Under the term "stagnation" there is a stagnation in building muscle and a lack of improvement in athletic performance. Stagnation occurs after some time of regular training. It is then that our genetics and the natural limitations of the organism associated with it most often make themselves felt. By starting training, you improve your results practically from week to week, burn 2-3 kilograms of fat tissue within a month or build a kilogram of muscle mass. Unfortunately, this process becomes slower over time. The body gets used to the effort, the stimuli are no longer strong enough to force it to develop. Of course, this is due to genetics, but also to other factors that you will learn about in this article.

Stagnation - what is it?

Stagnationis a concept behind which there is a stagnation in building muscle mass or in improving athletic performance. It affects people with extensive training experience or those who cannot train properly. Bodybuilders fear stagnation as much as cardio when building mass.

From an evolutionary point of view, excess muscle mass is just as bad as excess body fat. This is due to the fact that you need much more food and energy to survive. The additional "ballast" in the form of muscle or fat makes hunting more difficult as humans become slower. Evolution protects us from these types of problems. So it's fair to say that bodybuilding goes against the abilities that nature has endowed our body with.

The truth is that every body has its own natural limits. Stagnation is most often the limit that tells us that we have reached the limit of our possibilities. Another breakthrough in the deadlift, another kilogram of muscle or a second less during the sprint becomes a fight between David and Goliath. Unfortunately, this Goliath for us is our own body.

Causes of stagnation

The simplest cause of stagnation is reaching your natural limits. Other reasons may be poor training or diet. When you do a certain type of training, your body can only achieve certain benefits. Once we've pulled them all out, we stop growing any further. In this case, it is best to change the training method.

Another cause of stagnation may be your diet. When buildingmuscle mass, it may turn out that to build the next kilogram you need more calories than we initially assumed. Perhaps the body also needs a different proportion of macronutrients than before.

We must also assume that we are overtrained. In this case, it is worth supporting regeneration and even taking a short break from exercise. Most often, after a break, better results are obtained than before it. A well-rested body is able to generate more strength and bear stronger loads.

How to recognize stagnation?

The real stagnation never occurs after a few months of exercise. Often, beginners after six months of training think that they have stagnation. This is not true. Most often it is only the cause of a bad training plan, inadequate number of calories consumed and diet.

The real stagnation occurs after a long time. It can be recognized by the fact that proven methods of breaking through the "stagnation" have failed. The body then says enough. No matter how hard we try and what we do not do - we are not able to build another kilogram of lean body mass or improve the strength result by another kilogram. When this condition persists for a long time, it can be called stagnation. It affects, as I mentioned, rather more experienced people.

What to do when muscles do not want to grow? Training for stagnation

Changing the training method

The first step that should be taken in the event of stagnation is to analyze the results so far, diet and training. It's worth a moment to rest. The body should have time to regenerate. Then it is worth changing the training plan. It is best to change the entire training method. I recommend taking care of your stabilizing muscles. Building their strength will largely translate into the development of the overall strength of the body. In addition, we will avoid injuries by providing the joints and the spine with additional support.

Using SPLIT training so far, it is worth switching to FBW or HIIT. The new stimulus will stimulate the body to develop. It is worth doing something that has so far been avoided. You should also make small changes to the exercises you do. Changing the position of the feet during the squat, the width of the grip during the bench press along with the change of the training method and the earlier rest should bring the expected results.

In training, it is sometimes worth turning everything upside down. Stop worrying about the rules you know and experiment. Introduce the method of initial muscle fatigue. Do simple exercises such as curling your forearms andstraightening the legs on the machine before compound exercises. You can also try to increase the amount of sleep during the day. If possible, take a nap and cut off caffeine for a while. Stimulants cease to fulfill their task after a long time. After recovery, you can draw energy from them again.

The most important thing is never to forget the basics. When facing stagnation, the best solution is to go back to basics. Such a basis is training based on multi-joint exercises in the Full Body Workout system. For this, add something that you have not done so far, e.g. swimming and the brick effect!

This will be useful to you

Choose a training method for yourself:

  • Growth Hormone Training
  • Volume training
  • Pyramid training
  • HST training

Diet change

You should also think about changing your diet. A set of tests can help in this, which will show where we are deficient, what excess and what level our hormones are at. This will be the starting point for rebuilding the diet.

Sometimes it pays to increase the caloric content of your diet. Then it is enough to drink a protein shake before going to bed. Casein on water will provide the building blocks and prevent night catabolism. I mentioned the rotation of macronutrients. People who ate a lot of carbohydrates with a lower fat intake should reverse the proportion. The same is the case when the opposite is true. When eating little carbohydrates, try to increase their amount. This will give the body a signal to produce hormones in different ratios. This could prove to be a key factor when trying to break through a stagnation.

I hope that the ways to break the stagnation that you could learn in this article will prove effective for you. Remember that each organism is different and what is good for one person will be bad for the other. The key to success is getting to know your own body.

About the authorTomasz Piotrowski He is a certified personal trainer and nutrition specialist. He gained his knowledge from the best experts in the fitness industry in Poland. He has several years of experience working as a dietitian in a private facility in Krakow and experience in working as a personal trainer. He also writes expert articles on he alth, training and supplementation, and works in the supplement industry. He is passionate about fist fencing.

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