Busting Plateaus

How to Bust Plateaus in Strength Training

From reading the forums I see a recurring difficulty with building endurance on the high volume exercises. whether it's the famous arch body holds or hollow body holds, or the bent arm chin hang, or even simple push ups, this is a common area where people struggle. I have put together my training thoughts on this subject and hope it will be of some benefit to you.

So to start, what is the physiology of building volume? I'm sure you've all seen the graphs showing the curves from stress, to recovery, to supercompensation. So from a basic standpoint, we can make 3 assumptions: 1: If there is inadequate stress you will make no progress (i.e. not working hard enough, not doing enough reps, or achieving enough time under tension). 2: If there is inadequate recovery, you will make no progress (inadequate nutrition, sleep, or too much life/training stress). 3: If the next workout does not come frequent enough (or in some cases comes too soon - though this relates more to the recovery subheading) then supercompensation will have dropped back to baseline and you will essentially be going in circles.

The first thing to do is look at your training: Are you working out hard enough and frequent enough? Are you missing workouts? Are you working out before you're fully recovered or when you're tired? How many days does it take to recover from a workout for you? Are you deloading? Are you using proper technique and form?

The next thing to look at is your recovery: Are you getting enough calories, enough protein, and is it timed properly? Are you getting at least 8 hours of sleep per night? Are you managing your life stressors? Are you avoiding refined foods and alcohol?

Once these basics are better understood, you have a good place to optimize the programming that is provided for you by Coach Sommers. For most, this is all you will need to do and you will make progress. The usual process of repeating microcycles when you are plateaued will help get these factors ironed out and dialed in. This should be your first go to for almost everyone. Also consider increasing or decreasing your training frequency to find your sweet spot. However, many may hit plateaus that they have trouble getting through despite multiple microcycles. These people are wavering back and forth across the baseline on the stress/recovery/compensation curve. How can we make that line go up?! Assuming our recovery and our timing are where they should be, we need to manipulate the stress portion, i.e. the workout portion, of the curve.

The chief way of increasing training effect at a given weight or a given leverage, is to increase time under tension. A second way is to increase neuromuscular activation and motor unit recruitment. To start with "time under tension": this simply means you need to provide more time stressing the muscles in the move you want to be progressing at. This can be accomplished in many ways:

1. Longer rest between sets

instead of doing 5 sets of 60, 60, 50, 45, 40, rest 2 minutes instead of 1 and

increase your reps to 60, 60, 55, 50, 45 (once at goal reps you can slowly

decrease the rest time until at mastery)

2. Less reps/time with more sets

instead of doing 5 sets of 60, do 10 sets of 40 (400 vs 300 time under tension)

3. Ladder Sets

If current max is 10, do a set of 2, rest 15 sec, set of 3, rest 15 sec, set of 5, rest

15 seconds, set of 10 (you just did 20 instead of 10: the short rest allows you to

regenerate some ATP and get more time under tension)

4. Drop Sets

After you've done your sets, continue squeaking out more sets at less reps/time

until you can't do any more. (i.e.: 60, 60, 60, 50, 40, 28, 15, 8)

Now to move on to some techniques to increase motor unit recruitment, which is the other way to increase training effect.

1. Grease the Groove

Do submax efforts scattered frequently through the day, so by the end of the day

you have a large volume, but all done on full recovery and none to failure.

2. Up the Intensity

Go to a harder exercise that uses similar motor units, that you can do only 3-5

reps, and work this for a couple weeks to increase neuromuscular recruitment

and efficiency, then return to your muscular endurance phase.

3. Isometrics

If there is a "sticking point" that you are struggling with, do isometrics at the

sticking point to improve time under tension and motor unit recruitment.

Negatives or eccentrics accomplish similar effects.

While this is certainly not an exhaustive summary, I hope the information is useful to some of you and helps you get past your sticking points!

Nice work!

Brilliant write up! Sound advice for any one struggling with achieving mastery.

