When you encounter muscle building plateaus, it can be very frustrating to feel like your hard exercise program isn't paying off. But there are some things you can do to power through those plateaus and start to see progress again.
First, you may need to change what you're doing. A workout routine stays effective for about four weeks before your body stops responding to it. If you have the habit of doing the same exercise routine day after day, you may need to make some changes.
Start adding new exercises and eliminate one or two. Just making minor changes can jumpstart your body into showing improvements again. While it can be hard to change up your routine, you'll find it very effective for fighting muscle building plateaus.
Often people don't challenge their muscles enough. If you're experiencing a plateau, try lifting heavier weights for fewer reps. This is more effective at building muscle than lifting lighter weights for more reps.
In addition, you don't want to spend all day at the gym. You can actually over train your body and cause a plateau to occur. If you work out for more than an hour you deprive muscles of oxygen and they can't grow properly.
You also need to make sure you're giving your body adequate rest. If you don't take days off from your workout, you don't give your body time to actually recover and build new muscle. It may seem counterintuitive to rest, but it's essential to muscle growth.
Besides taking days off from the gym, you also need to get plenty of sleep each night. Many people are sleep deprived. Not only does this promote the gain of fat it also prevents muscles from being built. Sleep is the time of day when your body repairs muscles and they grow.
If you're depriving your body of sleep, you may have a plateau. If you're getting fewer than eight hours of sleep each night you may find that increasing your sleep is enough to help you get back to muscle building.
Finally, you need to make sure you're eating enough food. If you don't get enough calories, you won't be supplying your body with the raw materials to make more muscle. It's necessary to eat about five meals a day when you're working out regularly.
You also want to make sure you're eating whole foods that contain protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. By making these simple changes you can power through muscle building plateaus and start to see progress again.
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