Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Climbing Over the Plateau

You’ve worked hard for the past three months, lost inches and weight and toned up your muscles. Now you seem to have stopped making progress. Your body has adjusted to the new exercise regimen. You have hit a plateau.

Plateaus are a fact of life but they are also frustrating. So what do you do now? You need to step it up a notch and challenge your body once again. Your workout needs to increase in time, intensity and variety. Here are a few suggestions for additional challenges:
  • Increase your cardiovascular workouts (walking, biking, jogging).
  • Increase your intensity. You need to break a sweat once again as you did when you began.
  • Try something new. Try a step class or the elliptical in addition to your normal treadmill workout.
  • It may be time to talk with a personal trainer to get you back on the right track.

It’s time to have a “heart to heart” talk with yourself about your eating habits. Are you really watching what you put into your body and are you eating enough of the right foods? Your body needs its fuel.

Remember to think of the plateau as reaching part of your goal, of climbing halfway up the mountain. You have reached the point where you can see the prize. You are well on the way to “a new you.”

--Jane Reynolds
Martin Memorial South Health and Fitness

For more information on how you can break out of exercise ruts and get over plateaus, listen to Jane on Martin Memorial Healthcast, a podcast that can be accessed at www.mmhs.com/content/healthcasts.htm.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Plateaus are my downfall. Thats is when I give up every time.