This is a bit of a confession and a rant!
I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I feel like I am coming up on a plateau. I think I was right! For the last week or two I have not been as motivated or excited about my workouts. Looking at myself, I am not really seeing any progress over the last couple weeks. Could it be my hormones playing mind games with me? Possibly, but I feel like there is just an overall slowdown. It seems that it's not just my fitness that is affected, I feel like I'm hitting a wall when fighting. When fighting, I'm not quite moving as fast as I feel like I should be. Last night I was grappling Ernie and he went to pass my guard, I tried to move out of the way but I got my leg caught and my knee twisted a bit which hurt a lot. I know that if I had just been that split second faster, I wouldn't have a bum knee today which is a disappointment. Its not a big deal, just a little sore and I feel frustrated.
I've mentioned before that plateaus are all apart of the journey. They are frustrating and do require some will power to break through. Its difficult not to get discouraged and frustrated knowing that I'm working my tail off and not seeing the progress I want. I know that I need to push on and "just keep swimming" but it is a mental battle with myself. My one side of the brain says "Screw this! I want pizza, a case of beer and I'm done!" and the other half goes, "Chill out, you know what to do. Just keep going you spaz!" I know that I need to listen to the latter half of my brain, I'm just to stubborn to give up at this point, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't flustered.
I've been doing some reading on plateaus and the common signs that you've hit one, they all seem to fit the bill.
1. No progress over the last few weeks, or feeling that you've regressed.... Check!
2. Lack of motivation to workout.... Check!
3. Feeling tired.... Check!
4. Feel like you can't lift weights like you could before. Your regular workouts seem to be more difficult than they were before..... Check!
5. Feeling irritable or frustrated..... Check!
6. Feeling like you're doing "everything right" with your diet and exercise and still no changes.... Check!
So I looked through all the signs and maybe it is a plateau. So why? Why have I suddenly seemed to come to a screeching halt? So I did some more reading....
It seems that plateaus can be caused by a multitude of things all piled up.
It appears that a lot of people hit a plateau after starting a weight loss plan. They progress so well for the first while and then suddenly they've hit the wall. Your body may be to blame for this. You see, the human body wants to achieve homeostasis; meaning it likes to be the same! The human body is smart, much smarter than you realize. As you lose more and more weight and become more fit, your body accommodates for those changes. It changes your metabolism. This is apparently a fall back when it comes to restricted calorie diets. When calories have been restricted for a while, the body will adjust its metabolism to accommodate for restricted calories. Hence one of the reasons to have a re-feed or a cheat meal to give it a bit of a jump start. Your body also gets used to the level of activity you're doing. For example, you've been lifting 25 lb dumbbells for 8 weeks with no increase or changes to sets and reps. Then your body will grow used to that and its not being challenged any more. Your body adapts quickly so no changes to routine or workouts will have it adapt only as much as it needs to, if it doesn't need to change then it won't!
Another common reason I found is often we are not getting enough rest. Rest is crucial for growth of muscle as it needs time to repair and build. If we are not getting enough rest then our body does not have the time it needs to grow, same thing with sleep. Getting enough sleep is important for energy.
Lastly is how well are we actually "sticking" to the plan. Are we slipping a few too many "treats" here and there thinking it won't make a difference. Those treats can really add up and maybe we are thinking that we are sticking to the plan perfectly but we really aren't.
I feel that for me, its a combination of those things. I have been increasing my weights every 3-4 weeks and changing my reps and sets as needed. But, I haven't been doing as much cardio as I usually do so maybe that has something to do with it. My cardio isn't bad, but I just haven't been focusing on it as much. I haven't been doing as much grappling as I usually do and since I hurt my knee yesterday that will make running difficult for a few days.
So now that I have an idea of what can cause plateaus, I need to read up more on how to get through them. I know its only short lived, its just the pushing through that's hard.
Picture on the left was from 2 weeks ago, picture on right from tonight.
