We all hit points in our fitness journey where progress seems to halt. You’ve been diligently working out and eating healthy, yet the scale doesn’t budge or your strength gains have stalled. This frustrating plateau can leave you feeling discouraged, but there are several strategies you can try to start seeing results again.
Switch Up Your Routine
One of the most common reasons people hit a plateau is because their body has adapted to the workout regimen. The key is to change things up so your muscles are consistently challenged in new ways. If you’ve been doing the same strength training program for months, swap out some of the exercises for fresh moves that work the same muscle groups. For cardio, mix up your workouts between HIIT sessions, running, cycling, or using the elliptical. Not only will shaking up your normal routine help prevent boredom, but it will shock your body and stimulate renewed progress.
Up Your Intensity
Once you’ve given your workout routine a refresh, it’s time to up the ante by increasing the intensity. This could mean adding weight, doing an extra set, lowering your rest times between sets, increasing your speed or incline if you are doing cardio, or even just pushing yourself to keep going when your mind and body start begging for a break. Pushing past your comfort zone with shorter rest periods or higher intensity forces your body to adapt.
Re-Evaluate Your Diet
Along with rethinking your workouts, take a fresh look at your nutrition habits. Are you tracking calories to make sure you’re eating at a deficit? Have you calculated your macronutrients recently to optimize protein, carb and fat ratios? Review what you’re eating to identify any unhealthy snacks that could be added calories without nutritional benefit. Or you may need to increase calories if you’ve restricted too extremely. Making diet tweaks is key for changing your body composition.
Get More Sleep and Manage Stress
Two often-overlooked plateau busters are getting enough sleep and keeping stress in check. Skimping on sleep can negatively impact the hormone levels in your body, reduce recovery from exercise and drain your energy levels. When it comes to stress, high cortisol levels may be hindering your progress. Ensure you’re getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Additionally, incorporate stress relief techniques like meditation, deep breathing, yoga or journaling into your routine.
Change Up Your Mindset
Sometimes a plateau is more mental than physical. You expect continual progress, so when that stalls out suddenly, you grow frustrated. It’s important to realize plateaus are normal and to be expected on your fitness journey. Having realistic expectations helps avoid discouragement. Stay focused on your goals, why those matter to you, and trust the process. Persistence through stagnant periods pays dividends in the long run.
Track More Than Just Weight
The number on the scale often drives goal setting and progress evaluation. However, focusing solely on weight fails to account for improved body composition through increased muscle mass and decreased body fat. Make sure to track metrics like body measurements, before and after photos documenting muscle gain, fitness benchmarks like strength gains or speed, and how your clothes are fitting. The scale only tells part of the story.
Experiment to Find What Works
Feel energized trying new workout programs or gear like a new smartwatch, app or heart rate monitor. Try thermogenic fat burning pills to see if they help. Experiment to find types of exercise and fitness tracking you enjoy and that yield results, and also the supplements that work. What works for someone else may or may not work for you, so employ a growth mindset of experimentation to fuel progress. Stay open and keep trying new things until you land on what works best for your body.
Implement one or more of these plateau-busting strategies to reinvigorate your fitness regimen. Plateaus eventually end so stay patient and persistent. Adjust your workout, nutrition, mindset or tracking methodologies and you’ll soon be on an upward progress trajectory once more.
Photo Credit
Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay
Contributing Author Bio
Jessica Peters
Jessica Peters is a freelance writer from Melbourne who blogs about health and fitness. Jessica is an avid traveller and regularly crosses the globe to learn about other cultures while blogging from her laptop.
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