plateau-related stories
Jumpstart Your Weight Loss (With Real Results) in 2 Weeks
Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Motivation, Nutrition & Supplements
Whether it's a high school reunion, summer beach trip or friend's wedding, we all have that one calendar date marked in red when we just want to look a little better than our best. Here, Chris Freytag, author of "2-Week Total Body Turnaround," lets us in on a few of her quick weight-loss secrets. Reality check: You're not going to lose a pound a day; in the first week, you might shed some water weight, so it's possible you'll see a drop of five or more pounds, but after that, one to two pounds is what you should expect, says Freytag. She also promises an "intense... kick in the butt, a mental challenge, a contest to keep you going for 14 days... designed to give you the skills and tools to move forward."
That's Fit: OK, I have two weeks before a big event, and I want to slim down. What are some dietary and fitness changes I can make?
Chris Freytag: First off, cut out the packaged junk food ... all of the chemicals, preservatives, extra sodium, extra fat and extra sugar can cause inflammation and lethargy. Eat real food -- lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats and fish, low-fat dairy and whole grains. To do this, you have to get organized. Make a shopping list and go to the grocery store. This will keep you from going for takeout because 'you don't have any food in the house.' And, don't starve yourself. Eat six small meals instead of three large ones. By eating smaller portions more regularly, you can fend off possible binges.
Temptations Derail Your Diet Plans
- 38 percent of you are swayed by temptation. That's understandable! The next time a craving kicks in, try to beat it with Jana Klauer's stopwatch plan for craving control.
- 27 percent of you feel family and friends try to sabotage your weight-loss efforts. This is a sad but true anomaly. You would think that those who love you would want you to be healthy and reach your weight loss goals. Often, however, family and friends are surprised or somehow threatened by your efforts. Others may unintentionally throw you off course or say something insensitive. The key to solving this problem is taking control of your own weight. Others can not force feed you and your weight loss efforts are -- ultimately -- up to you. To get the support you need from others, express what you need clearly. Tell your family and friends what helps you -- and what hurts you. Don't expect others to just intuitively know your needs.
- 17 percent of you get hung up when you hit a plateau. Plateaus are an unfortunate weight loss reality. But you can break through it, so don't give up. Check out Jonny Bowden's eight plateau-busting tips.
- 13 percent of you said nothing can derail your weight loss plans. When you set your mind to it, you do it.
- 4 percent of you have been thrown off by crazy diet plans. Those plans can sound good in the beginning, but they're rarely sustainable for the long-term. Check out AOL Health for diet tips that work.
Vary Your Workout for Maximum Results
Think of it like this. If you knew how to play the piano, you might find a particularly challenging piece of music. At first, playing it would be difficult but as you practiced, it would become easier and easier and eventually you'd be able to play it by memory. Your muscles are no different -- a workout that was once very challenging can become easy after time; muscles have a memory of sorts.
But if you vary your routine, you can keep your body guessing and working as hard as you want it to. Divine Caroline has some great suggestions for varying your workout. Variety in your exercise program will prevent your body from hitting a plateau and, as an added bonus, variety also prevents you from getting bored.
Fit Factor: The plateau-busting plan
Have you ever driven across the great plains? It's a beautiful landscape, for sure, but no matter how far you drive, it never seems to change. Mile after mile, all that surrounds you is the same flat prairie, in some cases without as much as a small hill to change the scenery. Well, if you haven't changed your workouts, your results will flatten out just the same, causing you to reach a similar plateau.
Just like you would need to take a different driving route to see new scenery, you have to change your workout in order to continue seeing new results.
While it's not always necessary to make major changes to your workout to bust through a plateau, you must make change of some kind. Otherwise, your body will continue to maintain your current level of fitness but never go much further than that.
The tricky part is, the more experienced a lifter you are, the more dramatic the change you make usually has to be. While altering rep counts, increasing or decreasing the speed of lifts, or reducing rest time in between sets may work for some people, it may not be enough of a change for people who've been pumping iron for several months or years.
Fitness frustrations
Several years ago I was in the process of losing some extra pounds. I was working out every evening and had gradually progressed to a relatively intense routine. And then I hit that dreaded point most people who are trying to lose weight hit at one time or another... a plateau. I increased my exercise, I reduced my calorie intake a bit further, I did everything I could think of to shake myself out of that darn plateau. Then, at the suggestion of my boss at the time, I added a second workout session in the morning. That did the trick! Better yet, I found that I enjoyed the morning exercise and stuck with it for a long time.
I think we all have fitness frustrations from time to time. Whether you're trying to lose weight or training for a specific event or just trying to reach a personal fitness milestone -- as rewarding as fitness is, some amount of frustration is to be expected. But, like anything worth doing, if you stick with it, you'll get through the frustrating points and reap the rewards. Self Magazine asked readers for their fitness frustrations and then experts offered possible solutions.
