Monday, November 17, 2014

Can You Embrace The Plateau?

I remain, and may always be, a painfully impatient person. I remember years ago my mother saying the words “Patience is a virtue” in efforts of hoping I would learn and act on that lesson. Maybe it was from being an only child that when I wanted something, I wanted it right then and if it wasn’t given to me, I would make every attempt to provide it to myself.

I’ll be turning 39 next month and I can’t honestly say I’ve changed a great deal from those formative years. I am still an only child. I am still very impatient and, yes, if I want something it’s very difficult for me to break that train of thought until I get it.

Funny that I work in an industry, embracing a career that not only runs counter to my impatience but thrives and succeeds in spite of it. Virtually nothing worth having, achieving or accomplishing occurs in fitness (or nutrition) quickly. Competitive powerlifters who regularly lift astonishing amounts of weight even have to deal with this. Sure, they may have a genetic predisposition towards being naturally strong. In many cases, what they’re able to lift as beginners can trump what most of us could accomplish in a lifetime. Yet, even these elite level athletes are fully aware that what they need to achieve to compete takes time. Sometimes, the victory comes from a very small (1-2lbs) increment.

So, this not only affects those who train for strength but those who are tackling weight loss (or weight gain) goals. One of the single most frustrating things in fitness, barring injury, is a plateau. The constant training in efforts to lose weight, the constant adherence to a diet plan without falling prey to a dessert menu, only to find out that you haven’t seen results at the frequency that you like.

It stands to reason this is not only natural but necessary. As your body is constantly being pushed and pulled in directions it has yet to balance out. I’ve seen clients lose fantastic amounts of weight with hardly any resistance. Others, who micromanage every movement of exercise and every measured morsel of food only to see a shift of ounces on the scale (not to mention when the weight goes up!!)

I say this conservatively when I ask you to embrace your plateau. Focus on what you’re doing and continue to do it well. Maintain proper form, eat healthy because you SHOULD not because you MUST. It’s generally not a life or death choice! Allow your body to respond at it’s pace not where you mentally perceive yourself to be.

At this point, you might be saying “Sure Jason, the longer it takes for me to see my goals, the MORE money you make!” While I can’t argue with the statement, what I’m saying holds true whether you train with me or not. You’ll face these same obstacles with that diet book you were perusing at the bookstore last week or the new bootcamp that started down the street that everyone is raving about. Even if you decide to educate yourself on exercise and food and tackle the journey on your own, your body still has to determine it’s rate of loss.

When the numbers are not aligning in your favor, one of the worst things you can do is go off track. Sometimes you need to be honest with yourself about what those food portions ACTUALLY are instead of what you were eyeballing. And you may have to remind yourself that just because you were out of breath for a few minutes during your workout or you started to sweat, that maybe you only burned 200 calories and not 500. These things matter and as always it’s the consistency of the approach which will determine the outcome!

The Rev6 program I have continued to drop hints on was developed to assist in breaking through some of these plateaus. We are expecting a November 2014 launch date for the program and I am extremely excited to finally unveil it. I will be announcing more as we get closer to the start date.

And lest I forget, by time you are reading this newsletter, I will be one day away from getting married. So, there is a lot going on both personally and professionally right now! As she and I will celebrate this weekend, it is my parting hope that you will spend time with your loved ones as well and cherish your time together!

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