OH NO PLATEAU

Well, I knew it was inevitable, I have officially hit a plateau. What that means (if you don't already know) is that I am not really progressing anymore in my strength gains and in some cases I find myself even going backwards. To give an example, I seemed to have been stuck on 35lb bicep curls for a long time but FINALLY powered thru on a really good day, got all ten reps and moved on up to 40lbs....where I am perpetually stuck. Usually getting 3-5 reps, or more if I use the rest-pause method (which is how I was able to get past 35lbs). Anyway, I used the rest-pause to get up to seven reps but without doing that, I could only get 4. Then the next workout, I could only get 3. Are you kidding me? I'm actually going backwards here??? SO NOT FAIR!!

But you know what? I'm not going to get frustrated. I am NOT going to get all pouty and whiny about it and sit on the floor in my workout clothes and just cry. (not anymore) I'm going to use the fact that I've plateaued in a positive way. Here's how:

Our bodies are efficient machines. They adapt to stress very quickly. Once you have adapted to a workout, you stop making progress with it as your body becomes used to the same old moves. A plateau is just an alarm, so to speak, a mechanism your body has to let you know "hey, I'm bored here! Let's move on to something else, change it up a bit!". So I'm going to look at hitting a plateau as a good thing, at least my body is telling me it's time to change. It's giving me the opportunity to break the monotony and implement something new, to prevent bordem, and to take my gains to new heights.

So that's what I'm going to do, starting with my next workout. I can change it up many ways: I can either change exercise moves, I can change number of reps and/or sets, I can incorporate super sets or drops sets....it's all about getting creative. And having fun!

And here is my workout from last night:

Squats - 100lbs (wasn't feeling very strong, could barely get started but once in a groove I was able to get 8, although I'm pretty sure I didn't go as low as I should have.
Leg curl - 40lbs
Stiff-Legged Deadlift - 75lbs
BB Incline Press 50lbs
BB Row 50lbs
BB Shoulder Press 45lbs
BB Bicep Curl 40lbs
Skull Crushers
Abs - crunches, hip lifts, bicycle