If you are exercising regularly and not improving or reaching your goals then you may have reached a training plateau. Plateaus are usually caused by three reasons, not varying your workouts, poor exercise technique, and poor organization. It is possible to continue improving without encountering a training plateau as long as you take the time to analyze your program on an ongoing basis and implement the following strategies.

1) VARY YOUR EXERCISE ROUTINE: Your fitness program should incorporate your individual goals and as you progress you should change your routine to meet your evolving fitness needs. If you keep your routine the same it is difficult to stay motivated and your body will quickly adapt which will make it difficult to reach your goals. There are many ways to change your workouts. For instance, if you really enjoy doing bench press you can keep this exercise in your routine but for a change if you are performing repetitions of 8-10 you may use a lighter weight and concentrate more on muscle endurance and perform repetitions of 15-20. Changing your workouts can also mean changing how many muscle groups you exercise when you workout. For instance, many people perform one exercise per body part when they workout; this is referred to a whole body workout. If you have been doing this for a while then you could switch to what is called a two-day split. This is when you workout half your body on one day, (perhaps your legs and shoulders), and then do the rest of your body (back, chest, arms, abdominals), on the second day. This is slightly more advanced as it allows more time to exercise each body part.

2) USE PROPER EXERCISE TECHNIQUE: Poor technique is usually the result of using too heavy of a weight, not using full range of motion during an exercise, or by recruiting the wrong muscles into an exercise. Proper mechanics during exercise is essential. Exercises should be performed through a full range of motion in order to develop strength through the full range and to maintain flexibility. Do not sacrifice technique to use heavier weight. Poor exercise technique usually ends up targeting the wrong muscles, which can lead to muscle imbalance injuries. For instance, many people perform barbell curls and use their bodyweight to swing the barbell up to their chest and then drop the weight down to their legs; this is dangerous and ineffective. Your movements must be slow and controlled through the entire range of motion.

3) RECORD YOUR WORKOUTS: Without a well organized record or your workouts it is hard to monitor your progress. Further, poor organization can lead to missing workouts or over-training certain body-parts. It is a good idea to record the exercises that you perform and to keep track of the sets and repetitions that you perform. This information is important because it will help you to see if your strength and endurance are improving. It is also a good idea to monitor your breaks between your sets, your body-weight or body-fat, your stretching and even record if you feel muscle soreness after each workout. The bottom line is to stay in tune with your body and you may avoid the fitness plateau altogether.

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer in Vancouver. For further information call his office at 604-420-7800.