Author: tom44

So you’ve decided it’s time to start running?

Perfect! You’ve arrived at the right place.

We’ve helped thousands of people run injury-free and train for their first 5k or marathon, and we’ve put together everything you need to know below too! 

Tired of getting injured while running? Work with a Nerd Fitness Coach and train smarter today!

Here’s what we’ll cover in our guide to running:

• How to Run Properly Stage 1: Initial Conditioning
• How to Run Properly Stage 2: Warm-Ups for Running
• How to Run Properly Stage 3: Correct Running Technique
• How to Run Properly Stage 4: Walk Before You Run
• Which shoes are best for running?
• Where can I go for a run? What’s the best surface to run on?
• Will running help me lose weight? (Make sure you WANT to run!) 
• How do I start running? (Next Steps)

If you’re interested in starting a proper running practice (which you are, ’cause you’re here), you may want to try our new app! It contains a fun adventure that will take you from sitting on your couch to running a full 5k – with plenty of benchmarks in between for you to find your groove. No guesswork needed, just tie your shows and follow along with the app. 

You can sign-up for a free trial right here:

How to Run Properly Stage 1: Initial Conditioning

Before you even THINK about strapping on a new pair of Nike shoes and going for a run around your neighborhood, we need to get a few things straight:

Your body needs to have a base level of fitness before running becomes a viable option.

Here’s why running too early can be harmful:

• Every time you run, every time you take a step, you put the pressure of your entire body weight on the muscles, tendons, and joints in your legs, knees, ankles, feet, and toes.
• If you are overweight and have improper running technique, that means your joints and tendons are taking an absolute POUNDING for however many steps you take during your run: around 6,200 steps in a 5k, 12,200 steps in a 10k, or 50,000+ steps in a marathon.

Your initial conditioning for running will center on three points:

#1) Focus on your nutrition. This will allow you to lose weight which will reduce the impact of running on your tendons and joints.

#2) Strength Train. We have coaching clients who repeatedly injured themselves running until they started a strength training practice. After lifting some weights their ligaments grew strong and allowed them to run injury-free. 

If you have no idea how to start a strength training practice, give our Beginner Bodyweight Workout a try:

Many a Rebel have used the workout to springboard their strength training journey. 

#3) Finally let’s add in some activity that’s low-impact:

• Walking – go for a nice long walk around your town, and keep your head up. Enjoy the scenery.
• Hiking – my personal favorite: get out and see the world!
• Biking – easy on your joints, gets you moving.
• Swimming – very low impact as the water holds you up.
• Elliptical – although I’m not a fan of spending all afternoon in a gym on a treadmill, this is the better option as it removes the opportunity for joint impact.

Check out 40 Ways to Exercise Without Realizing It for fun activities to keep your body moving!

To Recap: strength train, reduce your calorie consumption, and begin a low impact activity – build up your foundation to prep your body for running. The less weight your body has to carry around, the less work your legs and joints have to do, the less likely you’ll be to damage your joints and/or injure yourself.

Now that you have a solid foundation and you’re ready to start running, you can move on to the next step.

If you don’t know where to start on changing your diet, or have had trouble with it in the past, I got you.

We created the Nerd Fitness Diet cheat sheet to help you get going. It’s a level up system designed for you to adopt new healthy habits, that will stick, by slowly progressing you from a newbie to an expert.

If you’ve had trouble previously, perhaps it’s because you changed too much too quickly.

Want to check it out? You can grab it for free when you join the Rebellion in the box below!

How to Run Properly Stage 2: Warm-Ups for Running

Before you take your first stride as a runner, you need to be properly warmed up.

When most people think of warming up, they probably think of standing there and doing some static stretching for 10 minutes…you know, to make sure you don’t get injured!

Wrong! Fail! Stretching before running can actually increase your risk of injury.^[3]

Instead, try a dynamic warm-up – get your body properly warmed up and prepared for the rigors of running.

Here’s a running specific warm-up video from my friend Jason over at Strength Running, who you’ll see in more videos below:

Here’s Staci, our Senior Coach, providing you with a quick sequence to try out:

You can also check out our post “How to Warm Up Properly” for more moves and tips.

Just like with strength training, if you don’t have time to warm up, you don’t have time to run.

Cut the run short if you need to, but not the warm-up!

How to Run Properly Stage 3: Correct Running Technique

If you don’t learn how to run correctly, you’re doomed to develop an overuse injury and that’s going to negate the whole reason you started running in the first place!

This is why your running form is so damn crucial: when you run, you’re putting hundreds of pounds of pressure on your joints and ligaments with each bounding step down the road. This is then repeated thousands of times over the course of training and a race.

No wonder nearly every runner has tons of stories of injuries they’ve had to deal with. It can be a brutal activity that can wreak havoc even with good running mechanics.

With poor running mechanics, the results are compounded.

• Not the GOOD kind of “compounded” like compound interest, which you learned in 2nd grade with the story about starting with 1 penny a day and doubling it for 30 days.
• The BAD kind of “compounded” like plantar fasciitis and stress fractures and sore IT bands and torn ligaments and crazy soreness all the time.

We don’t want that.

Make sure you follow the below five steps:

1) LEAN FROM YOUR ANKLES:

Lean from your ankles, and keep a straight line from your ankle, through your butt, and up to your head. If you’re standing still with this slight forward lean, you should feel like you’re about to fall forward.

