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Think You’re Plateaued? Here’s Why You Haven’t

ByDave

An athlete texted me, “Hey, I couldn’t hit 5 reps on bench press today. What’s the plan to break through the plateau?”.

My first thought was, “What plateau?”, but to be sure, I checked the training log.

Sure enough, his starting bench press 1-rep max was 135 lbs.

Today, just over four weeks into training, he hit 145 lbs for 4 reps and followed it up with 125 lbs for 8 reps.

To any outside observer, this is tremendous progress, especially considering his mile time has improved by just over a minute.

But when you fall short of a planned weight, set, and rep target, it can feel like you’ve plateaued.

Now, obviously every case is not like this.

But also, most athletes aren’t tracking their workouts.

It’s easy to fall victim to what you feel when you have no objective data to rely on.

This is why a training log is critical.

But let’s say you’ve been stagnant for more than a few weeks.

It’s worth considering several factors:

  1. Stress (highly overlooked)
  2. Body weight (highly overlooked)
  3. Sleep
  4. Nutrition

I’ve put sleep and nutrition at the bottom because you should have those in check.

Everyone knows about them – those should be the first levers you pull.

However, stress and body weight are highly overlooked.

If stress is up, it affects all aspects of your life, including training.

If your body weight goes up, it will negatively impact your runs and positively impact your strength.

The reverse is also true.

If your body weight goes down, it will positively impact your runs and negatively impact your strength.

So, interestingly –

If your strength maintained and your body weight went down, that’s progress.

If your run maintained and your body weight went up, that’s progress.

I hope it’s clear now that there are a multitude of factors that affect whether you’re plateaued or not.

It’s important to have a gauge of whether you’re actually plateaued, though.

If you control for your lifestyle factors, you will often find that you’re making progress-you just didn’t realize it.

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I'm a coach with a passion for helping athletes dominate the toughest selection courses in the world. Over the years, I've trained well over 100 athletes for Special Operations selection courses, including SFAS, RASP, Air Force A&S, BORTAC, SWAT, and MARSOC A&S. My mission is to bridge the gap between traditional performance training and the unique demands of tactical and military athletes.

I got my start coaching hybrid athletes, blending strength, endurance, and hypertrophy training to achieve peak performance. As I worked with more tactical and military athletes, I realized there was a need for a specialized approach tailored to the grueling physical and mental challenges of SOF selections. This realization drove me to focus on prepping SOF candidates for success, combining cutting-edge research, proven training methodologies, and real-world experience.

Whether you're preparing for selection, seeking to level up your fitness, or simply curious about what it takes to thrive in these elite environments, I hope you'll find the information I share helpful.