Oh the dreaded plateau…

You’ve been working hard on your fitness game and it paid off. The pounds started to drop! And then one day your results stopped. You keep putting in the same effort without any sign of improvement.

You’ve hit a frustrating plateau.

Or have you? Before you blame a fitness plateau for your lack of results, let’s critically consider the following:

1. Your Diet: It’s human nature to begin to slip on your nutrition after a few weeks of stringent diligence. A small treat here, and a bite of something there, and before you know it you’ve fallen back into old eating habits. If your results have stopped then take the next few weeks to track your nutrition and hold yourself accountable for every bite.  There are several apps you can use to track you diet and exercise efforts to hold yourself accountable.  Some of our favorites include My Coach by Coach Catalyst and My Fitness Pal.

2. Your Workouts: If your nutrition has truly stayed on point then your workouts could be the problem. Are you slacking on the final few reps? Have you reduced your overall intensity in the gym? Did you skip a few sessions last week? Before you blame a plateau for your reduced results, take a really hard look at your effort in the gym. Rededicate yourself to pushing as hard as you can.  Remember to challenge yourself with every workout.  When lifting weights, count how many reps you’re able to do in the 30 second period.  If you’re able to do more than 15, it’s time to increase the resistance.

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3. Your Sleep: This is a tough one for so many people, but you simply must be getting adequate sleep in order to lose fat and develop muscle. Your body needs close to eight hours of sleep each night in order to recover from your workouts and to maintain balanced hormone levels. Going to bed and getting up at approximately the same time every night helps to reset your body’s natural circadian rhythm. Getting an adequate amount of sleep is vitally important to your fitness results.

If you have tackled the three steps above and still don’t see the number on your scale moving in the right direction, then move on to these next plateau-busting steps…

4. Track Your Efforts: It’s time to get meticulous with tracking your fitness efforts, from exactly what your workouts consist of, to exactly what and when you eat in order to constantly improve. Make it your goal to outdo yourself every day. If you’re constantly performing better today than you were yesterday, then your plateau will quickly become a distant memory.

5. Track Your Results: Simply checking your weight on the scale is not a thorough enough measurement for your progress. Start tracking additional metrics for change. Take your measurements. Use a scale like our OMRON scale to test your body fat. Take pictures of yourself weekly. It’s important to be fully aware of how your body is changing as a whole unit, not just the number on the scale. You may be surprised to find that your body fat has been dropping while your weight has stayed the same.

Need additional strategies on breaking through your fitness plateau? Together we will get you on a program that will melt fat and expose shape and definition. Call us TODAY!