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Stuck in a fitness rut? This troupe of trainers will help you re-energise your routine and push past your workout plateau
How to break through your fitness plateau.
Starting a new type of workout is much like any fresh relationship. It’s exciting, you can’t stop talking about it, you invest time and buy gifts (a top-of-the-line yoga mat, boxing gloves that would make Ronda Rousey nervous). Then the honeymoon period ends. Maybe you’re bored, not feeling challenged or your butt just isn’t getting any higher. Whatever the reason, you soon ditch it for a different workout before you ever reap the full benefits. Standard. But with the help of this team of experts, you can break through your plateau and stay on track.
COMPLACENCY IS THE KILLER
Don’t blame the game, blame the player. “Plateaus happen when you stop challenging yourself: you don’t get the endorphin kick you used to and, most importantly, you don’t get the results you once saw,” explains Connor Mcmanus, head trainer at F45 Sydney CBD. “The moment you stop chasing that point of ‘Oh my God this hurts’, that’s when it all goes out the window. The same actions lead to the same results.” Janet Yockers of One Hot Yoga & Pilates blames Western culture for the fact that we don’t continue to raise the bar for ourselves on the mat. “It’s all very safe, very ‘do what feels good’, but traditional yoga is meant to be challenging. Try getting into the depth of a posture straight away and believe you have greater potential – it keeps it interesting.”
BE A TEACHER’S PET
Starting to struggle to go to that class you used to be obsessed with? Emma Seibold, founder of Barre Body, suggests hitting up the instructor to rediscover the spark. “Asking the teacher to correct your technique will help you get better results,” she says. Yockers also admits she can’t help but give her punctual students a touch of special treatment. “It shows discipline, plus it lets you develop a relationship with your instructor, allowing time to ask them specific questions and give them a reason to keep an extra eye on you during class.”
BEWARE OF THE BURNOUT
Lack of variation is a rut waiting to happen. “Often runners will hit plateaus because they’re training too hard all the time, or run the same way week in, week
out,” says Nike+ Run Club head coach Matty Abel. “You need to have a blend of easy, moderate and hard.” If she clocks a one-time vinyasa devotee dropping off, Yockers suggests they slot in a yin class. “Taking it down a notch with a more meditative style that focuses on deep stretching is the best reset button for your practice.”
SLEEP NIXES A SLUMP
Studies show a link between sleep deprivation and cravings for unhealthy food, but not getting enough rest can also sabotage your workouts. “It’s like putting cheap fuel in a Formula 1 car and expecting it to perform at its best,” says Abel, who tells his sluggish runners to ditch the social media at night. “Aim to get 30 minutes’ extra sleep a night – this is like compound interest totalling three-and-a-half extra hours a week. Also, drink more water during the day and try to limit your sugar and caffeine intake.”
MOMENTUM IS EVERYTHING
As clichéd as it is, you never regret a workout, so don’t let yourself off the hook if you can’t get to a class. “The clients who are most likely to fall off the wagon seem to forget that they have the tools to do a lot of the work at home,” says Joanne Bezzina, director of Sydney Centred Pilates Studio. “If work is crazy, take 10 to 20 minutes in the evening to get your spine moving on a mat with the exercises you know from class.”
SET YOURSELF A PB
Don’t just work out for the sake of it – make like a pro athlete and set micro goals to keep you on your toes. “At the barre, you could focus on flexibility and mobility, where you increase your range of motion and stretch deeper, or on strength by using heavier weights,” suggests Seibold. “In our cardio classes, do the higher- or harder-impact options and take less breaks. There’s always an opportunity to push yourself a little further.” Bezzina agrees that it’s the subtle shifts that have the biggest impact on pushing you past a plateau. “In Pilates, you can change the way you breathe to be deeper and more stimulating,” she says. “It can take an exercise from being very passive to quite invigorating as the biomechanics change to accommodate the way your trunk moves during deeper breathing.”