6 ways to overcome a weight loss plateau:

Get past your weight loss plateau

The people I usually begin training, many times, started their weight loss journey on their own. They may have taken tips from a magazine, signed up for a gym membership, done a 60-90 day workout video program, and though they may have seen some results, they feel they need a stronger direction. They feel as though the results have ceased and they need something new. The following tips are just a few of the things a Training Aspects personal trainer will include or consider to help a client get over their weight loss plateau.

Personal Training tip#1

Correct the form/focus: Videos, magazines, or people that look like they know what they’re doing in the gym are not the ways to learn exercises. Many times, the focus of the exercise is missed when it is self-taught. Many times, people assume that as long as they are training intensely, their heart rate is up, they’re sweating, and they feel tired that they got a good workout. Not understanding the focus of the exercise can drastically change the effectiveness of the exercise and in many cases, cause injury over time. For example, due to poor form, many people who squat do not engage their gluteus, nor know how to. Many people will squat and forget to push their hips back, thus putting the weight on their knees and ignore the use of their gluteus. The gluteus is a huge muscle group! By neglecting them, they lose half the effectiveness of the squat!

Stop doing exercises incorrectly! Solution: get a few sessions with a Training Aspects personal trainer and learn the fundamentals. Many times, three sessions can be all you need to correct your form!

Personal Trainer Tip #2

Figure out your training goal: if your goal is to lose weight, then that should be your focus (May sound like common sense but this happens often). Do not fall into a body building program. Your goal is to lose weight, more importantly, the body fat. You will see results with those programs, but there are much more effective training programs out there. The more muscles you work in one day, the more effective the workout.

Personal trainer tip #3

Nutrition Timing: this is an advanced technique, however understanding what your body needs before and after the workout is very important. Your body needs certain nutrients pre, during, and post workout, it is essential to incorporate this into your program.

Personal Trainer tip #4

Reorganize the training plan: when you just begin working out or are getting back into working out, doing something is better than nothing. However, as you plan to progress in your fitness goal and lose more weight, increase lean muscle, or increase muscle size, exercise organization becomes important. If you start your workout with bicep curls, crunches, calf raises or any other supporting muscle group, then you need to reorganize your plan. If you begin with leg presses before power exercises, or you do 45 minutes of cardio and then go to the weights, reorganize your plan and I promise you results. (The next article will give you more information on this.)

Personal trainer tip #5

Shock the system: many times, doing the same thing will lead to a plateau. Your body adapts to your fitness program and no longer feels challenged. This goes back to the principal of overload. To get results, you must challenge your muscles. You can do this by changing the type of exercises. For a basic example, instead of a bench press, try a variation of pushups, or use dumbbells and slow the rep scheme. If you are doing squats with a bar, do squats and add a jump into them (not with a bar, at least not at first).

Personal trainer tip #6

Doing too much: believe it or not, you could be doing too much! You just started working out, you go to the gym religiously because you are trying to achieve your goal and your body begins fighting back. This is called overtraining. There are ways to monitor overtraining. A plateau, or even losing results despite working harder, increased resting heart rate, feeling restless or having trouble falling asleep, getting sick more often, and not feeling well after big workouts are all symptoms of overtraining. More to come on this next week.

“Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it!”
–Marva Collins 

By: Kirill Vaks
Fitness and exercise specialist
BA, CSCS, ACSM-cpt, NFPT-sns  

Suggested articles:
* 7 Training myths
* 3 Reasons for your weight gain
Suggested video:
* 15minute challenge

Take action… Now! 

Training Aspects’  personal trainers and sports performance coaches want you to accomplish your goals. You, as the personal training client, are a reflection of our personal training and group training methods! We are here to help you accomplish all of your personal training goals!  Our main training focus are people looking to increase performance, lose weight , lose body fat and increase lean muscle. Whether you live in Cherry Hill, Haddonfield, Marlton, or any of the other surrounding areas we are here to help you Move, Look and feel as you’ve always desired…

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Inside of the Flyers Training Center
601 Laurel Oak Rd.
Voorhees, NJ 08043