Have you ever felt like you are doing everything right like training super hard, and eating super healthy, but you aren’t seeing any progress? How about doing everything right and you see more body fat, less strength, and you actually feel less healthy? Anyone can go through these frustrations. We get so focused on our goals that we have 110% dedication to accomplishing them. But, this can more often than not have the exact opposite effect. We get into a nasty habit of doing too much at once. We feel that if we don’t put in 110% we should be labeled “weak” and a failure. So why is giving 110% all the time actually setting you back? Why are you unable to lose weight or gain muscle?

Don’t get me wrong, our bodies need some sort of stress in order to adapt. However, too much at one time and too frequently then our bodies will compensate by inhibiting other processes to survive. Doing too much at once is something you need to watch for especially as an active older adult. So what can we possibly be doing that is setting you back? There are a few crucial variables that are inhibiting your progress. Your sleep/recovery, diet, overtraining, and programming are likely the culprits to why you are stuck in a plateau.

Sleep/recovery

The body can typically take the stress that we place upon it, but it needs time to recover. If you aren’t getting good sleep, or enough, then your body doesn’t have the chance to rebuild and become stronger. Sleep will be most of your recovery from the last workout which means a lot of the inflammation will be worked out of your body as well. Now if you are retired then you may be thinking that there’s no way that you aren’t getting enough sleep. Don’t forget that you might not be getting good quality sleep too. Going to sleep, and staying asleep, can be a difficult process if you don’t approach it correctly.

Sleep is easily the most important factor to pay attention to. I have run into too many people that say they workout 1-3 hours every day. More is not always better. You cannot exercise your hardest every single day. It is not sustainable and your body is going to struggle to figure out how to change itself to survive all this stress. You can’t sit there and do absolutely nothing either.

Active recovery days are highly recommended, especially if you are the type to HAVE to do something every day. These are the days that you take it easy and you focus on other aspects of your health instead of just training as hard as you can. Some examples are light cardio, stretching, meditation, yoga, and mobility. Spending a day to help recover your body will also help to prep it for the next workout, therefore letting you hit the weights in a more optimal state.

How can you improve your ability to sleep? Start with trying to go to sleep about the same time every day. Your body will naturally adjust and get used to the timing of when it is time to start winding down for bed. This will naturally help your circadian rhythm which is our body’s natural response to waking up when the sun comes up, and going to sleep when the sun goes down. Don’t worry about the time you sleep, just ensure that you stay consistent. Lowering artificial light exposure will also help with your circadian rhythm. Inside lights and screens can tell your body that it is still daytime and to stay awake, so limiting this exposure close to bedtime will help your body wind down. Finally, have a good hygiene routine to get started for bed. The action of getting cleaned up alone will tell your body it is time to sleep, but feeling clean and comfortable will also help to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Diet

Diet is probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of your fitness. I most recently helped a lady in her 60’s to figure out how she picked up so much weight and why it won’t come off. Her diet consisted of a smoothie for breakfast and one meal for dinner. Her meal was a tiny piece of steak, a quarter of a sweet potato, and some broccoli. She also claimed that she exercised about 3 hours every day. She didn’t believe me when I said she is eating far too little for how active she is. She started eating a little more every day and she started to lose weight. Amazing how you can lose weight by eating more food!

Protein is the main thing that I told her that she needs to increase. I could go on and on about the benefits of eating protein (it will probably get its own article) but let us stick to the basics. Your muscles need that protein in order to repair and grow. Without consuming enough protein your body won’t have what it needs to repair the damage from a workout, which means it will take longer to recover.

Most people vastly under-consume protein. I suggest taking the time to track your meals for a little while to get a good grasp of how much you’re actually consuming. If you are strength training and are really trying to make some gains then you should be aiming for about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. This is how you make strength gains and possibly lose body fat as well (depending on your training age). If eating more is difficult for you then try protein shakes between meals. For the record, there are vegan options for shakes as well.

Overtraining

I already mentioned earlier that more is not always better. A lot of people expect that the more they workout the faster progress they will make. Sorry to say that there is a point where the more you do actually stops your progress and will even reverse it. Overtraining is a real concept and can do a great deal of damage to your body.

How do you know if you are in a state of overtraining? The most noticeable aspects of overtraining are disrupted sleep (we’ve come full circle haven’t we), feeling weak, and lethargic. There are other less noticeable symptoms such as brittle bones. Remember that your body wants to survive so it will do what it takes in order to survive. So we need to listen to our bodies sometimes in order to understand exactly what it needs. If you are feeling weak and lethargic it probably needs the rest and recovery.

What can you do to determine whether or not you have been overtraining? Take a week off. If you feel a need to work out go outside and go for a nice brisk walk. After a week of relaxation and doing anything that you want that brings you happiness come back to your training and pay attention to how you feel. Does your workout feel easier? Can you suddenly push more weight easier than before? There’s a good chance that you were in a state of overtraining. This leads us into my last point.

Programming

Proper programming can play a big role in how your body adapts to the exercise. Too much can overwhelm your body, and too little will mean your body doesn’t adapt at all. The bigger thing you need to really hone in on is your priorities and goals. The workout program that you follow to become an Olympic body builder, and the one you follow to have a functional body are completely different. Take a good look at your goals and what exactly you want out of the workout to determine what you need to do. There’s a solid chance that you don’t have to push yourself nearly as hard as you might think.

For example, a workout program that makes you considerably healthier, gives you longevity, and allows you to play with grandkids without getting too tired would consist of equal parts of cardio and strength. Your cardio would range anywhere from a brisk walk to light runs. Your strength training would be a basic squat, bridge, push up, and row in order to hit each muscle of the body. Adding a little resistance to this exercises makes them even more functional. You don’t need to squat 300 lbs.6, a thousand burpees, or do some sprint training on a max inclined treadmill in order to be functional. A free standing full depth squat with a 45lb bar would likely make a very functional body. The person that can do this squat for 10 reps for 3 sets, and has done this for a decade would be exceptionally strong.  You would have an incredibly functional body compared to the person that hasn’t touched a weight.

It’s all connected

You see how bad programming, can cause overtraining, which can disrupt your ability to sleep. Overtraining can cause lethargy which will likely lower your motivation to workout. Your diet can mean that you don’t recover well from workouts, which means that forcing yourself will likely lead to overtraining. Everything comes full circle which means these are all things you need to watch out for to keep your training progressing. So how do you help correct all these variables?

Take the one thing you feel that you can do the most easily and make a healthy change there. Work on only one aspect at a time. Everything at once is always too much for anyone to handle. So find that one change in your journey for a healthy lifestyle and make that small adjustment. Throw a little more protein into your meals, take a protein shake between meals, change your workout, or maybe perfect your hygiene routine before bed. Any baby step will lead to more baby steps, and before you know it you will be running.