Tips For Bodybuilding: Moving Past A Plateau

By Author: Sean Nalewanyj
Total Articles: 53
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It's happened to all of us

We find tips for bodybuilding that help us to create solid training programs that help us add more weight to the bar, more pounds to the scale, and more muscle to our bodies.

When all at once our gains come to a standstill, and our muscle growth and strength gains are halted.

In the bodybuilding world, this is referred to as a "plateau."

The plateau is rough because when it happens; despite our best efforts in the gym and in the kitchen, there will be no progress. How does a typical lifter take this?

They start haphazardly switching up their training routine in an effort to kick-start new growth by "shocking" their muscles...

HALT!

Most plateaus are simply caused due to overtraining. Review some basic physiology and you'll see why

When we train intensely in the gym, we are damaging our muscles. With every set that we do, it takes longer for the body to heal. After you're done working out, the body has to rest and be fed to allow it to heal itself.

Once your muscles have healed, the body will build additional muscle mass as an adaptive response ...
... to the stress.

Simple, right?

There is a bit more to the story here

When you become stronger and start working with heavier weights, you increase the stress on your body, and this deepens the "hole" in your body's ability to recover. The advanced lifter who is bench pressing 300 pounds for 6 reps is placing his muscles and body under far more overall stress than the beginner who is benching 125 pounds.

How much does this have to do with plateaus? A whole lot!

When you are adding more weight to the bar and forcing your body to deal with more stress each week, you HAVE to eventually compensate for the increase in stress by lowering the volume and frequency of your training. If you're constantly progressing in weights and intensity but are not reducing the volume of your training, you will force your body to a point where it cannot effectively recover between workouts.

When you don't recover fully, your muscles cannot rebuild themselves, and this will eventually affect your muscular size and strength. If you interrupt the process of recovery by placing your muscles under more stress before they are fully recovered, your gains will slow down and eventually stop.

When you don't take the time to recover, you will keep yourself on the plateau. Both part of a balanced equation that determines your progress, training intensity and volume are related. If one variable goes up, the other MUST go down.

Anyone who is stuck on this weight training plateau, remember these tips for bodybuilding

Don't ignore your volume and frequency!

Cut down on the number of sets that you do for each muscle group, and also think about resting for an additional day between workouts.

Keep in mind these additional tips for bodybuilding

A slight reduction in volume and frequency is usually all that is needed in order to make steady, uninterrupted progress in muscle size and strength. Don't panic and grab the latest tip in a Muscle Mag; just listen to your body and understand that it has a limited amount of recovery ability and that as you become stronger, you use up more of it on every individual set.

Reduce the volume slightly and consider inserting an additional rest day; that is most likely all you'll need to blast yourself through the plateau and into a new phase of growth.
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