We’ve all been there at some point. You know the feeling of working soooo hard and then NOT seeing the progress. The hours of working out, tracking what we are eating, lifting weights, running, etc., feel pointless when we aren’t getting the results we want. And then our mind starts to go down a rabbit trail….
What happened this week?
Why did I not lose weight?
Why did that run feel so hard?
Why can’t I lift any heavier?
Whether it’s on the scale or off, it can be really discouraging hitting a plateau. And this mental shift can completely derail us if we allow it. We get frustrated, we skip a workout, we have a cheat day, or maybe we work even harder. AGAIN we don’t see progress OR maybe even go the opposite direction of our goals.
BUT this doesn’t have to be your story!
Hitting a plateau is actually common when people are chasing after fitness goals. Our bodies are so smart. As we begin working out, we might see some great progress early on. Then, our bodies adapt to what is happening. It learns how to use less calories to do the same amount of work (which is amazing and frustrating all at the same time).
SO WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THE PLATEAU?
Below I have 9 tips on ways to break the vicious plateau cycle. Maybe you just need to try one of these for a couple weeks and BAM you are back on track. Maybe you need to try a few of them and slowly but surely you see progress again.
I just want to encourage you. DON’T QUIT! It can be frustrating, discouraging, hopeless, but this does NOT have to be the end of your health journey!
KNOW WHATS GOING INTO YOUR BODY
I will be the first to admit it, I don’t love tracking my food! It takes up time and effort, and I often forget to add things and feel thrown off. However, tracking food/ drinks for even 3-5 days to get an accurate idea of what’s going into your body is huge. Oftentimes we get lost in the day. By the end, we could have eaten TOO FEW calories OR we had a lot of snacks that equaled TOO MANY calories. Without tracking, we won’t truly know what we are fueling our bodies with.
If you have been cutting calories/ MACROS for TOO LONG, its likely your metabolism has slowed down.. The trick here (which sounds crazy) is ADDING healthy MACROS back to your diet to make sure you are giving your body what it actually needs to function normally. Do this slowly 100ish calories every few weeks until you have hit your ideal basal metabolic rate.
If you are eating too much, focus on slowly cutting the empty calories. You really want the foods you are eating to be nutrient dense and actually fueling your body properly. When we eat empty calories, we don’t fuel our bodies correctly and we “feel” hungry quicker. Leading us to eating more than we actually need.
MAKE SURE YOU ARE EATING ENOUGH PROTEIN AND VEGGIES
If you aren’t into keeping track of all your MACROS/ calories, focusing on these two food groups can still help you stay on track. I encourage a lot of my clients to make sure they have FIBER FILLED VEGGIES and PROTEIN at EVERY MEAL! This is a quick, easy way to know you are focusing on giving your body what it needs without having to spend extra time tracking and recording everything going into your mouth. (However, I am a huge fan or tracking food for a few days so you do truly know how you are fueling your body).
Protein is super important for rebuilding your muscles as you are working out. And know there are lots of ways to get protein through animals OR EVEN through plants!
Fiber filled veggies help you to feel full and satisfied longer. Which keeps you from eating a lot of extra unneeded snacks.
HYDRATION CHECK
A baseline for getting enough water is drinking half your bodyweight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 150lbs, you want to drink a minimum of 75 ounces of water a day. However, I encourage my clients to aim for 100-128 ounces (or a gallon) or water a day! This might sound crazy, but breaking it up into 25-32 ounces every few hours is completely doable!
Oftentimes we will grab a snack when we actually need to grab our water bottle! Drinking water first helps to satisfy our bodies. From there, if you still feel hungry, you can grab a healthy snack.
If we focus on getting adequate water, a lot of people end up cutting empty calories without even trying. This can lead to our bodies functioning better (because they are hydrated) and losing weight (because we are eating less empty calories).
ADD A VARIETY INTO YOUR WORKOUT PLAN
Having “cross training” days in your workout routine is so important. Having a variety in our workouts, allows us to make sure we are working the FULL body, strengthening it, as well as stretching and allowing our body to rest. When we do the same thing over and over again, our bodies will adapt. This means our muscles work less and some muscles won’t get worked at all.
