The psychology of fitness plateaus and how to break through them

If you've been working out for a while now, I'm sure you know this feeling. One month you feel like Hercules, your lifts are getting bigger, your endurance is sharp and your jeans fit better.

Next month, everything seems to stall. You still put in the work, but the results just aren't coming.

Welcome to the fitness plateau.

Fitness plateaus are a natural part of your training journey, but they can be very frustrating.

Most people then do the wrong thing: train harder.

The answer lies a little deeper than that. It's about how you perceive the plateau and your confidence in your training.

In this article, we will explore the psychological aspects of fitness plateaus, their influence on your mindset, and how to reframe them into something useful.

Table of contents

• What is a fitness plateau

• Psychological effects of plateaus

• How your brain responds to plateaus

• Reframing your mindset

• Your recovery audit

• When should you change programs?

What is a fitness plateau?

Very simply put, a fitness plateau is when you stop progressing.

• The weights in the gym aren't going up anymore

• Your cardio workouts aren't getting faster/longer/more efficient

• You stop gaining or losing weight

This is often coupled with a dip in motivation.

What causes plateaus?

There are two main causes (in my opinion) for fitness plateaus:

1. Poor workout periodisation

2. Poor recovery routines

What is periodisation

Training periodisation is planning your workout plan's progress. It's deliberately knowing when to increase or decrease your training load.

The yellow line in the graph above represent your training volume: sets x reps x load.

The red line represent the intensity of your training: the load you lift.

Why workout periodisation matters

Most people make the mistake of increase both training volume and intensity at the same time. This works up to a certain point. You can't just keep training heavier and heavier for months in a row.

People who do this often end up sick, or injured. I always hear the phrase "I don't know what happened, everything was going so well!"

Periodisation allows you to plan out when to train hard, when to maintain and when to rest. This allows you to maximize you training results on the long term.

So, in short, poor periodisation usually to one of two outcomes:

1. Under-training: Lifting the same weights over and over again, wondering why we don't see results.
   

2. Over-training: Working out too much, accumulating fatigue and either getting sick or injured when the body can't take it anymore

Both of the these outcomes lead to a perpetual plateau, where you just can't seem to progress on the long term.

The under training individual will stay in workout limbo always lifting the same loads. The over training individual will go through ups and downs but never truly break through their training ceiling.

Poor recovery routines

Your recovery routine is whatever you do to help your body rest and repair between your workouts.

• Sleeping at least 8 hours at night is the foundation of any recovery routine

• Proper nutrition is a close second

• Recovery weeks allow us to periodically reset and come back fitter

The next examples are more up to each individual depending on preferences.

• Recovery/stretching/mobility workouts

• Sauna/ice baths/steam rooms

• Massages

• Napping

• Going for a walk

To be fair, playing video games, watching netflix or reading can all be part of your recovery routine. Once again, it's whatever allows you to recover quickly during your workouts, which can look very different between each of us.

Our recovery routine also helps our minds rest. It can be draining to always think about balancing our training, social life, kids, diet, pets, plants, work and all the shebang.

Having a recovery routine is like doing daily maintenance on a sophisticated machine to make sure it works properly for a long time.

If you think a recovery routine isn't important, think about why you brush your teeth. Brushing you teeth once won't make a big difference. But you know that brushing your teeth everyday is the best way to maintain healthy teeth for a long time.

A nap won't get rid of all your accumulating fatigue. All your daily recovery efforts will.

Psychological effects of Fitness Plateaus

While you literally feel when your body is stalling, your brain will play you tricks without even realising it. Here are some key psychological factors that play into plateaus:

Motivation Dips

The initial burst of motivation that gets people started often fades over time. Without new stimuli or progress, your brain stops releasing the dopamine that makes workouts feel rewarding.

You'll start asking yourself "what's the point?"

Mental Fatigue and Burnout

Constantly pushing yourself without adequate mental rest can lead to burnout. You might start to dread workouts, lose interest, or go through the motions without intention.

Poor Perception of Progress

Progress isn’t always linear. But when people don’t see results fast enough, they assume they’re failing. This skewed perception can create a sense of helplessness or frustration.

That's why tracking your workouts is so important.

