There is that point in all of our exercise careers when we just can’t transcend any further. We can’t lose more weight, and we can’t gain more muscle. Nothing seems to be happening. For some people, they feel like they are going at it endlessly because they start at such a low level of fitness. For others, they hit this progress plateau much too quickly. Here are some tips gathered up for you all in one place to help get a new fitness regime going again once it’s completely stalled out in the gutter.
Set Up Practical Goals and Dreams
This may seem like something everyone does, but not everyone has common sense. For women, they can’t get washboard abs in a few after their first baby is born. For men, drinking alcohol for ten years will slow down the progress at which you build a six-pack. Make sure that you get with reality, start working again, and to start focus on small, incremental gains and log everything down that you do.
Keep making careful notes of your progress so that you are aware of when weight loss, muscle gains, and waist size losses are starting to yield to a plateau. This is significant because without noting or charting, it is very likely that you will start to imagine things are going in a better direction or a worse direction without really being sure.
Use A Better Scale Machine
You don’t just want to measure your weight. You need to really know how much momentum you are making in getting rid of fat and building up muscle, and you really need to your hands on an electronic scale that will give you a read-out of the body weight plus fat mass. Much of the time, your weight won’t actually go down, but your muscle mass will go up, and your fat mass will go down. Omron and Tanita are some good manufacturers of scales, and they are very functional too. If you can’t invest in such a scale, then locate a gym, club, or spa that will let you use theirs.
Overload Your Muscles
In order to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat mass, you need to really overload those muscles to put on a lot of muscle growth. You have to exercise your muscle groups at least a couple times a week. You don’t want to exercise your muscle groups more than a couple times a week because this will wear down your muscles.
If you reach a plateau on this program, then you need to do 12 repetitions of 3 sets each. You have to increase the weight load again to account for all the strength that you have been gaining. Always make sure that you are increasing your weight to overload your muscles.
Keep A Close Watch On Your Diet And Nutrition
Make sure you don’t eat too much saturated fat and refined carbohydrates. You shouldn’t have more than 25 percent fat in your diet. That means you should cut out all flaky, flabby, refined, pasty, flimsy carbohydrates, and you should just get them out of your diet completely. There is no excuse to have them in there.
If you are trying to gain weight, you should stick to protein that has low fat, and include a lot of chicken, dairy, and fish in your diet. Also, eat a lot of beans, legumes, and vegetables. Make sure you eat plenty of food too. Don’t cut down on food. If you eat more of the right foods, it will boost your metabolism, along with the exercise, and working out too. Most people that are trying to gain muscle just don’t eat enough top-notch food.
Take In Water And Food In Correspondence With Your Workout
Meal timing in accordance wit how intense your exercises are and how long you plan to workout is one of the most important elements you can work on in any exercise program, and weight training is a critically important part too.
Make sure to eat a lot of protein before a workout. About 20 grams of protein is a good start. Drink a sports drink with a lot of carbohydrates in it if you plan on working out for an hour or so. You don’t need protein if you’re just doing cardiovascular exercise. Before any workout, have about 20 grams of protein, and have about the same amount of carbohydrates, if you are going to exercise for a long time or a lot of intensity in your workout. Don’t cut down on carbohydrates too much if you plan on working out for 4-5 days a week. You must have it in order to keep your muscles from breaking down and to keep those glycogen stores in high supply.
Devote Enough Time To Rest And Recovery Period
Every four to six weeks, take about a week where you only do half as much as you normally do. This gives you a window of time where your body can replenish itself, and it will be able to get even stronger in that amount of time too. The whole idea of weight training and muscle building is to build up progressively, damage your muscles, get them repaired, and then have new growth. This gives them a great chance to get bigger.
Do A Lot Of Cardio
Some weightlifters and weight trainers think that a lot of cardiovascular exercise will inhibit or take away their muscle gains. Aerobic exercise is very good for your health, it will cut down your calories, and it will even help in muscle growth. Make sure you do it for less than 50 minutes each time at a low or moderate level, and this shouldn’t cause any problems for your muscle growth. There is an interesting little tidbit here. Basically, if you deplete your muscles of glycogen, which is basically glucose, this will give your muscles more of an anabolic rush when the hormone of insulin is needed to rebuild and repair muscle, growth factors, protein, and glucose too.
Try Changing Intensity
If you’re not progressing any further after several months, try a change or switch-up. The body will work with a lot of variation in intensity and program. If you are trying for weight loss, go for a circuit program. If muscle building is the primary thing you’re working on, then go from 3 sets of 12 reps to 2 sets of 5 reps, and do whatever it takes to get your muscles bigger with more weight.
Change Up The Time That You Do A Workout
There is no way to guarantee any kind of success with this method, but it’s worth attempting at least. Biorhythms can change for different people, and this could alter the way that you train. Cortisol is a natural hormone that breaks down muscles, and it is at its peak in the early morning. These patterns change from person to person. Try to see if the morning or afternoon is the best time for you.
Get A Lot Of Sleep, Relaxation, And Rest
This is extremely critical because all the negative hormones like adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol can be disastrous for your health, and they can inhibit muscle development and fat lost. There is a breakdown of muscles in the body. There is more fat accumulation.