What do you do once you have reached your goal? You may have been working toward muscle gain, fat loss or improved athletic performance! Sometimes it can be a little bit confusing where to go next, and you may feel a little bit lost. For example, I have been working hard for months now to build muscle, then shred down and step on the WBFF World’s stage. What do I do next, now that I don’t have a specific deadline to work toward and a specific physique to display?

Firstly, make sure that you take a moment (or many moments) to realise how far you have come and be proud of yourself! Whether you have been working towards building some lean muscle, or losing a specific amount of body fat, once you are happy with where you are at and are satisfied that you’ve reached this goal, please be proud of yourself! A lot of hard work goes behind changing your body and mindset, so congratulations are certainly in order.

Personally, my goal right now is to maintain my muscle and gain a little bit of body fat back so that I can be comfortable and not stress about what and how much I am eating. Not all of your goals have to be aesthetic-based, remember that! I would love to work on my strength and be continuously increasing my squat and deadlift. This gives me a chance to train purely for what my body can do, not how it looks! My 8 week Strong Plan is the perfect way to get those strength gains.

You do not have to choose strength as your performance-based goal. If you love getting your heart-rate up, then why not try some more HIIT and circuit sessions? Challenging your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems is a great way to improve fitness.

If you decided to begin your fitness journey with the goal of losing body fat and have now achieved this, then it may be time to assess your muscle mass. Muscle has so many health benefits, and it is what gives your body that shapely bikini look! If you want big glutes and toned shoulders, then building muscle is the way to do that. Although it can be hard to change your mindset from ‘weight-loss’ to ‘weight-gain’, just remember that one is fat and the latter is muscle! Instead of watching the scale, pay attention to how you look and feel instead. If your glutes are becoming more toned, then that means you’re on the right track. If you need some more guidance on how to start building muscle, have a look at my 8 week Build Plan!

The opposite could be said for anyone has just finished a gaining phase. After weeks (or months) of eating in a surplus to fuel those hard-earned gains, you may like to spend some time shredding down body-fat so that you can bring the muscles to light. The key is to do this slowly and strategically, so that you don’t go overboard and lose all the weight you have gained (because most of that will be muscle!). My Shred program is a great training program with a meal plan and macronutrients provided

Just remember that if you had a specific goal that you were working toward for a long time, and you have reached it, you do not instantly need another goal. Take some time to relax with your approach to training, try some different training styles and find what you really love. Jumping from goal to goal can take a toll on not only the body, but also the mind. So remember to enjoy training, do not just do it ‘because you have to’. This approach will leave you burnt out and resenting any type of exercise in the long run!

I LOVE training because I know when to work especially hard for a goal, and when to work hard just for my body and health. If you need some help finding what you love or what to do next, contact my team at support@laurensimpsonfitness.com for some guidance! And don’t forget to tag @laurensimpsonfitness #laurensimpsonfitness in your workout photos!