to be totally perfect. Ideally I’d like to get 10/10 at least 3-4x per week. But if I get 60+ points per week for 8 weeks (and beyond) I’ll be pleased.
If you’d like me to email you a copy of a chart you could use for yourself, please email me http://mailto:info@katmillar.com

Mini Goals –

– Perform a 1,000 rep leg workout every week

Before you say ‘yeah whatever Kat’ – hear me out! This workout will consist of things such as mountain climbers, walking lunges on the treadmill, jumps onto the box, high kicks etc. – so it’s easy to get to 1,000 reps! Have tried this once and it took me about 45 minutes. FUN! Bring on toned legs!

– Improve muscle definition in arms and abs – 15+ parallel bar triceps dips – unassisted / 25 straight leg V sits

At the moment I can do 10 tricep dips, so this goal is definitely realistic, but still will take work and effort to achieve. I like putting a ‘+’ after my goals so I’m not limiting my brain to go lower than my potential – but telling it I demand at LEAST that amount – if not more.

– Improve big compound movements – Squat 90kg for 8+ reps/ Deadlift 70kg for 8+ reps / 8+ chin ups unassisted / Bench press 50kg – 8+ reps

At the moment I do 75kg squats for 3 sets of 10,  I deadlift 60kg for 3 sets of 8, can do 4 chin ups (definitely need to improve these!) and can bench press 50kg for 3 reps. So I think these goals are achievable, while challenging me. Hopefully they are ‘Smart’ and will be tough (to stretch my limits) but not so crazy that I may injure myself. And most of all – they excite me AND scare the life out of me – as all worthwhile goals should!

I also have a personal aim to complete 100 training sessions in 8 weeks. Initially this may sound a bit crazy and ridiculous – which is why I’m not listing them as ‘goals’, because I want to listen to my body and be sensible, but it’s realistic, while still challenging me. The workouts I do are not always long – sometimes 30-45 minutes, sometimes 60 minutes. They are mostly very intense, but some are more ‘steady state’ if I feel that’s what I need on a particular day. If I average 2 workouts per day – which I normally do, I will get my goal – since the challenge is for 50 days.

It will be good to see if I can workout (having light/medium/heavy days) almost every single day for 8 weeks – including those weekends I go out socialising. It has always been my main downfall 😦  So if I need a rest day I’ll take it, but I’ll need to train 3x on another day to make up for it. So I’ll try and get ahead of myself some weeks by doing more during the week and if I need it I might have a Sunday off. I usually just keep training until my body tells me I need a rest – sometimes I hit a wall and then I take a whole day off (which kills me mentally!) but I know is very beneficial for my body.
I feel so much better training than not – so I am careful to monitor my intensity so sometimes it’s lighter and make sure I’m getting plenty of good nutrition and enough sleep and water. I also take certain supplements, as I believe they are a part of what is making me feel amazing!

I also want to get to 17% or less body fat and 36%+ skeletal muscle. I haven’t set this officially as a ‘main goal’, because I want to focus on performance in this challenge and I know that if I complete my 3 mini goals, then the result of doing those things should produce this changes in body fat and muscle. The percentages are based on using the using the scales at the gym, which aren’t always a great indication, but can give a general idea on changes. I’ll also buy some body callipers to get a more accurate reading on the body fat.

My goals for January and February were more strength based. From now on I’m focusing more on increasing the reps slightly and hoping to continue to build muscle, while dropping body fat. It’s obviously harder to put burn fat AND put on muscle when you’re in a calorie deficit, but I’ve seen it be done. Never an easy task – but I’m always up for a challenge! My ‘6 pack’ usually starts to appear at 15-16%, (4 pack a bit earlier) so if I can get to there I’d be even happier of course! I’m trying to be realistic (R of the ‘SMARTER’ goals acronym). I fit my clothes a whole lot better as soon as I get under 18% so I’m really looking forward to buying some shorts and cute skirts for the summer in a size 10.

Look forward to sharing the journey with you!

Kat