Our Tips to Overcome Plateaus and Setbacks

We are bombarded with all aspects of daily life and non-stop distractions and sometimes those obstacles can interfere with our motivation to workout. Or maybe the motivation is there, but the time we need to set aside for exercise is not.

Staying motivated and overcoming plateaus and setbacks is all part of the roller coaster of health and fitness. In this article we’ll provide our top tips on how to push past these normal feelings.

Find time, however much or little

Let’s start by talking about time. A unique benefit of an Echelon membership is that you have class lengths to fit whatever your schedule may look like on any given day. Do you only have a quick 10 minutes between meetings to sweat it out? Classes as short as 10 minutes are available, and a short workout helps to boost your mood and helps you to focus. No plans and want to keep yourself busy for 2 hours? There’s a class (or several back-to-back) to help you with that.

While we often feel like we don’t have enough time in our days to connect, stride, row, or reflect, the truth is that it really comes down to time management. Take a look at your schedule and see where you can hard schedule your workouts. It doesn’t have to be a full one hour time slot every day, it can be three 20 minute time slots, or maybe just a quick 30.

Have an accountability partner

Maybe the time is there, your schedule is flexible, but you have found yourself struggling to pull away from whatever you’re doing.

However, if you knew someone was waiting for you to join a class together, you may find you’re more inclined.

One of the many benefits of an Echelon membership is the community. Not only is there the Official Echelon Facebook group, but there are many other additional groups and challenges that you can be a part of. You can also invite a friend or family member over and do some fitpass.

Change up your workout routine

A plateau occurs when the body has adapted to the same workout over time and becomes used to the same capacity. 

There are many ways to progress any workout that are derived from four main factors: go heavier, increase rep range (ex: do 12 repetitions of the movement instead of 8) decrease rest time in between sets, and increase time under tension (slower negatives/lowering phase of the motion). You can also incorporate different movements to exercise different muscle groups and strengthen your body overall.

Prioritise recovery

There are cases when overtraining causes us to hinder our progress. Remember our muscles need time to recover and rebuild stronger to allow us to crush our next workout. So when we don’t allow them the time to do so, they can’t regrow and can even break down causing us to feel weaker.

Listen to your body and take that low intensity day filled with stretching and yoga, or even take a full guilt-free rest day. Planning your workout week can really help see this on paper. If you have a very busy day, and realise that you just exercised for 6 days straight, what a perfect day for you to schedule a rest day.

Doing so will even give you more energy to come back stronger and with higher intensity. Do not let the plateau set you back, allow it to motivate you further and launch you into new successes.

Find motivation with an Echelon membership

Benefit from live and on-demand studio fitness from the comfort of your home. Get fit and have fun with our supportive and energising Echelon membership community, and inspire each other to climb the Leaderboard!