Feel Stuck? What’s The Missing Link?

Something that gets asked in my consults with my clients and patients is why has my body halted in progress? 

There are a couple of reasons for this and I will try and explain most of them for you but you must remember that your body, well, is you! The work you are doing with your body is causing it to adapt and to alter. Evolution has caused us to change SLIGHTLY at most. Your own personal transformation program is going to have some huge results if used properly but it will halt like every other program. It will do this to you from here on in.

The really cool thing (that most people would rather not accept) is that this is a good thing! Halting progress is a great sign. Here are a few reasons why they’re what you are looking for.

·      Plateaus in progress area good sign that you have either gone as far as your can go with that particular program before it needs to be modified OR the program was shit to begin with. Odds on, if you have invested time, money and effort in finding a great coach and have seen some great gains up to your plateau, it is not the latter

·      Progress is something that is done is small increments. Progress (in the gym and in the kitchen) always follows the law of diminishing returns. You will see some amazing gains in strength and body composition early on and then they will dwindle. This is how it works and how you know you are on to a winner. The smart coaches and programmers are the ones that know when to tweak things here and there for optimal results (and gains).

·      When I write programs, I have an idea in mind of when the next program should be implemented. Many articles, coaches and experts claim that the body adapts within a 4-7 week period. I agree. From the elite athletes I train to the housewives that see me ALL adapt within that period.

·      Tip: always make sure you focus on the program at hand. Your coach will be on their A-game and have your program ready to roll by the time you plateau from that program and will transition you to the next.

·      Finally – make sure you take some time off to recover. After particular programs for specific clients, I often advise them to NOT come to the gym and to eat, sleep and rest for a week. I get some crazy looks from people and other coaches wanting to know why I would (a) give up a weeks worth of wages and tell a client to rest and (b) they can rest on the weekend and don’t need a full week. The truth is that if you train all the time without a decent rest break then you are going to see your body getting sore, growing aches and pains as well as little progress. The investment and (for lack of a better word) risk I take in telling clients to ‘go-away’ for a week sees them kick start their gains back to what it was like when they first picked up a dumbbell.

I hope this clears a few things up and paints a clearer picture of some of the reasons of why we do what we do. We (and I speak for a lot of my fellow coaches) see and meet a lot of people with some out of control goals that may or may not be attainable. It is our job to outline what is possible and what’s not. Hitting speed bumps in your training and nutrition is part of the game and I hope it makes sense that you WILL have these and that you NEED to hit these if you want to progress.