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6 Tips for Overcoming a Fitness Plateau

When we start a new fitness regime, most of us see rapid results. In the first few weeks we lose fat, gain muscle, start to feel more confident and enjoy ourselves and feel ourselves becoming fitter and stronger. You might notice that you’ve got more stamina and that even in your day-to-day life away from the gym, you feel healthier and more capable. This early buzz is fantastic, but it wears off fairly quickly. It’s completely normal to hit a plateau quite suddenly. You can find that results slow to a standstill, which can be demotivating and can sometimes lead to a lack of enjoyment, or even giving up altogether. Fortunately, there are some easy ways to overcome a fitness plateau.

Change Your Diet

Sometimes when we hit a plateau, it can feel as though we’re pushing as hard as we can. We need to get fitter and stronger before we can push harder, and we’re stuck.

When this happens, it’s often a problem with energy levels and nutrition. If, for example, you have been eating a calorie-controlled diet or cutting carbs, in an attempt at losing weight, you might not be giving your body the fuel that it needs to work out efficiently, build muscle, or gain fitness.

Carbs are our body's primary source of energy, and if you exercise a lot, you need them if you want to keep making improvements. You also need plenty of protein for energy, and to build muscle, and lots of water to rehydrate.

If you feel sluggish while exercising, you might also want to look at how much saturated fat you are eating.

If you feel like your diet is well-balanced, you might want to think about adding supplements to help you to push through your plateau. Turkesterone, for example, contains naturally occurring ecdysterones which can aid your workouts and help you to build muscle. Something like this could be a valuable addition to your diet.

Get More Sleep

If you are pushing your body hard, it needs to recover. Your muscles need a chance to rest and rebuild, or you are always starting slightly below your best. Enjoy active rest days, and make sure you are getting plenty of sleep every day, not just after gym sessions.

Cross-Train

Cross-training is one of the best ways to make sure you are strengthening your whole body, not just one area. If you have a cardio goal, for example, adding strength training will help to strengthen the muscles that your body uses, adding power and speed to your workouts and decreasing recovery times. Cross-training can also stop you from getting bored and help you to enjoy exercise.

Set Yourself a New Goal

If you’ve got a big goal, it can be hard to stay on track. It can feel a long way off, and your small gains might not feel like steps in the right direction. Setting smaller goals can keep you on the right track, boost your confidence, and help you to see where you need to make changes to your routines.

Join a Group or Work with a Trainer

Very few of us push ourselves as hard as we can when we work out on our own. We go easy on ourselves. Joining a group or class, working with a trainer, or even doing online exercise videos can help you to push yourself harder.

Assess Your Targets

Sometimes, we hit a plateau because we are where we should be. It’s much harder to keep losing weight once your body reaches its comfortable weight and it’s the same with fitness. If you don’t seem to be making progress, ask yourself if you are happy where you are, and think about maintaining, instead of improving.

Plateaus are perfectly normal, be patient, look after yourself and it should pass. But if it means that you are no longer enjoying exercise, consider trying something completely different, so that you’ve got new goals to work towards.