How Often to Change Your Workouts Because of a Plateau

I recently received a message concerning when to change a training routine once a plateau is looming.

I get asked this question rather often and it’s one I love to answer. Why? Because I feel like it’s one of the most important pieces of advice I can give. And one that has worked for me for years.

But first, take a hard look at your training progress

Before shifting gears let’s look at what’s currently going on with your training.

Are you making progress? Even in the slightest amount, is progress being made–are you still moving forward? If so, then I would stay on track.

If not, what small steps can you take to move forward? Not monumental ones, but small tweaks that can go a long way?

If you start making small changes then make only one at a time. That way you’ll know what’s working and what’s not. Too many changes at once will leave you lost.

What I do to make steady progress

Even though I’m rather organized and routine with my structure of training, I have a very fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach to how I maintain progress.

How do I know when to take breaks?

In order to stave off boredom, plateaus, and injury I allow life to dictate breaks and/or back-off days. Life is great at screwing around with our seemingly perfectly planned schedules. Sickness, impromptu family obligations, work, and all-around stress from life will come our way sooner than later. I simply listen to all of those things and plan accordingly. By not taking any extended planned days off something will eventually come up where I’ll need to take off a day or two during the week. It would be just my luck that if I did take a planned few days off something would come right around the corner forcing me to extend that time away from my workouts. Then I’m a week out of the gym.

How do I keep the progress going?

First, I know I won’t be able to achieve significant progress at each workout. Many will simply be maintenance sessions regarding muscle size and strength. However, even though I consider them maintenance, they still serve the purpose of health, and fitness, and serve as an overall mental outlet.

Second, I don’t want to have the burden of trying to reinvent the wheel every time I enter the gym. I’m a huge advocate of observing what’s working and what isn’t over the last few months and years. After getting a good idea, then one can start to format their training toward progress. In other words, you can start to cater your programming specifically for you.

Choose a few body part splits

If you’ve trained for at least two years then you know what’s working and what isn’t, That is if you’ve kept a close eye on things over that period of time. So if you have a good idea of things then you probably gravitate toward a specific body part split or two.

Personally, I have three main splits I use.

1. Chest/back, shoulders/arms, legs (3-day split)
2. Chest/shoulders/triceps, legs, back/biceps (3-day split)
3. Chest/back/shoulders, arms/legs (2-day split)

These are the main splits I go to–that have worked for me over the years. So it’s easy for me to choose from my limited list and go with it. No overhauling, no questioning myself.

A and B routines

In addition to the above, I’ll make an A and B routine for each body part. I’ll simply alternate these two routines wherever they may fall. So if I go with split 1 from above and plan to train five days this week I’ll hit routine A for all body parts on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, then routine B on Friday, Saturday, and Monday of next week (taking Thursday and Sunday off).

This keeps boredom at bay and gives my body a little change each week.

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Lastly, don’t think too much about things. Training should be a joy, not a hindrance. Overhauling your entire program every few weeks will only frustrate you more down the road. Pay attention to what’s working, think simply, make some adjustments, and move on.