Ask yourself, are you doing enough? Too much? Or too familiar?
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Whether you’re running for your own personal goals or training for a marathon, you might eventually reach a point when you aren’t progressing as much as you used to. Worst case scenario is that you’re regressing and performing worse. If you’re experiencing these, then you’ve plateaued. This can happen to any of us (even the most experienced athletes), so don’t take it as a sign that you’ve hit your peak yet. There may be other factors at work, so here’s what you can do to break past that wall.
Switch things up
Sometimes you get set in your ways and keep doing the same workouts day after day. While it’s not a bad thing, the body might be getting too familiar with the routine. One thing you can do is add variety to your workouts. Try new exercises or cross-training. The change will shock your body into working different muscle groups and your body will respond by trying to improve.
Take more rest days
If you’re already hitting every kind of exercise you can do, then the problem may be that you’re doing too much too often. Chances are that you’re not letting your body recover enough in between workout sessions. This is especially important if you’re doing intense workouts or heavy lifting. Your muscles grow by going through enough stress and then adapting, but when it’s constantly being broken down, it doesn’t get to repair itself and stays weak. The possible culprits? Not getting enough sleep or not properly refueling.
Reassess your workout
Another thing that could be a problem is that you’re not doing enough for your current fitness level. Do you still feel challenged with your workout? Or has it come to the point that you can do it without breaking a sweat? If it’s the latter, then level up your training. You have to gradually increase the intensity of your workout over time.