Thoughts on Plateauing

I know it sounds like the latest in adventure exercise but plateauing is just our body’s built-in way of defining optimal function. We, of course, think we know better but Nature still asserts its dominance in our physiology.

Or does it?

“I’ll Take Plateauing for $200, Alex”

I was introduced to the experience of plateauing years ago when I first began taking an interest in athletics. (Though plateauing is not a concern just for athletes but for anyone consuming pharmaceuticals too. Yes, addiction rears its ugly head too but for this post, I will stay with athletic concerns.)  

As athletic lessons go, plateauing was far less harsh than many other physical boundary lessons I have encountered.

Plateauing is another of those mind vs. body arguments. The body says we are good at the current level of development or training and the mind says “Naw, we can do better.”  

Gains or improvements in performance (who does not enjoy PR’s?) that we might have been enjoying up to a point, begin to level off, and stubbornly stay there,  no matter what additional work we do.

Welcome to human physiology. We get hooked on the fun of getting more competitive and the body taps the brakes.

The general idea behind this frustration is that our body has certain set points for certain functions. We are born with physical characteristics (like eye color, adult height, heart and lung capacities) that are programmed from our unique DNA. That is not to say we cannot improve upon our original design, but improvements may be constrained within certain limits. We may want the cardiovascular system of an elite athlete, but our ability to improve performance through training however will likely disappointingly fall short. 

We can only moderately improve the engine under the hood. At some point our body will say “good enough”. 

While one might pause to consider whether this needs fixing or maybe Nature should have the final word, the decision is up to the individual. If this is inside an athlete’s mind however, I suspect the answer is to take up the challenge.

Making Change

A good question to ask one’s self at this point is why am I here now? We tend to own many of our training problems, so to examine our data in order  to solve the dilemma is a reasonable thought. As an athlete, reevaluation of goals is an ongoing process. Plateauing may only be a new wrinkle.

You have likely taken care to document your workout efforts. Whether through today’s cool wearable tech that records data for most all aspects of your routines, or old-school journaling of workouts, now is the time to pull out your data and ask some questions.

• Has my training increased?
• What does my performance tell me?
• Are there any changes in my preparation (diet, supplements, sleep)?

Take that step back to get a full picture. Good, bad, or indifferent data, this is an important activity.

Now work the problem.

• Get some rest. Recovery is possibly more important than training. Keep things real and balanced.
• What training? If you have just been doing the same workouts ad nauseum, time for a change. Time to add some other flavors like HIIT, intervals, or fartlek workouts. Besides waking up the body, they can be mentally stimulating also.
• Attitude Adjustment. There is something to be said for thinking outside of the box. Learning to be creative from within your training can bring a spark that reminds you of the fun that is possible when doing what you are doing.
• Now For Something Totally Different. We can mentally grow stale in our workouts, and where the mind goes, so goes the body. Employing a cross-training discipline can help with both. Doing things outside of our chosen event (I like to take time off the bike to run, hike, and do some free weight training on the legs during the winter) provides mental refreshment and the opportunity to train some muscles we do not usually use.

Looking Ahead

The key to addressing plateauing, as you can see, is changing our routines. Our body can be slow to adapt, so staying a few steps ahead with modifications to our routine can be easy and make all the difference in progressing towards our goals. Not a cure but certainly a way to eek out that last bit of performance that our mind and body can produce.

Besides, intentionally building fun into our workouts is good for the soul.

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
—Buckminster Fuller