Overcoming Setbacks & Plateaus In Your Fitness Journey
We’ve all been there. You’re crushing your workouts, making progress, and feeling unstoppable, until you hit a wall. Setbacks and plateaus can be frustrating, but they’re also a natural part of any fitness journey. Both can take different forms—more on that in this article. The good news? Plateaus don’t have to define your progress, and setbacks don’t have to derail your motivation. If you’re struggling with stalled progress or recovering from a fitness roadblock, here are tips for overcoming these discouraging moments, keeping consistent, and reigniting your passion for fitness.
Why Do Setbacks & Plateaus Happen?
It’s important to understand why setbacks and plateaus happen in the first place. Some common causes of plateaus and setbacks are because:
- Adaptation to repetition⎯Your body is incredibly adaptable, so if you follow the same workout routine for too long, your muscles and energy systems will grow accustomed to it, making it less challenging and reducing the stimulus needed for progress. Changing your workout, even with slight modifications helps to keep your body challenged and prevents it from becoming accustomed to the same exercises.
- Lack of progressive overload⎯Progressive overload is when you gradually increase the stress placed on your body through weight, resistance, speed, or intensity. If you’re not challenging yourself enough, your progress will stall.
- Overtraining & fatigue⎯Yes, too much exercise can work against you! Overtraining can lead to fatigue, stress, and even injury, all of which prevent progress.
Setbacks might happen for a variety of reasons including injuries, illnesses, or life changes like work stress and family obligations. Unlike plateaus which are usually more gradual, setbacks can feel sudden and devastating. However, they are not the end of your fitness story!
How To Get Through Workout Plateaus
Hitting a plateau in your fitness progress feels frustrating, but it’s also an opportunity to refine your routine and take your fitness to the next level.
Reassess Your Goals
Reassessing your fitness goals is a great way to stay aligned with your progress, lifestyle, and motivation. Ask yourself:
- What were your initial fitness goals?
- Are your goals still realistic and motivating?
- Did you enjoy working toward them?
- Are your goals still relevant to your current situation?
It’s okay to revisit and adjust your fitness goals if you’re hitting a plateau or experience a setback. We evolve and what we want and value changes. Sometimes a plateau is a reminder to take inventory.
Switch Up Your Routine
Sticking to the same exercises week after week is a way to hit a plateau fast, so be sure to change your workout. If you always run, try incorporating strength training in your routine. If you only lift weights, think about adding walk-running to your routine. A plug for Unstill Life workouts here: we are passionate about variety and practice it daily.
Nutrition
Your progress isn’t just made in the gym; it’s also made in the kitchen. If you’ve hit a plateau, it may be good to review the foods you eat and their nutritional content. This isn’t about weight loss necessarily. It’s about providing high quality nutrients to aid in recovery, building muscle and bone in response to training, and having energy available to fuel your performance and pursuits.
Prioritize Recovery
Recovery is just as crucial as your workouts because without proper rest, your body cannot repair and grow stronger. Sleep is one of the most important things for recovery, and the Sleep Foundation recommends that “healthy adults need at least seven hours of sleep per night.” Also use foam rollers or massage tools as needed to ease muscle soreness, as well as stretching before and after your workout. Activities that care for your future self (things like batch prepping meals with whole grains, vegetables and lean proteins so you can eat well during the busy work week), and activities that make you feel calm (knitting, fly-fishing, reading in a hammock, etc) all have recovery effects on the body. Create a broad definition for yourself and keep a healthy dollop of it in your week.
Navigating Fitness Setbacks
While plateaus are noticeable, setbacks often feel like the rug has been pulled out from under you. You might have a race go much worse than you expected. You may get injured. These experiences can be discouraging, but overcoming them is absolutely possible with the right mindset and approach. Focus on what you can control instead of worrying about what setback you’ve experienced. Setbacks are part of life, and they don’t define your fitness success. Don’t quit. Start small to keep moving forward and getting back to your fitness goals. And grow curious about what you can learn from the experience. Bad races lead to questions about pacing, training and nutrition. Injuries provide a chance to learn about your body and build strength and mobility as well as patience in healing.
Have A Support System
Friends, family, trainers, coaches and fitness communities can help with motivation and accountability you may need. Being part of a community like a local workout group or an online fitness forum reminds you that you’re never tackling your challenges alone.
Your Setbacks Aren’t The End Of Your Fitness Journey
Fitness is a lifelong commitment, and setbacks or plateaus are stepping stones on your journey to success. Look at the great athletes. They all experience these on the regular. See yourself as an athlete and ask what you can do to support your evolution. Remember, consistency and perseverance are what matter most. Every time you overcome a challenge, you build a stronger, more resilient version of yourself.
If you’re in the Seattle area, our Unstill Life running and walking group is a great community to join to find like minded fitness enthusiasts.
