When your workout routine no longer gives you results... When it seems like you're doing more exercise than ever, but not burning anymore calories.... When it's been several weeks or months and you are still lifting the same weight...
You've most likely hit a fitness plateau!
Read on and understand why.


Lifestyle and Genetics

The two most common obstacles that prevent healthy people on reaching their fitness goals are Lifestyle and Genetics.

Modern society contributes to obesity. Most lifestyles have become sedentary due to technology with communication, entertainment and employment. However we are not forced to live this way. When an adult’s body fat is caused by genetics, that individual most likely has given their genes the opportunity to express themselves from a sedentary lifestyle. In addition, a person can have increased body fat due to learned behavior but it’s possible that these behaviors can be unlearned.


Our Regulating Mechanism

At the beginning of adulthood, body fat is regulated by the brain. This regulating system determines the amount of body fat it considers ideal for the need of the body’s activity and works efficiently and continuously to maintain this level. This amount has a range of set points (a high and low) and these are based on lifestyle. If the person chooses to eat healthy and exercise frequently, most likely their body fat set point will be on the low side. The regulating mechanism is responsible for dramatically increasing or decreasing appetite when your bodyweight changes. If you lose weight, is signals hunger, if you gain it reduces appetite. This mechanism triggers the body’s waste and conservation system by wasting extra energy if you eat too much or conserve and store energy if you eat too little. Energy conservation may lead to muscle loss due to preserve fat stores that are to be used for energy in the future.


Metabolism

Exercise is extremely beneficial to the human body however long term exercise can have negative impact in fitness progression. Extensive exercising can slow down metabolism in which may decrease your calorie burning potential. Here are a few common examples:
Losing Muscle or Lean Body Mass
Muscle burns fat. When you lose muscle, you begin to burn less calories. Lean body mass (LBM) uses five times more calories than fat mass (FM). Metabolism slows and brings fat loss to a halt, plus your energy is reduced.


Adaptation phase ends
When your body is introduced to a new movement, it adjusts to accommodate the workload. This process involves rebuilding muscles and cellular machinery, and thus it consumes more calories. Soon the body adapts to the new workload and this phase ends which eventually reduces daily energy requirements.


Over-training
Each of us have a survival mechanism. When a body over trains it increases exercise expenditure, however it’s possible that you may decrease your non-exercise expenditure at the same rate as well. This leads to a counter effect and a diminishing return in fat loss. You can correct this problem by determining the correct workload balanced with caloric consumption.



Physical Efficiency
After exercising for a while , your overall condition improves and your body becomes more efficient. Less calories are needed to perform tasks and exercises that were more difficult in the past. Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) may lower as well.



Overall weight loss
Remember, when you lose weight, you become a smaller person with less calories needed to operate daily. Therefore you burn less calories. One thing to keep in mind is that everyone has their own specific number of calories to expend according to their own body weight.



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