Plateuing

[Boss Man]

That twin sounds more like an evil nemesis, getting you pissed on booze like that .

[LozTaylor]

Heh. Me starting also got him into losing weight. He's lost 70lbs but hasn't put on as much muscle. I think if I hadn't put on muslce I'd have lost 70 by now too heh. He's down at my gym with me this week and next whilst he's down. It's fun pushing him hard on the weights

[Boss Man]

Oh so it's a quid pro quo scenario. You teach him how to weightlift, he teaches you how to pace yourself on the booze

[LozTaylor]

Weighed in this morning and came in at 87.8kg. I've been floating around 87 and 88 for the last 3 weeks now and it's starting to get annoying. I've been exercising and eating right over that time aswell, which makes it even more annoying. I'm going to try and have another good week this week. Had a great workout this morning. I've finally started doing 6km runs (something I wouldn't have been able to do 10 months ago). Last week I did the 6km in 31:39, this week was 32:43. About a minute off last week, but I ran it alone this week which seems to have had an effect.

I'm also trying a new shoulder workout. I had a go at doing a set of Dumbbell Lateral Raises (10 reps), and then a set of Dumbbell Front Raises (10 reps). I did this 3 times. I then did upright rows with an EZ Bar, 10 reps wide grip, 10 reps close grip. I did 4 sets of this. I increased the weight on the last 2 sets. From what I can tell, I'm hitting the traps with the rows and the lateral raises, but I'm worried I'm not hitting the posterior deltoids or anterior deltoids enough. Any suggestions?

[Boss Man]

You could incroporate Front Raises in there, with dumbbells or with a barbell.

[LozTaylor]

Re-read it Boss

[Boss Man]

I saw the laterals, but the front raises passed me by. I just simply didn't notice them. Ehh what a mistakea to makea.

[LozTaylor]

This recent plateau is really getting to me now. My diet has been spotless so far this week, but it doesn't look like it's going to be any improvement on the weigh in on monday. From everything I've read, I need to change up my cardio to beat this thing. I currently do: Monday, 6km run which takes about 32mins. Wednesday, 15mins at 12km/h and then get off and immediately get on a bike for 10mins. Friday, 30mins HIIT on treadmill. I also go swimming on either a tuesday or thursday, depending on my schedule each week. Has anyone got any great 30mins(ish) cardio workouts that they do (I have access to treadmills, bikes, elipticals, rowing machines) that are quite different to what I'm currently doing? I think I'll probably keep the HIIT in there as that seems to be a good burner, but I feel like I need to mix it up again.

Also, what should I do in regards to calorie intake to beat this plateau? I've read some articles that say to cut back 10%, but some others say to increase. My only worry about cutting back is losing out on potential muscle gains on weight training days.

[Boss Man]

The plateau problem is dependant onb duration. If it's been a couple of weeks, then don't do anything, just work through it. If it's been 4-5 weeks, then address the situation.

One way would be to change your diet, so you take 10g Carbs from each meal and replace the calories with good fat, so you have around 4-5g Fats per meal, (36-45 calories approx), which would give you a maintenance not a cut.

The body would then use some Fat as an energy source, to compensate for the reduced carb intake. I wouldn't do this more than once if you do, as you would be in danger of going to low and affecting things like brain function and bloodsugar.

This could be a way to address the situation, if you've plateaued for too long, but otherwise if it's been about 2 weeks, persevere for another 1-2 weeks with what's happening now and you might find you just get through it. Quite a few people do just being patient.

[LozTaylor]

It's been about 4 weeks now, so I think I do need to do something. I'll start cutting out some carbs like you said and see what happens. I think I will also change up some of my cardio to see if that helps. Not only just to break this plateau, but also I don't want my body to get used to running at my current highest speed and duration, gotta keep knocking on that door to make your body do more.

I'm not going to let this plateau beat me. I'll keep hammering at it until it gives.

[Boss Man]

I'd do the carbs thing for now, not the Cardio.

The fact is, if the Cardio is working, why change it as well? If it's not and the Carbs thing doesn't change anything, then go for the Cardio change.

If you change two things, one aspect may already work well, but you might make it work less well if it's changed, then it will work against the other necessary change to hinder progress, if that makes sense.

Isolate one thing, make change, assess what happens, then after 2-3 weeks go from there .

[LozTaylor]

86.6kg this morning, so something seems to have given I'm still going to cut some carbs out because it's something I should have done a long time ago anyway. I'm keeping the cardio the same, managed to run my fastest 6km this morning, 30:10. Really happy with that time and I'm sure I can get it under 30mins next week. Here's for another good one

[LozTaylor]

86.6kg again this week. Had a good week but maybe I'm not eating enough, always feel bummed out after my monday runs but I ate a bit more today and seemed to get over that. Ran 6km at 31:27 today, a little way off my best. I tried sprinting at the start to take some time off but that didn't work at all lol. I know now to reserve the faster speed for the end. Two more exams this week (tomorrow and wednesday) and then only two left for next week. Happy to be finishing University despite not knowing what to do from here on out. I'd love to get into something to do with fitness and weight loss but have no idea how to get started and I know I'd need a heap of qualifications before being picked up by a gym or whatever to coach. Has anyone else gone down this road?

[LozTaylor]

It's been a while since I last posted, so I just thought I'd give an update. I'm now down to 85.2kg and I feel like I'm back in my stride now

[LozTaylor]

Hey guys. It's been a while but I've been doing well and have a question. Firstly, I'm now down to 82.4kg (as of this morning). Secondly, I've started doing some ab workouts. I started a few weeks ago doing alternate cycles and my progress has been pretty good. However, last friday during my second set, I started noticing a pain in my right hip, everytime I'd lower that leg back down. The pain/discomfort was enough to stop me finishing my set and subsequent sets as aggravating a pain like that didn't seem smart. I've never experienced any pain in that area before, and don't experience any pain there any other time. It came around to doing them again today and the pain was still present, but was far more acute and I was able to finish my sets.

Shall I just keep doing what I'm doing and monitor the pain? It's possible it might well go away by friday or next week, but I thought it would be a good idea to ask anyway.