Just don’t actually fall forward.

When you start running, gravity will help keep you progressing forward. A proper lean from the ankles keeps your body in alignment and loads your muscles properly and efficiently.

2) INCREASE YOUR CADENCE: Cadence is your stride rate, or the number of steps you take per minute. It will probably seem weird at first, but you’re putting less stress on your legs with shorter foot strikes.

Your cadence should be at least 170-190 steps per minute when you’re running at an easy, conversational pace. It will probably increase once you start running faster—that’s normal.

“Steve, what the hell do I do with “170-190 steps per minute?”

Great question. Go to Spotify and look for 170-190BPM playlists, like these which I found here:

• 170-190 BPM: Hip Hop Playlist
• 170-190 Rock Playlist 

Not on Spotify? Cool. (But like, why?) To get a cadence, try running to Outkast’s “Hey Ya” and time your strides to match the beat. That’s the cadence you’re looking for:

Research has shown^[4] that increasing your cadence and taking more steps (around 180 per minute) provides many of the same benefits of barefoot running:

• Less impact shock that goes up your legs.
• Improved running economy (or your efficiency, which means you’ll run faster with less effort!).
• Reduced chance of injury.

You’ll feel like you’re taking way more steps than normal – that means you probably had poor form before and now you’re fixing it!

If your legs get to the point where they’re going this fast, let me know:

3) FOOT STRIKE AT THE RIGHT TIME: When your foot comes down and makes contact with the ground, it should be underneath your body, not in front of it.

Combined with a quick cadence and a slight forward lean from your ankles, you’ll be distributing impact shock evenly—and efficiently.

This aspect of running form is often skipped over by beginning runners.

Instead of focusing on where the foot is landing in relation to the rest of the body, they focus too much on running on their forefoot. If you don’t first land in the right place, a midfoot or forefoot strike will only do more damage.

As you’re running, a good mental cue is to think that you’re just “putting your foot down” in a straight line underneath your body.

There’s no reaching or stretching your leg out in front of you.

Practicing this mental cue will have your leg touching down almost exactly underneath your center of mass, distributing your weight evenly and safely.

4) LAND ON YOUR MIDFOOT: While not as important as landing underneath your center of mass, becoming a mid-foot striker has a host of benefits.

It can help you avoid a lot of injuries by absorbing impact shock and preventing a severe heel striking running stride.

Heel-striking can’t be entirely blamed for injuries and labeled “bad.”

Even elite athletes heel strike when they run races! It’s not entirely bad— especially if you’re putting weight down on your foot just after you heel strike, instead of directly on the heel.^[5]

What you should focus on is having a higher cadence, landing underneath your body, and not aggressively heel striking.

Try to land with your foot flat on the ground, instead of with your toes angled upwards.^[6]

5) SYMMETRICAL ARM SWINGS: Nobody wants to look at you running if you’re flailing your arms wildly all over the place like Elaine dancing from Seinfeld.

An ideal arm swing has your arm bent at about 90 degrees and a front to back swing (not side-to-side).

Imagine a pretend line that goes down your mid-line or center of your body. When you run, your hands should not cross over this imaginary line.

Cup your hands loosely together (no clenched fists!) and if you want to use your arms for momentum, pump your elbows, not your hands.

Once you incorporate these changes into your running form, you’ll feel a lot more comfortable and your injury risk is going to plummet.

For extra credit, learn to run softly and quietly.

Foot stomping isn’t allowed and gets increasingly more difficult as you approach 180 steps per minute.

A few other things you want to keep in mind:

• Keep a tall back, chest up. No slouching.
• Look 30-50 meters in front of you – not head down looking at your toes.

Both are easy cues to keep an athletic posture and good running form.

Go back through and read this section a few more times. We know it’s a LOT to think about while running, but it is incredibly important.

If you get a chance, have somebody film you running, and then watch your tape back to see how you’re doing.

I should note that we provide form checks to our coaching clients. Through our awesome app, you can record a video of your running form or exercise technique and send it right to your coach! That way you can know your running and training safely and correctly!

Have a Nerd Fitness Coach check your running form! Learn more by clicking here.

How to Run Properly Stage 4: Walk Before You Run

Starting a running practice can be daunting. 

That’s why I actually recommend walking first. I mentioned earlier that walking can help build the foundation of a great running practice.

Once you’re comfortable moving a little bit, an ideal way to actually start running is to alternate between a brisk walk and a jog. This can help you build up some strength so you can run at a more constant pace.

Try the following five steps to start your running practice:

1. Get comfortable walking for 20 minutes. That’s it. Stroll around your neighborhood a few times a week, until this is a cake-walk.^[7]
2. Bump it up to 30 minutes. After 20 minutes is no problem, take it to the next level for a 30-minute walk. Once you can handle this fine, we can start picking up the pace.
3. Start run/walking. Walk as you have been for 10 minutes. Then, pick up the pace for a light jog for a minute (or 30 seconds if this is too tough). Give yourself a couple more minutes of walking (or longer) before you start jogging again. Do this for about 10 minutes, then walk normally for the last 10 minutes. You’ll still come in at 30 minutes for your exercise.
4. Now, run for longer. Once you’re comfortable holding a one minute jog, let’s take it up a notch. We’ll still have you warm up for 10 minutes of walking, but when you jog, try going for a minute and a half. If this seems easy, go for 2 minutes! Alternate to a slower walk whenever you need to catch your breath.
5. Before you know it, you will be a runner. As you expand your jogging time, lower the amount of time you walk. At this point, you’re basically running with some short walking breaks. Which is fine! This is how people start to run and many continue to alternate between walking and jogging forever. Even if you get to the point of running races, there’s nothing wrong with taking some walking breaks. You do you.

