Health and Fitness

You’ve made the commitment to get into the gym four days a week, giving 100% of your effort to each weight lifting workout you do.

You haven’t skipped a session in over three months now and are noticing progressive increases in the amount you are able to lift.

You are even starting to take notice at your transforming image in the mirror.

When everything comes to a stop.

Does this sound familiar to you?

If so, you’re experiencing a muscle building plateau, which is something that’s very common among those performing intense weight lifting sessions.

The Reason For A Weight Lifting Plateau

The first step to getting past this is understanding the primary reasons why weight lifting plateaus happen.

The definition of a plateau is a stall in progress, despite keeping up with your usual workout efforts.

There are many different reasons that could be behind this plateau, so pinpointing what’s going on will be important to you getting back to seeing results.

Here are the big factors to consider.

Nutrition

If you’re plateau is related to not seeing the scale increase any further (over say the span of two weeks or more), chances are you’re not eating enough.

What many people fail to take into account is that as you progress through your weight lifting program and build new muscle tissue, you’re body is going to require more calories to just exist. So, if you then don’t correspondingly increase your daily intake to account for this elevated metabolic rate, you move into maintenance, hence no further weight gain takes place.

So, as a general guideline, every five pounds of muscle gained, I’d re-evaluate your calorie intake. Even adding an extra 100 calories a day should be enough to keep you gaining on the plus side. Some may want to take a more aggressive approach, adding another 200-300, but it’s up to you with how you want to do it (taking a higher jump could put you at risk for further fat gain).

Program Plan Related

The next reason you might be experiencing a plateau with your workouts is due to the program itself. Have you been on your current weight lifting program for more than a month now?

If so, it’s time to make adjustments. As the body becomes more accustomed to doing the same workout over and over and over again, it stops seeing a reason to change.

As soon as that happens, you’ve got yourself a plateau.

So, to prevent this from happening, every four weeks, change something up. It doesn’t have to be major structural changes, just something small that will get the body responding again.

Some examples could be:

-work in a different rep range
-add in a new exercise to replace an old one
-reverse the order of a few of your core lifts (note, it’s typically not a good idea to put isolated exercises before compound exercises for the long term)
-change your workout split (move from a full body to an upper/lower or vice versa)
-alter the rest periods taken
-add in an advanced principle such as supersets, drop sets, pyramid sets, or crash sets

…and so on. One simple change could mean the difference between a plateau or progress.

Overtraining

Finally, the last reason why you might suffer from a muscle building plateau is because you are overtrained.

This is a very common reason as many of the individuals out there who are very passionate about seeing good results wouldn’t think twice about skipping a session in the gym – in a sense, they’re almost too enthusiastic.

The problem here is that when the body is not recovering fully, you are going to continue to break it down little by little each workout. Over time, this leads to a large breakdown with not enough building up, making gains little or non-existent.

So, if you’re feeling fatigued during your workouts or are finding that you’re not as motivated to get into the gym (two classic signs of overtraining), the solution for you is likely to take a week or two off.

That should be enough to get the body recovered and once you get back, seeing gains once again.

Note that during this time off you should not go out and start doing hours of cardio (for those of you who think you’re going to get fat taking time off), nor should you dramatically reduce your calorie intake.

Calories are essential for recovery, so if you convert yourself into super-diet while taking time off, you’re essentially just shorting the recovery process altogether and not really fixing the root of the problem.

So, next time that scale stops moving or you haven’t added a plate to the bar in weeks, keep these points in mind.

With a well planned out workout program, a nutrient and calorie rich diet, and enough rest, you should be able to keep making progress over the long haul.

Learn more common mistakes that may be hindering your current process and find a program that will get you seeing results.

For more information on advanced diet and workout techniques, please visit http://www.theworkoutinsider.com.