Embarking on a health and fitness journey can be a life-changing experience, but it also comes with frustrations. You invest time, effort, and dedication, expecting positive changes in how you look and feel, and you get them. But somewhere along your fitness journey, you may encounter plateaus that slow your progress and make you feel discouraged. But why do they occur? First, let’s look at the key factors that can stall your health and fitness goals and provide actionable strategies to break through barriers.
You’re Not Using Progressive Overload
Progressive overload is the cornerstone of getting stronger and building muscle. Without progressively challenging your muscles more over time, you’ll hit a plateau where your body adapts to the training stimulus and your muscles stop responding. The key is to continually push your muscles beyond what they are used to force adaptation and growth. Here are tips for doing this:
- Increase the resistance – Gradually increase the amount of weight you lift over time. Add 2.5-10 lbs. for upper body exercises and 5-25 lbs. for lower body when you can comfortably perform your current weight for all sets/reps. This is the most straightforward way to progressively overload your muscles.
- Adjust volume – If you’re unable to increase the weight, add more sets or increase reps per set. For example, go from 3 sets of 10 reps to 4 sets of 10 reps. Higher volume stresses your muscles in a new way.
- Modify rest periods – Take shorter rest breaks between sets to increase intensity. Or do supersets/circuits to challenge your muscles in new ways.
- Use advanced training techniques – Incorporate drop sets, partial reps, tempo/pause reps, etc. These techniques allow progressive overload without necessarily increasing external load.
- Vary your exercises – Substitute new exercises working the same muscle groups to provide a novel stimulus. For example, swap squats for lunges or bench press for push-ups.
- Increase training frequency – Train a muscle group more frequently each week to increase volume. For example, hit chest twice instead of once per week.
The key is to force your muscles to adapt continuously. When your body gets too comfortable, it’s time to change your workout variables and provide a new stimulus for growth. Be creative, track your progress, and revitalize your routine.
Your Form is Subpar
If you aren’t using the proper form, you’re slowing or even stalling your progress. Let’s look at approaches for doing that:
- Film yourself – Use your phone or camera to record yourself performing exercises. Compare what you’re doing to instructional videos online or form checks from trainers. Identify any deviations from proper technique. Be sure to film from multiple angles to see your whole body.
- Use mirrors – Position mirrors to monitor your form during workouts. Check the positioning of your body from the front, side, and back views. Watch for improper arching, twisting, leaning, etc. Mirrors allow you to correct yourself in real-time.
- Get expert feedback – Ask a personal trainer, coach, or knowledgeable strength-training enthusiast to observe your form and provide feedback. They can spot issues you may not notice yourself. Take their guidance to improve positioning and execution.
- Go lighter – Perfect your form with lighter weights or no resistance before increasing the load. Lifting heavy too soon can reinforce poor mechanics and is risky. Master lower weights first.
- Slow down – Perform movements slowly and controlled, focusing on deliberate muscle activation and joint positioning. Assess where your body is in space during each phase.
- Prioritize quality – Don’t sacrifice form to lift more weight or do more reps. Remain strict and in control. Proper technique prevents injury.
You’re Not Embracing Fatigue
Growth occurs at exhaustion. Recognize the signals of true fatigue and learn to push beyond initial discomfort during some sets. Break free from the mindset of ending sets prematurely and unlock your full potential. Muscle growth occurs when you push your muscles close to complete fatigue and exhaustion. It’s important to recognize the difference between normal discomfort and true muscle failure. Pushing past the initial desire to end a challenging set is key. Here are tips for embracing fatigue:
- Go For the Burn – That burning sensation means you’ve accumulated metabolites like lactate in your muscles. Push through the burn for 5-10 more reps to fully exhaust your muscles. The burn indicates you’re stimulating growth.
- Focus on Contraction – Keep your mind focused on squeezing and contracting the working muscle to exhaustion. Don’t think about when the set will end. Concentrate on proper form and muscle activation.
- Use Training Partners – A spotter or partner can motivate you to complete extra reps you may have otherwise skipped. Having someone urge you on helps override mental blocks.
