Plateaus: It's All Uphill From Here!

By Steve Edwards,

During an exercise program, not much is as frustrating as when your results stop progressing. It happens to everyone at some point, but you can prevent it.

It's part of the body's natural process to hit a plateau, because the body is always trying to regulate itself. So your body's regulated state is actually a plateau, which isn't good if you're trying to get results.

To avoid plateaus in an exercise program, you need to break habits from time to time. This is why most training programs are broken up into phases or blocks. The four training phases are called foundation, adaptive, growth, and recovery.

Foundation phase is to build base fitness.

Adaptive phase is when you learn to master the movements of your program.

Growth, or Mastery, phase is when you've mastered a workout's schedule and then make accelerated progress.

Recovery phase is when you back off and recover from the stress of the previous phases.

A plateau can occur either when you stay in any one phase for too long or don't push your body hard enough. But even though plateaus are a natural part of the process, it doesn't mean we need to give in to them. Here are a few strategies to try when your progress curve begins to flatten:

Back off. The most common time to reach a plateau is when we're trying to extend the Growth Phase for too long. We try to push this because it's when results are happening the quickest. Recovery doesn't mean that you shouldn't exercise; you just ease up so that you recover and grow strong. Remember that training breaks you down. You may have heard the saying that you only get stronger at rest. If you are finding it suddenly difficult to get through a workout that was easy the week before, backing off is your best option.

Turn things up a notch. A plateau may also happen when you're bored, preoccupied, or just not working as hard as you could be. Turn the screws a bit. The easiest way to increase intensity is by adding resistance. Change bands or add weight. This should force your body to adapt, and then you're back in a new phase with no more plateau. You'll know if this was the right tactic in the first couple of workouts because you'll either respond by feeling energized or you'll hardly be able to finish the workout. If it's the latter, try backing off instead.

Streamline your diet. Most of us could get a bit stricter in this department. If you've been giving yourself little rewards for a job well done (a fine idea in general), then it's time to stop. Try eating ultra strictly for a week, and see if it helps.

Add some morning cardio. Twenty minutes or more of easy- to moderate-level cardio in the morning can help boost your metabolism. And I mean easy to moderate. You don't want this to be a difficult workout, just something to get you moving. If you do it on an empty stomach, you'll get the added benefit of training your body to more efficiently use its stored fat for fuel.

Add or subtract a few hundred calories per day. You might have miscalculated your caloric intake. This is common, especially as you get fitter, because as your body composition changes you need to eat more. This is why adding calories is one of the most effective ways we've found to get customers past their plateaus.

Try these strategies the next time you're facing an uphill battle with plateaus in your exercise routine.