Alright, we’ve talked about technique, plus some tips for getting up and running.^[8]

However, I know you’re gonna ask, so let’s talk about what kicks you should rock.

Which Shoes Are Best for Running?

There are four components to look for in any shoe.

If the shoe doesn’t meet these four criteria, then your foot is going to be compromised.

A good shoe has:

1. Minimal “heel drop:” a lower heel-toe height difference.
2. A wide toe box that allows your foot to spread as it lands on the ground with each step.
3. A pliable bottom that allows your toes to bend to a full ninety degrees of flexion as you step.
4. Something to attach it to your ankle area.

Let’s look at each in a bit more detail:

1. Minimal heel-toe height difference (aka “drop”). When your shoe raises your heel higher than your forefoot (aka “heel lift”), your ankle and lower leg are being positioned in a slightly shortened position for the duration that you’re wearing the shoes.

When your leg muscles are thrown into a slightly unnatural position, it means the mobility of your ankle will suffer… and this will limit all sorts of things including your running gait.^[9]

This doesn’t just mean high-heels either, although running in heels is ridiculous.

This includes most regular shoes that have a bulky heel and lower toe. In many shoes, you’ll see this difference between heel and forefoot referred to as a “drop,” so “zero-drop” shoes are shoes where heel and forefoot are at the same height.

Check to see what your current shoes weigh, and each time you buy a new pair of shoes, work your way towards more and more minimal shoes – down to 10 oz or so (which would qualify them as “minimalist shoe” in our book).

Our advice would be to not go too far below 7-8 ounces.

The big question: “Should I be doing barefoot running?” – Occasionally, and with proper form, SURE. But don’t just put on a pair of Vibram 5 Finger toe shoes and go run a 5k on concrete tomorrow. That’s a recipe for disaster.

2. A wide toe box that allows your foot to spread as it lands on the ground with each step. With each step you take, your foot actually spreads wider upon landing. This is impossible for your foot to do when it’s in a shoe that is too narrow.

If the toe box is not at least as wide as your foot when you’re standing on your foot, while it’s bearing your weight, that’s a problem for your foot. Know that as your foot becomes more ‘natural’ it’s possible it will it may widen further, as the muscles and bones reposition themselves.

Feet crammed into a shoe is like putting a leash on Sonic the Hedgehog: they want to be free!

3. A pliable bottom that allows your toes to bend fully as you step. Your great toe is meant to flex to ninety degrees as you move through the gait cycle. See below:

If your shoe does not allow this due to a hard sole, your feet won’t be able to move as well, and the soft tissues of your foot will get weaker from not being used fully.

PLUS, when you aren’t flexing your big toe regularly, your body will start to lose the ability to use that joint fully. This can lead to all sorts of problems. Doh!

4. It’s strapped to your foot. If the shoe isn’t strapped around your ankle, your toes are going to grab at the shoe to keep it on with every step you take. This makes some of your foot bones push down and some of your foot bones lift up.

That shift means you change the amount of forces on each bone. Over time, this can lead to stress fractures and tissue injuries.

Check out the video below from movement specialist Kelly Starrett:

For each point above, this isn’t an “all or nothing” scenario. Similar to your nutrition, do the best you can when you can, and work your way into running with a minimalist shoe.

If you want to learn more about proper footwear, make sure you check out “A Nerd’s Guide to Healthy Feet,” written by Kate Galliett of FitForRealLife.com.

Lastly, if you want to learn more about the benefits of ditching your shoes altogether, you can check out our article “Is Barefoot Running Really Better for You?”

Where can I go for a run? What’s the best surface to run on?

For the most part, it doesn’t really matter what surface you run on if your form is good and you’re resting enough to recover between your workouts. 

But each surface does affect your body in different ways, so you should know the pros and cons of each one.

#1) Asphalt (road): 

People have been running on the roads since they were first paved over 100 years ago. Most people run exclusively on the roads since they’re the most common surface that’s available for running.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with road running. It’s stable and has a relatively predictable surface so you probably won’t twist an ankle.^[10] 

 As long as you’re avoiding cars and running AGAINST the flow of traffic (so you can see approaching cars) you’ll be safe.

The danger of roads comes when you run on the same side of the road all the time. 

The problem lies with the road’s slope. 

For drainage reasons, every road has a slight slope toward the curb. If you’re always running against the flow of traffic your left leg is going to be slightly lower than your right. The solution is to switch sides of the road, but only if traffic conditions allow. 

