When you hit a plateau. (Weights, obviously.

[mascarasnake21]

Wanted a better body for a better wardrobe at the beginning of last year. I'm proud to say I stuck to that resolution. I've been a dedicated lifter since around February this year. Am benching around 150 now for strength, and I have two other low-weight, high-rep routines I've been cycling through since that part of the year.

(I try to shake this up every week. Some weeks it's the two high-rep routines and no benching, some weeks it's all three, some weeks it's just one workout repeated all three lifting days.)

Noticing something. Went up in weight the other week, and it seems like I'm at the same point each time I finish a set. Tried taking a week off, tried moving workouts around, seems like I'm stuck.

How often do I completely change my lifting routines? Because I've been doing the same three here for six months -- it might not be too surprising that I just hit a wall.

 

[Pebcak]

6 months? There's no way you should have stopped linear progression in that time. I've been going to the same gym for 5 years and I'm still making progress and getting PRs. Some lifts are still linear due to a surgery induced reset others are back to a 5/3/1 program. Consistency is very important for weight training, once we top out in the same area on a linear program we get switched to a 5/3/1 till we fail twice at then then there's a weight reset and we go at it again.

 

[COHunter]

I've hit plateaus in less than 6 months, it happens. I've just changed the routine for a time and generally that does it. If you've been doing a workout primarily of high reps and lower weight, then change it to higher weight less reps. Try to keep the muscles confused. The other thing to consider is the muscle growth is going to occur during rest, not during lifting. The lifting is doing the tearing down of the muscle, the rest is rebuilding it. Try variations in the types of lifts as well, most of all don't get frustrated about it.

 

[Tiny_MN]

You change up your routine weekly? IMO, that is too quick. Shoot for 8-10 weeks for new lifters and the 6-8 for experienced. But, routine change and set modifications are you friend when plateaus arrive.

 

[mekler]

If you're using a barbell, try changing to dumbells for a bit. I also agree with COHunter about changing to higher weight + less reps. Try supersetting and maybe even doing negatives if you have a workout partner. Also make sure you're getting enough sleep and rest between workouts, over-training is a real progression killer! Sometimes less is more..

 

[smalltank]

Your body adapts pretty quick to the same routine...changing just a small degree and you will see better results