When you start working out, you will notice your arms are toner, your strength is improved, and your waist is slimmer. However, what happens if you begin to feel sluggish and aren’t noticing any changes in your body? This is a telltale sign you have hit a wall – also called a plateau.
For many people, this is a frustrating time that begs one question – how can you push past it? Here are several tips to help you break through any weight loss or strength training plateau.
1. Look at What’s Happening in Your Life
Are you stressed out, busy at work, or have too many commitments? Take time to list everything you have going on in your life and prioritize what you must do each day. If there are too many things on your list, your body will be overexerted, and you won’t have any energy left for working out.
2. Be Careful Not to Over Train
Do you find it more challenging to lift what you did last week? If so, it’s a sign your muscles are fatigued. You need to give your body some time to rest. Something else that may help with this is Power Life High Impact Endurance or a similar supplement.
3. Don’t Ignore Nutrition
It doesn’t matter what your goal is; nutrition will play a huge role in your level of success. Make sure you are eating foods that fuel your body. This is the best way to ensure you reach your goals.
4. Hire a Personal Trainer
Find a personal trainer who will help you change or alter your fitness routine. This can help you “shock” your muscles and get them to work in different ways than you are used to.
5. Perfect Your Workout Technique
Ask a personal trainer to check out your form and provide you with feedback. A quality trainer will be happy to give you some pointers, even if you aren’t paying them anything. This advice can help you avoid injuries, too.
6. Periodize Your Workouts
When you periodize your training, it means you change the training program you follow regularly. The goal of this is to challenge your muscles. Try to alter the number of sets and reps you do for each exercise, too. Just switching the order of the exercises you do can help break through plateaus, too.
7. Consider Plyometric Training
Squat jumps are plyometric exercises. The goal with these is to fatigue your system and challenge your muscles in new ways. By focusing on this type of training a few times a week, you can burst past the plateau and start seeing gains again.
8. Set Realistic Goals
Is your goal to lose 50 pounds? If so, you may not know how to start because it’s such a big goal. It’s not healthy to lose that much weight in a limited amount of time, either. Break this up. Try to lose three to four pounds a week which is a more realistic goal.
9. Plenty of Rest is Key
If you aren’t getting enough rest, your body doesn’t have time to recover. Make sure you increase your periods of rest to minimize any issues that this may cause.
10. Drink More Water
Hydration is key to weight loss or strength-building success. If you aren’t getting enough water, it’s going to show in your fitness goals. According to most experts, it is best to get eight glasses of eight ounces of water per day. However, if you weigh more, you may require more water, so keep this in mind.
Meeting Your Fitness Goal
When it comes to meeting your fitness goals, there are several things to consider. Make sure you keep the information here in mind to help you break through fitness plateaus when they occur – and they will eventually happen. By implementing this information, you will have the best chance possible of meeting the fitness goals you have set for yourself.