Overcoming Plateaus

Anybody who has lifted weights for any length of time is familiar with plateaus. Plateaus are where you've hit a certain point in you training be it weight, reps, or density that you can't seem to overcome. They're discouraging, but they can be overcome.

I've been running Dan John's Armor Building Formula with a pair of 24 kg (53 lbs. for those of you who prefer measuring kettlebells using incorrect units) kettlebells. I started this after running a few easier overhead press programs with the same kettlebells. Needless to say, I've been working on my overhead press a lot. I made excellent progress. At least up until I completed week four of the Armor Building Formula. During week four, I managed 50 overhead presses, which exceeded my previous personal best of 44 overhead presses. I was stoked. Then I fell ill the next week. I returned to the gym after I felt better and decided to give myself a week to get back into the groove. I struggled to get many presses in, but I expected that since I only recently recovered from an illness. But this lack of performance continued... and continued... and continued. Not only could I not perform my usual number of presses during a workout, I saw my numbers going down. I hit a plateau. Worse than that, I was starting to progress backwards.

This isn't the first plateau I've hit. It won't be the last one I hit. Experience has taught me that trying to power through a plateau doesn't work for me (it might work for you though). What has worked for me in the past is mixing things up. I hit a pretty significant plateau last November (maybe November is just plateau month for me) when I was running a program consisting of double kettlebell clean and over presses, double kettlebell front squats, and single kettlebell snatches. I tried a deload week and jumping back into the program. No success. I couldn't budge my numbers. When December arrived, I decided to change my focus to the double kettlebell clean and jerk.

The clean and jerk is similar but different than the overhead press. Instead of pressing the kettlebells overhead strictly with your upper body, you dip into a quarter squat, explosively stand upright again to get the kettlebells moving upwards like a push press, and then you immediately drop down into a quarter squat again to catch them. Once you catch the kettlebells, you raise yourself to the standing position again to complete the lift. The difference is just enough for me to start making progress again. As an added bonus, more weight can be moved with the jerk than the overhead press. After spending December focusing on my double kettlebell clean and jerk, I returned to the overhead press. I started making progress again. I overcame my plateau.

Now that I hit another plateau with my overhead press, I'm switching my focus to my double kettlebell clean and jerk again. I'll focus on them for four to eight weeks. After that, I might switch back to the overhead press, keep focusing on the clean and jerk, or try something completely different.

If you're stubborn like me, you want to brute force your way through plateaus when you hit them. If you've tried that and it hasn't worked, try switching to a similar but different exercise. For example, if you hit a plateau with your deadlift, switch to a different hinge exercise like swings or snatches. Give yourself a break from deadlifts while performing a similar movement. After a few weeks, return to your deadlift and see if you can make progress again.