What do I do when I stop making progress?

[Vickeree]

Advise please. What do I do when I stop making progress? I can't put any more weight on my overhead shoulder press and some times I even max out on previous weights that I could lift before. Should I take a deload week or should I just try doing other exercise variation like single arm dumbbell press until I get into another plateau and then return to my overhead shoulder press?

 

[BigHulk]

It depends what your bodybuilding goal is. Try doing power sets or changing up your routine.

 

[Joe Pietaro]

There are always different movements or variations of the ones that cause pain and/or discomfort. To continue to do the same one and always have an issue is merely going to lead to bigger and long term problems.

 

[Hiatus]

I do one of two things when I stop progressing. First, I will try a deload of 10-20%. Drop the weight and slowly work back up, contracting the muscle you're working on. The other way is to add more volume and accessory for the muscle that is plateauing.

The final thing is that, if none of these work, then I will change up my routine.

 

[Vickeree]

I do one of two things when I stop progressing. First, I will try a deload of 10-20%. Drop the weight and slowly work back up, contracting the muscle you're working on. The other way is to add more volume and accessory for the muscle that is plateauing.

The final thing is that, if none of these work, then I will change up my routine.

Do you deload for a certain period of time? How long do you do it? Do I deload for a couple of workouts, slowly increasing the load until the next training session and working my way back to my previous best or until I encounter another plateau?

 

[Escoda]

For advice purely on overhead press: How is your form? Are your elbows nicely tucked at the bottom of the movement? Are you squeezing your abs and glutes?

 

[ArnoldS]

Just keep working and maybe change your routine.

 

[teamuscle]

Max Ot is one thing that I have been trying lately seeing that I have been in a position like you. I was at a point where I felt like I just was not making any progress and I needed something that would take my results to the next level and Max Ot has been something that has been able to do this. It is one that pushes my body ever single time that I have used this work out regime and I think that you should check it out when you get the chance to see if it is something that you would like to do.

 

[xenochristramu]

Okay, first the basics: Make sure your form is great, that you aren't doing an inefficient way of the movement.

Secondly, make sure you are eating enough. You need to be in a caloric surplus to keep on gaining muscle and strength. While you will gain some strength while cutting due to just plain practice and making the movement more efficient neurologically, it won't last for a long time.

Thirdly, for training. Always increase the training volume overtime, except when taking deloads. You'll know you need to deload when you feel beat up and your lifts start regressing and not just stalling. But on the point of increasing volume, for a linear progression you do this by increasing weight lifted every session. Other methods of increasing volume over time is increasing the number of sets or reps you do. Increasing the number of sets turns out to be a bigger difference in total volume generally.

So say, your 3x5 OHP stalls. What you now need to do is increase the volume to 5x5. Or maybe increase the frequency from, say, once a week to twice or maybe thrice a week. You could add some accessory movements, or just add some back off sets at a lower weight. Upper body exercises tend to require higher volume that lower body ones.

 

[coolyfrost]

Make sure to have a varied workout schedule. Never workout your muscle groups with the same kinds of exercises for more than 8 weeks straight. I would advise you to switch from mass gaining and strength gains every 8 to 16 weeks in order to never plateau and to keep getting gains.

 

[zonemik]

If you are not able to do any certain task, you should take one step backwards and you should do that first before you move to the next level. So, always try and practise and you will surely progress at the fastest speed possible.

 

[tpicks]

Maybe you should try deload and gradually build up again. If this is not yielding expected results then you can try a change of routine.

 

[Daniel Dormer]

You have two options really. Either go harder or change your whole program. Your body will get used to what you do every day after a while and become complacent in a sense. You need to introduce it to something new and let it forget about it's normal routine.

 

[lazar]

Change everything, that's a key to success, constant change.

 

[Alexandoy]

I am not a guru on this matter but for me, resting is a good way of building up the energy and it may be the same with building muscles. Athletes usually do their training everyday but they are given a rest day for their muscles to relax. And when they continue with the training again, they can feel some pain which means the training is effective according to our school’s trainer for the basketball team. Maybe a good workout schedule is 3 days training and one day rest to give your muscles a time to progress.

 

[Decentlady]

How did you finally go about it? Did deloading work for you? I think it varies from person to person but giving a particular group of muscle rest helps while you practice on other ones. You can come back to the previous muscle group and start working out on alternative days.

 

[naturalbodybuilder]

Deload or take 2 weeks off from training since you might be over trained.

 

[to7update]

There are a few things that can be done when progress seems to freeze. One, work harder, with hard work we can achieve it all! Like @naturalbodybuilder says, resting for a few days can be an option too. It all depends on the case!

 

[Pharmacom]

Read the principles of Joe Vader

 

[jp1234]

When I was younger, I use to Deload.
These days, if I hit a wall.
I'll drop the Weight and do more Volume for a week or 2, and then go back up in weight.

But it really all depends on what you are trying to achieve.