6 Tips to Overcome a Weightlifting Plateau

What causes a strength-training plateau and how to break through it

Reviewed by Heather Black, CPT

Strength training programs require constant adjustment to challenge muscles, sustain growth, and build endurance. If you continually perform the same program, you will inevitably hit a weightlifting plateau where muscle growth stops. Let's dig into why and how you can break through.

What Is a Weightlifting Plateau?

You will likely get strong relatively quickly if you are new to strength training. However, after six months or so, your body begins adapting to the volume and intensity of your workouts. In short, you will no longer be challenged by the routine and your body will consider it your new normal.

At this point, you may have hit a weightlifting plateau, which means you seem unable to progress even if you increase the weight lifted or the number of repetitions you do with a particular weight.

Related: What Is Muscle Mass and How to Measure It

Why Do Weightlifting Plateaus Happen?

Weightlifting plateaus occur because your body has made adaptations to your exercise. This is a good thing because it means you've already made progress. To continue seeing results, you need to make further adjustments to strength training.

Plateaus occur because you haven't been providing enough challenge to your muscles, you aren't performing the exercises with the correct form, or you aren't properly recovering from your previous workout sessions.

Another reason could be that you are not pushing yourself enough. It's important to know the difference between not working hard enough and needing to recover instead.

Takeaway

A weightlifting plateau will last until you make the necessary changes to overcome it. How long this takes depends on your fitness level and training program, as well as your nutrition and recovery habits.

If you are exercising diligently but not making the gains you'd like, here are 6 tried-and-true techniques to help blast past your weightlifting plateau.

Increase Your Training Intensity

One of the easiest ways to overcome a weightlifting plateau is to make your muscles work harder rather than longer. To break out of a rut, aim for a program with heavier weight and low reps rather than one with low weight and high reps.

For example, if you have been doing three sets of 10 to 12 reps, drop down to three sets of 6 to 8 reps with heavier weight. The right weight should be challenging but not undermine your form.

If you can maintain proper form but start to struggle by the end of a set, that's a good sign that you've chosen the right weight. By the end of the third set, you may even need help from a spotter.

If you are doing lunges or an abs workout, challenge yourself by carrying weights or adding a set of ankle weights rather than increasing reps. Let the intensity of an exercise challenge your muscles rather than the volume of training.

Takeaway

Always lift weights in a slow and controlled manner. Bouncing or swinging the weight does little to build strength and may end up causing injury.

Vary Your Exercise Routine

You'd be surprised how quickly a muscle group adapts to a specific exercise. While varying the intensity of an exercise can help overcome a weightlifting plateau, changing your exercise routine is equally as important.

Takeaway

A study from the University of Tampa reported that a 12-week course of varied exercises was far more effective in building muscle than maintaining the same exercise routine.

According to the research, varied exercises involving the quadriceps translated to increases of 11.6% to 12.2% in muscle mass, while repetitive exercises achieved gains of about 9.3%.

Varying your program or incorporating cross-training into a workout program can stimulate your body in new ways.

Try free weights or a stability ball if you always use machines. If you use a bench press for chest exercises, do pushups. Changing things up keeps your program fresh and recruits an entirely different set of muscles.

Related: Get Started With Weight Training

Change the Order of Exercises

Another way to overcome a weightlifting plateau is to change the sequence of exercises. For example, if you do the same biceps exercises in the same order, your muscles will fatigue in the same way every time.

Takeaway

By switching the order of exercises, your muscles will fatigue in a different way.

In some cases, you may find it more challenging to get to the end of a workout if you start with an easier exercise and end with the harder one. Most gym-goers do just the opposite, getting the more strenuous exercises out of the way first and leaving the easiest for the end.

Stop Exercises You've Outgrown

There may be exercises in your routine that you've outgrown. Or there may be some that have become redundant as you've expanded your workout.

For example, if you've been doing toe raises to build your calves, the growth potential is limited, even with weights. (After all, there is only so much weight you can carry). To reignite muscle growth, do toe presses on a leg press, which can carry far more weight.

Take a critical eye to your current routine, replacing outdated exercises with ones more appropriate to your training level.

Takeaway

Look for redundancies (such as doing chest flies on both cables and a bench) and switch things up to target a muscle group in different ways.

Schedule a session with a personal trainer who can review your current program and recommend changes for overcoming your weightlifting plateau. However experienced you may be, a fresh set of well-trained eyes always helps.

Related: How to Build a Split Workout Routine

Get More Rest

You will undoubtedly hit a weightlifting plateau if you train too hard for too long. Adequate rest and recovery are essential for muscle growth.

If you have fallen into a rut, physically or emotionally, take a few days to recharge your batteries. Don't worry about losing muscle mass or strength; you won't. It is far better to rest than push through and risk injury and burnout.

One smart way to avoid overtraining and burnout is to program de-loads into your weight-training routine. These are intentional breaks, usually lasting a week, where you back off the volume, intensity, weight, or all of these factors.

Related: What Happens to Your Body When You Lift Weights Every Day

Working out too much reduces your capacity for exercise, fatigues you more quickly, and increases the risk of insomnia, stress, and loss of appetite. Sometimes, taking your foot off the accelerator is the best way to move forward.

Takeaway

Overtraining can take back many of the gains you've made by placing your body under constant stress with little time to repair.

Improve Your Nutrition

Proper nutrition will help your muscles grow and fuel your workouts. If you don't get the carbohydrates, protein, fats, and nutrients you need, you could undermine your training efforts no matter how hard you work.

Carbohydrates are the body's primary fuel source and should not be avoided if you want to build muscles. Although low-carb diets may benefit some people, cutting out too many carbs can reduce your exercise capacity and leave you exhausted.

Make sure you are getting enough protein. It is an essential part of muscle growth, maintenance, and recovery. Its benefits max out at 2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day—but many people do not hit that target.

If you don't feel the vigor needed to power a workout, speak with your doctor or a qualified nutritionist. Often, a change in the balance of your diet can help you overcome a weightlifting plateau.

Related: Are You Eating Enough for Muscle Growth?

A Word From Verywell

Weightlifting plateaus can be frustrating, but they are also extremely informative. Once you hit a plateau, you need to make changes. Passively waiting for a weightlifting plateau to end will not likely work. Your body is letting you know you've reached your potential under the current training conditions and it needs to be challenged.

To prevent plateaus, plan out your program to include regular changes in intensity, volume, weight, and exercise variation. De-load every few weeks and allow time for recovery. Before you know it, you'll be back on track making gains. If you're confused about how to make these adjustments, consult a certified personal trainer.

Related: 8 Ways to Improve Your Deadlift Technique, According to a Trainer

Read the original article on Verywell Fitness.