Let’s take a runner, for example. If someone runs the same 3 miles 4 days a week, they will probably see results early on. But after time, the results go away. The muscles will adapt or get fatigued. The upper body muscles aren’t getting worked at all.
However, adding some lifting days to continue to strengthen our muscles (upper and lower) is huge. Adding stretch days to make sure we are lengthening and repairing our muscles is huge. Adding variety into our runs (hills, changing tempos, changing distance) is huge. All of these things constantly keep your body guessing while also strengthening and repairing it the way they need. Which helps a runner to overcome plateaus.
The same is true for lifting.
DON’T BE SCARED OF WEIGHT TRAINING
Strength training can often sound scary to people (mostly women), but it doesn’t have to be! Just because you are lifting heavier weights, doesn’t mean you are going to look like the hulk! Often it actually helps you reach your fitness goals of looking more sculpted or toned.
Lifting (heavier) weights helps your body to create more lean muscle mass. This often will equal a higher metabolism, because your body is working harder and longer to maintain and repair your muscles. This ultimately equals more calories burned over time!
Cardio often gives you quick results and higher calories burned during the workout. However, strength training might show a lower number of calories burned during the workout but your body can potentially burn calories for up to 48 hours after your workout (if you go hard enough).
CHANGE YOUR TEMPOS
Whether you are running or lifting weights, changing your tempo can be a very easy way to add variety to your workout!
For runners, adding in a shorter sprint day or longer hill walk or even a mix of both can add a little shock to your body! This makes your body work harder and in a new way. Ultimately burning more calories- woo hoo! When we are doing the same distance, same route, same pace, over and over our bodies adapt. This then makes your body work less and you burn less calories.
The same is true for lifting weights. If we are doing the same exercises, at the same tempo, our bodies get used to this workout. Instead of doing the typical 2 beats concentric and 2 beats eccentric movement, mix it up by doing 1 beat concentric and 3 beats eccentric. For example, on a bicep curl, lift the weight up quickly and then use 3-4 beats to lower the weight. More time over tension challenges the muscles in a whole new way.
GET PLENTY OF SLEEP
Though our lifestyle might not always allow it, our bodies need sleep. With the right amount of sleep, our brains work sharper, our mood can be better, our immune systems work better, and so much more. It also gives us the energy we need to want to do a workout (and allow our body to recover from that workout).
It’s not just about being in our bed for a certain amount of hours. We need to make sure the sleep we are getting is restful and refreshing. Tossing and turning most of the night can leave us just as exhausted as getting half as much sleep.
Having a good bedtime routine has been a key for me to getting adequate sleep. I do my best to turn all screens off by a certain time each night. From there I will read an actual book (not kindle or on my phone) for 10-20 minutes. I even have a pen and paper beside my bed so if something pops into my mind, I can write it down and then come back to it the next day. All of these things help my mind unwind and allow for efficient sleep throughout the night.
TIME OF GRATITUDE
Life happens. Things can be hard. But how we look at the situation can really affect the outcome of the situation. Is your glass half empty or half full?
Recently, I have been writing 3-5 things I am thankful for EVERY DAY! Some days are little things like not having to wait on hold on the phone forever with insurance. Other days it’s big things like a great report at the doctor. No matter how big or small, focusing on the “WINS” of each day can help us to see through a new lense. This new positive attitude can then overflow to so many areas of our life. Ultimately helping us stay in a healthy place mentally and physically.
MANAGE STRESS
Stress has a huge effect on someone’s overall well being. From migraines to depression and some many other things in between, stress can affect our bodies physically/ mentally/ and emotionally. For some people, working out can help you manage stress and restore your body. However, for others, exercise can actually make things worse and lead to you not getting the results you are hoping for.
Finding ways to manage stress, ultimately gets your mind/ body/ soul back into healthy alignment. This will lead to more energy, plus your muscles and metabolism working properly. In turn, people often start to see a change physically and mentally for the hard work they have been doing.
IN SUMMARY
We all go through seasons of plateaus. It’s often that we start off strong, but then the journey gets bumpy. From there, we have the choice to make some changes and keep preserving. OR we can give up. I strongly encourage you to try one of more of these tips when you hit a bump in your fitness journey. DON’T GIVE UP! As you give your body what it really needs, you will start to see results again.