how to break the plateau

[highteknology]

i've decided that i've finally reached a plateau on a few of the excersise i do at the gym, mainly chest and biceps. i don't do the creatine thing, and only eat like a power bar and some yogurt after my work out. i'm wondering how to go about breaking this plateau? mainly because it's pissin me off, not being able to see my gain in the weight adjustments at the gym.

any help is appreciated.

[Mr Wiggl3s]

Add weight slowly, for inance, a 2 1/2 for like a week, then bust out a 5, and go from there. Thats what i saw/did that works best

[00accord44]

I like the "plate up" technique where you start off at a low to mid range amount of weight (for your ability), do a set, plate up (add about 5-10 lbs if doing free weights), do another set, repeat until you've maxed out or can't complete 75% of your starting reps, then plate down (remove 5-10 lbs), do a set, repeat until you're back at the original weight.

This way your muscles get accustomed to moving up in resistance as you go on and you'll be able to plate up farther along the stack. And of course, your beginning weight will eventually increase as well. i reccomend moving your starting weight up by 10lbs for every 15-20 you move up as your max.

Thats what works for me.

[Igovert500]

Do you do the same workouts each time? Switch up your routine. If you generally do flat bench, try more incline/decline, try exercises and routines that are different from what you have been doing. Switch up your reps/weight.

If you do concentrated curls for your biceps, try some cable crossovers, preacher curls, and pullups. Do different things. Don't let your muscles get used to the workout.

[YellowMaranello]

If you like the exercises that you are doing and don't want to do new ones, do different sets of reps. For instance, if you are doing 3 sets of 15 reps now, try doing 4 sets of 10-12 reps. Then in two weeks do 5 sets of 8-10.

[sameintheend01]

the best advise given to me for plateauing is to work the supporting muscle groups. For instance, for chest (if u are doing bench), you should work out your triceps, shoulders, and back. For bicep, do shoulders, back, and forearms. Also, trying doing new exercises like dumbell press for chest and preacher curls or reverse curls for biceps.