Sometimes even when you are consistently training and maintaining a healthy diet, your body can still be unresponsive and resistant to change. You are religiously working out and dieting, so why aren’t you losing weight anymore? Well, here’s why: your body is smarter than you think. This means that your body has the ability to quickly adapt to your weight loss program.
Once it figures out your training routine, it is going to need less effort to perform the program that you have been religiously doing.
Your weight loss training program needs to change up every once in a while so that your body will have to learn how to adapt again and hence give you the weight loss results that you want. One great way to create this change in your routine is to take your training to the next level. Usually, an intensity boost will aid you in breaking through a weight loss plateau and ultimately help you reach your fitness goals. But how do know when it’s already time to level up?
Here are some signs that you should watch out for:
1. You have been following the same program for more than 4 to 6 weeks already.
If you have been doing the exact same training routine for longer than 4 to 6 weeks already, then it’s time to level up your program. If you like walking, you can add steep planes to your course or do intervals of brisk walking or jogging. If jogging is your thing, you may add a couple of sprints to make your training more challenging.
2. Your heart no longer beats faster.
One of the signs that your cardiovascular training is working out is an increase in your heart rate. If your heart no longer beats faster during your weight loss training, you no longer have to catch your breath, or if you are no longer breaking a sweat, then you already probably have to step up your workout’s intensity. Sometimes, you do not really have to have longer workouts – you just need to make them more difficult. Go ahead and challenge your body.
3. You no longer have the motivation to exercise.
Perhaps, the primary reason you no longer want to work out is that you are not seeing the results that you want. If so, you might want to look for a different type of workout or maybe look for an exercise partner so that working out will be more exciting for you. You may also try out a new program or enroll in a fitness class. If you are getting bored of having to stay in the gym for such a long time, keep in mind that you can lessen your exercise time by increasing your workout’s intensity.
4. Your muscles do not feel sore anymore.
If your muscles no longer feel fatigued after you work out, then they have probably already adapted to your routine. This means that your fitness gains are already going to level out. It’s true that different types of workout can give you different levels of soreness, but whatever your exercise type is, it should always leave you feeling at least a little bit of tightness. This is an indication that your muscles are tearing to perform the workout and that the soreness (a sign that muscles are repairing) will make your muscles stronger. If you no longer remember the last time you felt that way, it’s already time to increase your reps or maybe increase your weights. A good way to know if your routine still works is if you find it difficult to perform the last 8 to 12 reps.
5. You have the same diet every single day.
If you are eating the same healthy diet every day and you’re still not losing weight, then you should try leveling up your exercise routine. You might also want to change up your diet every now and then. Take a break from it and have a cheat day. If your body is already used to eating 1500 calories every day, your metabolism will adapt. However, if there are days when you eat 2200 calories, your metabolism will also have to keep up with the changes in your food intake.
It’s normal to hit a weight loss plateau and there’s nothing to worry about that. Just keep in mind that the way to overcome it is to identify its causes and address these issues.