Low Self-Efficacy

This is the belief in your ability to succeed. If you’ve hit a plateau before or feel stuck, you might start to doubt your capacity to overcome challenges.

Fear of Failure and Comfort Zones

Plateaus can be comfortable. There’s no risk of failing because you’re not trying anything new. But that same comfort zone keeps you stagnant.

You brain and dopamine

Dopamine, the feel good hormone is secreted when you do something that makes you happy. A good, strong workout will give you a good hit of dopamine. Knowing that you are progressing also produces dopamine.

When progress stalls, so does your dopamine response, which is why all of the factors above tend to happen.

Now let's take a look at what we can do to break through these psychological barriers.

Strategies to break though psychological barriers

Fixed vs growth mindset

Hitting a plateau will test your mindset quickly.

Having a fixed mindset is thinking these kind of thoughts

• I'm not meant to get better or fitter

• This isn't for me

• It was silly to try

A fixed mindset traps you in the limbo of stagnation.

A growth mindset sees the plateaus as an opportunity

• What can I learn from the last months

• What mistakes have I done

• What haven't I tracked

• Did I truly do everything properly

A growth mindset leads to lessons and resiliency.

Set outcome and process goals

An outcome goal is the result you want.

• I want to lose 15 pounds in 3 months

A good outcome goal is clear, measurable and time bound.

A process goal is whatever you need to do to make this happen.

• I will hit the gym four times per week

• I will eat in a calorie deficit

• I will sleep 8 hours per night

• I will get 10000 steps each day

• The list goes on and on.

Good process goals can be easily tracked:

• A habit tracker where you can see how often you've stuck to your commitments

• A food log or app where you can see what you eat

• A wearable that counts your steps

You want to be able to see daily progress towards your goals.

This is the best way to keep you motivation up and the dopamine coming.

Track your progress

I've said it a thousand times before and will say it again.

Slow, gradual, consistent progress is what we want.

It is impossible to see it on a day to day basis.

Tracking your workout progress is not only a periodisation trick, it's one of the most powerful motivation tool.

Last week I wrote about increasing my training volume 1% over a week. I can assure you that I did not feel any different from the previous week, but nonetheless, I got better.

The week prior I had increased by 2%. Another invisible amount.

When I look at my training log, and I see that small progression, it motivates me to keep giving my best, because it's yielding results.

Build your community

Share you journey with a friend, find a workout buddy, join a run club, go to group classes, find a coach.

Creating a your training community is a good way stay accountable and inspired.

Physical tweaks to burst a plateau

On top of offering an opportunity of reflections, plateaus are a good time to analyse your training program. We tend to gravitate towards what we like doing, which isn't always aligned with what we have to be doing.

Plateaus will expose this.

When you analyse your training program, you'll need to audit your periodisation and recovery routines.

For your periodisation, ask yourself:

• Does my workout plan create progressive over load?

• Does my training volume and intensity change over time?

• Did I plan recovery weeks properly?

A majority of people reading this will answer no to all three.

Does that mean you have to throw out your whole program?

Absolutely not.

Most often, you'll just have to make one or two adjustments to how you do things.

• Doing a few more or less sets per week

• Tweaking the intensity by 5-10%

• Selecting an exercise variation you hand't though about before

• Trying different rest days rotations

• Take longer breaks on some exercises

• Getting rid of exercises that don't contribute to your goal

These are just examples of simple alterations you can make.

To audit your recovery routine, ask yourself:

• Am I sleeping 8 hours every night. If the answer is no, don't even bother addressing the other questions until you've fixed this one.

• Am I eating enough protein? (At least 1.6 grams per kg of body weight)

• Am I eating enough calories

• Am I drinking enough water

• Am I managing my stress in a good way

• Do I feel rested after a weekend, or am I always tired

Your findings will point you towards what needs to be addresses.

Conclusion

Plateaus are a natural part of your fitness routine. They happen to everyone, of all levels.

They will not only test out your program's efficacy, but also your mental resilience, patience and perspective.

You can start by looking at the physical side: review your workouts, adjust your volume, or tweak your recovery strategy.

But before you make those changes, check your mindset. If you're viewing plateaus as failure, it might be time to reassess and reframe your expectations.

Want help breaking through your plateau? Let's talk coaching.