The phenomenon of the plateau is well-known to practically all athletes, fitness experts, and most people who take the time to read about exercising. The word itself, plateau, is a French word and basically means platter, or when it is used in geology, an area of highland which is made from flat terrain. It is used in relation to exercising because of one was to chart the progress they were making before and after reaching the plateau, it would look like a mountain which suddenly becomes flat at the top. In any case, the weight loss plateau is a state in which the body gets used to whatever exercising regime it is being subjected to and stops responding to it. Even if you increase the intensity and frequency of your exercises, the improvements you will notice will only be ever so slight.How the Weight Loss Plateau Works
And so how precisely does the weight loss plateau work? Well, in many cases when people are trying to lose weight they make an exercising program for themselves which they believe they can follow for the entire duration of the process. However, losing weight is more of a long-term project, and in many cases it takes people months to reach their desired goals. Needless to say, doing the same exercises month after month gives the body plenty of time to adapt to them, so much so that they actually become easy to perform. At that point, the body is expending very little energy on the workouts, and so few calories are burned, not to mention your muscles aren’t developing either.
How to Overcome the Plateau
And so the plateau effect has plagued the lives of countless people… how is one to overcome it? Well, as was mentioned above, the effect is born as a result of doing the same exercises over and over again, giving your body the ability to adapt to them. The simple solution to overcoming this effect is to change up your exercises. You can still focus on the same muscle groups as before, but the specific exercises used to train them should be different.
For example, if you have been jogging for the past few weeks (or months), then try cycling and jump rope instead of it; your will still be working out the same muscle groups, but your body won’t be used to the movements it has to perform, expending more energy on them, thus going back to burning calories like before.
The best way to find alternative exercises to defeat your weight loss plateau is to simply look for them online; there are many free charts which present you with dozens upon dozens of different exercises you can use without having to purchase any extra equipment. Alternatively, there are actually some weight loss systems which have taken the plateau effect into account, offering pre-made workout routines specially designed to keep the weight loss results coming as fast as ever without having to worry about hitting any kind plateau whatsoever.
