Written by Marissa Hoen | December 1 2020
Covid-19 has impacted everyone in one way or another, and it’s not surprising that many of us feel like we have either lost progress or have simply hit a standstill when it comes to fitness gains. Sometimes it’s the goals that need re-evaluating, and sometimes it comes down to our fitness routine. Are you doing the same workout each week and not seeing results? Read on for some tips on how to break out of that plateau!
First, can you change one of these variables?
Specificity- in order to improve in a certain skill, you need to practice that skill. If you aren’t practicing the movement you aim to gain, get on it!
Frequency-how many days per week do you train? Can you increase this by one day (safely)?
Progressive Overload- you can overload in terms of reps, sets, weight, duration of training session, and intensity. To decrease the risk of injury, increase one variable at a time every other week at most.
*altering all of these variables at once may increase the risk of injury if the intensity is too highImprove your performance during your training sessions1:
Warm Up and Cool Down: Allowing yourself time to warm up before the main event can improve your performance, decrease early onset fatigue, and decrease your chance for injury. Warming up allows your body to adjust to the new physiological demands of exercise. Cooling down helps your muscles replenish oxygen to burn more energy and flush byproducts before muscle building occurs!
Eat enough carbohydrates so you can perform DURING your workout. It is definitely a challenge to increase your strength when you run out of fuel during your workout! Carbohydrates, aka carbs, are stored in muscles in a form that can be easily broken down for energy during our workouts. We start feeling fatigue when our stores run low, as our body attempts to protect the muscle from severe depletion. This gets in the way of making our gains! Choose carbs like fruit and grains for energy, carbs like veggies for fiber (not for performance, but for all around good health), and try to avoid the simple carbs like cookies and sugary drinks unless you don’t have another option!
Ensure you are properly hydrated! Drink water hours before your session (or regularly for that matter!) so your body and the cells that need it have enough time to absorb the water. Water is a main component of blood, inner substance of cells, the fluid that lubricates joints, and so much more. No wonder we are 60% water!2
Continue to build strength after your session
Eat enough protein- keep in mind that muscle and strength building require a positive balance of protein synthesis and breakdown. This means consistency in strength training AND eating protein is needed for for 3+ weeks before you will experience muscle building (hypertrophy).1
Change your mindset/re-evaluate goals
Are your goals really yours? In her podcast called ‘Borrowed Goals’, Dr. Shanté Cofield discusses the importance of reflecting on your goals, and thinking about the why behind them (2020). If your goals are more a reflection of what other people want (or what you think they want) instead of a reflection of what you want, it is way less likely you will reach them. And even if you do reach these goals.. Will you be satisfied? Take this time to re-adjust and find goals that fit you.
Keep in mind:1
It takes weeks to months before your body adapts to resistance training to produce noticeable strength changes, however muscle protein synthesis and collagen production increases after just one session.
3 weeks+ of resistance training is needed before muscle hypertrophy (increase in muscle size) occurs
The fastest changes occur in the first few weeks of training for beginners due to neurological adaptations! If you are a beginner, enjoy this time of relatively rapid strength gain before you reach a plateau!
References
Powers, S., Howley, E., & Quindry, J. (2021). Exercise physiology: Theory and application to
fitness and performance (11 ed.). McGraw Hill LLC.The Water in You: Water and the Human Body. (n.d.). USGS Water Science School. Retrieved
December 1, 2020, from https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/
science/water-you-water-and-human-body?qt-science_center_objects=
0#qt-science_center_objectsCofield, S. (Producer). (2020, October 1). Borrowed Goals [Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Ne8zkI8KDt8QmgRTDaYLTImage credit: https://www.headspace.com/blog/2018/01/12/fitness-plateaus/