Sunday, April 11, 2010

How To Break Free From Your Fitness Plateau

By Katherine Crawford, M.S.

A high level of adaptability is one of the most defining characteristics of your body. After all, this level of adaptation is how we became the top species on the planet.

The bad news is that this evolutionary trait can prevent you from reaching your fitness goals. But not all hope is lost here.

Thus, here is how to break free from your fitness plateau:

1. Switch things up: And this doesn't mean switch your exercise routine up, although this will help. You can prep yourself mentally by doing commonplace things differently. Take a different route to work, eat at different restaurants, exercise at different gyms, etc.

2. Evaluate the risk of not doing: Ask yourself what will happen if you do not push your limits. How long have you been stuck with the same body or the same level of fitness? How much more time are you willing to sacrifice?

3. Use your mind's eye for nervous system rehearsal: Going over the next steps mentally gives your nervous system a chance to test run things before actually having to do them. There is also a psychological benefit to doing this.

4. Keep your support network strong: This can help you during difficult times and can also help you increase motivation, especially if your support network has similar goals. The key here is to make sure you don't attach yourself to a network that has incongruous goals.

5. Run towards failure: Ironically, the more you fail the more likely you are to succeed. The main problem here, however, is that we are conditioned by society to avoid failure. In reality, you should embrace failure and constantly push your limits.

Being able to predict and avoid adaptation is critical for continual results with your fitness program. And if you follow the tips outlined in this article, you will be better prepared to avoid adaptation. Just remember that taking action on information is the most important ingredient. Because without action information is forgotten!

About the Author:

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