Break Through Plateaus (Part 1)

Let us break through plateaus in our learning, practice, and training while improving our fitness and health! There are a number of factors to consider before using the approach to do more. For example, if we feel like we’re not improving in our fitness performances and health markers, then we might think we need to train more frequently and harder. Although in certain situations that approach might work, for the most part we need to consider other factors, i.e. “low-hanging fruit,” to set the conditions properly for the right adaptations we are shooting for in our regular learning, practice, and training routine.

Some factors to consider:

  1. Lifestyle

  2. Training Environment

  3. Technique

  4. Lack of Intensity

  5. Programming

In this first part we are going to consider Lifestyle. There are a number of things we all do and expose ourselves to outside of the gym and our movement practice. These things affect our ability to obtain the results we want in order to improve our fitness and health. These things include:

  1. Sleep

  2. Stress

  3. Recovery

  4. Motivation/Mindset

  5. Nutrition

Sleep - Quality and Quantity; restful and enough sleep as our biggest weapon and force-multiplier that intertwines with the next listed lifestyle factors

Stress - Managing it from all angles in our lives; effectively transitioning between high stress (flight, freeze) and low stress (rest, digest) situations

Recovery - Using whatever methods we prefer, whether it be massage therapy, chiropractic, physical therapy, StretchLab, ice baths, and/or saunas, etc. to help stimulate the repair and growth necessary for the responses we want from the stimuli we impose on ourselves in practice and training

Motivation/Mindset - Having clearly defined “Why’s?” and the appropriate approaches and plans for what we are trying to accomplish; operating with clear, concise, and positive language that reflects our mental outlook and keeps us inspired and engaged in the process of continuous improvement

Nutrition - Eating the right kind and amount of food to fuel us for the specific activities we seek to perform our best in; generally if we eat whole and unprocessed food that are raised and grown in the highest quality possible, and eating enough of it to the point of not developing metabolic syndrome, then we are moving in the right direction in accomplishing our goals of better fitness and health

Let us start to address our lifestyle factors first to set a solid foundation in our “other 23 hours” of our day, before we start to optimize and enhance our 1 hour in practice and training.

Stay tuned for Part 2

coaching, fitness, growth, health, learning, nutrition, teachingAlbert LuComment