It is very common to reach a plateau when you have been successful with your weight training program, almost every bodybuilder could tell you about a time when they reached a plateau and any trainer would tell you it is an issue they are frequently asked about. Mostly it is because when we get into a program that we enjoy, and one that delivers awesome results, naturally we get excited. Often too excited, because increasing the time you spend working out and decreasing the time you spend resting can help to bring on a plateau.

Quite simply, you build muscle because you are challenging and overworking your body. In your downtime, while your body recuperates, it has to build and develop more muscle so that it can better handle the workload it is being given. Therefore, if you are not sufficiently resting, your body is not getting time to recuperate, so therefore you will not be building any muscle. In addition, if you are using the same routine for a long period of time, your body can get too comfortable, you will not be challenging yourself and your muscles will not be under enough stress to grow. These are a couple causes of the plateau effect.

If you are comfortable with your workout routine for a couple of months, chances are you are on the road to a plateau and your rate of muscle growth will start to decline rather rapidly. But this is fairly simple to prevent and overcome, you have a few options.

You can choose to take a week off from training every month or two, this can give your body a lot of time to recuperate and it also makes your regular routine a little more challenging again.

If you dont like the idea of taking an entire week of training out of your schedule, you may just want to change it up every two or three weeks. Try a different method or just change your schedule. You can work out on different days of the week or change the routine that you use, for instance you could do your workout in reverse order.

You want to remember that you will get more results from a shorter, more intense workout that focuses on just a couple muscle groups. The hormones that your body produces to assist in muscle growth actually peak around 30 minutes of working out and then decrease in production, so going longer than 45 minutes is unnecessary. You also need to be aware when the amount of weight you are using becomes too easy for you, because it is the weight that builds your strength rather than how many repetitions. Four to six reps should get the job done more efficiently than 10 reps of less weight. Although you may like to take pride in being able to lift a certain amount of weight many times, being successful with every set may mean you are not challenging yourself enough. If you are not challenged, you will NOT be building muscle.