How To Break Through A Workout Plateau?

You wake up in the middle of the night to get yourself a glass of water and on your way to the kitchen, you start feeling bloated. The very next morning you make yourself a workout schedule and start grinding for that perfect fit body that you desire. The changes are pretty blatant for the first few weeks, you start feeling all energetic, happy, active, strong, and what not. You may feel all toned and feel you have shed more pounds than expected but, the changes stop being as drastic after a certain period. What did go wrong all of a sudden? Are you lacking a proper diet? or your body is so used to the workouts that you have been doing. It could be any of the above, in this article we will discuss the cause and cures of a workout plateau.

What is a workout plateau?

The workout plateau happens when your body gradually stops responding to your exercise. It happens due to the fact that your body is so smart and adapts to the workout cycle you throw at it. You may go an early morning 30 min-45 min run and you do it for a week and eventually, your body will adapt to it and you will do it more efficiently without those huffing and puffing of starting days. This all will result in you burning fewer calories. This is particularly seen with high-intensity routines or intense cardio activities like running and aerobics. The physical activity you are doing gets harder and you gradually stop feeling burnout. Since you are not motivated anymore, the intensity doesn't increase, rather you find yourself getting bored of exercising. There are a lot of reasons behind this.

Among them, a lot of the changes you make, such as different diet and exercise routines, are irreversible, which essentially is how you burn yourself out. You have to admit that the workout you did last time can't be repeated in a day or two, your body will become totally used to the routine you have chosen.

How to break through a plateau

To get the perfect shape, you need to make sure that the diet has to be constant for that same period for a certain duration. If the diet is too out of focus for a certain period of time, it may cause the body to re-adapt in the following way. Once the body gets used to its new ways, it sets in the next phase to slow down the process. The changes in the new routine will be very subtle and gradual. These subtle changes will slowly catch up with you and make you feel uncomfortable. You will feel sluggish, lethargic, tired, and a complete nightmare. Even with the thought that this is the workout routine for the rest of the week, you will start pressing on it. Since you are stuck in a rut, the only thing that you have to do is to work out on a different day and get back to your normal routine. Some ways to overcome workout plateaus are:

Increase the duration: In the starting days, a 5-minute walk would have sufficed to make a noticeable enough difference. However, now it requires a 20-30 minute walk to get that sweat-breaking feel.

Going all for it: If a simple stroll has stopped doing it for you then you need to up your game by using the resistance, increasing speed in order to get the adrenaline rush and get those endorphins going.

Break-in between: You should take a break from your regular workout schedule to recharge yourself and try going for other stress-busting activities such as Zumba, swimming, surfing, etc. This will help your muscle adapt to and learn new tricks and will give a break to your mind from the usual intense workouts.

Regular resting: Having rest days in between are as mandatory as it comes. If you have been going too hard with your daily workouts, resting helps your muscles to recover. Not resting in between will not help you to reap the benefits of your hardcore work.

New ways to get your body moving again

The reason why your body is not making changes that you desire is that you are relying more on cardio than your core training. Cardio is obviously more beneficial for body transformation but it does not work to speed up weight loss in long term. What you must keep in mind is the fact that cardio will help you burn those extra calories and improve your mood for the moment. However, it is just not enough if you have set that resolution to get fit and lose weight. The key is to burn more calories while training your core, rather than just burning calories while doing cardio. So make sure to incorporate the right form of exercise into your routine. Here are the best ways to get your body moving again and burning the excess fat.

Conclusion

Your body is extremely smart, it maintains its physiological functions, adapts to its environment, and adapts quickly to any changes in diet and behaviour. So, even if you are hitting the gym religiously, your body will be in an adaptation phase. The main reason for which your body fails to get the amount of physical activity you expect it to is the inactivity factor. As it is aware of your intention of hardening it up, it decides to help you out by supporting you and enabling you to take the desired shape of your body. When your body is in an adaptive phase, your workout routines won’t necessarily be as intense or they will be more like maintenance routines for your body.