It seems like everyday someone approaches me and asks me how to break through a fitness plateau. I usually respond by firing back a question of my own: "When was the last time you tried something new in your program?" You'd be surprised how many people I talk to who've been doing the same thing the same way, often with minimal gains, for several months or years. Over a period of time as the body adapts to exercise, the payoff for doing the same thing decreases significantly. We must constantly challenge the body to do new things if we want to continue to get stronger, leaner, or to have greater endurance. Some people initially make progress using their primary workout routine, while others never get the results they want.

In all the volumes of "perfect workouts" you see in every fitness magazine and book it's hard to know which is best for you and how to implement it. The principle of individual response states that every person's body will respond to exercise differently. As such, what one person does to lose body fat may not work for another. The fact is that building an effective fitness program is as much an art as it is science. It's sometimes just as important to experiment and to find which things don't work as it is to find the "magic workout."

Experiment with different workout routines, exercises and schedules then read your body. You may find that with some programs your body is fatigued longer after your workout, while with another program you may feel like you're not working at all. Your body will tell you if you're on the right track.

Review your fitness goals before you begin laying out a new program, and assess progress toward your goals every six months. If you're not getting where you want to be try one or more of the following "plateau busters".

1. Increase your sleep by 30 minutes a night OR take a nap during the day.

2. Modify your nutrition schedule to include more protein/water/complex carbs OR eat more small meals through out the day.

3. Rearrange you workouts to follow a "hard/easy" schedule with a high intensity workout followed by a low intensity "recovery workout" OR try back-to-back high intensity days followed by two consecutive recovery days.

4. For lean mass gain try "supersetting" (back-to-back exercises on the same muscle) OR "pyramiding" (decreasing repetitions while increasing weight during workout).

5. If you normally workout every day go a week or two of working out one, two, or three times per week OR take a week completely off and try a new activity.

6. Train for a goal event such as a 5k, sprint triathlon, master's swim meet, etc.

7. Take a few minutes during each workout to try a new machine or learn a new exercise.

8. If you've always worked out alone try working out with a partner OR join a group for a run, bike ride, hike, etc.

9. Constantly re-evaluate your fitness goals. Ask yourself how badly you want to achieve those goals and where they fall in line with other priorities in your life. Do you believe that your goals are attainable? Are there things in your life sabotaging your success?

Bryant Howard BA, MA, CFT, SPN — Bryant is certified through the International Sports Sciences Association. He is both a Fitness Trainer and Performance Nutrition Specialist. He also holds certification in CPR and First Aid. He has trained competitive athletes for ten years and offers personal and group training sessions in the Portland, OR area. Bryant Howard owns Performance Fitness Training