Have you hit a roadblock in your training?
Are you stuck in your current exercise regime and can’t seem to make any progress? Are you stuck on a weight that you can’t get past – or worse, going backwards?
Well, you may well be in a training plateau! And luckily, there is a way to break through!
The training plateau: diminishing returns, loss of motivation, and boredom. A training plateau occurs when your body adjusts to the demands of your workouts. This results in a lack of progress, whether it is muscle gain, strength increase, or cardiovascular performance. And
because our bodies are adaptation machines, hitting a training plateau is actually quite common; the body naturally wants to exert itself as little as possible to avoid the pain of growing!
So, how do you know if you’re in a training plateau? Signs can include:
- A loss in strength
- Lack of motivation
- Increased irritability during your workout
- Reduction in progress over a 2-3 week period
Sound familiar? You’re not alone.
Everyone will experience a training plateau at some stage, from athletes to casual gym-users. As a
coach, I’ve seen these signs in my clients and here are some strategies that I’ve found helpful to
break through a keep making progress!
- Rest
Being in a constantly fatigued state means your body is under stress and needs a break. This
could mean taking a small hiatus from training or increasing your amount of sleep. Either
way, you allow your body to recover and adapt, reduce the onset of overreaching or
overtraining, and start feeling refreshed.
- Superset
A superset is a combination of two exercises performed one after the other with no rest in
between. The superset can consist of exercises targeting the same muscle group or different
muscle groups. The benefit of the former is that you will induce more fatigue and stress
leading to greater adaptation, while both examples will save you some time and shorten the
session by cutting out that extra rest period.
Normal sets Superset
Same muscle group
- 8 x bench press
- 60s rest
- 8 x bench press
- 60s rest
- 8 x bench press
- 60s rest
- 10 x DB chest fly
- 60s rest
- 10 x DB chest fly
- 60s rest
- 10 x DB chest fly
- 60s rest
- 8 x bench press
- 10 x DB chest fly
- 60s rest
- 8 x bench press
- 10 x DB chest fly
- 60s rest
- 8 x bench press
- 10 x DB chest fly
- 60s rest
Normal sets Superset
Different muscle group
- 10 x overhead press
- 45s rest
- 10 x overhead press
- 45s rest
- 10 x overhead press
- 45s rest
- 6 x leg press
- 45s rest
- 6 x leg press
- 45s rest
- 6 x leg press
- 45s rest
- 10 x overhead press
- 6 x leg press
- 45s rest
- 10 x overhead press
- 6 x leg press
- 45s rest
- 10 x overhead press
- 6 x leg press
- 45s rest
- Progressive overload
Progressive overload refers to applying controlled progressive stimuli on the body and can be applied by varying the intensity (weight or speed) or volume (exercises x sets x reps). It can be difficult and dangerous to consistently increase the weight being lifted and performing at the upper limit of your strength, particularly when you’re maintaining your standard set/rep scheme, so altering one of these variables (examples below) will help you overload and progress.
Standard progressive overload:
Adding or subtracting sets, reps, or weight
Current program Progressive overload:
3 x 10 @ 90kg
Standard progressive overload:
Adding or subtracting sets, reps, or weight
Current program Progressive overload:
3 x 10 @ 90kg
31 x 10 @ 90kg
1 x 8 @ 92.5kg
1 x 6 @ 95kg
or
1 x 10 @ 90kg
1 x 12 @ 85kg
1 x 14 @ 80kg
More advanced progressive overload:
Cluster sets – Small sets with rest increments of 10-30 seconds built into a larger set in order
to lift the same weight for more reps. This is a
Current set Cluster set
6 @ 50kg
2 @ 50kg
10s rest
2 @ 50kg
10s rest
2 @ 50kg
or
3 @ 50kg
15s rest
2 @ 50kg
15s rest
1 @50kg
Drop sets – add additional volume and drop the intensity after reaching failure within a set
Eg. Set 1 – 80kg for 8 reps
- Dropset 1 – 75kg for 6 reps
- Dropset 2 – 65kg for 5 reps
- Dropset 3 – 50kg for 4 reps
- Change it up!
Varying the order of exercises or changing the exercises themselves is a great way to change
the way your body fatigues during a workout and adds some novelty to the session.
Completing isolation exercises before compound movements or switching the order of
muscle groups will change the way your body fatigues and may make your session more
difficult.
Changing exercises themselves (but maintaining the movement pattern) will breath new life
to a session as well as slightly alter the stimulus of the exercises themselves – e.g. Swapping
an incline press to a DB incline press maintains the fundamental aspect of the movement
but incorporates the shoulder stabilizers to a greater extent.
Standard session Order change Exercise change
Bench press DB bicep curl Floor press
Incline press Bent over row DB incline press
Lat pulldown Lat pulldown Chin up
Bent over row Dead-bug Pendlay row
- Adjust your nutrition
Proper nutrition will fuel you for what you want to do, and help you recover and achieve the
adaptations you’re pursuing. If you aren’t consuming the macronutrients you need, you may be
undermining your training efforts and restricting your progress.
Carbohydrates are the key source of fuel for all exercise. Consuming adequate carbohydrates
provides energy, aids in growth and development, and helps maintain concentration. Fat is also
an energy source and actually yields twice the amount of energy than carbohydrates, but is
utilized at a lower exercise intensity (about 60% of your max heart rate). And finally, protein
helps us recover by repairing muscles, healing, and contributing to growth and development.
The daily requirements of macronutrient consumption vary widely based on the level of physical
activity & body composition goals.
General recommendations are:
- 3-10g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight per day
- 1.2-2.0 of protein per kg of body weight per day, and recent literature suggests that this
should be spaced out across the day - 20-35% of total daily energy intake should be fats
Hydration also plays a major role in physical activity. Appropriate hydrate before, during, and
after exercise is important as hydration levels impact upon the utilization as carbohydrates as a
fuel source, the perception of exertion, and overall performance. It is recommended that the
daily average water intake is 2.6L for males and 2.1L for females, but this will vary according to
sweat rate, diet, and exercise regime.
The guidelines above can be applied in most situations, but it will vary to some extent based on
the individual. Increased physical activity requires greater energy stores, increased exercise
leads to increased metabolism and demands more calories, and sweat rate, temperature, and
duration of activity will impact upon hydration!
If you need individual and specific guidance, I recommend seeking a qualified dietician or your
GP.
- Work with a Personal Trainer
Sometimes we all need a bit of help. Personal trainers are great for progressing your training,
developing a program around you, and providing more accountability.
Good personal trainers will:
- Design an individualized program and work towards YOUR goals
- Help you stay motivated and accountable, and even push you a little harder
- Bring a fresh perspective, making your training more interesting, challenging and fun.
- Help you get the most out of your time
Training and exercise should be satisfying and enjoyable, and making progress plays a big part in
that. Getting stuck in a training plateau can leave many bored, unmotivated, and unhappy.
Implement one or a combination of these strategies to break through and start seeing results again!
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