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Stuck at a Training Plateau with Stubborn Body Fat? You Need THIS In Your Fat Loss Program

By Dale Andrew

You’ve been working out regularly for quite a while. Things were going great in the beginning. You’ve lost some fat. You feel a lot better. You’ve come a long way, but you still have a long way to go.

Now, you’re watching what you eat. You’re exercising harder than ever. You should be losing body fat.

But, you are not.

This can be one of the most frustrating experiences someone that wants to lose body fat can ever have. If you exercise long enough, it will happen to you.

But, does it have to?

First of all, you must know why your fat loss program is no longer working. In my experience, there are only 3 reasons why people reach a fat loss training plateau:

  1. You have adapted to the fat loss program. When you exercise, your body specifically adapts to imposed demands. While this helps explain early progress, it’s also the reason for fat loss training plateaus. If you always do the same fitness routine day in and day out, your body quickly grows accustomed to it and has no reason to change.

    Remember, while you may not be happy with your current level of body fat, your body is happy to stay where it is. It doesn’t want to change, and it’ll only change as much as is needed to get the job done.

  2. Your fat loss program is poorly designed and doesn’t work. Even if this is the case, you can still lose a lot of body fat just by working your ass off and giving tremendous and consistent effort. However, when that kind of effort meets a great fat loss program, the results can be amazing. Without the effort, it doesn’t matter how good your fat loss program is. Personally, I really like circuits or supersets for general fitness and for fat loss. But, I’ll be the first to tell you that no program works forever.

  3. You’re no longer following the fat loss program. What good is a plan if you don’t follow it? If your execution is piss-poor, you’re simply wasting your time. If you follow your plan, the worst thing that can happen is that it doesn’t work. You can let this reality defeat you, or you can realize that with each failure, you get one step closer to success. Remember, you only have to succeed the last time you try.

Now the question is - what do can you do about fat loss training plateaus?

Although training plateaus suck, they are a pretty normal part of just about any fat loss program. Losing 1-3 pounds of body fat a week is a reasonable fat loss goal, but it’s just an average. Nobody loses fat at a steady rate, indefinitely. Some weeks you may not lose any fat, others weeks you may lose 5-8 pounds, for example. While you won’t always be able to keep it moving, the key is not to stay stopped at a training plateau for too long.

This can kill your motivation.

One thing is for sure; you’re more than likely to end up at a fat loss plateau sooner rather than later if you don’t have VARIETY in your fat loss program. Variety keeps the fire burning. Run out of variety, your fire goes out, and stubborn body fat stays put.

Does this mean, you’re supposed to start haphazardly throwing new things into your fitness routine everyday, just for the sake of variety?

No.

Variety is a planned and common component of the world’s most effective and efficient fat loss programs. However, as I said before, no fat loss program works forever. You should change your workouts at least every 4 weeks. In addition, you should have variety within each training week, such as alternating between two different resistance training and cardiovascular workouts. Even just changing the number of sets and repetitions on the same exercise that your body is used to can give you a wake-up call.

If your fat loss program just doesn’t work – You do have a plan, right? – or you’re just not following your plan, you’ve got some serious problems. Your fat loss program is missing knowledge and personal accountability. You need both, if you’re going to bust through training plateaus, and finally getting rid of stubborn body fat. If you’re tired of spinning your wheels and getting nowhere, a qualified fitness professional can give you everything you need to get your fat loss program moving.

About the Author:

Dale Andrew, M.A. is a fitness professional, author, and speaker. He is the fat loss expert busy professionals worldwide turn to for advice on how to build a better body - FAST. To get your copy of his free e-book 64 Must-Have Fitness Tips, visit www.better-body-tips.com.