The problem of the "plateau" state is relevant for all athletes, regardless of the level of training. Find out how to overcome this condition and use one of the tips. Every athlete can experience a plateau. Moreover, his level of training is not decisive. You can progress for a long time, but at a certain point, the effectiveness of the training will drop sharply, and progress may stop. This can happen even if all the requirements of the training and nutrition program are followed. Someone may be satisfied with such a situation, and someone will look for a way out of this situation. It is for those athletes who want to continue to gain muscle mass that this article is written. In it, you can learn 7 tips on how to overcome the plateau effect.
Tip # 1: Make changes to your workout routine
The most popular training cycle is 4 or 6 weeks. However, when your body is already well enough trained, then such a regime stops working. It must be said that there are quite a few other programs with a longer duration and complex structure, allowing you to better track your own progress.
If you make frequent changes to your training program, say every one or two weeks, then you will progress faster. For example, the Yoda Three Training (Y3T) system is quite popular and involves the cycling of 3 training styles:
- In the first week you do basic exercises with 6 to 10 repetitions.
- Second week workout consists of isolated and basic movements with a number of repetitions from 8 to 12.
- A in the third week you are working in high intensity and volumetric mode. The number of repetitions is already about 15. In addition, supersets and dropsets should be included in the training program.
Thanks to this technique, you can achieve a constant set of muscle mass.
Tip # 2: Load time
Often, athletes, wanting to overcome the plateau state, begin to resort to training with a low number of repetitions. At the same time, the opposite training method can be more effective. For muscle growth, a very important criterion is the time that they are under load. Using a small number of repetitions, from 3 to 5, does not provide sufficient duration of the load.
Such a technique will lead to an increase in strength indicators, but is not able to cause muscle tissue hypertrophy. To do this, you need to perform from 15 to 20 repetitions. To a greater extent, this applies to small muscles. Thus, a couple of high-rep sets can be added to the approaches for developing strength indicators.
Tip # 3: The Brain-Muscle Connection
Recently, more and more attention has been paid to neuromuscular connections. However, athletes rarely use this principle in practice. The main reason for this lies in the misunderstanding of this term. Together with this, it is the most important aspect that separates the adult from the child. Most professional bodybuilders are aware of the high importance of this factor in gaining muscle mass and giving the body symmetry.
During training, especially of large muscle groups, a large number of auxiliary muscles are connected to the work. This contributes to lifting more weight, but the load is distributed to all muscles. Consequently, the target muscles receive less stress. The situation will change if neuromuscular connections are properly involved.
Tip # 4: Remove bottlenecks
Every athlete has bottlenecks in the development of muscles. Their presence significantly affects the progress in the growth of muscle mass and increase in working weight. For example, when performing a bench press in a lying position, many athletes have problems in some phases of the movement. This can be fixation in the upper or middle position, "dead" point. In order to move on, these problems must be eliminated. You should identify weak muscles and give them proper attention. For this, additional exercises should be introduced into the training program.
Tip # 5: use giant approaches
Giant sets are a great way to breathe life into your muscles. The essence of the method is to use a load of 50 to 70% of the maximum working weight and then perform the exercise 3 to 5 times in a row. At the same time, the time for rest should be minimal or work without rest at all.
Tip # 6: Review your training program
One of the main causes of the plateau state is the adaptation of the body to monotonous loads. With frequent use of the same exercises, the body gets used to them and progress is reduced. You need to constantly look for new exercises and use them in your training program.
For example, each athlete's training program includes deadlifts and bench presses. Try replacing them with, for example, front squats and chest press using a block machine. You can also add sumo deadlift and others to your arsenal of exercises.
Tip # 7: Find a Workout Partner
Of course, self-motivation is very important and is one of the main factors in your continuous progress. However, extrinsic motivation can become more effective and help you overcome the plateau state. It's hard enough to constantly force yourself to train with full dedication. It is in this case that your partner will help you.
In addition, from the outside, all errors are more noticeable and you will receive new information. Often, when doing the exercises, third-party help is needed to complete additional repetitions. If your progress has stopped, and you have been unable to gain muscle mass for a long time, then you should not despair. In the career of every athlete, such periods are possible and there are many ways to overcome this situation. Use the 7 tips to overcome the plateau effect described above and you will start progressing again.
Learn more about the plateau effect and how to solve this problem in this video:
