Have you ever hit a workout plateau? It's a familiar challenge for many fitness aficionados, and there’s nothing more frustrating than giving your all during a workout, only to find that your progress has come to a standstill. Even though you’re using proper form, lifting challenging weights and monitoring your nutrition, there are times when you just can't seem to advance any further.
Regardless of your fitness objectives – weight loss, strength gain or muscle development – hitting plateaus is always a possibility. But fear not, as there are strategies you can implement to get out of this rut and on with crushing your goals. The key is to understand the reasons behind your plateau and make the necessary changes to pave your way back to success.
Here’s everything you need to know to overcome your workout plateau and crush your fitness goals.
How to tell if you’ve hit a workout plateau
At times it might seem like you’ve hit a plateau, when in reality, it’s just that the pace at which your body has adapted to working out has naturally decelerated. Take beginners in strength training or muscle building, for example – they usually gain significant strength and muscle size within the initial few months, but as their body becomes more accustomed to training stimuli, these rapid gains start to taper off.
The same goes for those starting a fat-loss regimen; there’s often a fast decrease in weight, usually attributable to factors such as water loss. However, as the body adapts to a new exercise routine and dietary changes, the rate of
weight loss tends to stabilize, resulting in slower loss over time. Nevertheless, as time progresses, even if you maintain or intensify your efforts, the rate at which you see results is likely to diminish.
Whether you are looking to build muscle or lose weight, this process is normal, expected and unfortunately, inevitable.
Strategies for overcoming a workout plateau
The work you put into your gym sessions is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to crushing your fitness goals. There are also other external factors that play a pivotal role in sustaining progress, such as sleep, nutrition, recovery and workout programming.
Securing 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep nightly is imperative for optimal recovery and performance. Proper nutrition, rich in
protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats, provides the necessary fuel for your workouts and aids in muscle recovery. Allowing adequate rest between gym sessions is vital to give your body the time it needs to repair and strengthen. Furthermore, a well-structured workout plan that incorporates progression and strategically chosen exercises is crucial for overcoming plateaus and continuing to advance in your fitness journey.
For a more tailored approach to overcoming plateaus and enhancing your progress, consider integrating the following strategies based on your specific workout objectives:
Strength Plateaus
Strength plateaus are a common occurrence in resistance training and can be influenced by a variety of factors, including genetics, body size, age, sex, nutrition,
sleep, training intensity, volume, frequency and recovery. While some of these factors are out of one's control, others can be managed to help break through plateaus and continue making progress. Here's a more detailed look at some of these factors:
Technique
Ensuring proper form is paramount in order to reap the full benefits of your workout. While you might be completing all the sets of a particular exercise, it's imperative to reflect on whether you are effectively engaging the intended muscle groups. To address this, you’ll want to enlist the guidance of a certified trainer to help correct your form so that you are optimizing the efficacy of your workout.
Specific area of weakness
Do you allocate time to
adequately stretch the muscles you’re planning to work out before starting your session? Likewise, do you ensure to properly cool down and stretch after completing your workout? Not taking the time to stretch can lead to certain muscle groups or tissues becoming weak, tight or lacking in mobility. Establishing a routine that incorporates thorough stretching both pre- and post-workout is crucial in promoting muscle functionality and flexibility, helping to prevent injuries and enhance your overall athletic performance.
Poor programming
Properly monitoring your workouts, including sets, reps and any increases in weight, is pivotal for assessing your progress and ensuring you are on the right track. If you aren’t already doing this, it might be time to implement a structured plan to diligently track your exercises. This can help you analyze whether your training is overly strenuous or perhaps not challenging enough, allowing you to make necessary adjustments for optimal progression.
Poor recovery
Insufficient caloric intake,
inadequate nutrition and poor sleep quality are major contributors to hitting a plateau in strength training. A lack of carbohydrates can deprive your body of the energy it needs for workouts, while insufficient
protein can hinder muscle repair and growth. Addressing these issues and ensuring your body is properly fueled can help you break through plateaus and enhance your strength training progress.
Injuries
Persistent injuries, as well as ongoing pain and dysfunction, can significantly impede your progress in strength training or any other physical activity. If you are
working through an injury, it is advisable to stop your exercise regimen immediately and seek care from a physical therapist or doctor.
Muscle-Building Plateaus
“Newbie gains” refers to the rapid muscle growth often experienced by individuals who are new to strength training. This swift progress can create unrealistic expectations, leading some to believe they have hit a plateau when muscle growth inevitably slows down. However, muscle development is a long, intricate process that unfolds gradually and can be subtle, requiring patience and consistency.
