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Hit an exercise plateau? How to overcome it

Hit a wall when it comes to your workout? It's not impossible to overcome. (Thinkstock)
Hit a wall when it comes to your workout? It's not impossible to overcome. (Thinkstock)

So, you made a New Year’s resolution to get fit and you’ve been hitting the gym regularly since January. For the first few months the regular workouts were doing the trick and you saw some big results. Soon though, the payoff started getting smaller and smaller, even though you were doing the exact same thing that once brought some big changes. WTF?

The truth is, the human body is an incredible thing. It is beautiful and powerful and strong and smart…like, a little too smart. Yes, though there are many advantages to having highly intelligent structures, sometimes our body’s brainpower can put a real wrench in our fitness goals. The biggest culprit - it’s adaptability. The body somehow finds a way to adapt to things that were once difficult, making them easier and thus, less effective. Case-in-point your six-month plateau. But, don’t fear – these easy workout tricks will keep the body guessing and keep the desired outcomes coming.

Start the clock

One of the ways you can fake-out your physique is by switching how you calculate your sets. We’re usually inclined to count our repetitions, deciding beforehand to do 10 or 12 before moving onto the next. Often,  this means we’re doing less than we’re capable of, limiting ourselves to the predetermined amount of reps without trying for more. Up the ante and make it a little more challenging by starting the clock. Aim to do as many exercises as you can in 20 or 30 seconds – this will make you work a little harder, push a little further, and help to eliminate that uninvited plateau.

Blast off

I’m sure by now you’ve heard of the massive benefits of strength training, one of the best ways to tone up and slim down. But, if you’ve been doing regular strength training sessions and stopped seeing results, it may be time to take it to the next level. How? With little bursts of cardio. Adding short intervals of high intensity exercise, in between strength training moves, forces the body to switch back and forth from aerobic to anaerobic work. This trick fires up the metabolism and increases the caloric burn both during the set and after the workout. The best part? You don’t need a treadmill near by - you can execute cardio intervals with a number of different body weight exercises. Try throwing in a set of jump squats or skater lunges. High knees will also do the trick or, best of all, the dreaded burpee! #Sorrynotsorry

Multitask

It’s good to do a set of squats. It’s great to do a set of shoulder presses. And it’s even better to do them together. Instead of focusing on simple, isolating exercises that targeting one muscle group at a time, combine a few different moves together. For example – add a bicep curl to a wall sit, a row to a lunge, a tricep extension to a plank. These complex moves allow for a deeper burn, heightened heart rate and a heavier sweat than the usual isolated work out which means see-ya, stagnant stage and hello headway.

What do you do to overcome your exercise plateau? Let us know in the comments or by tweeting @YahooShineCA.