Work off an exercise plateau

Wed., Oct. 13, 2004

Andrea Renee Wyatt, M.S.S., C.S.C.S. King Features Syndicate

Q: I complete a resistance-training program three days a week and find it enjoyable. I saw many changes to my body in the beginning. However, for the past month I haven’t noticed any forward progress.

A friend suggested I focus on specific body parts each time I exercise rather than completing a total body workout, such as arms on one day and legs on another. In order to start seeing results again, would you recommend that I change my workout to a split routine such as my friend suggests, or should I modify my existing program?

A: I recommend the latter approach of tweaking your existing program. It sounds to me like you’ve hit an exercise plateau, where your body has become efficient at handling the stresses placed on it with the exercise regimen you have developed. Since your body does not have to work as hard to complete your exercise program as it did in the beginning, you aren’t seeing those earlier improvements. By adding some extra challenge to your current routine, you should be able to get off that plateau and start hitting new goals.

If your exercise program has not changed since you first started, it’s not surprising that you’ve hit a plateau. It is necessary to change the resistance of each exercise as you become stronger. This can be done by adding another set or slightly increasing the weight or resistance on each exercise.

Also, look at how much you are accomplishing during your exercise sessions. If you find yourself taking a long time between sets or exercises, try to move more efficiently through your routine.

This will give you an added benefit by elevating your heart rate.

Another way to make your current program more challenging is by adding short bouts of cardiovascular exercise between strength exercises. For example, after completing sets on the leg press, do jumping jacks, ride the stationary bike or walk/run on the treadmill for the two minutes you would normally take to rest.

A few changes to your current routine can be just what you need to get off that plateau and reach new fitness goals.

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