- Breathe Properly – Remember to exhale on the exertion portion of the lift and inhale on the eccentric. Don’t hold your breath. Proper breathing allows you to get past sticking points.
- Get Competitive – Seeing someone else pushing themselves to do more reps can help you strive for one more. A healthy competitive drive can help you max out your sets.
- Use Rest-Pause – When you want to end a set early, take a 10-20 second break instead, then pump out a few more reps. This extended set technique helps surpass normal stopping points.
Pushing into deep muscle fatigue triggers the adaptation and tissue growth you seek. Stay focused on each set’s goal of complete exhaustion. With practice, you’ll break past mental barriers and unlock your true potential. Also, don’t do this on every set. Otherwise, you’ll risk overreaching and limiting muscle growth.
Your Recovery Falls Short
Finding the right balance between intense workouts and adequate recovery is critical for fitness progress and injury prevention. Pushing your body hard during training sessions creates micro-tears in your muscle fibers, depletes energy stores like glycogen, and causes inflammation. Recovery time lets your muscles repair this damage and adapt to be able to manage greater loads in the future. Without sufficient rest between sessions, you won’t be able to train with optimal intensity or continue building fitness.
Structure your weekly workout schedule with the following recovery guidelines:
- Allow at least 48 hours between training the same muscle groups to allow for muscle protein synthesis and tissue repair. Legs, in particular, require extended recovery.
- Take 1-2 rest days each week with light activities like walking to allow your nervous system to recharge.
- Periodize your training with “deload weeks” every 4-8 weeks where you cut volume and intensity by 50-75%. This facilitates the absorption of previous training.
- Include mobility work, foam rolling, massage, cold/hot therapy, and sleep to accelerate recovery between workouts.
- Carefully monitor symptoms like persistent muscle soreness, fatigue, loss of strength or speed, and increased injury rate which signal a need for more rest.
With appropriately balanced training stimulus and recovery, you can continue developing strength and physique improvements long-term. Avoid the temptation to overdo workouts without the necessary downtime. Structure your program thoughtfully to allow for tissue repair and central nervous system regeneration.
You’re Not Fueling Your Workouts
Tracking what you eat alongside your workouts can help make sure your nutrition complements your fitness goals, whether that’s building muscle or losing fat. Speaking of muscle building, protein intake plays a huge role! Getting enough high-quality protein based on your body weight and goals is crucial for supporting muscle growth and recovery after training..
Optimizing your diet and protein intake takes your results to the next level! It may take trial and error to find the right nutritional balance for your body and fitness regimen. But with a little planning and patience, you’ve got this! And don’t forget – you can’t out-exercise a bad diet.
Your Sleep Schedule Falls Short
Sleep has an incredible effect on everything – your mood, motivation, appetite, even your gains and fat loss. When you get enough quality shut eye, your body releases hormones that curb cravings. You wake up feeling focused and pumped to crush your workouts. Even your post-gym recovery improves so you build muscle faster. Plus, lack of sleep can boost cortisol, a stress hormone that causes the breakdown of muscle tissue. Make sure you’re getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep each night to keep your progress consistent.
Conclusion
You’re putting in the work during your fitness training sessions, but the scale or your performance just won’t budge. It’s easy to get discouraged, but we can’t give up! Progress isn’t always linear – our bodies are complex. Sometimes, we need to take a step back and look at the whole picture. Reaching your health goals requires commitment, but just imagine how amazing you’ll feel when you get there!
References:
- “Progressive overload without progressing load? The effects of load or ….” 30 Sept. 2022, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36199287/.
- “Sleep loss results in an elevation of cortisol levels the next evening ….” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9415946/.
- “Does Training to Failure Maximize Muscle Hypertrophy? – LWW.” https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/fulltext/2019/10000/does_training_to_failure_maximize_muscle.14.aspx.
- “Deload Week: How to Train with Reduced Frequency and Volume – EVIDENCE ….” 05 Aug. 2022, https://evidencebasedmuscle.com/deload-week/.
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