4 Ways to Break Through a Workout Plateau
When you started making fitness a part of your life, you probably noticed the benefits right away. You immediately started looking and feeling better, and your strength and endurance began increasing steadily. As time has gone on, however, you may have noticed that your progress has stopped or you’re feeling stagnant at the gym (or during your home workouts).
You’ve hit a workout plateau.
Unfortunately, plateaus are a normal part of the fitness journey. While they’re inconvenient and frustrating, don’t worry. We have a few tips to help you get back to smashing your fitness goals!
#1 Get by with a Little Help from Your Friends
If you’ve been tackling your workouts solo, more power to you. Staying fit on your own requires a lot of discipline. But you don’t have to be the only person holding yourself accountable.
Even if you consider your workouts your “me time,” it can still be a good idea to find a pal to share your fitness journey with. They can help motivate you, give you pointers, and will be there when you need to vent about that dude who wouldn’t stop hogging the squat rack (ugh).
Seeking out support doesn’t have to mean enlisting someone to go to the gym with you every single day. It can also mean:
- Having someone to hold you accountable via text
- Emailing a coach or trainer to look over your weightlifting routine
- Calling a friend to chat with while you power walk
- Sharing new workouts or nutritional tips with a buddy
#2 Seek Out Inspiration
Sometimes, the best way to get out of a workout rut doesn’t involve the gym at all. Seeking out fitness inspiration in your free time will get you excited about your workouts again, and that positive energy will translate into real results.
Spend some time on the internet searching for gifts for gym lovers, watching your favorite fitness YouTuber, or scrolling through #fitspo accounts on social media. Even taking a trip to your local athletic store can get you fired up about working out again.
#3 Rely on Rest to Get You Back on Track
When you’re exhausted and unmotivated in your career, it’s usually because you’ve been overworking yourself to meet crazy deadlines or stressing over important projects. The same thing goes for working out—you just haven’t given yourself enough time to rest.
If you aren’t performing as well as you used to, you’re experiencing abnormal aches and pains, or you feel fatigued in other areas of your life, your body is trying to tell you something.
Listen to it.
Resting when you need to will help you overcome your plateau, but it’ll also help prevent you from getting hurt. It’s a lot better to take a day or two off when you’re extra sore than it is to take a month or two off to recover from an injury.
#4 Set Tangible Goals
Now that you’re feeling inspired, rested, and supported, it’s time to set some new goals. We recommend making your goals as specific as possible. Having clear-cut, tangible goals will make each workout meaningful—plus, you’ll feel great when you finally meet them.
Examples of tangible goals can include:
- Increasing your weekly running or cycling mileage
- Finishing more repetitions while maintaining perfect form
- Lifting heavier weights
- Upping your weekly number of visits to the gym
Prepare to Start Seeing Progress
Everyone hits a plateau from time to time, and it’s nothing to be worried about as long as you take action. The good news is, if you follow the steps above, you’re going to come back even better than before—plus, you’ll have developed healthy habits that can prevent a plateau from happening in the future.
So, what are you waiting for? Make it to the end of your plateau and keep climbing!