What Is A Fitness Plateau?

When you begin a new weight loss or fitness routine, the impact of immediate results is incentive to continue. In many programs, initial weight losses tend to be more dramatic before settling down into a more consistent loss cycle. For some people, the results seem to stop coming completely. When your current fitness routine is not yielding the desired results, your body has reached a plateau or equilibrium. Plateaus may be frustrating, but they are not impossible to overcome with some small adjustments to your fitness strategies.

In a strong majority of the cases, plateaus are really just issues with concentration and discipline in disguise. Often times we think we are being diligent, until we realize that after a few weeks of eating great we’ve started slacking. Try tracking your calories for the next week and check your numbers. Another possibility could be because you haven’t been pushing yourself as hard as before you hit the plateau.  If you are weeks or months into a workout regimen the initial luster of new progress has worn off. Track your workouts diligently for two weeks and see if these changes kick you back on track.

If that doesn’t work here are a few strategies to push you through:

  • Add intensity.  Slow and steady doesn’t always win the race. Try upping the intensity to continue building muscle . Swap out a long, slow run with some treadmill intervals, or lunge instead of walk to travel to the next exercise location.
  • Cross train.  Mixing in a variety of training styles will target different muscles. Cross training might even reduce the risk of injury as well. Instead of running try a bike ride.
  • Vary your repetitions. No need to stick to the same number of reps and sets for every move. Go heavier for fewer reps? Just be sure to increase weight gradually. Higher weight will stimulate hormones that aid in muscle growth, but adding too much weight at once could lead to injury.
  • Take a planned recovery week of rest. Most people often don’t associate resting with muscle growth. After all, you only grow muscle when you are working out right? Wrong! The truth is, your body doesn’t assimilate new muscle while you are working out. It’s actually the exact opposite. It breaks down muscle, then when you rest properly, your body will build new tissue in its place.

The techniques for overcoming a plateau will help you use creative methods to trigger new progress.  Performance and strength increases so that eventually you can return to your original plan and progress again without them.  However, it is common to need to change up your workouts even when you have reached your goals.  This helps to decrease boredom and continue to challenge your body in new ways!