How To Come Off A Fitness Plateau

We’ve all had them. They are the inevitable fitness plateau. No matter how much we train or how hard it just seems like there’s no way to get faster.

The keys to coming off a fitness plateau are simple. They are highlighted in the video below. But the first key question to as is whether you are really on a plateau that needs something to be changed in how you train or if you are simply building enough critical mass for a big leap by doing the over and over enough to actually make it happen?

Fitness improvements never come in a linear fashion. There are times when we seem to hit new levels almost daily. Then there are the other times when no progress seems to be made. The first is motivating. The second situation can be tough to go through. But realizing that the result of what you do today in training may not actually show up until way down the road will give hope. Keep going!

In my experience it takes about three weeks of regular training for your body to actually get used to training. It takes another three weeks to really start getting core fitness gains, the ones that don’t get erased with a day or two off.

But it takes about three months before really big jumps start to happen in fitness markers that can be measured. In today’s world of instant and immediate, that can seem like a lifetime. During those first three months there are usually changes in speed and power than you notice, though. They may not be dramatic, but they are noticeable. It’s after that when the fitness plateaus can creep in.

You see, a huge chunk of your overall seasonal fitness takes place in those first three months. But then you spend the next six months or more getting that last little bit that is going to be the difference in the biggest competitions of the year. That is when fitness plateaus can happen, when you see zero improvement and can begin to doubt your training strategy.

If you begin to feel like you are getting nowhere during this period, you are likely on a fitness plateau. Yes, lower your expectations on the size of the gains.

But even with that, if you feel like you are not making any headway, then take a look at this video for two very simple tips that can get your fitness off the plateau and going in the positive direction once again.

 

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