Hitting plateaus
Without a doubt one of the most frustrating parts of any fitness plan is
when you experience a plateau, or you are no longer making progress. In such
a situation, it is very important to get back to the drawing board and
figure out how to break through that plateau. In this article we will talk
about different ways of breaking through a plateau.
Before we discuss breaking plateaus, we need to discuss the reason we are
faced with a plateau. Our bodies are very smart, and they want to know what
is coming, and wants to maintain a state of normalcy or homeostasis. When
the intensity of the stimulus is too much for the body, the body adapts in
order to withstand that type of stimulus another time, and this is where
progress takes place. However, when progress does not continue or you hit a
plateau, the body is telling you that it is well prepared for what you have
been doing. So what do you got to do?
Hopefully you have been keeping a diet & fitness journal, writing down
everything you have done in your workouts from exercises to sets, to
weights, etc. In order to break through this plateau, you need to throw your
body a curveball and make it go through a routine that you haven't done
before. This can be accomplished by either switching the order of your
exercises, changing your exercises, changing your weights, changing your rep
ranges, or including shock sets. The bottom line is you have to trick your
body and make it through every chain that it hasn't done before. Many times,
in such a situation I will have clients perform negatives, drop sets,
supersets, you name it. But the bottom line is you need to throw the body a
curveball and changeup your routine.
Once you have accomplished this, without a doubt you will break through that
plateau and once again be making progress like you have previously.
Remember, don't get frustrated, just go back to the drawing board and fool
that body of yours into progress. Remember, this fitness lifestyle and
achieving your results is going to be a marathon not a sprint. But without a
doubt if you heed to this advice you'll be very quick to get to the finish
line.