Breaking Through Training Plateaus

Some plateaus in weight training are inevitable but they should be very short lived.  That’s because there are things you can do to get your progress moving again.  In fact, the slow down in progress will likely show up in one or two exercises out of an entire weight lifting workout.  These yellow flags indicate it’s time to make an adjustment in your strength training program before full-blown stagnation sets in.  This is a simple concept, yet I’ve known guys who’ve trained three days a week and never noticed they had five months of no progress whatsoever!  Please use these tips on how to gain weight.

Here are three things that will bust any weight training plateau.

1)     Take time off.  The number one cause of lack of progress is overtraining.  By simply not lifting weights for a week or two you will allow your body to fully recover and to add that new muscle growth you’ve already stimulated so you can return to the gym and resume a muscle building workout effectively.

2)     Space your weight training workouts further apart.  This keeps you from falling into the same trap over and over.  A fixed training frequency usually doesn't work for building new muscle mass.  It works for aerobic exercise, for martial arts techniques, kayak padding skills and many other things but it won’t work for building new muscle mass.  As you get stronger your weightlifting workouts need to be spaced further apart.

3)     Do heavy leg exercises.  By far, the best exercise you can do to increase your body’s anabolic activity is heavy squats.  The legs contain the largest muscles in the human body and when those muscles are forced to operate at the limits of their capacity the systemic anabolic effect spills into every muscle group in the body.  It is literally true that heavy leg training gives you bigger arms!

Most people work out way too often

I’m talking about lifting weights here, not jogging or cycling or yoga.  The primary function of cardio exercise (despite its name) is to simply burn off excess calories.  Since fat gain is a result of “calories in” versus “calories out”, running or cycling provides a way to increase our output of calories and keep our weight in check.  That’s why even walking, which barely taxes the heart, is still productive for weight loss.  This type of low intensity activity can be performed every day.

Stretching exercises can also be performed every day.  Flexibility is probably the most neglected aspect of fitness.  How many people in your gym are stretching compared to those doing cardio and pumping iron?

So it’s very ironic that when it comes to lifting weights and building muscle mass, virtually everyone is training far too frequently!  You’d be amazed at how little high intensity strength training you really need!

I believe the time is coming when people will have a better understanding of the role of proper, efficient muscle building techniques and frequency.  For the person who wants maximum results with minimum time invested, an ultra-brief but ultra-intense muscle building workout will be performed about as often as they get a haircut.  Anything more is just lifting weights as a busy-work hobby. 

All the best,

Jeff Bedeaux

dr-natural-bodybuilding.com

Natural Fitness Concepts

11310 Melody Dr. Suite #10-302

Denver, CO 80234

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