#2) Concrete (most sidewalks): 

Most sidewalks are made of concrete, not asphalt, and are actually a lot harder than the road itself. This isn’t necessarily a drawback, but you will be experiencing more impact forces on concrete than the road. If you do a lot of running on the sidewalk, make sure your form is as good as it can be!^[11] 

#3) Grass (fields): 

Unless the grass is very hard-packed and smooth, I don’t recommend running on it for a long period of time. Grass is very soft so you won’t be sending jarring impact forces up through your legs like concrete, but the uneven surface is going to break up your stride and you could tweak your ankle or a muscle in your foot.

Some grass is great to run on, though. The harder and smoother it is, the better it is for running…like a golf course.^[12]

#4) Dirt or crushed gravel trails:

Smooth dirt or crushed gravel (very fine— not big chunks of gravel you find in some driveways!) are some of the best running surfaces. Like the hard grass surface of a golf course, dirt and crushed gravel trails offer the same impact-dissipating qualities while still retaining firm footing. It’s the best of both worlds.

You’ll find these types of trails at larger parks with walking paths or in national/state parks with well-maintained trails. 

#5) Single-track trails: 

Think sharp turns, rocks, roots, stream crossings, hills, and anything else Mother Nature can throw at you. In a word: FUN.

These trails are usually narrow and filled with obstacles. The hills, direction changes, and irregular surface will force you to use a lot of stabilizing muscles in your lower legs. This could be good for building strength. 

#6) Track:

Found at most local high schools and colleges, a 400-meter outdoor track provides a great training place for workouts.^[13] But that’s what they’re for: workouts. Not every day running!

The surface is forgiving like hard-packed dirt or a very firm golf course. But while the surface is great, the turns are what makes a track not ideal for everyday training. By doing all of your running on a track, you’re constantly turning left and setting yourself up for muscle imbalances.

You’re better off running somewhere where the turns are varied so you expose yourself to different stresses instead of the same thing over and over again. That’s how overuse injuries happen. Tracks are for faster workouts, not easy distance runs.

WHAT SURFACE SHOULD YOU RUN ON?

Your training would ideally be a combination of all of the surfaces that are available to you. Exposing your body to as much variety as possible will give you a better chance at preventing injury since you’re not doing the same thing over and over again.

The few types of running surfaces that lend themselves to more frequent training are: 

• Smooth dirt trails
• Crushed gravel paths
• Hard packed grass (like a golf fairway).

The footing is sure and the surface isn’t too soft or firm.

Limit your running on concrete and technical trails because of the injury risk. Most sidewalks are made from concrete and are incredibly hard. Throw a tennis ball on one to see for yourself—it’ll shoot right up into the air because of the returned energy. Those same forces are being returned into your legs when you run on them. 

Technical trails present a different challenge: roots, streams, rocks, and uneven terrain. 

Run sparingly!

A good strategy to use when deciding where to run is to figure out how your body feels. 

If you’re sore or have a tender muscle, run on a softer surface. A dirt trail or well-manicured field will help you recover better than the roads. 

But if you’re doing a workout, you want to avoid technical trails or a concrete sidewalk. Pick the track, a clear dirt trail, or a road without a severe camber.

Will Running Help Me Lose Weight? (Make Sure You Like Running!)

When people tell me they’re going to start a running routine, I always ask: “Great! Do you enjoy running?”

If the answer is “No, not really” then I’d say, “Interesting. Then….why running?”

Most people think running = weight loss. If you’re brand new to health and fitness, and you’re trying to lose weight, you’re most likely overwhelmed at what you should start with and how you should train.

So let’s answer the question “will running help me lose weight?”

Maybe!

Running will help you lose weight if you do two things:

1. You run consistently.
2. You fix your diet.

Running won’t help you lose weight if you do two things:

1. You run consistently.
2. You don’t fix your diet.

As sexy as it is to think that just going for a run will help you lose weight, the data doesn’t back it up. Time Magazine rightly pointed this out years ago, and got yelled at for telling the truth, that exercise alone won’t make you lose weight.^[2]

I believe that to be especially true when exercise is only steady-speed cardio.

In fact, many people gain weight after starting an exercise routine and get completely demoralized.

What gives?

As we say here at Nerd Fitness, you can’t outrun your fork, and nutrition is 90% of the battle.

If you go for a mile run and then stuff your face with extra calories “because you earned it,” you’re going to gain weight.

It’s not because you have a slow metabolism, I promise. It’s because you’re consuming too many calories.

This is a common mistake: not fixing your nutrition if you’re running for weight loss!

If this were a movie, nutrition would be Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible and exercise is that funny sidekick who helps Tom. Let’s be real here, Tom is doing all of the heavy lifting to make that movie what it is.

While exercise is important for health, it doesn’t have to be running. It can come from activities you DO enjoy:

• Hiking
• Strength training
• Martial arts
• Ultimate Frisbee

Whatever…

Now, if you answer the question “do you even like running?” with something like:

• “Yes! I love running.”
• “I like interval training and sprints.”
• “I don’t love it, but I need to complete it for a fitness test.”
• “I’m running a 5k for charity/work and want to do well.”
• “Not yet, but I think I could…”
• “I like how I feel AFTER a run.”

…then we can continue the conversation!

The perfect place to continue the conversation?

Our new app! We have an adventure that takes all the information in this guide and provides it with actionable steps (hehe) for you to get up and running. No more “am I doing it right?” just follow the app and know you’re training correctly. 