If you’ve assessed your situation and believe that you’re indeed experiencing a plateau in muscle growth, despite maintaining a consistent workout routine, consider the following strategies to reignite progress:
Be consistent
The cornerstone of muscle building lies in maintaining a consistent workout routine. Neglecting training sessions results in a decrease in total workload (volume) throughout the week, which can significantly hinder your progress. To optimize muscle growth, it is imperative to consistently challenge your muscles. This includes targeting each muscle group a minimum of twice per week to provide the necessary stimulus for growth.
By consistently challenging your muscles, you create an environment conducive for muscle growth, ensuring that your efforts in the gym translate to tangible results.
Adjust volume
If you want bigger muscles, you need to progressively increase the volume of your workouts to stimulate growth effectively. This involves
Manage fatigue
To effectively manage fatigue and optimize muscle recovery, it’s important to systematically alternate the muscle groups targeted in your workouts, ensuring each has ample time to recuperate before the next session.
Exercise selection
Perform exercises that ensure you experience a noticeable level of exertion and activation in a targeted muscle group. Sensations such as muscle tension, a pronounced “pump” or a burning feeling, as well as occasional muscle soreness following an increase in workload, are indicative of effective muscle work.
Steer clear of exercises that lead to excessive fatigue or those where the intended muscle group is not sufficiently activated— for example, if your grip gives out before your back and legs are fully worked during deadlifts, it might be worth reconsidering your exercise choice or technique.
Work close to failure
Ensure that the weight and repetitions of your exercises brings you close to
muscular failure, with an ideal repetition range falling between 6 to 20+ reps depending on your specific goals. You shouldn’t reach complete failure every set, but aim to stop your set when you have about 1 to 5 reps left in the tank, progressively decreasing as you progress through your training plan.
Fat Loss Plateaus
Fat loss plateaus can be complex to navigate as they are influenced not only by your exercise routine, but by your nutritional habits and maintaining a calorie deficit, a state in which your caloric intake is less than the number of calories you expend.
If your goal is to lose weight and you aren’t seeing the number drop on the scale, it is an indication that you are not in a calorie deficit, regardless of how much you have reduced your caloric intake. This underscores the importance of accurately tracking your food intake, being mindful of potential caloric sources that might be overlooked and adjusting your eating habits and calories as needed.
A common misunderstanding is that there is a fixed number of calories required to maintain one's current weight, when in fact, it exists within a range and can vary significantly from person to person.
For example, someone might not experience any weight loss while consuming 1,800 calories a day, see no change at 1,600 calories, but then start to notice progress once they drop to 1,500 calories. This phenomenon can be attributed to the body's metabolic adaptation, where your metabolism adjusts itself in response to changes in caloric intake.
Continuously reducing caloric intake isn't a sustainable or healthy long-term strategy for fat loss. Instead, incorporating additional exercise can serve as an effective alternative to help create a calorie deficit, while also being mindful of its limits.
The ultimate objective should be to
shed fat while preserving as much muscle mass as possible. Achieving this requires a balanced exercise plan that combines both strength and cardiovascular training that can contribute to more effective and sustainable fat loss results.
If you’ve reached a standstill in your fat loss journey despite your consistent exercise efforts, consider implementing the following exercise-centric strategies to help you break through the plateau:
Avoid overtraining
Don’t be tempted to burn more calories by increasing the intensity of your exercise. Doing so may result in overtraining, heightened fatigue, burnout, the potential for injuries and illnesses or completely quitting your workout regimen altogether. Instead, add more
low-impact movement into your day through walking, physical chores and low-energy, low-stress exercises.
Skip the extra cardio
Don’t add more cardio to your workout routine if you are already engaging in ample amounts. Yes, cardio burns calories, but it also
increases fatigue and causes
metabolic adaptation, meaning your metabolism will get used to the extra work and stop burning as many calories while perform cardio exercises.
Grab some weights
Add resistance training up to 5 days per week.
Preserving muscle mass is vital for keeping a healthy, functional metabolism, encouraging
healthy weight loss and preventing plateaus.
Get adequate sleep
Don’t sacrifice sleep for getting an extra workout in.
Sleep is vital for optimal health as well as having the energy to train, allow muscles to recover and make smart nutrition choices.
Stress less
Incorporate stress-reducing programs into your day, such as walking meditation, breathwork, stretching, mobility and restorative yoga. These activities will encourage better sleep patterns and counter the adverse effects of being in a caloric deficit.
Overcoming a workout plateau can be daunting but, understanding that it's a common and normal part of any fitness journey is the first step. The strategies and insights provided in this guide are designed to help you navigate through these stagnant phases, ensuring that you make the necessary adjustments to your routine to kickstart progress once again.
Remember, the key to overcoming a plateau lies in your ability to stay committed, be adaptable and keep a positive mindset as you continue to pursue and eventually crush your fitness goals.