Anyone in favor of making this a sticky post?

MT, thank you for this and I'm the one struggling with RC PE6.  I have two questions:

1. Based upon your response on the other thread, you suggested two weeks of L-sit pull ups, then de-load, then resume where I was.  Since this microcycle is 3 weeks + de-load week, I'm assuming I do week 1 of the micro-cycle, do weeks 2 and 3 using L-sit pull ups, then de-load using the hangs.  Then I would start this microcycle over again (weeks 9-12).  Is this correct?
2. If I were to use grease the groove, would I do this on the days that I am NOT scheduled to do the hangs in my workout, on my rest days, on all days, or on my work days?  Further, would I do these grease the groove hangs on the weeks I'm doing the L-sit pull-ups, or do I just want to take a break from the hangs altogether?

Again, thank you so much.

The biggest problem I have with these suggestions is that it's all about increasing volume of the strength elements.  Sure you might be able to break these plateaus, but all of these suggestions are going about it the wrong way.  Foundation courses deliberately puts these brakes on you so you focus more on mobility.  The suggestions you've listed tries to remove the brakes by disporpotionally focusing too much increasing volume on the strength elements yet, not focusing on increasing the volume of the iM's.

The adult fitness population has always been identified as not having a balance between strength and mobility.  F1 is trying to balance it out by slowing down the strength process, and increasing the amount of mobility work you do.  If you can't finish all the reps in the strength element for the week, good, you get another month to focus on doing more mobility reps. 

Alan, with all due respect, that particular mobility is not a problem at all for me.  What is a problem is that I have been stalled out with no appreciable improvement for approximately 4 months...at least.  I have experimented with more training days, fewer training days, doing all the exercises in one training session (thus affording more rest between workouts), split routine, etc.  

I am inclined to try MT's advice because I feel I need to do something.  If you have another suggestion, I'm all ears.

I also am not trying to denigrate the program in any way, but I know that this particular part of the program is very difficult for many students.  I have looked ahead and I'm pretty sure I could perform at mastery for everything up to about RC/PE11...now.  I'm very curious as to why this element is so freaking difficult, why it comes where it does in the progression, and if this level of mastery isn't less appropriate for older or bigger students?  For example, my kids who are very active, and can perform a few pull ups, can, without any practice, do this hang for about 30 seconds.  I have no doubt that they would be able to progress through this without months and month of stagnation.  

I want to clarify, I am not being lazy...no matter what Coach Sommer might say.  I've been at this element since at least February.  I'm progressing nicely everywhere else (some better than others and I have had to repeat some micro cycles), but nothing is like this.  The best I've been able to get is 5x48s and that was terribly difficult...like "seeing dead relatives difficult".

MT Nordic-

That seems to be a great list, and would appear to be very helpful to people who have genuinely plateaued.

I think Alan's concern is legitimate, that the mobility must not be neglected --- how much of the difficulty for Arch Holds, for example, comes from the inefficiency of poor spinal extension?

However, for many of your suggestions, much of the mobility could still be performed between reps, and an added bonus of increased sets would be increased mobility.

My only thought, beyond the scope of this thread, is that muscular endurance is also built well through both tempo repetitions, which Foundation addresses nicely --- and also explosive repetitions, which I understand will be addressed in the Movement series.

Milkman-

If you can, figure out a way to be accountable for your workouts --- find a training partner, promise to post a video on the forum, exchange videos with a forum member, attend a seminar, go to the beach or park and train in front of girls.

Contrive a situation that makes you accountable to greatness.

best of luck,

jason

Hi all, thanks for the nice words.

Alan: I agree with you, largely. this article is clearly for those struggling with the strength components, and not the mobility components, for which we will soon have programs to assist with that. I also agree that the brakes may be there for a good reason, and that is the reason that i suggested in my post above that everyone start by repeating microcycles. The fact remains, however, that many people struggle with adding volume. they may have genetics that predispose them more towards fast, power generation, or they may not be providing adequate stimulus to the muscle units. So when other things have failed, it's time to mix it up. Obviously these folks love the programming provided, they are just at a stumbling block.