You can sign-up for a free trial right here:

How Do I Start Running? (Next Steps)

Once you get comfortable running around your neighborhood or park, you can start thinking about taking it to the next level.

Have you ever thought about running a race? They can be a lot of fun!

Here’s a clip from a race years ago where I dressed up like a Caveman with 20 of my friends and raised thousands of dollars for kids with cancer to go to summer camp!

If you want to learn how to get started, make sure you check out our article “Couch to 5K.” We cover the popular program and give our take on running your first race.

If you want even more guidance on long-distance running, I’ll point you again to my buddy Jason Fitzgerald’s wonderful site Strength Running. I reach out to Jason whenever I need advice on proper running (including the tips found in this post).

You can also check out this interview I did with Jason, where we discuss running, proper diet, and Star Wars.

There’s some overlap…

Alright, I think you’re ready to lace up and head out the door!

Want a little more help getting going? A slight nudge to get you out of the door?

Here are my top recommendations for next steps:

#1) We have a bunch of NF Coaching clients that love to get outside and run! If you want step-by-step guidance on how to lose weight, eat better, and learn to run properly, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:

Have a Nerd Fitness Coach guide your running practice!

#2) If you need a trigger to “get up and run” check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

#3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get the Nerd Fitness Starter Kit, including the 15 fitness mistakes you don’t want to make and our guide to the most effective diet and why it works

Now, your turn!

Are you an avid runner?

Do you have any tips for Rebels just lacing up?

Or are you like me, and only run when something is chasing you?

Let us know in the comments!

-Steve

PS: don’t forget to check out the rest of our running content!

• Should You Do Couch to 5K?
• NF Guide to Footwear
• Is Barefoot Running Really Better For You?
• Start Interval Training and Sprint Running
• How to Do Tabata Sprints

###

Photo Source: Man on Dirt Road, Asphalt, Sidewalk, Grass Field, Gravel Trail, Hiking Trail, Track, Flash, Delivery, Decathlon, Fireman, Sonic, My Slowest Friend, Kristina Alexanderson: Lego in Shoe, Runner

GIF Source: Liam “Why”, Homer running, Mission Impossible, Parks and Rec, Homer Hospital, Eric Hospital, Elaine, Dog Golf Course, Trail Running, Walking Man. 

from Blog – Nerd Fitness https://ift.tt/2nz4LSE
via IFTTT

So you’ve hit a workout or weight loss plateau the size of a…well, actual plateau, eh?

Have no fear, our step-by-step guide will get you back on track! (Plus, the most badass Bruce Lee quote you’ll ever read).

Whether you’ve stalled in your weight loss journey, strength training, or some other fitness benchmark, today we’ll tell you exactly how to keep progressing by sharing with you the exact tools we use with our coaching clients.

A Nerd Fitness Coach can design you a program to keep progressing! Learn more here.

Don’t lose morale. Together we got this!

We’ll cover:

• What is a plateau?
• How do I know If I’ve hit a plateau? 3 ways to tell…
• Why am I plateauing? 4 reasons why…
• Is a plateau normal? (The Dip)
• What should I do when I hit a plateau? (Setting Personal Records)
• 5 tips and tricks for overcoming a plateau

I know how demoralizing plateaus can be, especially when it comes to strength training and weight loss – they can be a total momentum killer!

It’s actually why we built our newest app, Nerd Fitness Journey! It’s designed so when you wake up in the morning, you know the exact next step to help you reach your goals.

You can try it for free right here, so this plateau can be a thing of the past:

What is a Plateau?

A plateau occurs when you stall out on progress despite continuing to do “all of the right things,” usually including eating right, exercising properly, getting adequate rest, etc.

Our bodies go from losing weight consistently to getting stuck at a certain number. Or we go from building muscle and getting stronger, to having a week or two where we can’t seem to lift anything heavier.

We call this point in our training “The Plateau,” and we don’t like being stuck on them.

As we learned in a previous article on happiness, humans (nerds especially) are happier when we make progress.

When we work hard for something and don’t see progress, we get unhappy.

How Do I Know If I’ve Hit a Plateau?

I get a lot of emails from people who tell me they’re stuck in a plateau.

They talk about how they’ve been eating right, exercising, and getting enough rest and they can’t seem to make progress!

They throw their hands in the air, freak out, get discouraged, and give up or quickly move onto the next plan that they hope will work.

When somebody comes to me saying they’ve plateaued, my first response is always:

“Have you REALLLLLLLLY plateaued? REALLY?”

In a strong majority of the cases, plateaus are really just issues with concentration, tracking, and discipline in disguise. Before you think you have plateaued, consider the following:

1) HOW IS YOUR NUTRITION…REALLY? Oftentimes we think we are being diligent, until we realize that after a few weeks of eating great we’ve started slacking. “Oh I’ve been good, just this one time…” and “Hmmm, sure why not” become more commonplace as we start to fall back into old habits. Track your calories for the next week and check your numbers.

And even if you are eating the right amounts of food, there’s this: as you lose weight, your metabolism slows down. This isn’t sabotaging black magic, it’s science.

There’s simply LESS of you that your body needs to maintain.

Here is the estimated daily resting calorie burn (“sit on your ass all day”) of a 35-year old male nerd at 3 very different weights:

• 300 lbs: 2,600 calories.
• 250 lbs: 2,300 calories.
• 200 lbs: 2,000 calories.

