If Your Strength Has Plateaued, You Need To Read This

When you first start exercising, the gains come thick and fast. But then, after about six months or so, they slow. And at the two-year point, they can stop altogether.

Strength plateaus are a normal and healthy aspect of our biology. They’re a safeguard that prevents our cells from dedicating too much of their energy to growth, just in case a famine arrives. Plus, putting a cap on how much muscle stops us from becoming muscle-bound monsters who can’t move their limbs freely. 

In the modern world, though, the chances of facing genuine, involuntary starvation are pretty remote. And so this limit on how much you can increase your strength is a little annoying, to say the least. For some people, it can hit early on in their training careers - even after just a few months in the gym. 

So what can you do to bust through a plateau and resume progress towards your strength and fitness goals? Take a look at some of these ideas that athletes use.

Change The Order In Which You Do Your Exercises

Busting through a plateau is all about tricking your body into growth. You want to present it with new challenges so that it never feels as if it can just sit back and rest on its laurels. You always need to give it a reason to continue growing, even if it doesn’t want to. 

It is a good idea, therefore, to switch up the order in which you perform exercises. Doing things according to a regular schedule isn’t the best way to make progress. Your body gets accustomed to it, and the rate at which you improve slows. 

Stop Eating Junk

Junk food massively undermines your efforts in the gym. You can train as hard as you like, but if you don’t fuel your body correctly, you’ll run into trouble fast. Not only will you miss out on the nutrients you need to recover, but you’ll feel tired in the gym, reducing the quality of your workouts. 

If you want to keep making progress, therefore, cut out the cookies, cakes, and chips, and replace it with wholesome foods. Whole grains, beans, and vegetables are an excellent place to start. 

Learn To Focus On Your Muscles

Creating a mind-muscle connection is essential for enabling you to bust through plateaus and continue to make progress. It turns out that if you can activate more of your muscles, it will be more inclined to come back stronger and more powerful. 

Many people, however, don’t consider this aspect of strength training. For them, it is all about shifting the weight, not about how it feels. But, if you can get your nerve cells to fire up more of the muscle itself, you can achieve a more intense workout. 

Do Exercises Back To Back

On the subject of intensity, doing exercises back to back is a great way to provide your muscles with a more significant challenge. Try super-setting multiple movements, like squats, lunges, and pullups, or rows with bicep curls. You should notice faster progress over time. 

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