Training Plateaus are the biggest killer of motivation and gym memberships going around. Every single person I know that has trained consistently for a year or more has in some shape or form hit a training plateau.
They make you question your coach, your training program, your training partners and yourself.
As humans, we are conditioned to compare ourselves to others. “But Joey can deadlift 200kg and he isn’t doing anything different to me at training, why can’t I lift that?” Or “Tina has gotten so toned in the last 3 months but she isn’t training any more than me, this isn’t fair”.
At this point, the first thing my members ALWAYS ask is “Can you program some more accessory work for me, I need to get better at X”.
While sometimes the individual will benefit from accessory training on their weaknesses, typically there is a lot more than can be done before we ever get to this stage.
NUTRITION!
Somehow this part of peoples training plan is still overlooked…
The old saying goes – “Food is Fuel”.
Then why are we still fueling our bodies with McDonalds, sugar and other poor food choices?
If you want to get better in the gym, start in the Kitchen.
Increase the quality of food you eat by increasing the range of vegetables you eat, they contain vital vitamins and minerals for optimal bodily function.
Eat lean quality cuts of meat, drop the sausages and frankenmeat you get served at your local fast food store. These are poor quality, low nutritional value and typically contain very high amounts of BAD fats.
Fuel your body like it’s a Ferrari!
SLEEP!
There is a plethora of research on sleep and how it relates to recovery, workout performance and other measures of human function.
The overwhelming advice from these studies indicates if you are getting less than 8 hours of sleep a night you increase the risk of injury, decrease the recovery of vital bodily functions and decrease exercise performance.
Start making this a priority and see how you fair in the gym.
QUALITY OF MOVEMENT!
Before you go and start training on the Chinese Weightlifting teams program or spending 5 hours in the gym every day, have a think about movement quality rather than quantity or complexity.
Right now, are you moving “perfectly” or as efficient as possible? Are you sacrificing some of your movement patterns for speed or short-term performance in a workout? Or are you practicing something you aren’t quite ready for?
Before your next training session starts, have a look at your program. On EACH movement you have in that given session, what could you do better? What would make you a better athlete?
You’ll quickly learn that there is plenty of things in your day to day training that you could improve before going and adding in accessory programs and more training volume.
As always, if you are unsure, ask for assistance from your Coach.
Yours in Fitness,
Coach Regan