What are some of your fitness frustrations?
Surprising reasons for a stubborn scale
If you're trying to lose weight but skipped your exercise session and have a second helping of dessert, you don't really expect to see the numbers on your scale go down. But if you think you're doing everything right and the scale still won't budge, it can be really frustrating. The most common reason for a stuck scale is a plateau. A natural part of weight loss, where the loss slows or even stops for a time period. But there are other, more surprising reasons, your weight loss may have halted:
- You pay for meals with a credit card. On average, people who pay with a credit card spend about 30% more, and more money equals more food.
- You dine in a group. As the conversation flows, so does the food. Pay attention to your servings and don't eat more than you usually would just because you're still sitting at the table.
- You wear baggy clothing. If it hides behind a bulky sweater, you're less likely to do anything about it. Wear properly fitted clothes so you look your best and keep yourself if your best shape.
Work it off
Womens Health, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health
Technology is a great thing for many facets of life, but not so much when it comes to working out. Fancy fitness gizmos -- such as one I saw advertised recently during an infomercial, claiming to be able to "transform your body without having to work out or diet" -- are no substitute for good, old fashioned hard work. Between dangerous diet pills and worthless fitness devices, many people are tricked into believing that there's a secret to getting into better shape. There is: it's called busting your butt. Don't rely on snake oils or fitness machines designed to work out for you; rely on your willpower. This, of course, requires that you give it your all... every time you step foot in that gym or open your refrigerator.
If you've been working out for a fair amount of time but still aren't seeing the results you hoped for, the reason why may not be what you want to hear. Aside from fitness plateaus -- which occur when you do not vary your workout enough -- your lack of jack may be due to the mere fact that you, my friend, just plain ain't trying hard enough.
Here are a few ways to tell if you're not giving it your all:
Plateau busting for seasoned lifters
Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Men's Health
Stuck in a rut with your resistance training workout? Feel like you've stopped seeing results? If so, you, my friend, have reached a plateau in your progress.
How do you break through this sticking point? Good question. Fortunately, I have a few good answers for you.
While it's not always necessary to make major change to your workout to bust through a plateau, you must make change of some kind. Otherwise, your body will continue to maintain your current level of fitness but never go much further than that.
The tricky part is, the more experienced a lifter you are, the more dramatic the change you make usually has to be. While altering rep counts, increasing or decreasing the speed of lifts, or reducing rest time in between sets may work for some people, it may not be enough of a change for people who've been pumping iron for several months or years.
But, not to worry. I told you I have some good answers, right? True to my word, if you're having trouble breaking through your fitness plateau, you may want to try the following techniques:
Partial Reps. Rather than performing the entire motion of an exercise, stop at around the halfway point. This will allow you to complete more reps and/or lift more weight than usual, confusing your muscles in the process.
Supersets/Compound Sets. Perform two sets consecutively (each for a different muscle group for Supersets, or both for the same muscle group for Compound sets) without taking a break in between.
Jumpstart Your Fitness: Why the scale is stuck (and how to get it moving)
Frustrated because it seems like no matter how hard you try to eat right and exercise the needle on the scale just won't budge? Or maybe you were making progress until suddenly it stopped, and now you don't know why or how to get it moving again?Ugh, that's the pits. The good news is that it could be a simple situation of you inadvertently sabotaging yourself. Do you ever grocery shop when you're hungry? Take a lot of "taste tests" when cooking? You might be surprised at some of the ways calories and pounds can sneak into your life -- right past you and your diet plan.
Change begets change
Womens Health, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Men's Health
Always consult with your doctor before engaging in any exercise program. A disclaimer of that kind is typically an article footer, so I thought that I'd mix things up a bit and start with it. In fact, there are several benefits to change when it comes to exercise, so I suppose the switch is most apropos.
Change is good. Remember that. Make it your exercise mantra. In my years as a personal trainer, I was often approached by people of all ages and fitness levels who asked why they were not getting the results from their exercise programs that they desired. "Well, what have you been doing?"
Their responses ranged from "Walking on the treadmill" to "Lifting the equivalent of a Buick in the weight room."
"Okay..." I would say as I stroked my chin a little, already knowing what the answer to my next question would be before I even asked it, " ... for how long have you been doing that?"
Mixing things up
Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Men's Health
I recently wrote a post about training plateaus and, more specifically, how to break through them. If any one theme emerged from that post, it is that it is absolutely necessary to continuously change your workout. Failing to do so ultimately leads to the cessation of new results. But how often is often enough?
Studies show that some exercises can become stale after only a few weeks due to neurological adaptation, while others take a bit longer. The key is to keep your body guessing, thereby calling upon your central nervous system to recruit new muscle fibers (or at least stimulate the same ones in a different manner). To do so, major change is not always necessary.
Here are just a few ways you can go about mixing things up:
- Change your rep/set range. Example: If you were previously performing 3 set of 10 reps, try doing 4 sets of 8 reps.
