Get Through Your Fitness Plateau Without Losing Your Way

Plateaus are inevitable, you hear that? Don’t freak out! What’s important when a plateau sets in is how you choose to deal with it. Most people hit a plateau and make the mistake of overhauling their training or diet without getting to the bottom of the issue at hand, the body has adapted to what you’ve thrown at it. The body is very good at adapting, it’s what it’s been working on for a good couple million years. Your body adapts to stress and dietary practices and unless you give it a reason to move past that set point, it won’t.

But that doesn’t mean you need to go nuts. Revamping your routine entirely might just set you back instead of helping you break the plateau.

Plateaus often lead to a crippling disease know as Fuckarounditis, you must avoid this at all costs. Follow these simple tips to bust your plateau and get on with your training.

Busting a Fat Loss Plateau

Your body is very good at not losing weight, it’s a survival mechanism. Human’s, until very recently, did not live in a world of caloric abundance, so our bodies got very good at holding onto every little bit of energy available. Even more so when our body fat reserved get low.

First off, don’t turn to magic. Fad diets don’t work, and whatever those girls with big asses on Instagram are selling won’t do it either.

To break a fat loss plateau first try a small reduction in your daily fats or carbs and keep steady for at least two weeks and measure progress from there. Make another small tweak if necessary. Don’t overhaul your entire diet if it worked for weeks or months up to now, just make a small tweak and keep on.

Overcoming a Training Plateau

If you feel drained and your training days have sucked recently, you most likely need to deload for a week or two. Luckily we have a good guide on getting the most out of a deload. If you’ve done several workouts without progress, don’t overhaul your routine and for gods sake please do not start routine jumping.

Start with some small changes in the gym. Breaking a plateau can be as easy as changing your rep and set range. If you’re failing on 5×5 for example give 3×5 a go. Still failing? Try 3×3 or 3×1. If that doesn’t work, try making small foot or hand position changes or try a different grip on the bar. Sometimes a very small change, like widening the your foot angle on squat can get your through a dry spell.

Do Not Panic

Seriously, plateaus are going to happen. If you dump your routine and overhaul, you’re more likely to end up further behind than you currently are. Make small, smart, calculated changes and record your results and give yourself ample time to see change rather than starting over from square one.