Milkman: I believe the reason that RC/PE6 is where it is is so that you can build tendon endurance and strength. Truthfully, it's good to spend a lot of time here, as it will decrease your risk of injury with later PE's. It takes tendons a long time to strengthen and keep up with the muscle growth, and so I think it's brilliant to put this element where it is situated, even though you can easily do some of the later PE's. However, as you note, once you've been doing something for many months with no progress, it's time to try something a little different to spur progress. Not giving up on the programming, but using different tricks to get you back on the track. The way you worded your answer to your own question is correct. it is important to keep your deload weeks in sync, so do as you said above. I would only use 1 technique at a time, so don't try increasing the intensity AND greasing the groove at the same time. If I were to do greasing the groove instead, I would hang for 20 seconds many times a day. this should be easy, and not leave you struggling for the last bit, otherwise shorten the duration. I think RCPE6 lends itself less to grease the groove than other elements would.

Jason, I have not been training gymnastics for long, but I have been training for years (many years of CrossFit, Brazilian jiu jitsu, weightlifting, etc.).  I am very accountable and very self-motivated.  I do not skip workouts unless very sick.  In fact, I think since I started this program, I took one week off and have maybe missed 3 other scheduled workouts.

In my humble opinion, doing this at a park (which would probably preclude the needed mobility work as most don't have stall bars), video taping, etc., though well-meaning suggestions, will not solve the problem.  I very much appreciate your suggestions, but this is situation is, in my opinion, a problem with the programming as it relates to me, not necessarily everyone or anyone else.  That in no way means that I don't think the program is great.  I just need to find a way to get this down, and the prescribed method does not seem to be getting it for me for whatever reason.

Further, I'm probably too old to be motivated by training in front of girls.  I'm nearly 45, married for 15 years, raising 4 kids, and at this point couldn't care much less what "girls" think.     Now, if I were a younger man....

MT, I will start the 2 weeks of L pull-ups, de-load, and then pick up where I was.  I will let you know how it goes.  I appreciate your, and everyone else's, advice.  I appreciate the community and hopefully my struggles and eventual mastery of this element can be of use to some other poor schmuck in the future.  ;-)

Milkman said:

Alan, with all due respect, that particular mobility is not a problem at all for me.  What is a problem is that I have been stalled out with no appreciable improvement for approximately 4 months...at least.  I have experimented with more training days, fewer training days, doing all the exercises in one training session (thus affording more rest between workouts), split routine, etc.  

I am inclined to try MT's advice because I feel I need to do something.  If you have another suggestion, I'm all ears.

I also am not trying to denigrate the program in any way, but I know that this particular part of the program is very difficult for many students.  I have looked ahead and I'm pretty sure I could perform at mastery for everything up to about RC/PE11...now.  I'm very curious as to why this element is so freaking difficult, why it comes where it does in the progression, and if this level of mastery isn't less appropriate for older or bigger students?  For example, my kids who are very active, and can perform a few pull ups, can, without any practice, do this hang for about 30 seconds.  I have no doubt that they would be able to progress through this without months and month of stagnation.  

I want to clarify, I am not being lazy...no matter what Coach Sommer might say.  I've been at this element since at least February.  I'm progressing nicely everywhere else (some better than others and I have had to repeat some micro cycles), but nothing is like this.  The best I've been able to get is 5x48s and that was terribly difficult...like "seeing dead relatives difficult".

My original post wasn't directly at you, but was instead towards the original topic of breaking plateaus by increasing volume.  To be honest, I didn't read your post when I made mine.

Like I previously mentioned, I see Foundation as deliberately putting brakes on your strength.  We may be able to demonstrate mastery of a harder exercise (which in your case is RC/PE11), but the brakes allows the connective tissue to develop so that your strength doesn't exceed past it.

