Five Secrets to Smashing a Plateau

Whether your goal is to lose weight, gain strength, or improve athletic performance, we all fear the dreaded plateau.  A plateau is that point when your conditioning, your training, and your nutrition reach equilibrium and you stop seeing progress.  In order to kick-start your performance, try applying some or all of these simple ideas.

1. Examine your program

Look at your nutrition and training plan.  Do you actually have a nutrition and training plan?  Or are you following a general mish-mash combination of "eat less; move more". Even if you have a "great" program, it's not so great if it's not designed for the specific results you are seeking.  Let me say that again: if it's not delivering the results you need, then it's not a good program (for you). If you've been on the same plan for a while (six months or more) and are no longer seeing progress, well - variety is the spice of life.  

2. Examine your dedication

Even the perfect program doesn't get you results if you aren't following it.  This is akin to sleeping on your history book to study for the test.  Haphazard adherence will deliver haphazard results.  If time is the issue, find a program that works better with your schedule.  There are lots of ways to make your meal planning and training time more efficient.  Just remember: if nothing changes, nothing changes. 

3. Re-think "progress"

Be better than yesterday.

Probably the most frustrating thing for people that have just graduated from the "newbie" stage of fitness is that progress slows down dramatically.  Or so it seems.  This is especially true if you're only looking at one measure for success, such as scale weight.  As your body composition changes, lots of things are happening.  You may be losing fat, you may be gaining muscle, your body may be making a lot of changes on the inside that don't translate into a pound a week just now.  

Now I'm not saying that you rationalize away a lack of progress by saying "maybe it's muscle".  If you don't know it's muscle, then you need to figure it out.  Find out how to calculate your body fat percentage.  Or - even better - find elements you can measure and improve on every day.  Olympic clocks measure time in hundredths of seconds.  The smallest advantage can be the difference between a gold medal and a "well you really tried".  Tiny factors and minuscule improvements add up.  Whatever measures you choose, find something that you can make better than yesterday.  

4. Re-boot

If your program is on track and if you are following the program religiously and if you are looking at all aspects of your progress and still not seeing results, consider backing off for a short period.  Get rest, get hydrated, relax, and let your body recover for a few days.  Your body needs down time to do the critical work of adaptation.  A deload or break should be programmed in every four to six months, depending on your routine. This applies equally well to caloric restriction (diet) programs as well.  "Refeeds" have worked for many people on their weight loss journey.  

5. Push yourself

The bottom line here is that, as you condition, the same activities may not deliver results anymore because they just aren't challenging enough.  Just because your program says "perform five sets of five reps" doesn't mean you're finished.  There are no rep police.  You won't get a ticket for exceeding your awesomeness limit.  How do you know how much you're capable of if you clock out just because the set is over.  If you have more left in you, grind out another one.  Sprint to the finish!  You get the idea.  


Regardless of whether your particular plateau is related to performance in your sport or a weight loss journey, the methods you use to break through are the same.  Be honest with yourself, be skeptical, and be purposeful.  These tips may seem simple, but, at the end of the day, it is simple.  It's not easy, but it's simple.