Workout plateaus are when you can’t get past a certain weight on an exercise. It’s frustrating when you want nothing more than to add five pounds to the bar and lift it easily. But for some reason, you can’t get that tenth rep or chuck mini plates onto the barbell without your entire form collapsing.
But how do you avoid workout plateaus? Thankfully, PVL has the solution to plateaus in the gym by using different workout techniques. Today, we’ll show you how to change your workout routine to avoid plateaus and maintain muscle and strength gains.
How to Change Your Workout Routine to Avoid Plateaus
Plateaus can be busted through with a few simple workout alterations. The simplest one is to increase training intensity by adding weight and lowering repetitions. This allows you to add strength and muscle while maintaining workout structure as much as possible.
Another way to kick plateaus in the teeth is to adapt the workout in terms of exercises. Movement variations allow you to work out similar muscle groups with different stimulation methods. You can also switch the order of operations within your training session, moving whatever you lift last to the front and vice versa.
A potential solution could be to alter training frequency. More frequency might be the way to go if you feel like there’s energy left in your tank. But more often than not, taking more time between workouts to replenish energy stores and bring your best self to the gym each time is more beneficial.
Other Ways to Avoid Plateaus in the Gym
- Get higher-quality sleep so that each workout is more refreshed
- Improve nutrition to fuel workouts to smash through plateaus
- Manage your stress so that you don’t mentally fatigue yourself pre-workout
- Take up other non-gym exercises, such as sports, running, or outdoor calisthenics, to keep the brain and body engaged with movement
Workout plateaus can be a thing of the past by optimizing your lifestyle around your gym time. Once you have all of these facets at peak levels, only then do you have to consider switching up your workout routine. Then, add weight and drop the reps while using progressive overload to improve strength and muscle gains. And, when all else fails, adding or reducing frequency in your training schedule will grant you the flexibility to remain strong in your lifts while giving your body ample time to recover.
Armed with this knowledge, plateaus in the gym will be things of the past!
Article by Terry Ramos
