What to Do If You Feel Like Your Fitness Progress Has Stalled
The fitness plateau is like puberty. Nobody likes to go through this, and marketing companies love to make money from you to help you get out of it. Plateaus actually suck, and while they are necessary evils to make you cooler, they are not always easy to drive out. Here’s what you can do.
First, how do you know when you have actually reached a plateau?
The general rule of thumb is that if your weight loss / gain, strength, or running performance has stagnated or worsened for more than two weeks in a row, then it is likely – though not always – that you will (reluctantly) run into ugly people. … terrible plateau. The “not always” warning is to remind you that sometimes you might just have “weekends” that can hinder productivity, and that progress in any of the above areas also cannot be predictably linear all the time.
Remember, too, that reaching a plateau is not the same as simply being bored of the program . But if you’ve done “everything right” and something still feels wrong, then it’s time to take a closer look at the possible cause and what you can do (listed in the recommended order so you should look into these things):
- Getting enough sleep? Too often, sleep deprivation is the kryptonite of your progress: lack of sleep can seriously affect performance and measurements. So, if you find yourself sleeping poorly lately due to work, family, or too many raids in World of Warcraft, add another 50 Z to ZzzzZz. (Seriously, practice the bedtime ritual better. )
- Are you eating according to your purpose? This seems like a silly question, but it is possible that you were less diligent in your food to achieve results or your goal. Track your consumption over several days to find out how much and what you eat. Extend your dedication for a few weeks and look out for improvements!
- Overestimate Your Training : Be Honest with Your Training : How much stress do you exercise in training? Is your training program meeting your goals? If this seems normal, you can check your exercise technique and / or make sure that you are not training due to injury, as any of these can jeopardize progress as well.
- Remember your training age: Also known as serious training duration. If it’s anywhere from 6 months to 1 year, you may have just hit the newbie profit ceiling . At this point, it’s time to bridge the fitness chasm as we outline here .
- Try something different: Sometimes you really need to breathe new life into your workout or diet. Try a completely different training approach. Did 1 to 3 heavy-duty reps to increase strength? Try a workout with more repetitions, more speed, and less weight. Have you eaten in constant deficit for weight loss? Try increasing your intake by a few hundred calories for several weeks and see what it does for you. A simple change is ideal to give yourself room to maneuver and make additional changes if required.
- Take a break : It’s possible that you’ve been training too hard, exposing your body to all sorts of stressors. Taking a break from exercise and diet can do wonders for your body, mind, and progress, and it can also make you stronger when you finally get back to exercising. Step away from the gym or running program and do something fun for the week.
Remember, when you try one of these things, only change one variable at a time. Otherwise, you won’t know which one works! It will be a slower process, but in the end you won’t get burned out by changing everything at once.