Fitness Tune-up – How to Overcome Your Fitness Plateau
Overview
Do you attend a gym with group class and you do everything right! You go to the gym constantly, eat healthy, and lift weights. However, it seems that your gains have stopped. You are losing weight more slowly, and your muscles are not growing like before.
At times, it even feels like you have regressed!
What is going on here?
In the fitness world, when someone experiences these signs, we say that they hit their fitness plateau. Despite how demoralizing it can be, a fitness plateau is actually a good thing; it means you’ve made so much progress that further improvements happen so slowly.
However, we are not here to make you feel good about your fitness plateau. This article will cover a few tips to get over your fitness plateau and start seeing progress again.
What is a fitness plateau?
A fitness plateau describes the slowed-down rate of progress, which can be weight loss, toning up, or gaining muscles. Sometimes, there is no progress whatsoever.
This occurs because the body responds very well to working out when first starting. However, this rate slows down as the body can no longer achieve those goals. The mechanisms involved are diverse and include genetics, age, hormones, and the type of exercise you do.
Start by switching up the intensity and duration of your workouts. For instance, people who usually practice high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can do something else, such as swimming, rowing, or cycling. Conversely, if you are used to longer workouts, add a few HIIT exercises to your routine.
Try something new
Trying new activities is key to overcoming your fitness plateau. If you only lift weights, try going to the gym with group class. This can be loads of fun!
Working out at the gym with group class can provide you with the motivation you need to achieve your long-term goals.
Even during resistance training, you can switch things up. If you only use dumbbells and barbells when working out, check out the gym machines (e.g., rower, elliptical trainer, treadmill).
Alternatively, you would identify your weaknesses and choose workouts that specifically target them.
Ask the help of a personal trainer
A professional trainer can help you achieve fantastic improvements. By creating a personalized training program that takes into consideration your weaknesses and strengths, progress is inevitable.
Working out with a personal trainer provides you with helpful insights, feedback, and fresh ideas. It also gives you a sense of accountability, motivation, and encouragement.
Just look at the transition of Hollywood stars when they prepare for a movie role. Do you think it’s possible to achieve those goals by working out alone?
Follow the periodization technique for your training plan
Using training cycles with variable durations, volumes, and intensities can be very helpful to overcome your fitness plateau. This technique is great to improve progress, prevent overtraining, and enhance performance.
For weight lifters, you can reduce the number of repetitions on one day and then increase them on the next. A drop set can also be helpful in this case. To do this, start the first set until you reach muscle failure, then reduce the load progressively on the following sets.
If you are a cyclist, try speed work, long-distance workouts, and hill training.
Incorporate progressive overload techniques
In a 2019 review, scientists found that progressive overload encourages muscle growth. This works by adjusting the frequency, intensity, and volume of strength training.
Here is how to do progressive overload:
Increase your weight load
Do more repetitions
Train more often
We know that planning a workout can be a daunting task. If that’s the case for you, it may be time to hire a personal trainer.
Takeaway message
A fitness plateau is extremely common, especially in people who achieved impressive improvements initially. Despite how frustrating it can be, it is a normal thing that everyone experiences. The good news is that you can overcome your fitness plateau by following some of the tips we listed above, including joining a gym with group class.
We hope that this article managed to highlight the topic of fitness plateau and some of the ways you can do to get over it.
If you have any questions, concerns, or personal stories about fitness plateau, please do not hesitate to share your thoughts in the comment section below. You can also reach out to us for a private conversation via this link contact us.
