Plateau- “a state of little or no change following a period of activity or progress”
Everyone has come to a plateau at some point. I’ve had it happen plenty of times, and I’m sure you have as well. In this article, I am going to give you 3 reasons you’re hitting a plateau and how you can avoid it!
You can literally plateau on anything. Whether its your bench stuck at a weight, your body weight is stuck and won’t continue decreasing/increasing weight or even muscles not growing very much. As a certified trainer, I have read a lot of things in my certification and many articles on this subject and here are some of the main examples and reasons you are at a plateau. Each will come with a quick and easy solution.
REASON #1) If I had a nickel for every time I have heard “my bench is stuck and won’t go up” I would be rich. This is one of if not, the most common plateau of them all in fitness. I here this a lot but see the same mistakes. This person will be doing a 3×10 on bench for months! This is one of the biggest mistakes when training, is doing the same exercise for the same reps and sets for a long period of time. Your body tends to get used to a stimulus when doing the same thing over and over. This is why it is crucial to change sets and reps. I am not saying come in and do 5×3 one week then 2×25 the next but give it a slight change like 4×10 one week then 5×8 the next week.
REASON #2) I often hear people tell me that they have fallen into a rut with losing or gaining weight. It happens to the best of us, but there is a way to fix this so don’t worry! When I run into this problem, I will grab a 98 cent notebook and start writing everything I am eating through the day as well as the weight. If I need to lose some weight, I may try reducing portions first to see if it helps. If I am gaining weight, I will need to increase the portions a tad. I highly recommend this method first because it can work wonders for weight plateaus.
REASON #3) A big goal most clients and gym goers have is to get stronger. When you plateau here, there tends to be one big thing you can do.. ADD MORE WEIGHT. Most of us going through this plateau never try doing more weight. Sometimes we need to over load the muscle but do so properly. I recommend getting a gym partner but not just any gym partner, one you know will push you. It is always good to have a spotter on some lifts to help get some “forced reps” which is just one way of over loading the muscle.
These are only 3 reasons and examples today. There are plenty of plateau problems we all come across. The biggest piece of advice I can give you is the same thing that works for one, may not always work for another so mess with it a little till you get that change! I hope you all have a great day and as always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
-Alex Costa-
costafitness 