Plateaus: Resting Stop or Destination?
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Thanks runningbear for inspiring me to jot this down ;)
Anyone that is serious about fitness and has been going at it for more than a few months has experience with plateaus. What is a plateau? In any fitness activity - such as running, rowing, weightlifting, stretching, you name it - there will come a point where you get stuck at a number, and you can't seem to break through it. In running, you might hit a certain distance and can't go further, or you can't get faster than a certain pace. In weightlifting, you might hit a barrier at a particular weight. Whatever the case may be, your mind and body have adapted to your routine and you are now in a comfort zone, unable to break out of the groove.
Consensus says that to get off the plateau and start climbing to the peak, you should shake things up. Change the routine, cross-train, try something new.
I've been mulling this over recently. The other day my 14 year old son, who is in weight training for the upcoming football season (yes, already!), told me he squatted 245 lbs and asked how much I can do. I replied that I normally do 315 on squat days although I can max at around 365. He started to tease me that I've been working out this long but haven't gotten past that point, and he will likely pass me up if he continues at his current pace. Ahh, the indestructible and overconfident youth!! So my response to him was, we'll see if he's even still working out at my age and if so, what the numbers will look like. If he continues at this pace, he should be lifting about 10,000 lbs when he gets to be my age, right?
I rarely push myself on the heavy lifting anymore, and honestly I don't need to. I'm at the point where I feel good, I like my routine, and I don't care what other people think about it. If I hit a plateau, I just roll with it and don't start immediately planning a new routine to get me to the next level. I believe that in a "fit for life" approach, you can't always increase forever. You might realize that the plateau is a peak and the next change is going to be on the downhill. Or you might realize that you could do more, but the only purpose it serves is to simply do more. Maybe I'm getting old and lazy, but if that's the only reason then I'll just park it there for a while and take a look around to enjoy the view.
Now I'm not suggesting that you should give up and not try to break through! I'm just pointing out that once in a while you should ask "why" before you ask "how". And it's ok to be happy with yourself.
As far as my son goes, I am very supportive of his progress and I coach him as much as I can. The scary part is he's coming into his own strength and he will be a formidable adult. Even so, from time to time when he starts to challenge me for 'alpha' status, I pleasantly remind him that I will still be able to kick his ass even when I'm 90 years old, even if I have to smack him around with my cane ;)
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on 5/2/2008
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