You might have hit a plateau simply because you’ve reached an equilibrium of calories consumed to calories burned! Which means what need to adjust your calorie intake to continue losing weight.

If you are trying to bulk up, are you eating ENOUGH calories to promote muscle growth? Rededicate yourself for two weeks, track your meals, and see if progress picks back up!

2) HOW ARE YOUR WORKOUTS…REALLY? If you are weeks or months into a workout plan, I bet the initial luster of “NEW! PROGRESS! WINNING!” has worn off.

Have you been skipping that last rep, cutting out an exercise here or there, getting bored and wanting to go home?

I know when I hit a plateau at the gym, it’s generally because I haven’t been pushing myself as hard as I had been previously. Track your workouts diligently for two weeks and see if these changes kick you back on track.

3) HOW iS YOUR SLEEP?…REALLY? This is one that most people skip out on. They are exercising, eating right, but for whatever reason they’ve been slacking on their sleep.

We all know sleep is important; lack of sleep leads to increased levels of stress, less time for our bodies to rebuild muscle, to recover from strenuous activity, and more.

I know that if I didn’t get a good night’s sleep, then my performance in the gym the next day will suffer.

Can you honestly say you’ve spent two weeks with quality sleep, nutrition, and exercise?

In many cases we think we’re stuck, in need of some sort of drastic change or adjustment to kickstart progress again. Now, there are definitely instances where we ARE stuck or stalled, and that’s when things need to change.

However, before we get to covered the dreaded plateau, let’s get a few things clear.

Why Am I Plateauing?

To start, linear progress cannot continue indefinitely: 

1. If you are learning to squat and you start with just the bar, adding 5 lbs a week (which is how you should learn to squat!), you will eventually reach a point where your body cannot build the strength/muscle fast enough to continually add 5 lbs a week. If it DID work that way, in three years everybody would be squatting 1,000 pounds.
2. You will run into the same issues with weight loss. For example, it’s easier for you to lose 3 pounds a week when you are at 300 lbs than it is to lose 3 pounds a week when you are 150 pounds….there’s more of you to “lose” when you’re bigger and thus progress will be easier. If you could lose 2-3 pounds a week every week forever, at some point you’d disappear, and we don’t want that. Weight loss might slow to 1 pound every other week.
3. Your margin for error gets smaller. When you are at a higher body fat percentage, or just getting starting with training, you can make a lot of progress quickly due to there being MORE of you to lose, or MORE gains to make quickly. As you start to make progress, you can’t keep making big progress without making more and more dedicated effort.
4. Adaptive thermogensis. Our bodies WANT to maintain the extra body fat we have (“I don’t know when I’ll need this, better save”), and are actively working in unison to preserve it – so even after a few pounds, it’s going to be a persistent challenge to keep progressing. It’s a subject a dive in deep in the article “Why can’t I lose weight?” If you’ve stalled on your weight loss journey, this might be the problem, as your body is adapting to the body fat being lost.

Your progress at a consistent pace will definitely slow down, which can FEEL like a plateau. 

If you’ve been training for more than a few months, you might need to slightly adjust your expectations. Maybe this week you can only add 2.5 lbs to the bar. Or 1lb. Maybe your muscle-building will crawl to 1 lb gained a month.

It happens to all of us.

Now, if your progress stalls out COMPLETELY or you actually regress, AND you are doing all of the right things, then congrats!

You MAY have plateaued.

Like in games like World of Warcraft, at some point you will stop gaining experience from killing rats – you could spend all day doing so but because you’ve hit a certain level they no longer provide you with value.

It’s time to move onto attacking spiders, then orcs, then dragons.

When you started out, just doing 5 push-ups might have felt like a full workout. Now you can do 50 push-ups for a warm-up and not break a sweat.

Our bodies are constantly adapting and learning to manage the stresses we put on it, seeking the path of least resistance.

Back to our gaming analogy:

If it’s something worth doing, there will most likely be grinding involved, and that’s why I need to talk to you about The Dip.

No not a strength training type of ‘dip’, though those are good to help bust through a plateau too!

You can learn more about how we help build plateau-less workouts at Nerd Fitness by downloading our free Strength Training 101 ebook when you sign up in the box below:

Is a Plateau Normal? (The Dip)

I want to introduce you to Seth Godin, author of The Dip.

We all hit plateaus in our lives and quests for health and happiness. In order to be successful at the task at hand, we need to grind our way through that low point (or flat point) until we can climb out and continue progress.

Here’s a visualization of the dip:

When you first start something new, you can make quick progress and everything rocks because you see big changes.

However, after a few months, the reward you get from your effort decreases and it seems like you’re rapidly slowing down:

1. In the first few weeks of weight loss, everything is GREAT! The scale is moving, your clothes are getting looser, progress is exciting because it’s coming so quickly. Then, you might have a few weeks where you’re really trying hard and yet the scale stalls or increases.
2. When building a new running habit, each new run is exhilarating – you rapidly progress from wheezing and coughing after two blocks to now being able to run a whole mile! A few months later, that progress slows, and you find yourself struggling with the same distances and speeds even though you’re doing all of the right things.
3. When lifting weights, the first few months can be life changing. Squats, deadlifts, pull ups, push ups. Every session in the gym is an opportunity to see massive progress compared to the time before, except for that week or two when you walk in and you have to lift less than before! What gives!?

