Start the year strong with SMART exercise goals

Your fresh start begins... now!

According to behavioural science, human beings intuitively associate new beginnings with an opportunity to start afresh. Any milestone - a new year, a birthday, or even a Monday - is another chance to try again. (Even more so if your age ends on a 9!)

Let's make the most of this powerful psychological advantage by kickstarting your fitness journey right here, right now. Your first step? Setting energising exercise goals for 2024.

How to set SMART goals

For sustainable behaviour change, it's important to make your goals:

• Specific: identify what you want to achieve and focus on that.
• Measurable: give yourself a way to measure your success.
• Achievable: make it challenging but also realistic.
• Relevant: does this goal match your needs?
• Time-bound: give yourself a start and an end date.

Let's say your exercise goal is: "I want to start working out to feel healthier." Here's how you can make your goal SMART:

I will join group workout classes at the gym for at least 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week, for the next 12 months.

Even SMARTer? Save up to 75% on monthly gym fees...

Once you've set your SMART exercise goals, smash them with Vitality Active. Join Virgin Active as a Vitality Active member and save up to 75% on your monthly fees for a single club membership. Plus, pay as little as R499 (or less) to activate your Virgin Active membership in the Discovery app.

Your savings are waiting

Meg, a Vitality Active member, joins the Virgin Active club at Greenstone Park in a few taps in the Discovery app.

She only pays R499 to activate her membership instead of the customary full retail rate of R1,140.

Plus, she visits the gym at least 3 times every month and saves R855 on her monthly gym fees with her Vitality discount.