More Plateaus

Plateaus happen… they happen regularly… you can prepare and do whatever you like but they will come. And it can be beautiful. It was during one of my plateaus that I decided to change my workouts completely - a year and a half later, after some additional variation and trying things differently, I pulled a PR in my deadlift and got certified in teaching Body Pump. Both at the age of 49.

I have met some great folks through both of these changes - and it would not have happened if I didn’t embrace the plateau vs. fighting it!

What I was doing got me great results… and they were things I "understood" and could do without even thinking - I KNEW what to do…how and when to do it… and it stopped working… this new stuff forced me to THINK, to ENGAGE, to LEARN through trial and error and research, to STEP BACK and actually do less, to get HELP from others with more experience, and to WORK my ass off…

PR in Deadlift… teaching others to love moving weight…

It is not easy for me but I now understand that at eventually… down the road… in time… I will be better for it… stronger and more able. I learned to take the long-view and to look beyond the visible horizon.


It happens in business (and the rest of life, too)… what got us where we are becomes a trap - comfort in the known vs. the fear of the unknown… small progress and slight improvement give us the illusion that what we've been doing still works… this is the most deceptive place to be in… when growth and improvement slow significantly - beyond a season and beyond a few months…. They become the new norm and we become complacent… that is where courage needs to step in and when the work should begin…. THINK, ENGAGE, LEARN, STEP BACK, GET HELP, WORK! Or whatever formula you like.

Plateaus

It is a natural part of any process where continuous growth is the desired goal… you reach the period of time where your strength improvements and increases seem to STOP! PRs are not happening as often as they had been… you are stuck…

in your business it can look like a shift in the competitive landscape, that year-over-year growth has slowed or "flat-lined"… GASP!

In the last blog I talked a little about preparing yourself for these periods in your lifting and in your business by "teaching" your organization and training your body to get good and confident with change. It is important that change be something you plan on and prepare for - NOT in anticipation of avoiding BUT to condition the body and the organization so that WHEN CHANGE COMES the body and the business can both react in a healthy way. The time to train for this is BEFORE it becomes a necessity… there is an ancient proverb that tells us that "The time to dig a well is not when you are thirsty." It is very true… so, expect change, train for variation, anticipate and prepare for it… it will come…

And yet, no matter what, you will reach a point where any improvement is a struggle… where even maintaining status quo is a struggle … plateaus do happen… it is natural… you can sit inside this space for a LONG time - these are the guys who come to the gym and have been doing the same workouts, the same way, with the same weight for years… and years… you can usually find them using the hamstring curl machine.

The joy I get from lifting weights is the sense that progress is potentially endless - limited only by my will and my muscles… there is always a little more to do.

Plateaus are tough for me. My psychology is such that my first reaction is to press against the wall and lean in… harder and harder… it still is, but as I've matured I have learned that at those moments I need to take a step back, reassess, adjust, and start working on similar movements in a different way or work on the simple movements inside of the compound movements - find the "weak link" and press to strengthen that…

In business, you can do the same approach. Break the "compound" complex processes or systems in to their simplest components, apply metrics around time, expense, revenue, etc…. Break it down… find the opportunities to improve and focus improvements there.