Breaking Plateaus: Confuse your body

We’ve all been there before. We AMP OURSELVES UP to start a new workout regimen or way of eating. The first week is NO JOKE…it takes time to fall into a new routine…and if we stick with it, we are accustomed to earlier wakeups, workouts, and foods introduced into our diet!

ON THE FLIP SIDE – We kickstart a new workout regimen or program and are TRUCKING ALONG for a good 6-8 weeks [most times.] Then, BAM – it starts to become second nature to us and we’re not seeing the results we did in the beginning…

Do you ever wonder why, things seem to be hard in the beginning and we gradually become ‘accustomed’ to that once-so-tough shift?

To break it down into Trainer-speak, this phenomenon in our bodies is called Physiological Adaptation. Our bodies were MADE to adapt – whether it’s acute or chronic in nature – our entire system works together to trigger changes in the body to help us SURVIVE.

Now, all of our workouts aren’t life-threatening, so I’m not saying that. 😉

What I am saying is that our bodies adjust to:

– the endurance loads we place on our body and therefore increase the maximum input of oxygen we can take in (VO2Max)

– the use of proper nutrients in our system when we make adjustments to our diet & therefore absorbing nutrients more efficiently when we include those more

– relying on higher quality foods we do take in, and breaking out of ‘starvation mode’ when we haven’t been eating enough or enough of the right things

Our bodies are smart!

In order to break a plateau, CONFUSE YOUR BODY!

– Try eating different type of whole food carbs one week than you had the previous week

– Throw in a NEW workout that you haven’t done before for a challenge

– Go from using higher weights to lower weights but varied repetitions for a strength workout

– Alternate higher food intake one day and lower (within a healthy range) so your body keeps guessing when it comes to utilizing ‘fuel’

– Allow yourself a cheat meal every so often (not regularly) to throw a monkey wrench in the lower calorie foods your body is used to eating; if you eat super clean each and every day it’ll acclimate to that too

The list can go on, but just remember that if you don’t challenge what’s routine and the ‘norm’ for yourself, your SMART BODY will get acclimated to that routine and results you were once looking for can and will taper off….BE AHEAD OF THE CURVE!

How have you made changes to your routine to make sure you break plateaus and/or avoid them all together?