Breaking Physical Plateaus To Help With Your Sports Growth

The concept of a plateau can often be scary for some people to grasp.

If you’re seeing constant improvement right now, then it can be a little worrying to realize that you’re eventually going to reach a point where you no longer see improvements.

It can demotivate you, it can frustrate you, and it’s probably going to upset you to some extent.

Hitting a plateau in any kind of sport or physical activity, but there are a couple of ways to help you break free from those limitations.

Don’t underestimate the importance of rest

No matter if you’re a sports competitor or just looking to build muscle and lose weight, rest is important because it gives your body the time it needs to repair muscles and strengthen bones. Constantly putting yourself through physical torment will eventually cause long-lasting damage that cannot be repaired.

We highly recommend taking frequent breaks between intense workout and sports sessions. This can be complemented with a good physiotherapist that will take care of your muscles, and you may even benefit from a massage to help soothe your aches and pains. It’s extremely important that you don’t overlook this recovery step.

Refusing to settle

Perhaps one of the best ways to drive yourself to break your plateau is to refuse the idea of settling. Many people decide to quit when they stop seeing improvement. They can often cite many different reasons, such as reaching physical or mental limitations, or perhaps because it would be a “waste of time” to continue without seeing progress.

This is the type of mindset that can really destroy careers and hobbies. If you refuse to settle and always believe that you can develop a mental or physical edge, then you’re going to continue pushing yourself to strive for those small gains. Just remember that fast and easy gains aren’t the norm; they only occur during the start or when you’re just starting to improve. The real challenge comes later on when your gains are minimal and it feels like you’re hardly improving at anything.

Seek inspiration from people just like you

You’re not the first person to reach a plateau and you certainly won’t be the last. There are many sporting legends out there that have experienced the same thing as you, and there are also plenty of regular individuals that have achieved great things after stagnating for some time.

Always look out for inspiration in the form of learning about other athletes. It doesn’t need to be an extremely famous world-class athlete either. It can be from people such as Mitch Vanhille who have achieved great sporting achievements later in life. It’s a good example of why you should never give up and look for excuses such as your age or past experience in sports.

So the next time you feel like you’ve hit a plateau, we hope that you refer back to this article to motivate you to continue striving for greater things. We know that it can be hard to break plateaus, but you should never give up if you truly love what you do.