1. Workout plateau limits vary from person to person

Regardless of whether your goal is to blast fat, bulk up, or just maintain your current fitness level, reaching your plateau and staying there is not advisable. Once your body has become used to the work and you keep doing it on the same level, you’re pretty much just wasting time and effort.


“Reaching your plateau is very dependent on the person,” explains NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) certified personal trainer Richard Manalastas of The Camp Transformation Center in Chula Vista, California. “Humidity, climate, and elevation play a factor as well.”

 

Case in point: For someone who’s in good shape, finishing a mile (or a little over 1.5 km) in ten minutes is a decent pace. “If he can hold that pace comfortably for 20-30 minutes, it just shows that he’s become accustomed to that and his body has already plateaued,” Manalastas says.

 

Now, if that same person were to run at the same pace uphill or, say, a different land elevation, he probably wouldn’t be able to last as long.

 


2. You can still make old workouts challenging

“Essentially, workouts don't really stop being effective, so long as you keep challenging yourself,” Manalastas says. “And it is my job as a trainer to ensure that my client is never just coasting through exercises.”

 

However, contrary to popular belief, putting in more time at the gym or upping your rep count is not the best way to push past your plateau. Progression is key.

 

“For conditioning, you can increase the resistance [on your machine], train in a different climate, or work with different elevations,” Manalastas says. “Challenge yourself by running with a weighted vest or ankle weights, or even just try and push yourself to go a little bit faster than you normally do. Interval training works, too,” he adds.

 

“The same thing goes for strength and resistance training. Rather than increasing reps, try going a little heavier on the weights or changing the movement to where you're forced to activate more than one muscle group,” Manalastas says.



3. Eccentric exercises can be used as an alternate workout

Also known as negatives, eccentrics focus on drawing out the movement as you go down from the top position instead of counting how many times you can bring the weight up, Manalastas says. You can do this by counting one to three as you slowly lower the bar from the top of your bench press, for example.



4. How to test yourself

There are a variety of ways to determine your baselines and from there, you can compare your current stats, so you can know for sure once you’ve reached your plateau.

 

“The step-up test, the push-up test, the Davies test, and your 1-rep max are just some examples of scientific and standardized tests that can help you assess your fitness level,” Manalastas says.

 

You can test yourself at regular intervals or anytime you feel like you might be getting too swole for your workout routine. Just so you know when you’re ready to advance to more complex moves or add a couple more plates on the bar.

Follow @richarddeanm for more fitness tips