You made a goal a few weeks back to lose that extra 45 pounds you have been dragging around. You found a top-notch fitness program and stuck with it religiously. Your motivation shot through the roof as your weight decreased week after week. Now you are 8 weeks into your program and something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.
The scale has stopped moving. You are not sure what is going on, but you are absolutely positive that if something does not change soon you will give up all hope of being lean and healthy. You are at a plateau.
Hitting a plateau is often a time of disappointment for most people. They feel lost and unsure of their next course of action. Motivation fades away and old habits come back with a vengeance. The good news is that there is a simple solution to busting through a plateau.
The secret is to continually change your program. Your body is extremely smart. It learns to adapt to your workout program very quickly. That means that your body learns to do your fitness program by spending less energy. In other words, your body burns less calories, and less calories burned means slowed fat loss.
Changing your fitness program every 4-6 weeks is recommended by most fitness professionals. You should change 1 or several of the following factors:
- Intensity Level
- Amount of Weight Lifted
- Amount of Time Spent Working Out
- Strength Training Method
- Muscle Specific Exercise
Simply changing 1 or more of these factors can shatter a plateau. Your body will not be prepared for the new change and this will cause it to exert more energy, or calories. As always your body will learn how to adapt to your new changes every 4-6 weeks. Continually changing your routine is a good idea.
I prefer to have 2-3 different routines that I rotate. I will do a Pyramid routine for 6 weeks and then shift to an Upper/Lower Body Split routine. I will also vary my cardio program accordingly. Shattering plateaus will be easy so long as something changes.
Should a change in your fitness routine not produce results then zero in on your nutrition. You should eat 5-6 small meals per day. Your first meal should be eaten within an hour after waking and each meal thereafter should be 2-3 hours apart. Each meal should include a lean protein and a good carb. Eating this way helps maintain blood sugar levels. It also reduces hunger pangs and cravings for sweets.
