One of the hardest obstacles to overcome is when you hit a plateau in your development after you have been on your journey for some time. By definition, a plateau is a state of little or no change following a period of activity or progress. This can come in many forms; whether you're not losing fat, struggling with getting stronger, or you can't exercise for a longer period (think about cardiovascular exercise like running or cycling).
This can be a very frustrating obstacle for us to hit, and very demotivating when you've perhaps been progressing at a fast rate, and all of a sudden you slow up. Imagine you've had a long day at work, and then you have to motivate yourself to go down the gym, to complete a workout that isn't giving you any added benefit/progress. This is potentially one reason why we may relapse (from the stages of change model - Prochaska and DiClemente, 1983) and stop exercising all together. This, of course, is something that we don't want to see; so below I will give my thoughts on how to successfully work through a plateau.
The first key point to focus on is making sure that you are working on the single most important aspect of progression - progressive overload. Progressive overload is the gradual increase effort/stress on the musculoskeletal system. Put simply, you want to make sure you are aiming to improve each part of your workout, whether that is doing more repetitions of a certain weight on an exercise, or going a little heavier than the previous session. Progressive overload is effective because it constantly forces the body to adapt to a new stimulus so that it can effectively complete the task at hand. If we keep using the same weight and repetition ranges on a given exercise, then the muscles, nervous system and skeletal system won't have to adapt, as it has already changed enough to compensate for our current routine. Think of adaptations as fat loss, muscle mass/strength gain, decreased resting heart rate etc. Unfortunately, is the body doesn't need to change, it is quite happy to stay as it is. Therefore, we need to make sure that we are using progressive overload to keep forcing the body to adapt to the everchanging stimulus. All this needs from you is to take a step back and ask yourself, am I challenging myself to progress the exercises that I do in a workout? Remember, progression can come in the form of increase weight being used, repetitions performed and also duration of time to exercise for.
Another useful tool to help keep yourself motivated when you hit a plateau is to use this time to your programme and try some new exercises and training styles. I would run out of space on my fingers if I was to count the amount of times that someone has come to me and told me they've followed the exact same programme for other 6 months, and seen no progression with it. Of course, this is down to them not attempting to use progressive overload as well, but people tend to get stuck in their ways and form routines very easily. Therefore, a plateau can give you a very good opportunity to have a reality check and realise you need something to change. I believe that this is a very good time to change your programme as it gives you the opportunity to try new exercises and styles of training, which in itself you may find motivating as you will be learning and improving some new skills. I have found in my experience that training clients through a new programme is an exciting time for them and will give them that boost they need to break through that plateau. So if you find yourself in this situation, have a mix up of what you're doing, try something new, and get excited about it!
A final thought you will need to ask yourself about is your diet. A lot of the time, people hit a plateau because they aren't taking care of their food and fluid intake. The issue may come in many forms; not enough, or too much calorie intake, not eating the right amount of protein, carbohydrates or fats, drinking too much alcohol and not drinking enough water. Of course, this is very hard to work out what the right answer is, and ideally you would been in the situation where you could hire a Nutritionist or Personal Trainer to help you find the right answer. Now of course this isn't possible for everyone, and so you need to be able to help yourself find any potential answers. One trick that I use with many of my clients is to get them to keep a diary. This doesn't have to be one where you count calories and how many grams of each food you cooked (unless that's something that helps you), it can be simply what food you're eating and when. Sometimes a diary as simple as this can highlight some issues straight away. For example, lets say each day you aren't logging many meals and snacks. You could ask yourself, am I eating enough to allow an adequate recovery for my muscles that have been worked throughout the week? On the other side, maybe the diary is full of snacks in the evening after dinner. You could ask yourself, am I eating too many sweet treats, especially during times in the day when my activity level is really low (like when we're sitting on the sofa watching TV). As I say, working out the correct answers when it comes to dieting can be very hard, so the best way to do it by yourself is to try and create as much awareness for yourself on where you could be slipping up.
One final note on dieting is to be mindful of your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is the amount of calories your body needs every day to function properly. By that I mean for your immune system to function, hair follicles to grow etc. A simple Google search looking for a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) calculator will give you the tools to work this number out. Once you know the answer to your bodies needs (factors that affect this number include your height, age, weight and activity level), you'll know the minimum amount of calories your body needs to allow it to function properly. You shouldn't be looking to drop your calories below this number.
So there you have it! Some thoughts on how I think you can break through a plateau and the stay motivated in the process. Please get in touch if you have any further questions on this topic, or if you want to carry the conversation on!