6 Techniques to Surpass Your Best Lift
Travis Zipper’s 6 Step Guide to Your Best Lift Yet.
There is nothing more frustrating for an avid gym-goer than being stuck in a fitness rut. You finally found your groove, started making noticeable improvements, and grew confidence from your achievements, up until you hit that dreaded plateau. No matter what you do to prevent them, plateaus happen to everyone. In fact, most people will experience a dip in their performance several times throughout their training. In essence, plateaus mean you are no longer progressing in your workouts. For example, no matter how hard you work, you are unable to experience muscle growth or incorporate higher weights in your workout. Consequently, your once beloved sweat session has become nothing more than a daily chore, making you question your efforts altogether. Luckily, Travis J. Zipper, co-founder and lead instructor for the Nutritional Coaching Institute (NCI), and owner of the Wellfitz Mentorship shares his knowledge on the subject to help lifters and workout enthusiasts alike, bust through a fitness plateau.
What causes a plateau?
The worst part about hitting a plateau is trying to figure out what caused it. In general, a strength-training novice will often progress relatively quickly a concept often known as “newbie gains”. However, after a few months, their body will begin to adapt to the volume and intensity of their workout. As a result, Travis says, sticking to the same program day in and day out is one of the top reasons athletes experience a decline in performance. Another reason for your fitness slump may be due to overtraining. Telltale signs that you have been spending too much time at the gym include muscle and joint pain, low energy levels, and getting sick more often. Finally, adjusting your eating habits, water intake, and getting plenty of rest is imperative to help you reach your weightlifting goals and avoid a plateau.
1. Increase the intensity of your workout
Some individuals claim to spend hours in the gym but aren’t seeing the results they desire. Travis concludes they just usually aren’t working hard enough. One of the simplest ways to break through a plateau is to make your muscles work harder not longer. Accordingly, shift to a program that focuses on high weight with low reps as opposed to low weight with several repetitions. For example, if you have been doing three sets of 12 reps, decrease to three sets of 8 reps using a heavier weight. The ideal weight for your training level should be challenging without causing you to compromise your form.
Most importantly, make sure you are ending each set one to two reps shy of technical failure. Technical failure refers to the point in time when you are no longer able to achieve proper technique or form. Unfortunately, many lifters make the mistake of training until absolute failure when they can’t move the weight at all, leading to burnout, injury, and overtraining.
2. Break out of your routine
The more you repeat a particular movement, the more efficient your body becomes at completing this activity. If you do something enough times, your body will adapt so much so that it will start to burn fewer calories in the process. As such, Travis encourages you to break out of your normal routine by changing the types of exercises you do. For instance, if you always use free weights, try using a machine or stability ball instead. By altering your program, you are less likely to get bored and successfully tap into more muscle groups. At the same time, cross-training is a great way to increase your overall fitness level and reduce the likelihood of injury. Lifters typically focus on strength and body composition, but cross-training will allow you to incorporate other activities into the mix to enhance other problem areas, like flexibility or endurance.
3. Switch up the order of exercises
Sometimes plateaus occur not because of the workout you are doing, but the order in which you are doing it. If you are constantly trying to spice up your training schedule with different exercises, you will eventually run out of new ideas. Travis recommends changing the order of your exercises, which luckily, doesn’t require learning new techniques, training advice, or updated machinery. For instance, if you do the same chest exercises in an identical order every workout, your muscles will always fatigue in the same way. Thus, by changing the order of your workout, your muscles will start to fatigue in a whole new way. To keep things extra simple, Travis recommends reversing the order of your normal workout to see remarkable improvements.
4. Keep Track of Progress
Just because your workouts seem to be getting harder doesn’t mean you’ve hit a plateau. An obvious but overlooked technique to avoid plateauing is simply recording your progress. Travis recommends using more than one method to keep track of your development. You can use a journal to record your personal bests, a fitness tracker to monitor factors that are important to you, snap weekly progress photos, or do a timed fitness challenge every 2–3 months. Travis says, if you are only using one measure, such as weight loss, to identify whether or not you are in a plateau, this may not be a reliable indicator of your progress. Alternatively, keep track of your body weight, reps, sets, and other factors to help you better identify your overall growth.
5. Take time to de-load
If you’ve been working out extra hard without experiencing any noticeable progress, it’s probably time to de-load. A de-load is essentially a short, pre-planned period of recovery that is necessary for reaching your performance goals. To an unskilled outsider, easing up your workouts may seem counterproductive. In reality, taking things easy may be exactly what you need to bust out of a plateau, according to Travis. This technique includes training lighter and/or less than usual. Contrary to popular belief, the practice of de-loading becomes more important the heavier you lift. As a result, while beginners should lighten their load every 8 to 12 weeks, advanced lifters should do so every 4 to 6 weeks.
6. Eat well and eat enough
If you aren’t eating right or consuming enough carbohydrates, fats, and nutrients, you won’t ever reach your fitness goals despite how hard you work in the gym. If you want to build muscle, you need to consume protein. Protein is extremely important in building muscle because the amino acids help to repair and maintain muscle tissue. Protein assists with proper recovery post-workout. So, if you want to gain muscle you need protein but you also need a fair amount of carbs. Complex carbohydrates like brown rice, sweet potatoes, or quinoa, provide a sustainable source of energy throughout the day. To gain enough energy to bust through those intense workouts and build muscle, you need complex carbs says Travis. If you have hit a plateau and you aren’t focusing on your nutritional health, this could be why.
When we hit a dip or plateau in our training, it’s easy to lose motivation and give up. In order to maintain focus and dedication through this low point, refer back to Travis’ tips to pinpoint what may be causing your setback. Remember that most athletes have experienced a plateau at least once in their lifetime, so be patient with yourself and don’t give up on your goals.