I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I feel like I am coming up on a plateau. I think I was right! For the last week or two I have not been as motivated or excited about my workouts. Looking at myself, I am not really seeing any progress over the last couple weeks. Could it be my hormones playing mind games with me? Possibly, but I feel like there is just an overall slowdown. It seems that it's not just my fitness that is affected, I feel like I'm hitting a wall when fighting. When fighting, I'm not quite moving as fast as I feel like I should be. Last night I was grappling Ernie and he went to pass my guard, I tried to move out of the way but I got my leg caught and my knee twisted a bit which hurt a lot. I know that if I had just been that split second faster, I wouldn't have a bum knee today which is a disappointment. Its not a big deal, just a little sore and I feel frustrated.
I've mentioned before that plateaus are all apart of the journey. They are frustrating and do require some will power to break through. Its difficult not to get discouraged and frustrated knowing that I'm working my tail off and not seeing the progress I want. I know that I need to push on and "just keep swimming" but it is a mental battle with myself. My one side of the brain says "Screw this! I want pizza, a case of beer and I'm done!" and the other half goes, "Chill out, you know what to do. Just keep going you spaz!" I know that I need to listen to the latter half of my brain, I'm just to stubborn to give up at this point, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't flustered.
I've been doing some reading on plateaus and the common signs that you've hit one, they all seem to fit the bill.
1. No progress over the last few weeks, or feeling that you've regressed.... Check!
2. Lack of motivation to workout.... Check!
3. Feeling tired.... Check!
4. Feel like you can't lift weights like you could before. Your regular workouts seem to be more difficult than they were before..... Check!
5. Feeling irritable or frustrated..... Check!
6. Feeling like you're doing "everything right" with your diet and exercise and still no changes.... Check!
So I looked through all the signs and maybe it is a plateau. So why? Why have I suddenly seemed to come to a screeching halt? So I did some more reading....
It seems that plateaus can be caused by a multitude of things all piled up.
It appears that a lot of people hit a plateau after starting a weight loss plan. They progress so well for the first while and then suddenly they've hit the wall. Your body may be to blame for this. You see, the human body wants to achieve homeostasis; meaning it likes to be the same! The human body is smart, much smarter than you realize. As you lose more and more weight and become more fit, your body accommodates for those changes. It changes your metabolism. This is apparently a fall back when it comes to restricted calorie diets. When calories have been restricted for a while, the body will adjust its metabolism to accommodate for restricted calories. Hence one of the reasons to have a re-feed or a cheat meal to give it a bit of a jump start. Your body also gets used to the level of activity you're doing. For example, you've been lifting 25 lb dumbbells for 8 weeks with no increase or changes to sets and reps. Then your body will grow used to that and its not being challenged any more. Your body adapts quickly so no changes to routine or workouts will have it adapt only as much as it needs to, if it doesn't need to change then it won't!
Another common reason I found is often we are not getting enough rest. Rest is crucial for growth of muscle as it needs time to repair and build. If we are not getting enough rest then our body does not have the time it needs to grow, same thing with sleep. Getting enough sleep is important for energy.
Lastly is how well are we actually "sticking" to the plan. Are we slipping a few too many "treats" here and there thinking it won't make a difference. Those treats can really add up and maybe we are thinking that we are sticking to the plan perfectly but we really aren't.
I feel that for me, its a combination of those things. I have been increasing my weights every 3-4 weeks and changing my reps and sets as needed. But, I haven't been doing as much cardio as I usually do so maybe that has something to do with it. My cardio isn't bad, but I just haven't been focusing on it as much. I haven't been doing as much grappling as I usually do and since I hurt my knee yesterday that will make running difficult for a few days.
So now that I have an idea of what can cause plateaus, I need to read up more on how to get through them. I know its only short lived, its just the pushing through that's hard.
Picture on the left was from 2 weeks ago, picture on right from tonight.
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