In my previous post, I talked about burnout and injuries. Here I will begin to cover plateauing and its contribution to setbacks.
PLATEAUING
Whether it's watching the pounds that were effortlessly dropping off the scale, minutes being shaved off your running pace, or muscles that were starting to form everywhere...progress will seem to come to a complete halt. So now what? Early in many people's journey to work towards a healthier and active lifestyle, they get what is coined in the industry as "newbie gains."
When plateauing occurs, don't get discouraged. While the human body is highly adaptable and will change over time to keep up the demands you ask of it, plateauing is a part of the process. And because the body is highly adaptable, it just may be time to step it up a little bit. We can do this in many different ways! If you have been working out three times per week for the last year, maybe it's time to make time for a fourth day in your schedule. If you're already feeling pressed for time, you can always look at your programming. Are you just going through the motions of a workout? If so, it could be time to increase your effort levels during sessions. That's where Rate of Perceived Exertion comes in (RPE).
RPE is a simple 1-10 scale in fitness with 1 being very easy and 10 being maximal effort. As a professional in the industry as well as frequent gym goer myself, I can tell you that most people live somewhere in the 4-6 range most of the time and for an untrained individual that will be enough to make progress for a little bit. When I program for myself and clients, RPE 1-3 is usually reserved for warm-ups, recovery workouts and base building. RPE 7-9 is sub-maximal, somewhere in the 80-95% range that can last about 30-90 sec, but can repeated a handful of times. Efforts in that range will require a fair amount of rest in between sets to give the same level of effort. A true RPE 10 is usually not repeatable beyond 1-2 repetitions and doesn't last beyond 10 seconds -- think 100 meter sprints. Our body will adapt to certain intensities and require more over time. What felt like a 7/8 RPE may begin to feel like a 5/6 RPE over 4-8 weeks.
What about the 4-6 RPE range? The 4-6 RPE scale is more of an sub-maximal endurance type test. It starts off as doable, but over time becomes more difficult. You aren't quite testing your limits, but you also will not be able to have a conversation due to heavy breathing. I want you to think of your favorite group fitness class. They are typically set into circuit style training each which lasts between 2-5 mins. After you complete each station, you have maybe 30 sec of recovery time to before moving to the next station. In order for you to sustain the allotted time for each station, you are usually grabbing a lighter weight or moving at a slower pace to ensure you'll be able to continue completing the exercise before moving to the next station. Will you get a killer workout? Yes! Will you be sore? Very likely! These workouts usually live in the 4-6 RPE scale that turn into what people perceive as RPE 7-10 for exercises however based on the time constraints and lack of cardiovascular conditioning. These workouts are great for testing ones' endurance every now and then, but often misinform participants who go to the gym. Without going on a rant about my feelings towards group exercise classes and the high risk of injury due to incompetent instructors who teach as a hobby not out of passion for helping people. Or the fact that many class instructors have extremely minimal requirements for educational training before they begin "educating" and instructing people on how to abuse their bodies day after day, bringing them closer to injuries than building them up...whoops, went on a rant anyway. I'll just leave it at, a lot classes will cause physical burnout and plateaus for people because they only stick to one range of the RPE scale and don't have proper educators.
With proper programming, a coach/trainer should scale your RPE based on your body's preparedness. If you seem to be plateauing, it could be because your body needs more stimulus to signal a need to change and adapt. On the other hand, you could actually be pushing to hard and be in need for a deload to give your body adequate time to recover from the stress you've been putting it through. It's tough to say that intensity is the only reason for plateauing. Maybe you've been doing everything right in the gym, but your diet is horrendous and you have a glass of wine every night. It's possible that your diet is actually very solid, and you're killing it with programming in the gym, but your sleep is horrible and preventing your body from recovering. There are so many freaking variables that can contribute to your stagnating progress. So start with controlling what you do have the ability to: sleep, diet, intensity and most importantly recovery. Reach out to someone who can help navigate you through all of it and make sense of the noise. Even professionals work with other professionals...yes, I have my own coach and mentor. If you are in the very small 1% of people that is actually doing absolutely everything right 24/7...just give it time.
The pursuit to achieving your fitness goals is a journey. One that comes with its fair share of setbacks.
Burnout, injuries, and plateauing are common challenges faced by gym-goers. However, by understanding and accepting these setbacks as part of the process, we can develop strategies to overcome them. Listening to our bodies, taking appropriate rest, seeking professional help when needed, and introducing variety into our workouts are essential steps in dealing with setbacks. Remember, setbacks are not permanent roadblocks but rather opportunities for growth and improvement.
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