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Consider this:
It's been a few months since you first started weight training and you're
not seeing the same kind of results as you did at the beginning. Sound
familiar? You may have hit a plateau in your strength-training program. In
fact, unless you continually update your program to reflect the changes
your body has already experienced, you are almost guaranteed to plateau at
some point along your journey toward reaching your strength-training
goals.
Struggling To Gain Strength
Strength-training plateaus usually occur after about six months of
training. They are especially noticeable at this time since the dramatic
gains in strength many people experience during the first few months of
their program begin to level off. These changes are often the result of
continuously using one training-program approach. The solution to the
plateau is generally an easy one that involves varying your routine. The
following approaches can help you steer clear of a strength plateau.
Turn Up The
Intensity
If you have
been training two to three times per week for more than six months,
performing 10 to 20 exercises per session, and are looking for additional
size and/or strength gains, you should look closely at one factor:
intensity. It seems that the best stimulus for increasing strength gains
is to make the muscles work harder, as opposed to longer. High-intensity
training may be the edge you need to get yourself off of a strength
plateau.
If you're
considering using lighter weights and more repetitions to get stronger or
improve the appearance of your muscles, think again. High-repetition,
low-resistance training is usually not sufficient to stimulate significant
strength gains. In fact, unless an individual is extremely deconditioned,
this type of training is usually ineffective in promoting any kind of
health and fitness gains and, if the repetitions are redundantly high, it
could lead to overuse injuries, lack of results and frustration.
Add Variety
By Using Cross Training
If the reason
you've hit a plateau is because you're bored, disinterested or lack
motivation, cross train within the muscle strength and endurance
components of fitness. Cross training keeps your program interesting by
utilizing a variety of different exercises and equipment. Initially, try
cross training without changing intensity, then progress to changing the
movement pattern of an exercise to stimulate a different pattern of motor
unit recruitment.
Another
alternative is to change the sequence of exercises you are already do-ing
to create variety and a new overload. Because the muscles are being
fatigued in a different order or pattern, they must adapt to this change
in stimulus. The next step might be to replace some or all of the
exercises in your routine. For each exercise, look at the joint action(s)
and muscle group(s) being utilized and replace it with an exercise that
targets the same group(s). For example, the bench press can be replaced by
pushups, dumbbell presses or incline and decline presses. You might
consider scheduling a session or two with a personal trainer who can
provide you with alternatives to the exercises you are currently using in
your program.
Cross training
can help keep you motivated and interested in continuing your program, as
well as stimulate greater strength gains. For optimal muscular
development, variety is the name of the game.
Don't Let A
Plateau Become A Pitfall
If you've
stopped gaining strength, the key to getting off the plateau is to vary
your program. The human body is an amazing piece of machinery, capable of
adapting to just about any circumstance or stimulus. By shaking things up
a bit, varying your program by introducing some new elements, you'll
likely find yourself off the plateau and back on the road to progress in
no time.
Ace Fitness
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