When we hit that dip/plateau where our hard work seems like it goes unrewarded, it’s easy to give up and say, “I’m a failure.”

Not true.

We will all experience a dip when it comes to progress on things that are important to us.

If we want to TRULY be successful, we need to anticipate the dip’s arrival and plan for it so that it doesn’t completely derail us.

Much like grinding out experience points in an RPG, sometimes we need to grind out practice in life, workouts, nutrition, and more…until we can hit that sweet spot for progress again.

So, how do we stay dedicated, focused, and motivated through the dip?

How do we progress during the plateau when we feel like our hard work is a waste of time?

We focus on small wins, and find a way to get a teeny tiny bit better.

What Should I Do When I Hit a Plateau? (Setting Personal Records)

In order for us to crawl out of a dip or off a plateau, we need to find a way to make a small win every day.

Think of these small wins like “a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.”

The longer we’ve been training, the older we get, and/or the more advanced we get in our training, the more likely we’ll be to hit plateaus and the more necessary it will be to grind out small victories, prepare for dips, and power through them.

Here’s how you can grind out your own small wins and prove to yourself that you are still progressing when you are in the dip:

1) TRACK EVERY SET, REP, AND WORKOUT. Find a way to be better today in SOME WAY than you were yesterday, and prove to yourself that you are still making progress – even if it’s progress in a different way that you were progressing before.

If you are stuck at 3 sets of 5 reps of 150 pounds on the bench press and haven’t been able to go up to 155 lbs for a few weeks, try 3 sets of 6 reps of 150 pounds.

Or 4 sets of 5 reps of 150 pounds.

Then come back to 3 sets of 5 reps of 155 a few weeks from now, and see if you can do that.

If you wait 60 seconds between sets, try waiting 90 seconds instead and lift a different amount

As long as SOMETHING has progressed in some way – your total amount of weight lifted, decreased time between sets, one extra rep, or one more pound lifted – it proves to yourself that you made progress. Remember, progress makes us happy.

RECORD EVERYTHING.

2) COLLECT TINY WINS. Optimus Prime doesn’t transform with one single movement; it’s a combination of hundreds of thousands of tiny movements that happen rapidly.

We are transformers (Joe especially), and our small changes add up too.

It’s these tiny, small victories that can push us over the edge. Enough small victories and we can reach that tipping point, that end of the dip where progress continues again.

Find a way to set a tiny win in SOME WAY each day that shows you that you are getting better/faster/stronger.

Here’s an example: I have been working on handstand balancing for probably 18 months. For the past few months, my progress has stagnated and even gone in reverse on some days (helloooo Dip!).

I continued to work on building the habit of handstands for five minutes a day (Hard Hat challenge for the win!). Progress felt nonexistent, but I knew that my continued dedicated practice was adding up in ways that didn’t make themselves readily apparent.

I had “stalled,” so I focused on getting tiny wins: increasing flexibility in my wrists, staying against the wall as long as I could, practicing my kick ups, tightening my core, etc.

Despite not being able to balance for longer than 10 seconds at any point in the past, I kicked up into a handstand, without even touching the wall (something else that had never happened before), and I held my handstand for 24 seconds!

I still have a ways to go before I’m holding perfectly vertical handstands for 60+ seconds, but months spent grinding out practice in the dip have paid off.

I made it through the plateau, and my progress has continued rapidly after struggling for months. Those months of struggle were teeny tiny wins in different ways that added up until I hit that tipping point where progress exploded.

3) TRACK OTHER METRICS OTHER THAN THE SCALE. The scale can lie. The scale will DEFINITELY slow down even if you are making progress in healthier ways, simply due to the fact that you have less weight to lose than you did before! You might also be dealing with extra water weight, or bloat, or menstruation, or anything in between.

So, track other things! Here’s what you can track to help keep you motivated while pleateaued:

1. Take biweekly photos. Who cares if the scale isn’t moving. Are you looking better? Are you FEELING better? Do your clothes fit better? That is progress.
2. Take measurements. Spend 5 bucks on a cloth tape measure (or one of these), and measure the important parts of your body. Maybe the scale isn’t moving, but you took half an inch off of your waist. Or maybe you added a quarter of an inch to your arms.
3. Track your body fat percentage. A simple caliper is enough to show trends. Remember Saint? His weight went UP but his body fat percentage dropped. Had he only been tracking the scale, he might have panicked during his ‘dip.’ Fortunately, he was tracking more metrics and used that momentum to catapult himself to victory.

The goal is to consistently prove to ourselves that we are moving one step closer towards our goal. 

This is exactly the system we used when we built Nerd Fitness Journey.

When you’re working through the app, not only are you doing fun missions, but you’ll see how tasks build up to your larger goal. There’s no getting stuck or frustrated, just log in and work on the next adventure.

If you want, you can sign-up for a free trial right here:

5 Tips and Tricks for Overcoming a Plateau

The above is just the beginning. This will also help you make progress and get out of that dip:

1) Shock your workout. Our bodies crave efficiency, and love to be as lazy as possible, but we truly thrive on chaos. So introduce some chaos into your system!

