Have You Reached A Muscle Gain Plateau? For Those People Interested In Gaining Muscle

A muscle gain plateau is something that many bodybuilders experience not long after making really good progress with their muscle gains. It’s basically when your muscle gains start to decrease and then stop altogether, despite the fact that you appear to be doing everything correctly. Sometimes, your muscles will even shrink. This is only for those people interested in body building!

What is actually happening is that your body has gotten used to your workout and will no longer react in the same way anymore.

Luckily, there are some ways to break through the muscle gain plateau and get back on the road of steady gains.

Free Weights Versus Machines

The plateau is more common if you use machines than if you use free weights. Free weights have a whole range of other advantages anyway but because they work other important secondary muscle groups (aside from those you are targeting) then this can help you break through the plateau.

Mix Up Your Workout

As mentioned earlier, your body gets used to the workouts that you give it. This is just one example of the body adapting. The same thing happens with cardio and many other things in life.

What you need to do is shock the system and give it a different workout to the one it was expecting. An easy way of doing this is to simply do your existing routine but in reverse.

Inadequate Rest

Many times a plateau is created simply through overtraining. All that may be needed is a little bit of rest. Try taking one or two weeks off and not doing any muscle building at all.

Not only is this beneficial for recovery but it will also shock your body too, a similar effect to mixing up your workout.

Leg Training

If you’re neglecting your legs then it’s a great way to break the plateau. Many people ignore them but find that when they work them out (or work them out harder than before) that they can break the plateau.

Nobody knows the exact reason for it. Some people will theorise that it has something to do with the legs being the largest muscles in the body and that they can therefore deliver the biggest shock to the system. Whatever the reason, it works!

Correct Diet

Are you paying close attention to your diet? Are you eating the correct quality and proportions of protein, carbs and fats? Many people neglect this and are amazed that they can make good muscle gains, only to be disappointed when they quickly reach a plateau.

Supplements

Some people find that creatine, glutamine and other supplements are beneficial for breaking through a muscle gain plateau. I advise trying all of the above things first before resorting to supplements.

Related Reading:

Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder

Hardcore: Ronnie Coleman's Complete Guide to Weight Training