Plateau Advice

I thought this was worthy of sharing: Usually when you hit a plateau, it means you need to crank up the intensity and frequency of your training and you also need to "tighten up" your diet. If you're doing 20 minutes of cardio per session, you can increase it to 30 minutes. If you're doing 30 minutes, you can increase it to 40 minutes. If your heart rate is 130 you can pu**** up to 145. If you're training short of failure, you can take sets to complete failure, or even beyond with the help of a training partner. If you're cheating 2 or 3 times a week you can drop back to only one cheat meal a week. Get the picture? In a nutshell, reaching top condition means that you train harder! If you've been on the same training program for a long time, adaptation syndrome may be the cause of your plateau. Adaptation occurs because once your body becomes accustomed to any repeated training stimulus, continuing with the same stimulus will no longer will cause a growth response. The only way to bypass the adaptation syndrome is to change your workouts frequently. The recommendation is that you change your weight training programs every month, or as soon as you stop making progress. Any change will work: new exercises, different set/rep scheme, change in tempo, change in grip or stance width, etc. The training variations are literally endless. Another common cause of a plateau in fat loss is not training-related. The most common reason for hitting a wall in fat loss is that your calories are too low and your body has entered starvation mode or too high and you are not expanding enough activity during the day to burn. Once you start to go into starvation mode, no amount of increased training will help. The only thing that can get you out of starvation mode is eating more. If your calories have been very low and you suspect the starvation response is the culprit, the best thing you can do is keep your food quality "clean" (don't eat a lot of junk), but raise your calories. Once you're back on track, you can prevent this type of plateau from occurring again by using the "zig-zag" method of dieting: eat a few days of higher calories and higher carbs followed by a few days of lower calories and lower carbs. On the low calorie/low carb days, you lose body fat rapidly, but before your body can adapt, you raise the calories back up, whi*****reases your metabolic rate and keeps you out of starvation mode. Mary 415/185/-230

Mary, Is there a research project on the starvation mode philosophy? I'm really asking this in earnest because I've heard it for many years but my surgeon claims it is a myth. I'd like to find good medical support for this theory if it is out there so I can intelligently discuss it with him. Seems like everything I find on a google search isn't a true medical research analysis. DeeDee p.s. Or if anyone else can point me to something I would greatly appreciate it. Sometimes it FEELS like I'm in that starvation mode syndrome but I can't prove it to the doc and he's a medical university instructor as well so I'm going to have to have some hard evidence!!

I have to agree with regard to the concept of starvation mode. It may well be true, but where is the science, discussions in peer-reviewed journals? Just because something is oft-repeated without refutation does not settle anything, right? Nowhere Man/PH/Jay

Does your Doctor have a PH.D in Nutrition? If not you may not be able to talk to him about something he lacks the knowledge. The website is a response from The Ohio State University Medical Center on Starvation Mode. The response is from Shirley A. Kindrick , Ph.D. Team Leader, Comprehensive Weight Management Program. Education: 1980 Ph.D in Human Nutrition, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Oh 1978 M.S. awarded following completion of the general examination for the doctoral degree, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1971 B.S. in Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Oh http://www.netwellness.org/question.cfm/28515.htm Hope this helps, Mary

If you took time to read my post and respond (rather than react), you would have noted that I stated that it may well be true. What I asked for is "peer reviewed journal citations". And how did my physician get involved in this discussion and 'he' is a she. My only statement was alluding the the idea of conventional wisdom, the cousin of the urban myth. They are so often repeated and often heard, but whose origins are shrouded in mist. Nowhere Man/PH/Jay

Thanks for posting this Mary. Just so that you don't think people are "attacking" you, we have had lots of discussion on here about various rumors and theories and what is true and what is folk lore of sorts. It seems that over time certain things--like it used to be said that the protein in drinks loses it's value if allowed to sit for a certain length of time. It was just passed from person to person without any real confirmation. Among those discussions have been the whole "starvation" mode thing--which seems to make sense to many, but nobody has been able to find actual research documenting it. Thanks lots for posting the link.

You're right, Lynda. I've heard it for so long that I actually believed it without really understanding why I believed it. This post got me thinking again and trying to find scientific, documented research on the topic. I did email my nutritionist tonight and asked her to provide me with proof to explain why she and my surgeon claim this is a myth. If they are going to tell me that I've decided they need to give me something to support it. I'll let y'all know as soon as I get anything back from her. It is a very interesting debate and I can see some validity to both sides of the discussion. DeeDee