At times, whatever your fitness goals are, you may encounter a frustrating period where progress seems to halt despite persistent efforts – a phenomenon known as a workout plateau. This can occur as your body adapts to the stress of physical activity, becoming more efficient and needing more stimulation to continue adapting. Several factors may contribute to a workout plateau; here are five ways to overcome them.

What is a Workout Plateau?

A workout plateau is your body’s natural response to regular physical stress: it adapts, and efficiency in performing the regular routines increases. This physiological phenomenon can affect anyone, regardless of fitness experience or level. Most recognize a workout plateau when their workouts feel routine, results stall, or both.

How to Know When You Hit a Plateau

You know you’ve hit a workout plateau when you don’t feel fully into the workout and are just going through the motions. In addition, use the sense of a workout plateau to tell you when you’ve made progress. Now it’s time to change the goalpost.

How to Beak a Workout Plateau

Change Your Routine

If you do the same thing day in and day out, your body will no longer produce changes. One study showed that varying a routine was more effective in seeing results in strength than doing the same thing repeatedly. Try adding a different exercise mode to your activity that keeps your body guessing. For example, someone who only does weight training may want to add a yoga day to recruit different muscle groups. In addition, if you are someone who does long-distance running, add in weight training to help improve your endurance.

Increase the Intensity

Make your workouts more challenging. Your body is always trying to return to a state of homeostasis, so when we exercise, the body wants to acclimate to that activity. Suppose you do not see results, up the intensity of your workouts. This can include increasing the weight you use, moving from steady-state cardio to high-intensity interval training, or setting a new time goal for a run. Whatever you have to do (safely) to get out of your comfort zone, do it!

Redesign Your Workout Regime

Along with intensity, change the order of the exercises or workouts you do. It’s easy to get into a weekly routine that you feel comfortable with. It might be easy for you to comply with, but eventually, you may stop seeing results. For example, you may start your week with leg day and end it with back day. Switch the order of your routine. Change the focus into cycles. You might do a strength focus for eight weeks, then switch to an endurance focus.

Check Your Nutrition

Nutrition is a primary factor for stalled results. Whether you want to get stronger, gain, or lose weight, you need the proper nutrition. Properly fuel before and after a workout for the best results. In addition, you could be following the plan perfectly, and your body becomes accustomed to your diet. Have a professional go over your eating goals to ensure you are doing everything you need to be successful. You can even use a healthy meal delivery service like Sakara to help you eat for your goals.

Get More Rest

We often overlook how vital rest is for our workout needs. Plateaus may result from overtraining, and our body needs a break. Taking a week off may be everything you need to get back on track. In contrast, make sure you are receiving adequate amounts of sleep. When we sleep enough hours, it gives our bodies the reset it requires from the day. This will help us reduce stress from sleep deprivation and therefore help us improve our workouts.

Honorable Mention: Leverage Technology

Technology is revolutionizing fitness, offering innovative tools to help tailor and track your workouts for optimal results. Consider using fitness technology like fitness watches or smart home gym systems like Mirror or Tonal. If you work from home, combat sedentary behavior by adding exercise through an under-the-desk treadmill to encourage daily movement. These can add excitement to workouts and provide in-depth insights into performance, allowing adjustments as needed.

The Takeaway

When plateaus hit, see it as a positive sign of progress and an invitation to innovate your fitness routine. Pushing through a workout plateau requires strategic alteration of workout routines, intensity, and diet, underpinned by adequate rest. In the digital age, leverage technology to customize workouts, track progress, and break through boundaries on your fitness journey. Remember, overcoming workout plateaus is part of the path to becoming the fittest, healthiest version of yourself.