Training stopped producing results: experts learned how to overcome the plateau
With regular exercise, the results do not always grow at the same rate. Over time, the usual exercises cease to seem difficult, personal records are updated less frequently, and efforts do not bring the expected effect. In such a situation, it is easy to decide that the training program is no longer working and completely change it. However, the reason for stopping progress may not be due to exercise, but to accumulated fatigue or insufficient load changes. How to overcome the training plateau and understand when it's time to change the program is in the Izvestia article.
Why do the results stop growing
If a person exercises regularly, the body gradually adapts to physical exertion. At first, exercises cause short-term reactions: heartbeat increases, breathing accelerates, muscles warm up. When the load is repeated for several weeks, the body adapts, making the movements more effective and the previous exercises easier.
However, over time, the usual level of exercise may no longer be enough to further improve physical fitness. This stage is called a training plateau: the results slow down or temporarily stop growing, although the person continues to practice. By itself, this does not mean that training is no longer beneficial: the adaptations already achieved may persist, but for further progress the body needs a new incentive.
Paul Howe, a lecturer in sports and physical physiology at the University of Westminster, explained in an article for The Conversation magazine that progressive overload remains one of the key principles of training. It involves a gradual increase in body requirements, for example, by slightly increasing the working weight, the number of repetitions, or the duration of the class. At the same time, it is important to increase the load consistently, not abruptly.
How to track progress
The first step is to understand if the results have really stopped. To do this, it is worth recording the performance of each workout. During strength training, it is important to record the working weight, the number of repetitions and approaches. Such records allow you to compare the results and notice small improvements that are difficult to assess by feeling.
Hou suggests using the principle of double progression. For example, a person chooses a range of eight to 10 repetitions and starts with a weight that they can lift eight times with proper technique, while still being able to do one or two more repetitions. In the following sessions, he gradually increases the number of repetitions with the same weight. When you can do 10 repetitions in all sets without breaking the technique, you can increase the weight slightly and return to eight repetitions again.
Paul Howe
You can track your progress by checking if you can cover the same distance in less time or complete the same workout with a lower heart rate or with less subjective effort. An improvement in any of these indicators indicates that your physical fitness is getting better.
It is also important to track the results during cardio training — running, swimming or cycling. To do this, you can record the distance, pace and duration of classes. An improvement in physical fitness can manifest itself in the fact that a person overcomes the same distance in less time, performs the same workout with a lower heart rate, or perceives it as less difficult.
When should I reduce my workload?
Stopping progress does not always mean that the body needs a more intense workout. Physical performance is affected by fatigue, stress, illness, and lack of sleep. If a person has already accumulated fatigue, a sharp increase in workload can further worsen the results and delay recovery.
Paul Howe
As a general rule, if you don't see any progress for three to four weeks, try an off-loading training week. This means that you exercise less than usual to reduce accumulated fatigue. To do this, you can reduce the number of workouts by a week or do less exercise than usual.
According to him, athletes also use such weeks before major competitions. If, after reducing the load, the indicators return to their previous level or improve, this may indicate that the cause of the plateau was accumulated fatigue, and not an ineffective program.
At the same time, a fasting week does not mean a complete abandonment of physical activity. Her task is to temporarily reduce the load and give the body the opportunity to recover. The specific amount of reduction depends on the training regime and the person's well-being.
Do I need to change the program
If progress still does not resume after the fasting week, you can change individual elements of the training plan. Hou advises not to abandon the entire program at once, but to adjust one parameter at a time: for example, to replace a specific exercise or change one training session. This makes it easier to understand which change affected the result.
Paul Howe
Regular training is important, regardless of whether you are training to achieve a specific goal or just want to improve your fitness. This is due to the fact that the body adapts when the same exercise is performed repeatedly with increasing stress.
It may be necessary to completely change the program if a person has new goals or an injury that makes the previous regime no longer suitable. If the problem is boredom, it is not necessary to change the exercises themselves: you can adjust the duration of classes, try to train with a personal trainer or update your music playlist.
Thus, the training plateau does not always require radical solutions. First, you should check the records, evaluate the gradual increase in load, and take into account the quality of recovery. If the results do not change for several weeks, a fasting week may be a reasonable first step, and only then a point adjustment of the program.
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