What is a training plateau and how to overcome it?

They say that muscles need to be “surprised” at every workout, otherwise they will stop growing. Let’s find out if this is really true.

What is a plateau?

Plateau in training is a state of the human body in which the growth of certain physical parameters (strength, endurance, speed, flexibility) stops due to muscle adaptation to the load.

You can recognize a training plateau by these signs:

• Loss of strength performance.
• Irritability during training.
• Lack of muscle pump (pumping).
• Lack of visible results for a month or more.
• Lack of appetite.
• Depressed state, lack of motivation.

Head of the gym World Class Zemlyanoy Val

Let me give an example: a man trains with the purpose of strength development. For a long time he progresses in weights, but there comes a moment when each subsequent training session is more and more difficult for him, and there are no visible results of growth.

Another example: a girl decided to lose 15 kg – in the first weeks she lost 5 kg, after a few months of intensive training she lost another 5 kg, but the next 5 kg she failed to lose. In both cases, the trainees reached a plateau, that is, the progress of their training stopped. Almost everyone faces this, and, of course, loses all motivation to exercise.

What to do? There are three ways out: quit training; continue training, being satisfied with the result that you have; overcome the plateau and continue to progress.

Is it worth constantly “surprising” the muscles to overcome the plateau?

According to a fitness trainer, in most cases, the plateau effect is caused by monotonous workouts. Our body, muscles, like the rest of nature, evolve, and if muscles are trained with the same intensity, according to the same principle, then at some point they will get used to the load and stop growing.

Of course, this does not mean that the body should be shocked, because otherwise there is a risk of overtraining, and too frequent training and lack of rest will only lead to the opposite effect. Without enough energy, the body simply will not be able to overcome a new type of training stress. That’s why you should gradually introduce variety into your workouts – observe your body and choose the exercises that are right for you.

Egor Glazatov

Head of World Class Zemlyanoy Val gym

Training program and the whole process of “building” yourself should be formed as diverse as possible – starting from the complex of exercises and ending with nutrition and sleep. A professional trainer will help you in this. Do not neglect the recommendations and assistance of a trainer, he will help you achieve the desired results in a short period of time and avoid plateaus.

If stagnation in training has already happened, then first of all the body needs to give a break for a week or two. Physical conditioning, i.e. preparedness, will not go anywhere in this case. The central nervous system will rest, and then you will be ready for new achievements and progress. After that you can think about changing the training plan, schedule and periodization of training.

Don’t forget about sleep – it is at the center of the entire training process. The relationship here is obvious: if you don’t have time to recover, you reach overtraining and plateau, but if you recover qualitatively, you will make progress.

After all, in the deep phase of sleep, all tissue regeneration processes take place, which means both muscle mass gain and weight loss.