If we were to talk about using your example of RC/PE6, I don't mean to say that mobility is what's holding you back.  They shouldn't be after all, they're supposed to be our active rest (though if the mobility is the problem, then they should be taken care of, of course).  But if you were to increase the total volume of bent arm chin hangs (where the lats are contracted), then what steps are you going to take lengthen the lats?  I'll give you an example, many people have trouble with maintaining an open shoulder in handstand, the tighter the lat gets the harder it is to maintain full flexion in a HS. 

Sure if you were to increase the total volume, you might get short term benefits by making the lats tighter, but what about your long term progress in other elements, where you've neglected increasing the volume of the mobility?   Isn't that why many of us came to use the GymnasticBodies programs in the first place?  Because in the past mobility has been neglected in the pursuit of higher strength?

HI MILKMAN!

COACH SOMMER MENTIONED IN INTERVIEW THAT ONE OF HIS ATHLETES HAD STRUGGLED WITH ONE OF THE ELEMENTS FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS OR SO. HOWEVER, HE EVENTUALLY MANAGED TO MASTER THE EXERCISE AND MORE INTERESTING AND ENCOURAGING IS THAT THE FOLLOWING EVEN MORE DIFFICULT AND COMPLEX ELEMENTS TURNED OUT TO BE EASIER FOR HIM TO MASTER.

I TURNED 54 TODAY AND THERE ARE ABOUT 10 MORE WKS BEFORE I START RC PE6. I EXPECT IT WILL BE HELL TOO BUT LOOKING FOR IT.

I HOPE YOU WILL EVENTUALLY OVERCOME THIS RC PE6 SOON.

BEST,

ALEX

Alan, if I do increase the volume of the hangs, which I have done on approximately 5 occasions (10x30 sec for example), I am still doing 10 sets of the mobility as well.  In trying what MT suggests, I am going to assume that I continue with the mobility that I have with RC/PE6.  

But ultimately, I don't think this is really a question of increasing volume.  As I said, for ​more than half of a year, I have been doing the following microcycle:

1. 4x48s
2. 4x60s (fail)
3. 5x60s (fail)
4. 5x30s

Then, I repeat this sucker.  Now, I've started to do 5x48s in weeks 2 and 3, as I haven't been able to ever do this, except in my last workout.  I have grave doubts about my ability to do any more, or to even repeat the success.  Basically, I have been stuck at being able to get 4x48s and then about 30 seconds or so on the last set forever.

Now, if I knew that the intention of this exercise is to be stuck on it for a year or more with the idea being that this intention is to allow tendon strength to develop, that might change things.  However, I don't know that to be the case and I am reluctant to just spin my wheels like an idiot.  As many of you know, this stuff can be quite enjoyable!  However, I've yet to read anywhere that anyone has enjoyed RC/PE6.  

Hi Milkman-

I didn't mean to imply that workout consistency was your issue --- what I meant was contrive a situation to be absolutely accountable to your reps --- for example training in a group (camaraderie) can pay huge dividends in not quitting.

And I've been married for 10 years, but I'll be damned if I quit when there are ladies around ...

Best of luck with your experiment and I look forward to hearing about the results-

jason

Jason, thank you for your well-wishes.  I need them.  I know that your advice about camaraderie is spot-on for many people.  But with lots of experience doing CF in group settings as well as solo, I am confident that it is not a big issue with me.  I am unusual in this regard and perhaps in my self-motivation for this shit.  LOL.

Oh, and if you were as weak as I am, you'd quit no matter who is around.  I literally drop off when I am totally spent.  I have had many instances when my ears are ringing, I see white, etc.  It sucks and it's why I am nervous every single time I do these suckers.  It's like getting teeth pulled.

What about applying the 30, 15, 10, or even 5 second mastery template to the remaining 12 seconds you need to achieve mastery?