Note: This is NOT the same as “muscle confusion” (which is a made up marketing term to sell DVDs). We’re still progressing, lifting more, and doing the same exercises – we’re just throwing in some variation occasionally to help stimulate progress. 

If you do the exact same thing over and over and over, your body becomes more efficient at that activity.

In fact, your body can learn and adapt after doing the same thing enough times so that it burns fewer calories to carry out the process. So mix it up!

1. If you are trying to run a faster 5K? Mix in a day of sprints rather than just basic runs.
2. Trying to increase your deadlift? Rather than just doing a 1-rep max, do a day of higher volume, or train the deadlift twice a week.
3. Want to squat better? Squat with higher frequency. NF Lead female coach Staci followed an advanced Smolov Squat program for 13 weeks (Warning: not for beginners). Your body can adapt and overcompensate by getting stronger.
4. Want to improve your upper body strength/size? I’m currently doing a PLP program along with my regular workouts. Starting with 10 total reps of Pull-ups, Lunges, and Push-ups, and every day add a rep, for 50 days.

2) Adjust your diet. Your body can also become quite efficient with calories (not to mention the oft-mentioned but controversial “starvation mode” theory), and can sometimes struggle to progress.

As we lay out in “Why can’t I lose weight?,” if you’ve lost a decent amount of weight, your body now burns significantly fewer calories each day (there’s less of you to manage! This means you need to adjust your calorie intake!

So, I would start by tracking your intake and determine how many calories you should be eating.

ONLY after that doesn’t work would I recommend the following:

Consider throwing in one day a week of OVER eating, along with days where you are intermittent fasting. Keep your body guessing and see if that shocks your system back into weight loss mode.

Consider adjusting your macronutrient breakdown. Keep your protein intake high, and adjust your carbs and fats. Some people feel better or worse with high fat or low fat, high carb or low carb.

And remember, thermodynamics still rule all: weight loss requires caloric deficits.

3) REST! I’ve heard it said “there’s no such thing as “overtraining, just under-recovering.” Are you getting enough sleep?

Maybe you’re a new parent and trying to maintain your old workout routine on 2 hours of sleep a night.

Or work has you stressed like crazy and it’s causing you to eat like crap.

Rest is such an important part of a healthy lifestyle that it needs to be prioritized too. In the book Essentialism, this is referred to as “Protecting the Asset.”

You are the asset.

If you are trying to do too much, or you’re caught in a plateau, consider a week off, refocusing on sleep and recovery, and come back refreshed.

4) Adjust your goals. Maybe your body needs a new dragon to slay.

Again, nature loves chaos. If you are focused solely on weight loss, you might feel like you have stalled out. So shift your focus. Work on handstands. Or running faster.

Or doing your first pull up. Pick a new skill!

Try something different. Give your body a chance to recover and then come back to it.

If you’re solely focused on the scale and it stalls out, it can be depressing. So put the scale away for a month, and instead focus on the process of getting stronger and eating better. Stop stressing and remember to enjoy the game you’re playing.

5) Accept that we have bad weeks. We are complex pieces of machinery.

Sometimes shit happens.

We just have bad weeks and can’t lift enough or we GAIN weight when we expected to lose weight. It doesn’t make you a bad person, it doesn’t make you a failure, it makes you human.

So on days when you feel great, PUSH yourself harder. On days when you feel like crap, scale back the heavy lifting and focus on more reps or better technique.

The greatest predictor of success in our lives is grit (which can be developed). Grit is what you need to slog through these slow weeks. These dips are where we find out who’s truly dedicated. I know you are, and you know you are.

Remember, look for any sign of progress in any way to reveal that “light” at the end of the tunnel.

If you are stuck on a plateau when it comes to strength training, consider working with one of our Yodas in the 1-on-1 Online Training Program at Nerd Fitness! No guilt, no shame. Just somebody to keep you accountable, expert guidance from somebody that knows you, and peace of mind knowing you’re doing the right thing!

How did you break through your plateau?

“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there. You must go beyond them.” -Bruce Lee 

Hopefully I’ve covered everything you need to know about plateaus. What’s that? You were expecting some lame joke about plateaus somewhere?

You know me too well. Okay, how bout this one:

Did you know that a plateau is the highest form of flattery?

Get it?

Thank you, I’ll be here all week.

I want to hear your story:

• Have you successfully busted through a plateau? Leave a comment with how you got out of it.
• Are you currently stuck? If so, what’s ONE SPECIFIC piece of advice you’re taking from today’s article to apply to what you’re going to do this afternoon?

Let’s hear it! I’m excited to hear how I can help.

-Steve

PS: We know starting with this stuff can be intimidating. If you’re looking  to take it to the next level:

• 1-on-1 Online Coaching: A coach from Team NF gets to know you better than you know yourself and builds a workout program and nutritional strategy that fits your busy life, your body type, and your goals.
• Nerd Fitness Journey: a fun app that will show you the path for overcoming any plateau. Sign up for a free trial below:

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Photo Sources: JD Hancock: Heroes, gato-gato-gato: mountains, Chris J Bowley: box, seeveeaar: success, Stefan Baudy: question, Stefano Corso, Life’s Paradox, Sergio Bertoli: Bruce Lee

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