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Four Ways to Achieve Goals with a Remote Fitness Network

Four Ways to Achieve Goals with a Remote Fitness NetworkWe all have different reasons for exercising, and individual ways of reaching our goals. Whatever goals you may have, from running a mile for the first time to completing an Ironman, there is a dash of secret sauce that will help you be successful. According to Jen Ator, fitness director at Women’s Health, “there's one crucial step you can't afford to skip: Building an all-star support network. In fact, after setting the goal itself, it may be the most important factor to success.”

As military spouses who say hello and see you later all the time, building that all-star support network can be a little more tricky because we can’t count on our fitness buddies to be by our sides until we reach our goals. Learning how to build and utilize a remote fitness network is key to our success.

Here are four ways you can start achieving goals with a remote fitness network.

  1. If you’re a military spouse, request to join InDependent | Fitness, our private Facebook group. Ask questions, check in for challenges, and get cheered on. Amanda, a Navy spouse stationed in California wrote, “I love the InDependent groups. The fitness group alone is responsible for my slooow transformation into a runner.”
  2. Share your progress on a blog. I tracked marathon training, the Jamie Eason 12-week LiveFit strength training program, and my yoga teacher training over on The Daily Details (my personal blog which has been sorely neglected since the start of InDependent). I never really expected people to be interested in the nitty gritty of my training. It was more of a personal log for myself. But people were following and reading, and it was so encouraging to have people cheering for me and offering advice. Plus, once I had a goal out in the open like that, I couldn’t just quit.
  3. Join an Instagram yoga challenge. The yoga community has really embraced Instagram as a challenge platform. There are many challenges to choose from, but @kinoyoga and @beachyogagirl consistently offer monthly themed challenges with prizes. They provide videos and written tips for different levels. Pick a couple of friends and keep each other accountable on Instagram. Taking photos of your workouts is also a great way to track progress over time. While you’re over there, be sure to follow us at @independentorg.
  4. Choose a common goal to work toward together and check in with daily progress. Then as icing on the cake, meet up for a race, a competition, or a workshop. I recently reunited with two milspouse friends for a weekend of yoga workshops. It was so much fun participating in something that we all love, eating delicious food, and staying up chatting long into the night. I definitely need more of this in my life!

What other ways do you have for building a remote fitness network?