Most people hit a workout plateau when everything seems to be going great, and then their progress halts. They find they are unable to lift heavier weights, beat their previous times, or continue losing weight. A plateau can present as slowed progress, no progress at all, and even regression for some people. Plateaus are nothing to worry about because they are a natural and expected part of working out, and we will look at a few things you can do to get out of one.
Change Your Routines
The body adapts to stress and loads as you work out. It becomes much better and more efficient at doing the same thing repeatedly, and it then takes less effort to complete the routines it is used to. When it does, you are no longer pushing it as hard as you should, and so you are not making any gains; this is when you hit a plateau.
Changing your routines forces your body to adapt to new loads, stresses, exercises, and movements. Studies even show that varied exercises are more effective at helping you build muscle, lose weight or hit your workout goals.
Some changes you can make are switching from machine to free weights and switching from running on a treadmill to doing HIIT exercises.
Supplements Can Help You Get Out of Your Plateau
Supplements are beneficial not only for filling nutrition and calorie gaps but also for helping you overcome a plateau. Different supplements will help you overcome different types of plateaus.
For example, protein supplements are an excellent choice for those who want to overcome a muscle-building plateau. The amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins help repair, maintain, and build muscle tissue. They also help you recover faster because there is documented evidence that protein supplementation can lead to less muscle tearing during workouts.
Creatine supplementation provides the energy you need to lift heavier by helping you build the energy reserves you need before you start working out. It is also responsible for increasing ATP levels in the body by providing the phosphate required to convert ADP to ATP. As a result, you can follow the overload principle to break the muscle-building plateau.
While you can get creatine in food, a creatine powder with no artificial sweeteners has a much higher concentration. Creatine is also natural, so you will not see the side effects you would experience if you used steroids, for example.
Decrease Duration and Increase Intensity
Another way to get out of a workout plateau is by forcing the body to work harder, not longer. If you lift to build muscles, you can increase the weight and decrease the number of reps. If you jog regularly to lose weight, shock the body by sprinting for short distances instead.
One important thing to remember is not to increase your intensity so much that it starts affecting your form. Also, you should be able to work out at a higher intensity at the start, and it is OK to struggle at the end. If this happens, it indicates that the intensity is right for you, but you can always tweak things if you are struggling too much or if your form is suffering.
Hire a Professional
Personal trainers are uniquely equipped to know when you are about to hit a plateau so they can adjust your workout plans accordingly. They can create customized plans to help you push against your limits and give you the encouragement, accountability, and encouragement you need to move past a plateau.
A workout plateau is a natural part of working out; everyone eventually hits theirs. You need to push past it because it can lead to regression that will lead to losing all your gains. Fortunately, there are several ways to do this, as discussed above.
Featured Image by master1305 on Freepik
