One of the challenges our clients face, and sometimes why they come to us in the first place is that they’ve hit a plateau. They feel stuck. Whether its nutrition, fitness, or stress - they simply can’t move the dial. We understand this, and experience it ourselves!! We thought we’d share we we personally do when we hit a plateau to show you 1) that YES we’re human and 2) give you some ideas on what to do if you’re in a rut!
Bryan
I train for stuff. I set a goal, put a date on it (or pick a specific date if it’s a race or event) and then work backwards with a training schedule. Just like I program for clients, I program for myself in blocks. That way I’m always working towards something and working in a lot of variety into my training.
I want to feel like there isn’t any physical thing that I can’t do, so I train for functional strength, power, explosion, endurance, speed, flexibility, and mobility. I don’t want to leave any stone unturned and constantly try to push myself to do new and hard stuff. ‘You can’t find your limits if you don’t go looking for them.’
If I find myself plateauing or feeling stale – I know I may need to switch things up or I may be over training and have to either focus more on rest or back off and re-assess.
Jim
When it comes to plateaus or when I’m feeling stuck, I make very little changes. I don’t ever, or rarely feel the need to overhaul my training plans or diet. I find making small changes are what tend to work best.
When it comes to my diet, normally I would take a look at what I’m eating to see if there is anything glaring that may be holding me back from my goals, but usually, I end up switching in a couple new fruits or vegetables, and usually they’re something seasonal.
With lifting I make very small changes, like changing some angles on lifts or adding a few pounds to my lifts but doing less reps. I don’t lift for absolute strength, so usually I’d be dropping from an 8-12 rep range to a 6-8 range, and then work to get back to 8–12 with that weight.
Laura
When I feel just a little stuck or bored, I try something new like take a new class, but if I’m feeling like I really need to shake things up, I change up my program completely (like I did 2 months ago!) I’m currently doing a 4 day per week strength program that is totally out of my comfort zone because I’m following a plan
I generally like to have a loose plan to follow that I can change up week to week but I must have been feeling extra stuck this time because this is drastic for me! And normal for most other people…. Ha! Ask me how I”m doing!
Melissa
I get bored easily, so I’m constantly switching things up however even that can make me feel stuck sometimes! When I’m feeling stuck, and stiff, like things aren’t progressing I take a step back and assess what I’m doing. Too much strength? Too much cardio? Not enough of either? Eating poorly? Whatever it is I make a note and then try to make a few small changes towards getting myself back on track. I don’t make huge drastic changes as they can overwhelm me, but I do like to try new things out of my comfort zone that can help me get out of my rut.
If it’s fitness-related, I try to switch up my workouts. I do more intervals for cardio to challenge myself, I start lifting heavier, I take more time to stretch. These are small changes, but it does help and it keeps me interested! I try new exercises to challenge my body because sometimes my body just gets used to what I’m doing and the results start to fade. If I see someone doing something cool I try it! I’m still working on that pull up though argh!
If it’s nutrition related I take a step back. Sometimes I’ll even log my food for a few days just to see where I’m at and where I can improve. I keep a very healthy relationship with food, so I try to be realistic with myself - you will not see me dieting! Perhaps I could add more veggies to my meals, create more balanced snacks,drink more water (you know I have trouble with this!) not drink during the week. Little changes like that can make all the difference!
If you feel like you’re in a plateau we recommend the following:
Take a look at the big picture, is there any low hanging fruit that is obvious that you need to change?
Look at the big ticket items such as stress, sleep, nutrition and fitness. Is there anything there that needs improvement that may be hindering you toward your goals?
Choose one or two things that need improvement, for example, fitness and sleep, and pick two small action items that you can change to make them healthier. For example: start doing hills for your cardio if it’s getting easy, and go to sleep 15 minutes earlier each night to start moving towards getting 8 hours of sleep.
Choose SMALL behaviors - too big of a change may result in failure and frustration
Ask us how we can help you get out of your plateau and keep moving towards your goals!
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