Plateaus

Everyone at some point will hit a plateau

 

• weight hasn’t came down this week
• measurements stalled
• stopped losing body fat

These aren’t long term they are just small obstacles and your body’s way of adapting to whatever stimulus you’ve been doing, I’ve never come across a single client who didn’t hit one

Most people will encounter plateaus every 2-4 weeks

Don’t get yourself down about it just remember everyone hits one eventually

So what do we do when we hit a plateau?

Like i said before its a sign from your body telling you that its adapted to the changes you’ve made so therefore a sign that something else needs changing

 

These changes can come in a variety of different forms such as

• decreasing calories
• Adding cardio
• Adding more training volume
• Increasing training density
• Increasing training intensity

Decreasing calories

If you’re no longer losing weight or body fat you’re not in a calorie deficit e.g. your eating either maintenance calories to maintain your weight or eating in a surplus gaining weight

If you were in a calorie a deficit and lost weight but now you’re not losing weight it just means your new maintenance calorie intake has now changed and adjusted

therefore look at where you can reduce calories slightly not too much at a time just aim to drop your carb and fat intake a little and keep your protein intake the same

Adding cardio

Exactly what it says on the tin add in some extra cardio or increase your activity levels outside of the gym e.g. step count, bike to work instead of using the car etc

this extra activity can put you back into that deficit you need to lose weight and bodyfat again

If you’ve been doing low intensity cardio already change it up and go for some HIIT training instead or mix things up by adding circuits into your training plan cardio doesn’t just have to be running on a treadmill all the time

Adding more training volume

This can be as simple as adding in extra working sets to your current regime e.g. if you’re currently doing 3×12 on exercises change it too 4×12 or 5×8 etc adding more volume of sets and reps

Increasing training density

Increasing the density of your workout another way of changing the stimulus shorten your rest periods down between exercises or try putting exercises back to back by super setting this allows you to cover the same areas as before but in a shorter space of time this will also increase the training intensity

 

Increasing training intensity

All of the above can also increase training intensity but try and prepare yourself mentally for your session ahead focus on time under tension the right contractions of the muscle your working lift as heavy as you can whilst maintaining safety and form

Make sure you know the difference between a plateau and a fluctuation your bodyweight can fluctuate a lot throughout a day/week so maybe check results over a few weeks before making changes to your regime if things are the same over those few weeks then your probably ready for a change

 

 

If you’re still unsure about how to make the right changes at the right time call in and speak to one of our personal trainers about our personal training packages as we deal with this on a day to day basis and know how to make the right changes at the right time take a look at some of our results

 

Be inspired gyms
Ketton way aycliffe Business Park
Dl5 6sq