- Alternate your grips/stances. Example: Try switching to a more narrow stance when doing squats, or reverse your hand position when performing lat pulldowns.
- Switch to barbells/dumbells. Example: Use dumbells for the bench press instead of the barbell, or try barbell bent-over rows instead of dumbells.
- Reduce/add time to rest periods. Example: Take only 30 seconds in between sets to recuperate, or take an extra minute longer than you have been.
The 5: Plateau breakers
Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Men's Health
You've hit the weight room consistently for about a year, seeing results after the first few months and then, to your dismay, your progress seems to come to a sudden halt. It's not as though you're regressing, rather, you're simply no longer making gains. What's the deal?
This lack of progress typically indicates that a training plateau has been reached. Your body has adapted to the workout regimen to which you've been adhering, and it's basically responded to its fullest. In effect, you asked it for specific results by following that workout and it, in turn, gave you those specific results. The problem is, even if you now desire even greater results, you'll never achieve them by following the same workout as before. You have to change things up. You have to shock your body into growth. You have to bust through that plateau.
Here are five training principles to help you do just that.
5. Descending Sets. Do as many reps with a weight as you can. When you reach the point of exhaustion, quickly reduce the amount of weight you are lifting and resume lifting. Continue until you are again unable to move the weight for any more reps, dropping weight you are lifting once again and then resuming. Follow this pattern once or several times during a set.
4. Partial Reps. Instead of performing the full range of motion of a particular exercise, try performing only half of the movement -- only do it quicker and for a higher number of repetitions than you normally would when performing the full-range version of the exercise.
3. Forced Positive Reps. Once you've reached the end of your set, have a training partner (spotter) assist you in forcing out a few extra reps.
2. Forced Negative Reps. Negatives can only be done with the help of a training partner, as it is their sole responsibility to lift the weight for you during the concentric (upward) movement of exercise. Once they have lifted the weight, you are now solely responsible for its eccentric (downward) movement. Try to lower the weight as slowly as you can, performing several reps in this manner.
1. Circuit Training. The split routine is very common amongst weight lifters (back/biceps one day, shoulders/triceps the next day, etc., etc.), but it is also a routine to which your body can adapt quickly. To shock your body into new growth, try implementing a resistance circuit into your workout. Take a 4 to 6 week vacation from your normal split and instead follow a full-body circuit, which will also simultaneously provide you with the added benefit of a cardiovascular workout.
Jump-start your weight loss again
Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Nutrition & Supplements
It's frustrating to hit a plateau, but unfortunately for most of us it's common. The solution: Don't forget to shake up your fitness routine. Your body adapts quickly to exercise, causing results to slow, so every few weeks you should vary your workouts a bit.
Here's how: Add in new strength moves, lift a little more weight than usual, or up the duration, intensity or type of cardio you do. Be creative -- even outdoors -- try biking uphills rather than just on flat roads. Also, take a look at your diet. All too often, after we start working out we start eating more. You may swear that your meals are the same as before, but it's worth taking a look (and remember if you are losing weight you shouldn't need as many calories as before anyway.) On the flip side, you also need to make sure you're not under eating -- and putting your body into starvation mode, which will slow down your metabolism and slow or stop weight loss.
Once you get your diet and exercise habits back on track, the scale needle should start dipping again.
Going beyond that weight loss plateau: lose weight again!
If you've faced weight loss and dieting before, my guess is that you've probably been discouraged when you reach that "plateau." You know, when you stop rapidly losing weight and the more realistic weight loss timeline sets in?This alone discourages many from continuing weight loss diets, and old habits slip back into the picture. That's too bad, since a diet should be considered a lifestyle change more than a temporary goal. That's just not the case with many people.
But weight loss 'plateaus' are very common and are part of the weight loss process. In fact, some folks begin dieting and don't see that scale go down at all for a while -- which can be very distressing indeed. To see what do do when a plateau interrupts your dieting plan, consider this advice. It's not you -- or is it?
Jumpstart Your Fitness: By using the best benchmarks
Are you having trouble sticking to your goal? You're not alone, and although there are many possible reasons why consider if it's because the goal you're trying to stick to is unrealistic or unclear in some way. Often people set their goals too low (motivation is an issue), too high (risking disappointment), or they aren't specific enough with how they're going to measure it. But understanding different fitness benchmarks, and using them to focus and measure your goals, can fix all that and give you both clear direction and clear ways to mark your progress. It's hard to know where you're going if you don't know where you're starting from!Use these benchmarks to set you're starting point, and your finish line:
- Heart Rate A great way to measure your physical fitness level and cardiovascular health is to keep track of your heart rate -- hence all the heart rate monitors on the market these days. You want to aim to be at around 50% of your maximum heart rate (220 minus your age) when you're first getting started, and work your way up to 75% as your fitness level increases.