A twelve second jump (from 4 x 48 sec to 4 x 60 sec) might be too much for you at this time, but could you possibly add 6, 3, 2, or even 1 second to your sets? I realize it might be slow going, but if you can even add that little bit each time not only might it help you to not feel like you're completely spinning your wheels, but might actually get you moving in the right direction again.

Keegan:  

In fact, once I try MT's suggestion, I was planning to do just that.  I'm not jumping to 60 seconds.  I've tried it.  It didn't work.  My plan is to do 4x50, 5x50, etc.  When I get 5x50s down, I'll move to 52s and so on.  I should have this done by the time they move me to the old folks home.

Milkman, I feel your pain, I remember being nauseous and pretty much in agony when I did RC6. My trick, if you will, was to increase the rest, in order to be able to do 5x60. I used 30-90 seconds of additional rest, I think. Once at 5x60, I knew that it was possible, which was a big boost. Uncertainty can be a motivation killer. I'd stay at 5x60 every workout, except deload week, and just work on eliminating rest. That process took a couple of months, iirc.

In any case, don't give up, you'll get there eventually...

Milkman said:

 

Now, if I knew that the intention of this exercise is to be stuck on it for a year or more with the idea being that this intention is to allow tendon strength to develop, that might change things.  However, I don't know that to be the case and I am reluctant to just spin my wheels like an idiot.  As many of you know, this stuff can be quite enjoyable!  However, I've yet to read anywhere that anyone has enjoyed RC/PE6.  

Milkman, at one of the recent seminars, Coach commented on the fact that the purpose of the long duration elements at the beginning of Foundation was to increase capillary density. If I understood him correctly, his contention was that in addition to providing extra blood flow to muscles and thus increasing endurance, the improved microvascular function would also increase blood flow to tendons, helping to strengthen them and improve their recovery (similar to what MTNordic suggested in post #9).

When it came to breaking *real* plateaus (which yours sounds like), Coach specifically recommended backing off a little on all other elements, and spending a few weeks focusing on the element that was stalling by doing extra work and trying different strategies to break through that plateau. I think that MTNordic's suggestions above would fit that recommendation perfectly.

The way Coach was talking over the week-end, there is absolutely no way he expected people to be stuck at a beginning element for half a year, and doesn't see any benefit to it. As opposed to what Alan is suggesting, I therefore think that people should try their best to break through their plateaus as fast as possible, with the caveat that they shouldn't move on until they also show mastery in the mobility element as well.

Ravn and MR:

Thank you so much.  Ravn, I really like your idea and I think that I will implement it in a few weeks.  For the next 2, I'm still going to give some L pull-ups a shot as MT suggested.

MR, I am very interested in what you post, if for no other reason than it seems to come from Sommer's teachings.  I do not, however, know exactly how to implement the suggestion.  I have moved the RC/PE6 to the first exercise in each workout.  So I am quite fresh when I try it.  If you have more suggestions on how I might get through this, I'm all for it.  Heck, I'd be happy to set the whole freaking program to the side to get through this element.  I just don't know really how to program that to be effective.  I don't understand if this means forgoing other exercises and doing more volume on these holds (to the exclusion of all other exercises for a time), more supplementary work, etc.

In any case, thank you very much for your input.

To be honest, that's all Coach really said without going into specifics about what extra work to do and how to back off. I only think that you need to back off on the other elements if you greatly increase the volume or intensity on the specific element that is causing you trouble. Otherwise you should be fine without backing off.

In terms of how to back off, that depends on how you feel and how hard you are going to push to try and break through your plateau; you can try just maintaining what you have without advancing, or doing deload sets for a couple of weeks.

Keep in mind that this is just conjecture on my part.

Hi milkman, did you listen to the webinar?  it does have some really good info in there.  Be worth taking a listen to if you haven't already.  

MT, I did not get to hear the webinar.  Is there an active link to it?

It is on your course page when you log into your Foundation materials.